Counter-Strike tournaments are rife with moments of incredible skill as players push themselves to their limits in jaw-dropping performances. These stupefying moments, combining just the right amount of skill, luck and bravado leave people talking for months. In a unique approach to the competitive scene, Valve has taken recognition one step further, immortalising events in-game through graffiti and signs. As CS continues to develop, these memorials embed the competitive history of the game within each map, offering long-term fans a nod of recognition while advertising key moments for new players to look back to.
AWPing in two s1mple steps
The most recent commemorative addition to the game came from the recent ESL One Cologne Major, where Team Liquid’s Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev hit two unscoped AWP shots in a row to beat Swedish powerhouses, Fnatic. Entering the B-bombsite on Cache through heaven, s1mple eliminates one player while falling before flicking to a second kill at absurd range. Here's the video.
The moment highlights a spectacular tournament for both Liquid and s1mple, carving their path to a first North American major final. Map creator FMPONE was quick to post a design to twitter. The mockup, which shows an angelic counter terrorist descending while the scope falls from his weapon, has since been added to the game.
Stone-cold slayer
There have been many phenomenal individual plays in competitive CS, but SK’s Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David holds what could prove to be CS:GO’s true standout moment. At a 15-9 scoreline, Team Liquid needed just one round to secure victory over the Brazilians (then Luminosity Gaming) at the 2016 MLG Colombus Major. With absolutely no margin for error, coldzera led a crucial AWP defence of Mirage’s B-bombsite. Here's the video.
Quickly dispatching one player, cold follows up with an unbelievable, unscoped, jumping double-kill. Seemingly unfazed, he then finishes one more player with a sharp, reactive noscope. Such a performance was crushing to Liquid who proceeded to lose the match in a double-overtime. Luminosity, however, went on to win the Major. Tucked away by the van on Mirage’s B-site you can now find a winged AWP, adorned by four red skulls taking the place of the gun’s scope. The design proved so popular that cold commissioned a tattoo artist to replicate it on his arm.
Four-AWP Fnatic
Swedes Fnatic are no strangers to employing avant-garde tactics in the competitive scene, with player JW well known for his sawed-off shotgun dominance on Cobblestone. At Cologne 2015, Fnatic utilised an aggressive AWP play to push an overtime victory against French side EnVyUs. At $4750 dollars coupled with a lack of flexibility, it’s rare to see teams run more than one AWP per round, with more than two all but unheard of. Here's the video.
However, having built an enormous bank of cash for the final round of the half Fnatic chose to empty their reserves. In what must have been the professional equivalent of a jump-scare for EnVyUs’ apEX, he stepped out to contest the centre of Dust2 only to find himself facing not one, but four AWPs. Gaining an early advantage, many of Fnatic even swapped back to AKs to overwhelm the French side. Resting high over the T’s mid sightline, a grinning terrorist now watches over, wielding a ludicrous four sniper rifles.
Burning man
CS:GO’s molotovs are no joke, capable of delaying pushes, dealing serious damage and, crucially, denying bomb plants. With little time left on the clock, even an outnumbered player can make use of a well thrown molotov to win the round. Here's the video.
Would that threat stop Fnatic’s Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer Gustafsson? Not a chance. At 14 rounds a piece in the 2014 Cologne Major, the bold Swede wasn’t about to let a little heat stop their run, completing a full five second defuse while burning, dying just a fraction of a second after the bomb was defused, much to the delight of his team and fans. In one of the first real nods to the competitive scene, Valve added graffiti of a Hazmat-adorned angel, defusing while wreathed in flames.
Booster justice
During 2014-15, Fnatic established themselves as the dominant force in CS, winning titles left, right and centre. Despite this, Fnatic haven’t always proven popular. During the Dreamhack Winter semifinals of 2015, Fnatic revealed an outrageous boost against LDLC, stacking players on top of each other to gain an unprecedented sightline across the map. Having lost the first half 12-3, Olof’s sniping dominated the bewildered French side into submission. Here's the video.
The boost proved so controversial that the match was put in for review to see if it violated any rules for the tournament. Sure to go down in CS history, the play resulted in countless analysis videos and the entertainingly terrible musical tributes. Extra controversy was raised after it was revealed Fnatic’s coach had actively stifled knowledge of the spot through take down of YouTube videos. After heated discussion with tournament admins, Fnatic eventually forfeited their place, allowing LDLC to progress to the final. Valve acknowledged the exploit with the addition of a warning sign, reading “geländer übersteigen verboten!” or “surpassing the rails is forbidden!” Combining memories of both bravery and infamy, it’s little surprise Overpass is sometimes referred to as Olofpass.
Top gun
CS:GO’s map secrets have been known to acknowledge more than just competitive events. Tucked in the corner of Dust2’s A-bombsite is a rather unassuming “goose” spray which serves to honour Minh 'gooseman' Le, a co-developer of the original CS mod. The spray existed as far back as CS 1.6.
Bird hopping
In recognition of one of CS:GO’s more entertaining bugs, Train has a small sign asking players not to step on the birds, after the introduction of pigeons to the map allowed players to ride them out of the map boundaries.
In a game renowned for it’s high skill ceiling and serious competition, It’s nice enjoy a bit of levity through the surprising number of playful easter eggs. A personal favorite is the chicken followers, whereby If you press E on a chicken, it will follow you through the map until killed, even spawning with you in the following round.
