Counter-Strike 2
Counter-Strike 2: its teams, tournaments, transfers and the business around them.
Spirit lead Valve's August standings as Vitality slip to fifth
Valve's standings of August 3, 2026 have Team Spirit first with 2011 points and Team Vitality fifth, their first time outside the top four since August 2024. Six events draw invites from it.
AcademiesCS2 Prospects ranking: 31 young players graduate after Season 2
A leading Counter-Strike statistics site lists the 31 players leaving its Prospects ranking: 11 passed a map limit at the top level, 20 turned 21.
Prize MoneyCologne Major stickers paid teams a fraction of Budapest, HLTV reports
A month after the IEM Cologne Major, HLTV sets out what Valve's new sticker system paid teams: about US$60,000 for one early exit, against US$600,000 for a Budapest capsule.
National TeamsFrom 87 national squads to 24: the Esports Nations Cup field in CS2
The Counter-Strike 2 qualifiers of the Esports Nations Cup are over. Which 24 nations go to Riyadh in November, how twelve of the squads were built and what they play for.
AcademiesNIP put the Young Ninjas academy on hold and release its players
Ninjas in Pyjamas announced on July 20 that its Counter-Strike academy, Young Ninjas, is on hold for the foreseeable future. Three players and the coach are free to sign elsewhere.
CoachesAstralis appoint NEO head coach and add a performance coach
A month after parting ways with ruggah, Astralis hired its first head coach from outside Denmark, NEO, and brought in Xirreth from Natus Vincere as performance coach.
VenuesBLAST takes a 2027 Counter-Strike 2 Open to Ulaanbaatar in May
BLAST takes the second Open of its 2027 Counter-Strike 2 season to the Mongolian capital: 16 teams and US$1.25 million from May 10 to 23, 2027.
AcademiesMOUZ NXT sign two players and return to a full five
MOUZ announced two signings for its academy team MOUZ NXT on July 10. The team had been down to three players since April and had not played since May.
TechnologyCS2 update turns the bomb blast into a shockwave stopped by walls
A Valve update reworks the C4 explosion in Counter-Strike 2 and opens Premier Season 5, while Cache replaces Overpass in the Active Duty pool that ESL events follow.
SponsorshipsESL FACEIT Group shuts skin and case-opening sponsors out of CS2 events
ESL FACEIT Group has rewritten the sponsor rules of its Counter-Strike 2 rulebook, Dot Esports reported on July 8, 2026: skin and case-opening sites can no longer back its events.
IntegrityVAC bans and the CS2 Major: who is eligible and what a Banned Team is
How Valve's Major rulebook treats players with VAC bans: written approval, the Banned Team rule, forfeited winnings, discretionary disqualification and checks at the venue.
PlayersESL's July 2026 rulebook: CS2 players stay seated and comms rules tighten
ESL's second 2026 rulebook update for the ESL Pro Tour, published July 7, keeps players in their seats during maps, polices team voice chat and counts VAC bans for five years.
RostersHEROIC change two of five in a day: yxngstxr out, xfl0ud benched
On July 7, HEROIC benched xfl0ud, saw yxngstxr step down from the active roster and were briefly left with three players before naming a new five by the evening.
CoachesHEROIC replace coach TOBIZ and analyst R0nic with doto
HEROIC named its former academy coach doto head coach on July 6 and parted ways with TOBIZ and analyst R0nic. A day later, the five he was to lead had changed too.
TechnologyXSE admits it was not ready for tech failures at Pro League Guangzhou
The organizer of the US$1 million XSE Pro League Guangzhou says a power outage delayed day two, dismissed the lead admin responsible and replaced practice PCs.
OrganizationsLuminosity returns to Counter-Strike 2 with four Monte players and lux
Luminosity confirmed on July 1 a Counter-Strike 2 roster built on four Monte players and the Brazilian captain lux, its first team in the game since 2019.
TransfersBC.Game sign Magisk as in-game leader alongside s1mple and electroNic
BC.Game announced Magisk as its new in-game leader on June 30. The Counter-Strike 2 team now has four players and a caller after two months without one.
RankingsFalcons take the top of HLTV's world ranking from Vitality
HLTV's Counter-Strike ranking of June 29, 2026 lists Falcons first with 883 points, 60 ahead of Vitality, eight days after the team won the IEM Cologne Major. Three weeks earlier it was fourth.
TransfersG2 sign r1nkle off the NIP bench as their new AWPer
G2 completed the signing of r1nkle from Ninjas in Pyjamas on June 25, the day SunPayus was benched. Where the deal leaves G2's five, its academy snipers and the selling club.
RostersG2 bench SunPayus after one year and a Major quarter-final exit
G2 moved its AWPer SunPayus to the bench on June 25, six days after losing to Spirit at the IEM Cologne Major. The club gave no reason and named r1nkle the same day.