karrigan on Astralis, Vitality, NIP & FaZe live from BLAST | HLTV Confirmed S5E65

https://twitter.com/HLTVconfirmed/ Hotseat with Rejin 1:35 - Reflecting on IEM Katowice results 3:54 - What’s different between mousesports before and now? 6:04 - Rejin on preparing for EPL 8:03 - Having a roster where everyone can show up vs. a superstar-based team? 10:40 - Who’s gonna be an upset in EPL? 12:20 - Are there any teams that will benefit from more online? Recent news 14:59 - Heroic-FPX situation 18:45 - Striker: “you’ve put 4 million dollars into CS and you allowed this to happen” 26:47 - Major postponed to November 32:00 - AdreN takes over as VP captain 40:36 - GamerLegion add coach, disband Six-man roster 45:11 - Discussing Astralis’ move to sign es3tag as 6th player 56:32 - Why six-man roster didn’t work in the past? EPL Season 11 1:07:47 - Impressions of Vitality with misutaaa 1:10:47 - Rejin on his experience of standing in and having a near-zero rating 1:14:51 - Astralis, Na’Vi recover after slow starts 1:23:04 - Who will top group C of EPL Europe? 1:30:40 - Professeur, BanKs, and Striker predict the team topping group C Good, Bad, Ugly 1:33:55 - Ugly: FPX debacle, production issues 1:39:27 - Bad: Stand-ins galore 1:41:50 - Good: Banter, MAD Lions & MIBR deliver 1:42:08 - Talking about the removal of HUNDEN 1:45:21 - Rejin on if AcilioN can improve MAD Lions Playtime 1:49:03 - Will the meta change due to more online CS and less events? 1:52:48 - Question: why is chrisJ better than s1mple? 1:53:50 - Question: what’s the difference in coaching Tricked and coaching mousesports? 1:59:15 - Rejin shows mousesports bootcamp schedule 2:03:10 - Does chrisJ help out with in-game leading?

26 Mar 20202h 7min

https://twitter.com/HLTVconfirmed Timestamps: Hotseat with kassad 1:06 - Introducing kassad 1:40 - What do 100 Thieves do in LA? 2:42 - kassad on working on his team’s mentality 6:51 - Is there a specific goal to remain at the top? 7:56 - Is CS becoming more individualistic? 9:54 - Do 100 Thieves specifically prepare to face star players like ZywOo? 11:48 - How kassad started coaching and how his style has changed over time? 15:10 - What’s the outlook for kassad for 2020? 16:15 - What makes a good coach? 18:30 - How much does confidence matter? 19:30 - Were there any instances of potential rosters on the table? Recent news 23:25 - MAD Lions bench HUNDEN 25:17 - “Something doesn’t add up” - kassad on HUNDEN’s situation 31:30 - AcilioN replacing HUNDEN. Is it good or bad? 36:07 - ALEX steps down from Vitality 43:50 - “I’m afraid that he made the wrong decision” - kassad 47:51 - AGO sign seventh player Minors 51:00 - Overviewing the Minors 52:41 - Talking Europe Minor 54:18 - Surprises in the European Minor lineup 1:03:33 - Changes in the teams that didn't qualify? EPL S11: Groups A and B 1:07:00 - EPL format and team list 1:09:45 - Group A: will Astralis prevail? 1:12:57 - Group B: will Na’Vi keep their pace? 1:17:40 - Talking EPL’s continuous LAN format 1:20:00 - Predicting the teams to top groups A & B FLASHPOINT 1:24:40 - Team lineup still not finalized (but known?) 1:26:26 - Talking FLASHPOINT’s format and lineup 1:31:28 - The buy-in aspect Playtime 1:39:25 - kassad on his fellow Serbian nexa playing in G2 1:41:26 - Can any player eventually become an IGL? 1:44:34 - Is it a problem for star player like NiKo to explain his view as an IGL? 1:46:10 - Economy, krieg, schedule, booths, Valve - good or bad? 1:52:07 - The final words from kassad

11 Mar 20201h 55min

Follow the show: ➡️https://twitter.com/HLTVconfirmed Timestamps: BO$$ Talk with Nomad 2:27 - What is Better Collective and what is the deal about? 3:40 - Does it mean HLTV will have more resources to develop? 5:38 - “They didn’t buy because they wanted to change something.” - Nomad 8:45 - “We’re 100% in control of this company” - Nomad addressing the concerns 9:42 - Is expanding to more games on the table? 12:33 - What’s coming up for HLTV? 14:13 - Will there be an open API for HLTV? 15:30 - Nomad addressing concerns of the potential removal of the forums 17:00 - Is a unified ranking possible? 19:19 - Nomad vs. Twitch chat 24:32 - Final words from Nomad Recent news 25:45 - swag quits competitive CS:GO 28:32 - "Keeping them banned serves as a reminder" - SPUNJ 30:07 - Gen.G win DH Anaheim 37:15 - Minor change in AWP Good, Bad, and Ugly 40:40 - Ugly: The crowd less spectacle 42:46 - How it was watching the event without viewers? 50:00 - Ugly: what more can ZywOo do? 54:00 - Striker: “Vitality never had a second star to ZyWoo” 59:00 - Good: The Na’Vi we have all been waiting for? 1:12:31 - Good: fnatic are rust-resistant 1:16:00 - Good: G2 and FaZe finding form 1:22:22 - Discussing the teams in the race for top-5 1:31:35 - Bad: mousesports stumble at the key event 1:35:00 - Bad: worrying signs for Astralis, Liquid and EG? Playtime 1:39:00 - Discussing the bracket for the Europe Minor Closed Qualifier 1:42:40 - FLASHPOINT Global Qualifier projections 1:47:00 - The long-term impact of coronavirus on CS Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HLTVconfirmed https://twitter.com/LukasWiinholt https://twitter.com/StrikerHLTVorg https://twitter.com/Professeur_CS https://twitter.com/SPUNJ https://twitter.com/nomadhltvorg

3 Mar 20201h 53min

➡️ Get notified about the show: https://twitter.com/HLTVconfirmed 📺 Join the discussion and watch live: https://twitch.tv/HLTVorg 🎧 Listen to audio podcast (Spotify, iTunes, Google): https://anchor.fm/hltv Timestamps: 1:10 - Introducing NBK 1:57 - Is Counter-Strike now different to what it used to be? 5:10 - What is the time frame for a team to succeed? 7:22 - NBK- explains how three big discussions after ICE developed OG 9:15 - NBK- plays down the "international team communication issues" theory 11:55 - A few rules of OG approaching the game 13:55 - What is NBK’s view on in-game leadership issue? 17:10 - The reasons behind poor performance of Astralis and other teams at BLAST 19:00 - OG’s agenda for the first half of the year 20:50 - Aleksib’s role in the team Recent news 25:42 - “Crowd cheating” measures from Katowice 31:38 - “Fuck yeah!” - NBK on whether there should be info contamination by audience 35:35 - Complexity and GamerLegion fail Minor Qualifier 42:15 - c0ntact in talks with AcilioN? 45:44 - EPL, FLASHPOINT schedule and format - what is better DreamHack Open Anaheim 56:37 - Who is most desperate for the DreamHack Anaheim win? 1:06:18 - Which squad is going to win and who will be the best long-term? Smarter than Twitch chat 1:08:25 - NBK vs. the Twitch chat IEM Katowice 1:16:30 - NBK on why he thinks IEM Katowice is a great event 1:19:10 - Will mouz win the event and become the world #1 team? 1:23:17 - Are EG and Liquid still in the trophy discussion? 1:30:20 - Which top 10 team will flop? 1:36:00 - Dark horses to make playoffs 1:42:15 - Who will make top-6? Playtime 1:51:40 - Should player contracts be public? 1:55:00 - NBK shares his own perspective 1:59:00 - What could be improved in the transfer practices? 2:04:30 - The last few words from NBK

22 Feb 20202h 6min

➡️ https://twitter.com/HLTVconfirmed 📺 Join the discussion and watch live: https://twitch.tv/HLTVorg 🎧 Listen to audio podcast (Spotify, iTunes, Google): https://anchor.fm/hltv Timestamps: 1:17 - Introducing Fifflaren 1:57 - Being a coach located in the US while the team is in Europe - how it is? 3:25 - How life has changed after Fifflaren’s retirement and how he ended up becoming Dignitas’ coach 8:13 - The story behind the old NiP roster reunion 15:59 - Fifflaren’s take on what has changed in the game since he left 17:43 - Dignitas’s results so far 22:05 - What are Fifflaren’s expectations from Dignitas 23:55 - Why hallzerk is going to work as team’s fifth? 28:00 - Will Fifflaren stay with the organization or the team if they happen to part ways? 29:27 - What it means being a coach and general manager at the same time? FLASHPOINT 32:21 - Fifflaren’s first impression on FLASHPOINT 37:34 - “No one is making money” - Fifflaren on the issue of leagues’ financial sustainability 44:02 - “Everyone is trying to work out what’s the best model is” - SPUNJ 50:25 - How the concept of a $100,000 fine for being out of the top will affect the scene? 58:56 - Will the team owned league solve the issues the current tournaments have? 1:02:00 - The issues of the content quality 1:06:40 - SPUNJ responds to the community outcry 1:09:49 - Explaining the FLASHPOINT format 1:15:30 - Sharing opinions on the format 1:20:17 - Ex6tenZ, SmithZz retire 1:27:35 - mithR, Jumpy joins North 1:34:20 - Virtus.pro looking at n0rb3r7 1:40:00 - Good: Awakening of the Juggernaut 1:45:25 - Good: The Na’Vi we’ve been waiting for? 1:54:40 - Bad: Astralis in slumber 2:02:00 - Ugly: Vitality without peak ZywOo 2:14:50 - Talking about IEM Melbourne 2020 2:19:00 - Fifflaren on the dealing with toughness of schedule

12 Feb 20202h 31min

Connect with us: @HLTVconfirmed Timestamps: 1:10 - Introducing Carmac 1:54 - Carmac sharing his history 3:20 - Explaining the EPL format 5:50 - Carmac on the reasons behind the changes in the format 8:09 - Are the changes caused by the "B Site"? 10:31 - Carmac talks about the business side of making a league 17:13 - What is the way ESL makes CS:GO events profitable? 24:16 - "If we had a complete monopoly ... , we would probably be, in relative terms, bathing in money" - Carmac 25:52 - When was the decision on the current format made? 28:41 - Why the changes in EPL happened with short notice comparing with Pro Tour? 31:25 - Carmac on the published graphic with teams and the negotiations rumors 35:07 - How the Member Teams are decided? 41:40 - How many teams will be partnered? 44:14 - How being a Member Team affects team's ESL ranking? 48:43 - Carmac's view on the Valve's Major ranking events 51:49 - Are the newly scheduled tournaments going to affect ESL events? 53:04 - What ESL is preparing for the Rio Major? 57:00 - How fast the tickets got sold? 58:00 - The last few words from Carmac and from the panel 1:00:18 - Introducing apEX 1:01:00 - Was removal of NBK tough decision to make? 1:02:20 - What was the biggest takeaway for apEX about 2019? 1:03:25 - Was there a clash in Vitality about a loss on the last Major? 1:04:56 - apEX talks about the motivation behind running own YouTube channel 1:06:10 - How important personal brand should be for young players? 1:07:47 - The goals of Vitality for the first months of 2020 1:10:15 - Who has the most potential to improve as fire power in the team? 1:11:30 - apEX on Dignitas being inspired by Vitality 1:12:22 - Why it's not possible to play a single role in CS:GO anymore? 1:15:38 - apEX's thoughts on the Major changes Recent news 1:17:57 - apEX shares his opinion on the map update 1:19:40 - Are the changes positive? 1:21:50 - "From my personal view, at least, it's not changing much" - apEX on practicing on the updated maps 1:22:30 - "I'm confused why Valve are giving T's more things to do" - Striker 1:25:30 - "I think for me Mirage is T-sided map" - apEX 1:27:50 - apEX's view on Krieg and the overall gun situation in the game 1:29:18 - apEX on the economy changes 1:30:57 - Heretics invited to EU Minor Closed Qualifier 1:33:40 - Discussing the participants of EU Minor Closed Qualifier 1:36:02 - BIG, Dignitas run the Open Qualifier gauntlet 1:41:50 - ENCE's failure at ICE Challenge 2020 1:46:20 - "Objectively, [ENCE] were already on the downturn" - Professeur 1:49:55 - Reviewing Sergej's stats 1:53:37 - NBK-'s debut with OG 1:56:43 - NBK- calling the CT sides - can it be the issue? 1:59:33 - What is the highest peak of OG we will see? 2:04:01 - Is FaZe a contender at BLAST Premier? 2:07:47 - Vitality's group of death at BLAST 2:11:00 - Is it important to have a lot of official matches before going to bigger tournaments? 2:12:37 - Closing thoughtso lose a single map in his group? 1:12:37 - Closing thoughts

4 Feb 20202h 14min

Follow the show on Twitter for updates: @HLTVconfirmed The discussion about CS:GO leagues continues with guest Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat, a spokesperson for B Site, with topics ranging from the business side of things (revenue share, sustainability, inflation) to how it will affect the Counter-Strike played and the viewers. The podcasts' panel also talks about ESL's PR blunder while downsizing Pro League, and looks at which teams are affected. Wrapping up the HLTV Confirmed episode is talk about the recently finished DreamHack Open Leipzig and the upcoming BLAST Premier group stage. Timestamps 1:25 - Introducing Semmler 2:05 - Semmler on his return to CS:GO 2:57 - The difference between working on Overwatch League and CS:GO events 4:29 - What Overwatch League experienced gave to Semmler? 5:50 - Did Semmler always want to come back to CS:GO? 7:24 - What role in the broadcast Semmler is going to pursue? 9:56 - Semmler’s opinion on the changes that happened in the game 13:42 - Striker explains BLAST’s format 14:28 - How absence of mousesports and fnatic will affect BLAST Premier Spring 15:53 - Will BLAST set the tone for the season? 17:34 - SPUNJ shares some insights on the BLAST scheduling 18:58 - How important is BLAST in the 2020 schedule? 21:18 - Will the single organizer prevail in CS:GO? 25:30 - Discussing Group A of BLAST 27:14 - “I’m calling this right now: nawwk should be the primary AWP of NiP” - Striker 30:04 - Can MIBR return to the CS:GO elite? 33:33 - What does Semmler becoming the spokesperson for B Site mean? 37:50 - Semmler comments on lack of information about B Site 42:42 - How B Site is going to make money? 44:46 - Will the teams be able to return their massive investments for participating in B Site? 47:48 - How the teams who bought the franchise and who qualified will coexist within the model? 52:01 - What happens if B Site won’t get top teams right away? 55:55 - Do leagues in CS:GO work at all? 1:06:24 - What is known about B Site’s format now 1:08:48 - Few last questions for Semmler 1:13:02 - SPUNJ vs. Twitch chat 1:22:45 - Striker explains ESL Pro League drama 1:25:17 - ESL is trying to make the format more profitable. Is it good or bad? 1:29:20 - SPUNJ gives insight on the Oceanic teams 1:32:41 - Uncertainty with EPL Relegation system 1:36:02 - Announcing invited teams that are not confirmed - good or bad? 1:42:44 - Discussing the released list of the teams 1:48:22 - ESL’s apology - does it help? 1:54:04 - What power does CSPPA have? 1:59:58 - Prof: "CSPPA as an entity should watch out for this" 2:01:30 - SPUNJ: "We are already doing too much for players" 2:05:10 - Another full-on SPUNJ rant 2:14:40 - Good, Bad, Ugly: DreamHack Leipzig 2:14:50 - Good: BIG triumph with the new lineup 2:19:50 - Bad: No Danes in the final 2:26:57 - Ugly: Virtus.pro keep flunking

28 Jan 20202h 35min

Follow the show on Twitter and give us feedback twitter.com/hltvconfirmed Timestamps Hotseat with YNk 1:26 — Welcoming YNk 2:09 — Plans for 2020 3:32 — The effect of victory at BLAST Pro Series 2019 and reflection on other results of the last year 5:14 — YNk on the consistency issues of FaZe 7:42 — What should we expect from broky? 9:32 — How the team change changed coldzera’s role and play style 11:57 — How CS:GO has changed in the last few years 14:38 — CS:GO at the moment: what is the number one issue? 16:23 — Sponsors’ hesitance about entering the CS:GO events sponsorship market Recent News 18:20 — NiP ‘13 reunion confirmed under Dignitas 20:19 — SPUNJ desperately trying to get insight from YNk on the new Dignitas roster performance 21:28 — Pointing out the negatives of the new Dignitas roster 26:52 — nawwk to NiP as second AWP 28:52 — YNk talks about nawwk as a player and NiP’s decision to get him 31:03 — MSL returns to North 34:20 — Complexity in EU Minor after all 36:50 — Na’Vi can’t get anyone League warfare 39:57 — The clash of ESL, Plan B, and BLAST 40:50 — How did BLAST get away without clashes? 45:45 — SPUNJ: "BLAST's message is always 'Let's make this work' " 47:55 — YNk: "mouz is not one of the teams that has an insane following if they don't have results, unlike MIBR, Cloud9, even FaZe" 51:10 — Which teams are in B-site? 53:40 — SPUNJ on ELEAGUE and B-site similarities 57:00 — YNk: "There is not enough information on either of the leagues" 58:42 — Professeur: "The top 30-40 teams have no idea what to play for in 2020" 59:40 — ESL Pro League change from 40 to 24 teams 1:01:00 — ENCE pulling out of MDL to be invited to Pro League 1:02:10 — Is ESL winning the League War? 1:07:40 — Is CS:GO going to be better in 2020? 1:12:16 — YNk vs. the Twitch chat The Major changes 1:19:25 — The changes in the Major qualifier system 1:19:30 — Striker explains the changes in essence 1:21:01 — No more guaranteed spots at the next Major for Top-8. Is it positive? 1:22:12 — Tight event schedule for the next season 1:27:05 — YNk: “You spend the year with three weeks off total. This is insane!” 1:29:42 — The questions to the new Major qualifying events. 1:38:29 — The reasons behind Valve’s decision making on the Major changes Fantasy 1:46:46 — Fantasy: what is on the line at DH Leipzig? 1:55:50 — Fantasy updates The last questions 1:57:24 — Dealing with big players in MIBR and FaZe as coach 1:59:20 — Revelations of YNk from switching to coaching after being an analyst 2:01:42 — Would YNk consider going back to the desk if things don’t work out at coaching?

24 Jan 20202h 3min