We are only 2 days away from kick-off at the PGL Antwerp Major in Belgium. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all of the 16 Majors.

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Number of teams: 23 (owing to Immortals forfeiting their spot)

Winner: Cloud9 (Stewie2K, tarik, Skadoodle, autimatic, RUSH)

Map pool: Train, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Cache, Overpass, and Cobblestone

The hosting of the 12th Major Championship in CS:GO history ended up in the hands of the proud region of North American – more specifically, USA. The massive $1 Million tournament was set to be played in Atlanta and Boston in the G-FUEL ELEAGUE Arena and Agganis Arena.

The ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 marked a pivotal event in Counter-Strike history, as Valve decided to transform the Major format, going from 16 teams to 24 teams.

FaZe’s superstars off to a flying start

Finn “karrigan” Andersen and his trusted FaZe soldiers arrived at the Major as one of the heavy gold candidates, placing 2nd on the world ranking and possessing superstar players like Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovacs, Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer, and the 21-year-old phenomenon Nikola “NiKo” Kovac.

The strong FaZe-side also got off to a flying start in the Legends Group Stage, where they swiftly managed to secure a playoff spot by beating tough opponents like Fnatic and the iconic Brazilians from SK Gaming. The 3-0 record meant that they obtained a top seed in the next stage.

A team, who didn’t relish the same kind of success right off the bat was the North Americans from Cloud9. The talented roster, led by Tarik “tarik” Celik, had to go on an utterly impressive 3-0 run in the group taking down Astralis, Virtus.pro, and Vega Squadron, after they fell short in their two opening matches. However, the hustle was enough for them to seal a quarterfinal spot.

A star-studded FaZe lineup that has gone 7-0 in maps since the Legends Stage against the underdogs from Cloud9. A true David vs. Goliath battle - The setting for the ELEAGUE Boston Major was set.

After FaZe stole Cloud9’s map pick on Mirage through a close 16-14 victory and the North Americans returning the favour on the second map of Overpass, the title was set to be decided on the forever-iconic Inferno in a third and conclusive map.

At 15-11 in FaZe’s favour, the majority of viewers and spectators in Agganis Arena were certain that the match was about to be over, handing karrigan his first-ever Major title. However, Cloud9 thought differently. An iconic comeback and an absolute heroic display by Jake “Stewie2K” Yip in the 30th round where he single-handedly crushed FaZe’s A-execute, meant that Cloud9 was given a second chance in overtime.

The comeback and insane performance by Stewie2K clearly gave Cloud9 some much-needed momentum, which in the end helped them to secure the title at the 12th CS:GO Major tournament in history. The first-ever Major title for a North American team.

Highest rated players at ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018:

1. {cflag:RU} Egor ‘flamie’ Vasilyev – 1.39

2. {cflag:SE} Freddy ‘KRIMZ’ Johansson – 1.29

3. {cflag:RU} Mihail ‘Dosia’ Stolyarov – 1.25

4. {cflag:BA} Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovac – 1.25

5. {cflag:SK} Ladislav ‘Guardian’ Kovacs – 1.24

6. {cflag:CZ} Tomas ‘oskar’ Stastny – 1.23

7. {cflag:UA} Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev – 1.23

8. {cflag:US} Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik – 1.22

9. {cflag:SE} Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer – 1.20

10. {cflag:US} Timothy ‘autimatic’ Ta – 1.20

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The MVP from NA's biggest CS:GO achievement: Tarik "tarik" Celik

Tomorrow we take a look at the FACEIT London Major from 2018.

Stewie2K

autimatic

tarik

karrigan

olofmeister

NiKo

GuardiaN

FaZe

Cloud9

Here is everything you need to know about the PGL Major Antwerp. This article is inspired by [link:{"url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/ufvylx/there_will_be_only_3_players_in_all_majors_club/","isNewTab":true,"text":"this post"}] on Reddit. Go upvote it!

Challenger Stage: 16 teams in Swiss Group Format. Eight teams advance to the Legends Stage. All elimination or advancement matches are Bo3, and all other matches are Bo1.

Legends Stage: Eight teams from Challenger Stage face eight already qualified teams in another Swiss Group. Eight teams advance to the knockout phase. All elimination or advancement matches are Bo3, and all other matches are Bo1.

Champions Stage: Eight teams compete in the single-elimination bracket. All matches are Bo3.

ENCE, G2, forZe, Astralis, Team Vitality, MIBR, Imperial Esports, Bad News Eagles, Eternal Fire, Team Spirit, Outsiders, Complexity Gaming, IHC Esports, Renegades, Team Liquid, 9z Team

Heroic, Copenhagen Flames, BIG, Cloud9, FURIA, FaZe, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Natus Vincere

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/shox_klg49w","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

shox, dupreeh, olofmeister, device, and Xyp9x are the only five players to have attended all previous 16 Majors. Unless device or olofmeister is substituted in at the PGL Major Antwerp, we will be down to three players on that list.

39 players will make their Major debut at Antwerpen.

Two players hold a 100% win record at a Major. fnx (2) and B1T (1).

Most Major finals: Ninjas in Pyjamas - 5 times

Antwerp is the 12th city to host a Major. Jönköping (2), Katowice (3), Cologne (3), Cluj-Napoca, Columbus, Atlanta, Krakow, Boston, London, Berlin, and Stockholm have hosted the event before.

Mirage is the only map that has been played at all Majors. 

shox

dupreeh

device

Xyp9x

Astralis

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Natus Vincere

We are only 5 days away from kick-off at the PGL Antwerp Major in Belgium. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all of the 16 Majors.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"countdown-major-11-days-go-swedes-from-fnatic-strike-back","isNewTab":false}]

Train, Dust2, Cache, Inferno, Mirage, Overpass, Cobblestone.

ESL One: Cologne 2015 was the sixth CS:GO Major tournament in the history of the game and was held from August 20-23, 2015 in the Lanxess-Arena in Cologne Germany. The tournament once again featured a total of 16 teams and a total prize pool of $250,000.

It was announced after the tournament by Valve that the event had broken the viewership record once again. ESL One: Cologne 2015 scored highest peak of over 1,3 million concurrent viewers during the Grand Final between fnatic and Team EnVy. It was also the first ever CS:GO Major where the Swedish squad from Ninjas in Pyjamas didn’t reach the finals.

DreamHack Winter 2013, ESL One: Katowice 2015, and ESL One: Cologne 2015. Three Majors, one champion – fnatic.

The Swedish squad from fnatic did the impossible. They showed the CS:GO world what true dominance looks like. The team won three CS:GO Majors, a feat no team had been able to match at the time. More impressively, they won two of those Major tournaments back-to-back.

And they did so at a time when the game was blowing up and when ESL One: Katowice hit one million concurrent viewers in 2015. CS:GO was emerging as one of the biggest esports in the world, and fnatic were front and centre.

During the Grand final of the ESL One: Cologne 2015 Major Championship, where fnatic were up against the Frenchmen from Team EnVyUs, the Swedish roster decided to show the world an unseen strategy. Something you probably never thought you would see in a pro match, especially not in a Major Grand final.

In overtime of the first map on Dust2, the heavy-stacked fnatic squad decided to make a huge investment and go all-in on their weapon arsenal by equipping nothing more than four AWP’s in one round. Every player of the team set their sights towards middle doors for a potential peek by their opponents. And right after the round started, a completely helpless Dan “apEX” Madesclaire from EnVyUs chose to take a peek up at T-spawn, where he was met by those four snipers who all had their scope set on him.

Valve decided to immortalize the play by adding a permanent graffiti illustrating a Terrorist holding four AWP’s in his hands near T-Spawn on Dust2. However, the graffiti was removed from the map in an update in 2017.

The sold out Lanxess Arena had 12.000 fans together to cheer for whoever fnatic met. But the Swedes were used to play against the crowd and couldn’t really have asked for better conditions. JW, KRIMZ, flusha, olof, and pronax had a mental fortitude of a champion who know he can’t lose. They believed so much in their own abilities as a team, that even their opponents started believing it, feeling like there is nothing they can do.

When fnatic got intro trouble once in a while, all it took for them to come back in the match was a timeout. Nearly every time they took a timeout, they didn’t lose a single round for the remainder of the match. And that’s exactly what happened in the Grand final of the Major against Team EnVyUs, who was the only squad that was considered a threat to the Swedes.

The first map in the Grand final was Dust2, where JW and company came behind 7-14 against a French squad that was in complete control of the game. Then fnatic took one of their feared time-outs that changed everything. The Swedes fought and managed to take the game into overtime, where they drew the first blood to the series by closing out Dust2 19-15. KRIMZ and the rest of fnatic carried over the momentum on Cobblestone, where they came out on top with a 16-7 scoreline to claim the title and become the first team to secure back-to-back Majors.

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Highest rated players at ESL One: Cologne 2015:

1. {cflag:SE} Robin “flusha” Rönnquist (fnatic) – 1.38 Rating 

2. {cflag:SE} Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer (fnatic) – 1.25 Rating 

3. {cflag:DK} Nicolai “device” Reedtz (TSM) – 1.25 Rating 

4. {cflag:SE} Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson (fnatic) – 1.17 Rating 

5. {cflag:PL} Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas (Virtus.pro) – 1.17 Rating 

6. {cflag:AU} Karlo “USTILO” Pivac (Immunity) – 1.15 Rating 

7. {cflag:DK} Finn “karrigan” Andersen (TSM) – 1.14 Rating 

8. {cflag:DE} Denis “denis” Howell (MOUZ) – 1.14 Rating 

9. {cflag:US} Josh “jdm64” Marzano (CLG) – 1.13 Rating 

10. {cflag:FI} Aleksi “allu” Jalli (NiP) – 1.13 Rating

Randomized anti-doping tests were conducted during the ESL One: Cologne 2015, which returned negative results for all tested players. ESL continued to implement this initiative for all of their ESL One series.

Tomorrow we take a look at the DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 Major.

KRIMZ

flusha

Fnatic

We are only six days away from kick-off at the PGL Antwerp Major in Belgium. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all of the 16 Majors.

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Winner: Ninjas in Pyjamas $100.00 (f0rest, Fifflaren, friberg, GeT_RiGhT, Xizt)

MVP: [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/friberg","isNewTab":true,"text":"Adam 'friberg' Friberg"}]

Map pool: Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Cache, Overpass, and Cobblestone

Big changes had happened before the start of ESL One Cologne 2014. The map pool of the tournament had seen a major overhaul with Train being removed, while Cache, Cobblestone, and Overpass were added. Overpass had only recently been introduced in the game, which gave way for some controversy before the start of the Major.

Once again Ninjas in Pyjamas was deemed one of the top favorites before the tournament. The Swedes had lost the Grand Final at a Major twice in a row, but with Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund back in shape, the expectations were sky-high for the Swedes. Next in line was the previous champions from Virtus.pro, while Dignitas, Natus Vincere, Titan, and Fnatic were in the group of potential outsiders for the trophy.

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From the get-go, it was two French teams who stole the spotlight. Team LDLC smashed Group B and qualified in first place for the playoffs. Epsilon repeated the feat in Group A upsetting tournament favorites from Ninjas in Pyjamas. The French roster (fxy0, GMX, kioShiMa, Sf, shox) destroyed NIP 16-6 on Cobblestone to claim first place in the group. This raised the question about NIP's candidacy for the CSGO throne. The Swedes made it through their group and were now paired with the high-flying Cloud9 in the first round of the playoffs.

Fnatic narrowly edged out Natus Vincere, while Epsilon was put to rest by Dignitas (aizy, device, dupreeh, FeTiSh, Xyp9x). The reigning champions Virtus.pro were upset by Team LDLC, while all eyes were set on the last Quarter-Final. In an intense and dramatic match, Ninjas in Pyjamas fought the North Americans in a ferocious battle that ended 2-1 in the favor of the Swedes. 

Fnatic qualified for the Grand Final with a clear 2-0 win against Dignitas. Would it be another all-Swedish final? NIP once again lost the first map, after Team LDLC won on Inferno. But again NIP fought back and forced the match onto Cobblestone, where NIP edged out their opponents 16-14.  

The two Swedish rivals, Fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas were ready for their second encounter in a Major Grand Final. This time NIP started off by winning Fnatic's map pick, but then went on to lose Cache. Inferno was set as the decider. Adam 'friberg' Friberg cemented his nickname "King of Banana" with an incredible ace to revive the Ninjas from a poor start. The support player was later named MVP of the tournament. NIP won the title by defeating Fnatic 16-13 and could raise the trophy for the first and so far only time. Notable was the fact, that none of the five NIP players ended the tournament as one of the top 10 best rated players, which also told the story about a tournament filled with ups and downs for the Swedish roster.

Highest rated players at ESL One Cologne 2014:

1. {cflag:US} Braxton 'swag' Pierce (iBUYPOWER) - 1.43

2. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/apex","isNewTab":false,"text":"Dan 'apEX' Madesclaire"}] (LDLC) - 1.38

3. {cflag:RU} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/dosia","isNewTab":true,"text":"Mikhail 'Dosia' Stolyarov"}] (Hellraisers) - 1.35

4. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/kioshima","isNewTab":true,"text":"Fabien 'kioShiMa' Fiey"}] (Epsilon) - 1.33

5. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/kennys","isNewTab":true,"text":"Kenny 'kennyS' Schrub"}] (Titan) - 1.28

6. {cflag:PL} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/snax","isNewTab":true,"text":"Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski"}] (Virtus.pro) - 1.27

7. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/flusha","isNewTab":true,"text":"Robin 'flusha' Rönnquist"}] (Fnatic) - 1.24

8. {cflag:UA} Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev (Natus Vincere) - 1.22

9. {cflag:FR} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/shox","isNewTab":true,"text":"Richard 'shox' Papillon"}] (Epsilon) - 1.21

10. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/olofmeister","isNewTab":true,"text":"Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer Gustafsson"}] (Fnatic) - 1.19

Tomorrow we take a look at the DreamHack Winter 2014 tournament.

friberg

Snax

Dosia

apEX

Once merely known as the support for "olofmeister", over the last several years "KRIMZ" has been the quiet bedrock of fnatic. 

During the fnatic era of 2015, it was "olofmeister" who claimed the primary spotlight, hailed as the best player in the world. But almost as legendary was the synergy between him and "KRIMZ", his long-time duo partner from before the pair even joined fnatic. 

But since the departure of "olofmeister" at that time, "KRIMZ" has established his own identity. He’s every bit the reliable anchor he was in the golden age of the team, but he’s also stepped out of "olofmeister"’s shadow to prove that he doesn’t need another star to play off of and that he’s more than capable of putting fnatic on his own back. 

fnatic are sporting a new-look international roster with the recent addition of the British duo in "ALEX" and "mezii". More than ever the fnatic side will have to look towards "KRIMZ" as the anchor of the team, carrying the weight of five players on his shoulders at times. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"official-fnatic-sign-alex-mezii","isNewTab":true}]

fnatic will be sporting the interesting international roster when they face other tier-one teams in their group of ESL Pro League Season 14. The first match for the fnatic roster is set to be against a difficult opponent in Natus Vincere and will take place on August 27. 

See how one of the greatest of all time in CS:GO, Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson has set himself up in his apartment in Sweden.

The former number 1 player in the world is currently benched on FaZe.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"video-legend-who-always-comes-back","isNewTab":true}]

You can see the video here (English subs are available)

It is almost impossible to keep count on the times that Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson has been in and out of the FaZe roster.

The former number 1 in the world was once again benched at the beginning of this year when FaZe brought in Robin "ropz" Kool to the team. Unfortunately for FaZe, the young Estonian has been tested positive for Covid-19 and is set to miss out on the beginning of IEM Katowice.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"ropz-will-miss-initial-stages-iem-katowice","isNewTab":true}]

It was expected that olofmeister, who is still on the bench for FaZe, would be the natural stand-in, as the two players almost completely plays the same positions on the team. But today the Swede announced, that he would not be the fifth player for FaZe at the event.

It is still unknown, who will be the stand-in for FaZe at the tournament.

ropz

Yesterday Astralis took down a big scalp with the elimination of FaZe in the lower-semifinals at BLAST Premier Fall Final. After the match, we spoke with Astralis' newcomer Benjamin "blameF" Bremer about the win, Lucky on the rifle, and whether he hope for a danish battle against Heroic next. 

You can watch the post-match interview down below.

Olofmeister post-match interview: "I'm still long-term committed to FaZe"

Lucky

blameF

For the first time since the ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018, Team Liquid will not be part of the playoffs at a Major. The North American team was knocked out of the PGL Stockholm Major by their old teammate Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken and FaZe, who won today's early elimination match.

The match started with a bang on Inferno. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski cleaned out FaZe in the pistol round with an ace, while Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson clutched 1vs2 in the second round to produce the second highlight of the match just two rounds in. FaZe quickly established a big lead on their CT side. Helvijs "broky" Saukants was a key player for FaZe as he made a great impact with his AWP. An 11-4 lead at the break was converted to a 16-8 win on Inferno for FaZe.

On Mirage the match turned into a true brawl. It was evident that everything was on the line for Team Liquid, who could see their tournament life on the line being 0-1 down and playing on their opponent's map pick. Liquid started best and established an 8-3 lead. FaZe found a way back to make it 7-8 before the break. In the second half, both teams traded rounds with Team Liquid losing several key rounds against semi-eco rounds from FaZe. It all had to be decided in overtime. Here Liquid had two match points for the second time on the map, but again FaZe survived. In the second overtime, it was now FaZe with the upper hand going 21-19. A fantastic clutch from broky eliminated Team Liquid, where the Latvian won a 1vs2 situation.

FaZe will be back in action tomorrow in the last elimination match to try and qualify for the playoff stage, while Team Liquid is done and dusted at the Major.

Team Liquid – FaZe 0-2 | PGL Major Stockholm 2021

8-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:LV} broky – 1.37 Rating / 22-14 K-D / 81.8 ADR

19-22 (Mirage) | {cflag:LV} broky – 1.40 Rating / 38-26 K-D / 95.1 ADR

MVP: {cflag:LV} Helvijs "broky" Saukants - 1.37 Rating / 60-40 K-D / 91.6 ADR

broky

EliGE

Team Liquid

Finn “karrigan” Andersen and FaZe Clan are the first team to advance from the Challengers Stage at Major, as they now post a 3-0 score in the Swiss-style group stage. The profiled team got the decisive win today against Virtus.pro, in a crushing 2-0 defeat (16-14 / 16-6).

The match began on Virtus.pro map pick of Mirage, where it was the superstar veteran in Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer who took on the leading role in the first half. The 29-year-old Swede was firing on all cylinders on the CT-side, presenting a 12-5 K-D / 1.44 Rating score in the first 15 rounds.

The Dzami “Jame” Ali-led side improved heavily after the switch, but it was still not enough to take the win, as FaZe snatched the first map 16-14.

The FaZe supremacy kept on going on Ancient, where especially the Canadian star rifler Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken demonstrated his impeccable Counter-Strike abilities. Going into the match, VP hasn’t managed to win a single map on Ancient in the last 3 months, which also shined through in their performance. FaZe closed out the series by winning the second map 16-6.

FaZe – Virtus.pro 2-0 | PGL Stockholm Major Challengers Stage

16-14 (Mirage) | {cflag:SE} olofmeister - 1.33 Rating / 22-17 K-D / 84.4 ADR

16-6 (Ancient) | {cflag:CA} Twistzz – 1.90 Rating / 27-12 K-D / 122.4 ADR

MVP: {cflag:CA} Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken – 1.43 Rating / 48-30 K-D / 93.2 ADR

Twistzz

Virtus.pro

FaZe Clan started very comfortably on the T-side on their map pick of Ancient. Twistzz and Rain taking heads left and right, fueled FaZe into a fast 7-1 lead. OG managed to find rhythm after that to bring it back to an 8-7 halftime score in the favour of FaZe.

The Norwegian entry fragger and the Canadian superstar continued their reign in the second half, as they made the OG players lives’ miserable every chance they got. OG fought back but there was no luck to be found, as they managed to get only three rounds on their T-side, ending Ancient with a 16-10 scoreline in favor of FaZe.

FaZe took the confidence they built on Ancient with them, into OG’s map pick; Inferno. They picked up the first 8 rounds of the map only conceding 11 deaths and allowing no plants to come through. OG did manage to claw back some rounds on their T-side, managing to get it back to 5-10 at halftime.

Everything looked done and dusted after the first four rounds of the second half, as FaZe extended their lead to 14-5. This is when OG showed why they picked Inferno. They went on an impressive 11 round win streak, led by the 18-year-old flameZ, to close out the map, and take it to the decider map of Mirage.

The first two maps had started heavily in favor of FaZe, and Mirage would not be an exception. FaZe took the first seven straight before OG managed to put one on the board. FaZe kept looking strong throughout the half with inspiring play from the Swedish legend “olofmeister”. OG only managed to take 4 rounds on their CT-side, though it wasn’t for the lack of trying from OG’s talented AWP’er “mantuu”, who had a stellar first half with multiple opening frags, and multi-kill rounds.

The last pistol round of the Bo3 went to FaZe, just like the five before it. On the back of that pistol FaZe had a clean slate on their CT-side, fueled once again by star player "Twistzz", and closed out the map at 16-4.

Ancient (10-16) | {cflag:NO} rain – 1.51 Rating / 24-19 / 120.1 ADR

Inferno (16-14) | {cflag:IL} flameZ – 1.64 Rating / 28-18 / 110.7 ADR

Mirage (4-16) | {cflag:CA} Twistzz – 1.71 Rating / 20-11 / 100.5 ADR

rain

flameZ

mantuu

As a two-time Major winner and a Major MVP, Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer has accomplished what most players can only dream of.

The Swede is one of the most beloved Counter-Strike players of all time and has been a crucial part of some iconic plays, and some controversial ones, throughout his Counter-Strike career.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"highlight-olofmeister-does-1v3-clutch","isNewTab":false}]

Over the past few years though, he has been trying to step away from the game, but no matter how many times he leaves, Counter-Strike can’t seem to let him go.

So, why does everyone get so excited to see olofmeister come back over and over?

The star-studded roster will begin their journey towards BLAST Premier Fall Finals with a match against Complexity tomorrow. A match that will once again test the strength of the newly shaped roster, which has undergone several changes in 2021. The return of [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/olofmeister","isNewTab":true,"text":"Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer Gustafsson"}] marked the third roster change in the new year. Previously both [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/karrigan","isNewTab":true,"text":"Finn 'karrigan' Andersen"}] and [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/twistzz","isNewTab":true,"text":"Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken"}] joined the ranks of the North American team.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"olofmeister-is-back-again","isNewTab":true}]

With the impressive run at IEM Cologne and the respectable showing at ESL Pro League, there are reasons to believe, that FaZe could be a potential outsider for the A-tier tournaments in the near future. Some of it can be attributed to the Danish in-game leader Finn 'karrigan' Andersen, who has taken the responsibility of a leader. A key area that has been missing on the FaZe roster.

- karrigan makes it a lot easier. It has been a long time since we have had a good in-game leader. He controls everyone and makes it a lot easier for everyone. He is a guy that wants to be an in-game leader, and not just a guy that takes it on because no one else wants to do it, Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer Gustafsson tells Pley.gg.

The legendary Swede has seen his fair share of teammates, who has stepped in as an in-game leader on the team with Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, and Marcelo "coldzera" David being the most notable ones.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"olofmeister-twistzz-is-too-nice-sometimes","isNewTab":true}]

Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken joined the team at the end of January 2021 and witnessed the Danish in-game leader's impact from day 1.

- The second he joined he scrapped the playbook which I was a little sad about since I obviously brought some things from Liquid that I liked. He redid the whole playbook, which ended up being a good thing long-term because right now we are finding more and more consistent results.

The Canadian rifler compares karrigan with his old in-game leader back in the glory days from Team Liquid.

- I haven't played with a leader like him since 'nitr0' during our Grand Slam run in 2018. 'nitr0' would micromanage a lot and is a really good mid-round caller. Playing with karrigan gave me the same vibes again.

You can see the full interview with the two FaZe players, who discusses the Danish in-game leader in the video below.

FaZe takes on Complexity tomorrow night at 19.30 (CEST) at Blast Premier Fall Groups.

The battle for RMR points towards the Major is near its conclusion. At IEM Fall at the end of September, the last RMR points will be distributed. Currently FaZe is sitting outside the qualification zone with only 248 points in the bag. Despite being ranked as the 6th best team in the world, FaZe will have to qualify for the RMR event. Tonight they face the Danish roster from OPAA, where a win will be enough to put FaZe through to IEM Fall.

- The RMR event is our biggest priority, and that is why we bootcamp. We have been working towards that. We can not accept not qualifying, [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/olofmeister","isNewTab":true,"text":"Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer Gustafsson"}] explains in an online interview with Pley.gg. The Swede has been boot camping in Poland with his teammates lately. Here they hope to have found the formula, that will secure the team a spot in the Stockholm Major, which is set to take place from October 23rd.

- We can not mess up in the qualifier. Luckily for us, the RMR event is a LAN event. Back to live playing which is always good for us, [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/twistzz","isNewTab":true,"text":"Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken"}] adds. The last time FaZe played on LAN, they made it all the way to the Semi-Finals at IEM Cologne, so maybe the Canadian has got a point.

For Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson it would almost be unthinkable not to participate in the Major. The 29-year-old Swede is part of the exclusive club of only six players in history, that have been present at all of the previous 15 Majors.

 {cflag:SE} olofmeister  {cflag:DK} device  {cflag:DK} dupreeh  {cflag:DK} Xyp9x  {cflag:UA} Zeus  {cflag:FR} shox

For the legendary Swedish player, the Stockholm Major could also be the last time, that the experienced FaZe player gets the chance to play on home turf in a Major.

- Qualifying for the Major is the biggest thing you can do. But having it on home turf makes it so much bigger. It is huge for me, and it is a dream come true to play in front of the home crowd. 

Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson has played a Major on home turf twice before. In 2013 he played for LGB eSports, who was knocked out in the Quarterfinals. One year later he was back in Jönköping this time for Fnatic. The result was the same though. In the Quarterfinals, Fnatic lost to the French roster Team LDLC.com.

Faze play against OPAA tonight at 17.30. You can see the match here on Pley.gg

Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken took the CS world by surprise, with his departure from Team Liquid after the conclusion of IEM Global Challenge in December 2020.

[twitchVideo:esl_csgp/clip/FreezingSlipperyPenguinDeIlluminati]

The Canadian rifler needed a new place to bring back the joy of Counter-Strike and to further develop himself as a player. He found exactly that on FaZe. With Finn "karrigan" Andersen as the in-game leader, Twistzz is now given the responsibility of a "star-player" on the team. A perfect fit if you ask Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson, who previously was regarded as one of the game's biggest stars. Now, in his older days, the Swede has taken up the support/lurker role on the team, where he has first row tickets to see his new teammate in action.

- Russel is a great, great guy. He is one of the kindest guys, that I have ever met in Esports. His aim is insane. The only one I can compare him to is NiKo. He has a very good understanding of the game, and I think he can be a really big star player and has a long career in front of him. But I also think that he is too nice sometimes. Sometimes you also need to be the bad guy.

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