Finding consistency for the Ninjas in Pyjamas CS:GO has been quite a struggle. Accordingly, their experiments fail to provide them the success they hope to reap. Indeed, it seems they’ve made another change – read on to learn more below!
So no, the roster hasn’t changed since September. However, the lack of results is reason enough to get change rolling during the December CS:GO break.
Bearing this in mind, the likes of Patrick “es3tag” Hansen, signed back in November 2021, has been sent to the bench.
This leaves the following active roster:
Fredrik “REZ” sTERNER
Hampus “hampus” Poser
Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin
Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen
Daniel “djL” Narancic – Coach
This could have a few ramifications. Following this change, the organization will possibly use their other substitute. This would involve promoting Nicholas “Plopski” Zamora from the bench or finding a new player.
Credits: Valve
Regardless, the team will be hoping to improve over their dry spell this past year:
Astralis, astralis, astralis – those familiar with CS:GO are aware of the legacy of this organization. Accordingly, since 2019, they have failed to replicate their former dominance. Heading into next year, the Astralis CS:GO roster 2023 has reformed – read on to learn more!
Moving into 2023, Astralis are trying to build with what they have. Sticking with the veterans of “Xyp9x” and “gla1ve”, “blameF” from last year is staying.
In addition, the recent addition of Nicolai “dec1ce” Reedtz in October has complimented this team nicely. Most recently, this week, Christian “Buzz” Andersen has been signed to the roster to complete it – take a look below:
Andreas “Xyp9x” Hojsleth
Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander
Benjamin “blameF” Bremer
Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz
Christian “Buzz” Andersen
Peter “casle” Ardenskjold – Coach
Credits; Valve
Also, the coach Peter “casle” Ardenskjold is also new. Let’s see if they can improve over their past year of achievements as exemplified below:
While we covered the upcoming esports road map for CS:GO, details for the events are still rolling out. Accordingly, the ESL Pro League 2023 will occur twice and it seems a change in format is coming. Read on as we describe the changes below!
ESL Pro League 2023 – Outlining the Changes
You wanted it to mean more. Well for the teams at the ESL Pro League everything is about to change!
Indeed, here at esportsguide we understand the importance of viewership. Accordingly, it’s a great sign of comunity interest and general success of the esport. After an awesome year of esports, in this featured article we’ll be taking a look at the top esports events viewership 2022 below!
Esports Events Viewership 2022 – Some Staggering Numbers
Year upon year, improvement is what esports organizers are looking for. Accordingly, esports viewership figures are one way to measure such improvement.
Before we highlight the best events in the year, we should thank Esports Charts for their publically available information.
Kicking things off, we have the top Dota 2 esports event of the year. Accordingly, The International is the premier recurring yearly event which crowns a new world champion every year.
Indeed, although this year the prize pool was smaller than last year, it didn’t fail to make an impression on the competitive Dota 2 community. As the final piece of the Dota Pro Circuit, the event celebrated Dota’s return after a year of online competition.
Crowning the likes of Tundra Esports, the event was an awesome opportunity to show that Dota 2 esports is still one of the top in the world
#3 – PGL Major Antwerp 2022
Credits: PGL
Peak Viewership – 2,113,610
Average Viewership – 586,218
Venue: Antwerp, Belgium
Prize – $1,000,000
Moving on, we have the only competitive CS:GO event on this list. With $1,000,000 on the line, PGL Major Antwerp was the epic return of competitive CS:GO to the main stage.
Uniting the community with the top 24 teams in the world, May saw Antwerp take competitive CS:GO to the very next level.
Moreover, this event is most known for its incredible Grand Final match. Involving the titans of FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere, the community was treated to an incredible bit of competition. Since then, CS:GO has been on an upward trend and all Majors since have followed the same successful format.
Moving towards the top of the list as we remain roughly at the 2,000,000 peak viewership mark, the MSI 2022 event narrowly takes second place on this list.
For those unaware, the MSI is the first opportunity for the competitive League of Legends community to compete in an international playing field. Specifically, the very best teams from each region qualify to compete for global dominance – the only time before Worlds.
Featuring some incredible battles between Korean and Chinese teams, MSI was only a preview for what was to come next in the coming months at Worlds 2022.
#1 – 2022 World Championship
Credits: Riot Games
Peak Viewership – 5,147,701
Average Viewership – 987,437
Venue – State Farm Arena, North America
Prize – $2,225,000
Indeed, MSI was only a preview for Worlds 2022. Accordingly, here is where viewership simply imploded.
Taking place at the latter end of the season, Worlds is the yearly event which crowns an international champion every year for competitive League of Legends.
This year, the event saw the return of international LoL to the North American region for the first time in 4 years. Once again, Korean and Chinese teams fought for international dominance – DRX managing to take the crown with 5,000,000 viewers watching.
It’s been an incredible year for viewership – we can’t wait for next year!
Accordingly, the BLAST Premier World Final 2022 concluded in the past weekend. Ending the 2022 season on a high for CS:GO, G2 Esports managed to defy the odds and come out on top. Read on as we recap the event below!
BLAST Premier World Final – A Nice Surprise
Recovered from the emotional @G2esports win yesterday?🥹
Indeed, we had $1,000,000 on the line for the 8 BLAST Premier teams attending. With favourites such as Natus Vincere, Heroic, Outsiders and FaZe Clan – how did G2 win?
Starting in the Group Stage, G2 Esports barely managed to get to the Playoffs, with a 1-1 record in Group A finishing 3rd.
Seeded into the Quarterfinals, G2 Esports then went on a crazy run:
Team Vitality vs G2 Esports (1-2)
FaZe Clan vs G2 Esports (0-2)
G2 Esports vs Team Liquid (2-0)
After not winning anything for the past 2 years, with multiple second place finishes, they’ve finally won a chip again.
Undeniably, CS:GO remains one of the top esports in the world after 2022. Accordingly, heading into the coming year, the CS:GO Esports 2023 road map involves an incredible amount of events and expectations – read on to learn more below!
CS:GO Esports 2023 – Multiple Organizers Onboard
Indeed, compared to other esports, CS:GO simply has the most action all year long. Thanks to the work of multiple organizers, an awesome schedule has been put together.
Read on as we list all the events for 2023 according to organizers:
Also, multiple ESL Challenger events all season long (10+)
ESL Impact
International league of female CS:GO professional teams competing to be the very best. Kicking off in March 2023, the very best will compete for the opportunity to fight alongisde the best at international events. Taking place once again, CS:GO continues to invest in female esports.
DreamHack
Credits: DreamHack
April – DreamHack Melbourne, DreamHack San Diego
May – DreamHack Japan
June – DreamHack Dallas
June – DramHack Summer
December and June – DreamHack Hanover
July and December – DreamHack Valencia
October – DreamHack Hyderabad
November – DreamHack Winter
December – DreamHack Atlanta
BLAST
Blast.tv Paris Major 2023 – May
BLAST Premier Events – TBD
Credits: BLAST
Accordingly, we need to ask – what’s changing from 2022? Indeed, it seems the main change looks to be the qualification system for Majors. As we had discussed earlier this week, the qualification system will feature more opportunities for everyone to compete.
Otherwise, CS;GO looks to keep growing at an unprecedented rate – and we’re all for it!
Following the immense success of the IEM Rio Major earlier this year, the community simply cannot wait for more. Accordingly, Valve CS:GO Majors 2023 will look to improve on the formula. Indeed, read on as we highlight some changes announced by Valve!
Valve CS:GO Majors 2023 – Two Main Changes Incoming
Credits: Valve
Next year, the earliest Major to enjoy will be the 2023 Paris Major. Overall, here are some changes to the qualification system for such anticipated events:
Closed Qualifiers – some teams who aren’t directly invited will get to skip the open qualifiers–teams that consistently perform well in Valve and third-party events will be directly invited to a closed qualifier. There, they’ll compete against teams that enter from an open qualifier.
RMR Asia – additional slots revealed for the asian region
Format of Closed Qualifiers – twice the number of teams qualifying for RMR will fight through closed qualifier, at least half teams participate thanks to regional rankings
Online Closed Qualifiers – online qualifiers may be split to ensure the best connection possible
Credits: BLAST
Accordingly, these are great changes overall. Indeed, added seeds for Asia will be rather interesting.
Also, closed qualifiers split for better connection should help improve the competitive integrity of these essential qualifiers.
Indeed, these are good changes overall – we can’t wait for next year!
Rarely in esports, teams go from winning to losing just like that. Accordingly, in this BLAST Premier World Final Update, that seems to be the case for the Outsiders roster. Read on as we describe exactly how this team failed expectations below.
Heading into this event, two of the favourites were Outsiders and Heroic. As of right now, both are eliminated – Heroic went down swinging, but Outsiders simply got destroyed.
Indeed, when we mean ‘destroyed’, Outsiders were truly embarrased. Accordingly, following a respectable loss of Team Liquid, Outsiders then faced G2 Esports.
Losing on Inferno in a close 16-12 game, the match then moved onto Mirage, where Outsiders would try equalize. Unfortunately, G2 Esports would go on to crush them 16-1.
Naturally, this confusing result following a win at the IEM Rio Major does beg questions of this Outsiders roster.
Credits: Valve
Regardless, the competition moves on – Group A has finalized as follows:
1 – FaZe Clan – 2-0
2 – G2 Esports – 1-1
3 – Team Liquid – 1-1
4 – Outsiders – 0-2
Meanwhile, Group B remains undecided for the top teams – OG and Team Vitality battle later today to decide the first and second seeds.
Accordingly, the BLAST Premier 2022 season has been incredible for competitive CS:GO. Offering multiple top tier events, the 2022 year is now concluding with the BLAST Premier World Final event in the coming days. Read on as, in this featured, we’ll be discussing our BLAST Premier World Final Predictions below!
BLAST Premier World Final 2022 – Painting the Picture
Credits: BLAST
So, let’s start by painting the picture.
BLAST is one of many organizers for the highest level of CS:GO competition, such as ESL and PGL – BLAST Premier is their own tournament structure.
Each event in the BLAST Premier series this year has allowed teams to gather points and qualify for the BLAST Premier World Final 2022 through the Global Leaderboard.
Taking place offline once again, now in the Etihad Arena (United Arab Emirates), the BLAST Premier World Final will put $1,000,000 on the line for the best 8 teams in the world.
Running from 14th December to 18th December, this looks to end the year in epic fashion.
Let’s take a look at the 8 teams qualified below, five teams qualified through tournament placings and three teams through global leaderboard points:
Natus Vincere – Spring Finals
Heroic – Fall Finals
FaZe Clan – EPL S15 and PGL Major
Outsiders – IEM Rio Major 2022
Team Vitality – ESL Pro League Season 16
Global Leaderboard
OG
G2 Esports
Team Liquid
Also, before we dive into some predictions, we need to bear in mind the format. Accordingly, starting with the Group Stage (GSL) groups, random seeding is as follows:
Following the Group Stage, we have our final Playoffs stage, with the 8 teams fighting through a single elimination bracket to try and earn the crown.
World Final 2022 Prediction – Global Leaderboard Context
So, for these types of events, there are two arguments when it comes to predictions – do we look at overall season performance or the most recent event?
Firstly, we’re going to take a look at the BLAST Premier World Leaderboard 2022 to garner an idea regarding the seasonal efforts of participating teams:
#1 – FaZe Clan – 17600 points
#2 – Natus Vincere – 12200 points
#3 – Heroic – 10000 points
#4 – Team Vitality – 8825 points
#5 – G2 Esports – 6625 points
#6 – OG – 6300 points
#7 – Team Liquid – 6212.5 points
#11 – Outsiders – 4562.5 points
Gunning for back-to-back BLAST titles, can @heroicgg win the World Final with @k0nfig?
On paper, it is very clear that the favourites, in order, are FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere and Heroic thanks to multiple event wins and top placements all year long.
Fall Finals and Rio Major – Heroic and Outsiders
However, esports is usually more focused on recency bias. Considering that the meta (trends in the competitive scene) is always changing, being on top is a matter of being in the present.
Bearing this in mind, the two most recent events paint a slightly different picture to the overall seasonal standings.
Accordingly, we’d like to take a look at both the last BLAST Premier event (Fall Finals) and the last CS:GO Major (IEM Rio Major):
BLAST Premier Fall Finals 2022 – 23-27 November
#1 – Heroic
#2 – FaZe Clan
#3-4 – Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Liquid
Less than 2 days until our Abu Dhabi debut 👊
Don't miss our opening match of the @BLASTPremier World Final this Wednesday 👀
Finally, with each day, we’re getting very close to the BLAST Premier World Finals 2022. Accordingly, as the final chapter of the BLAST Premier season this year, we can’t wait. Bearing this in mind, feel free to read on to learn how to watch this highly anticipated CS:GO event below!
Organized by BLAST, the BLAST Premier is a premier series of CS:GO esports. Taking place offline, the top 8 teams in the series have fought all year long to make it to the Abu Dhabi, Etihand Arena in the coming week.
Specifically, the event will run from 14th December to 18th December. Beyond the title, the teams are competing for an incredible $1,000,000 prize pool overall.
Here are the 8 competitors and their parameters for qualification below:
Natus Vincere – Spring Finals
Heroic – Fall Finals
FaZe Clan – ESL S15 and PGL Major
Outsiders – IEM Rio Major 2022
Team Vitality – ESL Pro League Season 16
G2 Esports – Global Leaderboard
OG – Global Leaderboard
Team Liquid – Global Leaderboard
Read on as we dive deeper into the format below!
Format
With one week to go till World Final commences, we'll be putting out team previews of all our attendees.
Today we start with our reigning World Final Champions @natusvincere and their route to Abu Dhabi. #BLASTPremier
With regards to the format, there are two stages of competition to enjoy.
Firstly, the Group Stage will involve two double-eliminaiton format Groups (GSL). With each group having 4 teams, each match will be BO3.
For those who are unaware, GSL format means that qualification involves teams having to win 2 games. The one team who fails to win 2 games will be eliminated.
Following the completion of the Group Stage, seeding into the Playoffs will involve the following:
Winners – advance to the Semifinals
Runners-up – advance to the Quarterfinals as the High Seeds
3rd place – advance to the Quarterfinals as the Low Seeds
In succession, the playoffs will involve a single elimination bracket, with BO3 matches. Once here, teams have one single life to make it to the next stage of competition. On 18th December, a new champion of the BLAST Premier will be crowned for 2022, ending the year in epic fashion.
Schedule for the BLAST Premier World Finals 2022
When it comes to the schedule, we highly recommend visiting the offical event page schedule here.
We recommend staying up to date with the official event page for the future schedule.
Watch the BLAST Premier World Finals 2022 on esportsguide
You can also watch the event live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
