It has been a crazy few weeks in the world of Counter-Strike. Tournaments, qualifiers, roster changes, and the burgeoning excitement of the approaching BLAST Austin Major have served to create an atmosphere of excitement, change, and energy in the professional scene. For those of you who want to get caught up on the news of the last couple of weeks, but don’t have the time to carefully watch it all unfold in real time (because you’re grinding your aim, obviously), we’ve put together a little news roundup. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories coming out of the professional Counter-Strike world, so you can be the most knowledgeable CS fan in your stack.
Falcons On Fire
A few weeks ago, Falcons weren’t looking too hot. The Saudi organization had been struggling to find a level of consistency and quality befitting the high-profile names on their roster. Then, Bucharest happened. PGL Bucharest 2025 was a crazy tournament, with some teams who were expected to do well having lacklustre runs, and some underdogs winning hearts and minds and going deep into the playoffs.
Falcons started slowly, eventually facing elimination with their backs against the wall for the entire rest of their assumedly short time in Bucharest. Then they started winning. Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski’s team didn’t stop winning until they held the trophy, with Abdulkhalik “degster” Gasanov not only hoisting the first piece of silverware in his career, but also his first event MVP. Sadly for the explosive AWPer, he was benched less than 48-hours later to make room for Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov.
Whilst degster certainly put on a show in Bucharest, there is little doubt that the addition of m0NESY will serve to bolster the firepower, clutch potential, and overall strength of Falcons’ roster. It remains to be seen just how strong this new iteration of the team will be, but for many fans out there, getting to see the golden duo of m0NESY and Nikola “NiKo” Kovač together again is a beautiful thing.
Heartbreak For Astralis (again)
Now for another recent roster move, but one made under slightly less triumphant circumstances. Astralis, for the fifth time in a row, failed to qualify for the Major. After a tumultuous run in the MRQs, in which Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard and Martin “stavn” Lund failed to find consistent impact, the Danish organization eliminated BIG for a chance to make the final qualification spot, only to fall at the last hurdle to B8 in heartbreaking fashion. An almost impossible 1v3 clutch from Aleksei “alex666” Yarmoshchuk destroyed the Danish team’s hopes of breaking their non-qualification curse, and sent an elated B8 to the major in Austin.
Shortly after this disastrous result, some significant news came out of the Astralis camp. The organizaztion parted ways with their Sports Director, Kasper Straube, and their in-game leader Casper “cadiaN” Møller was benched. In his place, Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen returns from nearly a year out of action as a stand-in IGL for the upcoming PGL Astana event. Eyes will be on Astralis to see how they bounce back after such a crushing blow to their confidence, and how HooXi performs after such an extended break from professional competition.
FURIA Goes International
To finish off our roster moves updates, we’re taking a look at a surprising change coming out of FURIA. After receiving an invite to Stage Two of the BLAST Austin Major, and on the back of a disappointing run in PGL Bucharest, the Brazilian organization has made a significant roster change out of nowhere. Felipe “skullz” Medeiros has been benched, with Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis stepping in as stand-in throughout the Major.
After benching Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes and picking up hot prospect AWPer Danil “molodoy” Golubenko, FURIA have moved Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo to a rifling IGL role, and the team itself to an international lineup. It remains to be seen how effective this change in philosophy and roster will be, but if the pieces click, it could be a significant upgrade.
IEM Melbourne Gets Underway
IEM Melbourne is in full swing, with teams battling it out to take home the trophy, and Vitality on the hunt for their ESL Grand Slam. The last time Tier 1 Counter-Strike came to Australia was IEM Sydney in 2023, with FaZe Clan taking home the silverware. Unfortunately for the Finn “karrigan” Andersen-led squad, they were knocked out of Melbourne in the group stages in an unfortunate 2-0 loss to GamerLegion, so there are guaranteed to be new champions down under.
Team Vitality are on the hunt for their first ESL Grand Slam. After winning IEM Cologne 2024, IEM Katowice 2025, and ESL Pro League Season 21, the French organization needs just one more trophy to close out their push for the million-dollar prize. However, their run isn’t going to be easy. In an already competitive Tier 1 environment, ESL have decided to make things even tougher for Dan “apEX” Madesclaire’s boys by placing a $100,000 ‘Giant Killer’ bounty on their head. If a team is able to defeat Vitality in an ESL event Grand Final, ESL will give them a handsome reward for pulling off such a feat against the current best-performing team in the world.
Counter-Strike Returns To America
IEM Dallas
Looking ahead, there are a couple of big events coming up in the Tier 1 Counter-Strike world. IEM Dallas is around the corner, and sixteen teams are waiting to take home the trophy. The teams playing in IEM Dallas (based on VRS points or their performance in the regional Closed Qualifiers) are as follows:
- Vitality (VRS)
- MOUZ (VRS)
- Aurora (VRS)
- G2 (VRS)
- The MongolZ (VRS)
- FaZe (VRS)
- Falcons (Closed Qualifier)
- 3DMAX (Closed Qualifier)
- GamerLegion (Closed Qualifier)
- Liquid (Closed Qualifier)
- FURIA (Closed Qualifier)
- HEROIC (Closed Qualifier)
- Legacy (Closed Qualifier)
- Lynn Vision (Closed Qualifier)
- NRG (Closed Qualifier)
- BC.Game (Closed Qualifier)
BLAST Austin Major
The big one! It’s been a while since a Counter-Strike Major has been held in the USA, and this one looks all set to be a banger. BLAST Austin Major 2025, which starts in early June, is going to be the ultimate proving ground for some of the rosters making significant changes over the last couple of weeks. Falcons with m0NESY and FURIA with YEKINDAR are set to rewrite the story of their general performance woes over the last few months. A struggling FaZe Clan and on-fire Vitality will both be looking to carve deep runs out of their respective stage invites. A tired-looking NAVI and rebuilt G2 will have to find their identities again, and all with countless MRQ victors snapping at their heels.
Whatever the storylines and however the event goes, it’s sure to be an exciting celebration of Counter-Strike at the highest possible level. As the run-up to the BLAST Austin Major gets underway, make sure to keep your game at its highest level. Whether it’s reviewing your demos, practicing utility, or grinding your aim, make sure you stay in step with the best in the game.
