Weekly CS:GO news digest (rumors around G2 Esports and Vitality, WePlay Academy League Season 5 announcement)

The first week has come to an end after the competitive scene went on hiatus. As teams continue to explore their options for the second half of the 2022 season, some organizations have made high-profile transitions with one foot. At the same time, tournament operators are starting to talk about their next championships, simultaneously fueling interest in the Major, which will take place in the fall. We propose to recall the past week for the most high-profile news from the world of CS:GO.

Vitality is going to change the composition

At the beginning of the week, a well-known insider neL reported that the French esports organization Vitality was depressed by the weak performance in the first half of the 2022 season, intending to make changes to the CS:GO starting lineup. As a result, the club plans to sign Spinx, replacing misutaaa in the roster, the seat under which is loosened more than the rest.

Spinx has become a real star in the ENCE club, which he joined at the beginning of last year. For a season and a half, the 21-year-old Israeli helped the team win several TIER-1.5 championships, as well as get into the top three at Intel Extreme Masters XVI - Fall: Europe, ESL Pro League Season 15 and PGL Major Antwerp 2022.

In turn, the Danish-French project Vitality did not live up to the expectations of the management, since the organization clearly counted on more with the arrival of Magisk, dupreeh and zonic in the winter. However, the main candidate for the exit is called misutaaa, who joined the team back in March 2020.

At the same time, with the young Frenchman, the team managed to win Intel Extreme Masters XV - Beijing Online: Europe and Intel Extreme Masters XVI - Winter, as well as reach the finals at ESL Pro League Season 14, BLAST Premier: Fall Finals 2021 and BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2022 But, as we know, the first half of the 2022 season affected the future prospects of this squad.

The new season of WePlay Academy League is presented

While the adult teams are resting, the youth decided to gain experience and get involved in the new season of the WePlay Academy League. On Tuesday, the tournament operator WePlay Esports officially rolled out the details of WePlay Academy League Season 5. As a new participant in the championship, the ENCE Academy team, which announced its roster just a couple of weeks ago, is presented.

Fourteen teams from Europe, the CIS, Turkey and Brazil became participants in WePlay Academy League Season 5: NAVI Junior, Young Ninjas, MOUZ NXT, BIG Academy, Astralis Talent, FNATIC Rising, ENCE Academy, OG Academy, 00PROSPECTS, Apeks Rebels, Young Gods, FURIA Academy, Spirit Academy and Eternal Fire Academy.

Well, the championship itself has already begun - you can follow it on our separate page.

WePlay Academy League Season 5 will start from the group stage, dividing all participants into two groups (seven teams in each). Here the teams will play the group stage in a round robin format, playing two matches with each opponent. All meetings at the group stage of the tournament will be held in the BO1 format. The winners of each group will go directly to the final part of the competition, which will be held from 12 to 14 August.

Teams that take places from 2nd to 4th will proceed to the Play-In stage. The teams located on the remaining lines of their groups will leave the championship. The second teams of the group stage will start their way from the semi-final stage. Teams that will take 3rd and 4th places will start their way to the Play-In stage from the quarterfinals.

G2 Esports in search of gain

According to the same neL insider, the European esports organization G2 Esports allowed JACKZ to look for options to continue his career on the side. As a result, the club does not intend to stop at just one replacement, trying to find an increase in another problematic position.

JACKZ was the oldest member of the current G2 Esports roster. Having joined the team in November 2018, the 30-year-old French esportsman managed to win the Good Game League 2019, Champions Cup Finals and BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 Regular Season, as well as reach the finals of the ESL Pro League Season 9 - Finals, Intel Extreme Masters XIV - World Championship, Intel Extreme Masters XVI - Cologne, PGL Major Stockholm 2021 and Intel Extreme Masters XVI - Katowice.

At the same time, JACKZ has already left the G2 Esports roster in the past, when the organization was trying to find options at the beginning of 2021. However, the Frenchman has returned to the roster, having survived all the recent changes. And yet, the 30-year-old esportsman was the most controversial figure in the team, since he played a specific support role, which is not consistent with high performance.

Rumors about the future of the team were not long in coming. According to multiple sources, G2 Esports is looking into a number of candidates for both captain and support positions. First of all, the club is interested in ALEX and tabseN. Secondly, the promising rigoN from the Bad News Eagles can join the team. At the same time, along with the German IGL, the coach gob b can also join the team, which only plays into the hands of the “samurai”.

The next championship for the European team will be BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022, which will be held from August 19 to 28. Then the team will start its journey within the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 16. Therefore, the organization still has time to come to a common denominator and prepare for the start of the second half of the season.

ESL introduced the participants of ESL Pro League Season 16

Tournament operator ESL has presented the list of participants for the upcoming ESL Pro League Season 16. In addition, the organizers have officially increased the number of partner teams by adding Heroic to the unspoken Louvre Agreement.

Fifteen organizations now act as ESL partners at once: Astralis, BIG, ENCE, NAVI, Complexity Gaming, Evil Geniuses, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, FURIA, G2 Esports, MOUZ, Ninjas in Pajamas, Team Liquid, Vitality and Heroic. Recall that the Danish club Heroic became a full member of the so-called "Louvre Accord" by signing the original deal with ESL last year.

Partner organizations at ESL Pro League Season 16 will be joined by the winners of ESL Pro League Conference Season 16 - Eternal Fire, MIBR, FTW, Endpoint, Outsiders and HEET.

The last three participants of the championship were determined by the method of direct invitations issued based on the position of the teams in the ESL World Ranking. As a result, Movistar Riders, Team Spirit and Cloud9 received their tickets to ESL Pro League Season 16.

ESL Pro League Season 16 will take place from August 31 to October 2 at an unannounced location. As part of the championship, 24 teams from Europe, the CIS, North and South America will take part, which will compete for a prize fund of $835,000, rating points in the BLAST Premier table, as well as tickets to BLAST Premier: World Final 2022 and IEM Katowice 2023 for the winner.

paiN Gaming continues to lose grip

Following the departure of NEKIZ, paiN Gaming made the decision to leave nython. At the same time, the 24-year-old Brazilian sniper represented the colors of the club for some five months.

Hey guys, today I'm here to share some news: I'm officially leaving paiN Gaming. I am open to negotiations, although I am still under contract with the organization. I would like to say thank you for everything, individually to the fans of paiN Gaming, and to all the people who accompany me and share positive emotions, I hope to meet you again in the future. I will share more information about my future soon,” the player himself said on Twitter.

nython joined paiN Gaming at the beginning of the current season, having moved from the Isurus camp. In five months, the 24-year-old Brazilian sniper helped the team win Ace North American Masters: Spring 2022, BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown 2022 and ESL Challenger League Season 41: North America, as well as get into the top three at ESL Challenger League Season 40: North America and ESEA Cash Cup: North America - Spring 2022 #4.

The last championship for nython as part of paiN Gaming was Intel Extreme Masters XVII - Cologne, according to which the team took the last place and earned $2,500.

According to rumors, the Brazilian organization has already found candidates to strengthen its roster, being interested in the services of skullz and zevy from ODDIK and Sharks Esports, respectively.

fnx asked to leave Imperial Esports?

According to the DRAFT5 portal, the Brazilian esports organization Imperial Esports intends to make adjustments to its CS:GO roster, considering the possibility of parting with fnx. The 32-year-old Brazilian veteran is due to leave the team soon, and several candidates are being studied to take his place.

fnx, whose performance left much to be desired even at the championships that were successful for the Brazilian team, seems to be about to leave the team. The 32-year-old esportsman has spent the last six months with the team, having won the OMEN WGR European Challenge 2022, as well as getting into the top three at FiReLEAGUE Latin Power Spring 2022 and PGL Major Antwerp 2022: American RMR.

The peak for this roster was PGL Major Antwerp 2022, where Imperial Esports made a sensational shot, almost making it to the championship playoffs. However, the team began to fail further, having obtained only a few victories in five full-fledged tournaments.

The main candidate to replace the veteran is called chelo. The 24-year-old Brazilian has spent the last year and a half with MIBR. During this time, he helped the team win ESEA Season 39: Advanced Division - North America and ESL Challenger League Season 40: North America, as well as get into the top three at Intel Extreme Masters XVI - Fall: South America, PGL Major Antwerp 2022: American RMR and BLAST Premier: Spring American Showdown 2022, among others.

At the same time, the Brazilian club will not interfere with the departure of its leader if an acceptable financial offer is received. Currently, the parties have launched the negotiation process and there is an opinion that Imperial Esports will have a hard time.

AMANEK has found a new club

AMANEK, a former G2 Esports player and sniper, has officially joined the LDLC team. The 28-year-old will lead a young squad that is determined to unleash its potential on the local scene.

AMANEK himself spent the last three years as a member of G2 Esports, with which he managed to win the Champions Cup Finals, BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 Regular Season and BLAST Premier: Fall 2020 Regular Season, as well as reach the final of the Intel Extreme Masters XIV - World Championship, Intel Extreme Masters XVI - Cologne and PGL Major Stockholm 2021.

However, in March 2022, the 28-year-old esportsman left the starting lineup of the team, but never found a new home. At the same time, AMANEK managed to play for his “native” in the ESL Pro League Season 15, where he replaced Aleksib, who was ill with coronavirus.

Since then, AMANEK has been trying to build his own team with kennyS and was also close to moving to Falcons Esports. However, according to neL, these transfers did not take place for various reasons.

Interestingly, the 28-year-old French player already played for LDLC in 2017, leading the team to victories in a number of tournaments, including PMU Challenge 2018 and ESL Championnat National: Winter 2018. Well, let's see if an experienced player can help youngsters.

The first details of the qualifying process for IEM Rio Major 2022 are presented

At the end of the week, the tournament operator ESL revealed the first details of the qualifying process for IEM Rio Major 2022. Open qualifiers for RMR tournaments will begin in August and will be held in seven regions (Europe, North and South America, China, Oceania, the Middle East and Asia).

IEM Road to Rio, which has become an analogue of RMR tournaments, will be held from October 3 to 9 and will cover three unified regions: Europe, America and Asia. In order to qualify for the IEM Road to Rio, teams will need to complete the respective regional qualifiers starting in August. Divided into 7 regions and a total of 22 open and closed qualifiers, teams will compete for the right to qualify for IEM Rio Major 2022.

At the same time, the only difference from the spring qualifiers for the major was the presence of closed qualifiers for the enlarged Asian region. Recall that earlier the winners of each sub-region immediately got to the RMR tournament.

Of course, that was not without talking about the dates of the qualifications. But Ulrich Schulze, vice president of product at ESL, quickly responded to all dissatisfaction:

We had to wait until the end of IEM Cologne 2022 in order to determine the seeding for the ESL Pro League based on the updated rating and, taking this into account, choose the dates for the RMR qualifiers. That is why the selection schedule was not announced earlier.

IEM Rio Major 2022 itself will be held from October 31 to November 13 in Brazil. The first two stages of the championship will be held in a studio format. However, the championship playoffs scheduled for November 10-13 will take place at the Jeunesse Arena, which has a capacity of 15,000 to 22,000 people. Like at the last Major, the prize pool of IEM Rio Major 2022 will be $1,000,000.

These were the most interesting news from the world of CS:GO over the past week. If you want to stay up to date with all the latest events, feel free to go to the news tab - we keep our finger on the pulse and promptly introduce you to new insiders, as well as share high-profile transfer transitions.