HLTV Confirmed S03E21 - EPL hot takes, changes in NIP, MIBR, AVANGAR, AUG nerf

Snappi, Teemu of YaLLa, and messioso join the show to discuss all things wrong with Valve rankings in detail. Before that, we talked about Katowice results and tournament impressions.➡️ Follow us for updates:  / hltvconfirmed  📺 Watch live:  / hltvorg  🔊 Listen to audio (Spotify, iTunes, Google):https://anchor.fm/hltvHLTV Confirmed is presented by 1xbet & Skin Place:📗 1xBet:https://cropped.link/hltvtwb🔪 Skin Place:https://p.skin.place/hltv5👕 HLTV Merch:https://hltv.org/shop0:00 - Intro3:52 - PGL Brno?!IEM Katowice5:20 - Katowice impressions8:25 - apEX gets his trophy12:19 - Shutting donk down?14:45 - Spirit’s run18:02 - Medals debacle?19:51 - WATO: ZywOo more MVPs than donk in 2025?25:35 - ZywOo matches s1mple’s record27:28 - SPUNJ takes SkinionaireVRS issues and fixes33:51 - Forfeit = loss?39:00 - Snappi joins: VRS from tier-2 POV43:49 - HLTV coverage issue?55:21 - No way to make the Major?1:02:34 - No open qual slots?1:08:57 - Teemu from YaLLa joins1:10:15 - Why not run open quals?1:18:50 - Running events in VRS1:27:00 - messioso joins, suggest wildcards1:29:09 - Are Play-ins pointless?1:38:18 - 32-team Swiss for the Major?1:45:25 - IEM Krakow, PGL Katowice?! Salacious headlines1:48:15 - Should take Valve care of coverage?1:53:25 - Forfeits abuse?1:59:20 - How many teams can be sustainable?2:01:25 - Open letter to Valve; messioso objections2:04:06 - Should all Major stages matter the same?HLTV Confirmed is a Counter-Strike (CS2) talk show featuring Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin, and Milan "Striker" Švejda, with guest appearances from community members such as s1mple, device, ropz, Twistzz, karrigan, smooya, dupreeh, cadiaN, Pimp, and more. The show is based around interviews, breakdowns, analysis, and discussions about the esports and casual side of Counter-Strike.  / professeur_cs    / spunj    / strikerhltvorg    / lukaswiinholt  #HLTVConfirmed#podcast#cs2

12 Feb 2h 13min

HLTV Confirmed and Talking Counter crossover live from Katowice! Joined by Moses and YNK, we're discussing the Katowice results, new teams, and what to expect from playoffs.➡️ Follow us for updates:  / hltvconfirmed  📺 Watch live:  / hltvorg  🔊 Listen to audio (Spotify, iTunes, Google):https://anchor.fm/hltvHLTV Confirmed is presented by 1xbet & Skin Place:📗 1xBet:https://cropped.link/hltvtwb🔪 Skin Place:https://p.skin.place/hltv5👕 HLTV Merch:https://hltv.org/shop0:00 - Intro2:50 - HLTV Confirmed x Talking Counter!Recent news6:33 - VRS early impact 11:25 - Cluj skips19:11 - VRS discrepancies27:35 - VRS effect on tier 240:50 - HLTV doesn’t cover enough for rankings?48:10 - Moses & YNk take SkinionaireHit the headlines!57:39 - No interviews for Striker :(59:55 - Analysts near players during matches1:07:14 - Gun update1:10:03 - SPUNJ’s rage quit after ultimate’s blunder1:12:30 - “Frenchman finds pleasure in Poland”1:14:18 - PR’s 1:15:12 - FL4MUS not 1:16:20 - bodyy to join 3DMAX?More Katowice takes 1:20:55 - “VP hate undeserved!” - YNk1:30:00 - Are Liquid cooked?1:34:05 - Train talk1:38:41 - FaZe1:44:22 - G21:55:21 - Falcons2:02:00 - Mongolz2:06:05 - NAVI vs. Spirit matchup?2:15:15 - Will donk win MVP? WATO2:24:04 - sh1ro play style2:26:22 - ropz’s impact & Porsche meme2:32:00 - Why don’t we have guests often?HLTV Confirmed is a Counter-Strike (CS2) talk show featuring Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin, and Milan "Striker" Švejda, with guest appearances from community members such as s1mple, device, ropz, Twistzz, karrigan, smooya, dupreeh, cadiaN, Pimp, and more. The show is based around interviews, breakdowns, analysis, and discussions about the esports and casual side of Counter-Strike.  / ynk    / mosesgg    / spunj    / strikerhltvorg    / lukaswiinholt  #HLTVConfirmed#podcast#cs2

10 Feb 2h 38min

Self-inflicted rants from reading forum posts as well as more serious discussions of Valve forcing to comply, Major regional invites, VP & FaZe performance at Bounty, and first Train impressions in this episode of HLTV Confirmed. ➡️ Follow us for updates:   / hltvconfirmed   📺 Watch live:   / hltvorg   🔊 Listen to audio (Spotify, iTunes, Google): https://anchor.fm/hltv HLTV Confirmed is presented by 1xbet & Skin Place: 📗 1xBet: https://cropped.link/hltvtwb 🔪 Skin Place: https://p.skin.place/hltv5 👕 HLTV Merch: https://hltv.org/shop 0:00 - Intro 7:05 - Skinionaire 18:10 - Bits of news VRS circuit updates 20:20 - CCT & YaLLa compliance with Valve 26:45 - CCT shadowbans 44:46 - Major regional invites explained 51:12 - Liquid split region situation 1:05:05 - Skyesports canceled the event BLAST Bounty so far 1:20:04 - Bounty impressions 1:27:21 - LAN vs. Online 1:33:09 - “Offliners” 1:35:40 - EliGE FaZe takes 1:40:10 - VP washed?! 1:43:45 - New Train analysis 2:00:43 - More silly takes 2:04:00 - SPUNJ rants about more takes 2:09:11 - Top 8 playoffs 2:15:40 - WATO: underdog in the final? HLTV Confirmed is a Counter-Strike (CS2) talk show featuring Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin, and Milan "Striker" Švejda, with guest appearances from community members such as s1mple, device, ropz, Twistzz, karrigan, smooya, dupreeh, cadiaN, Pimp, and more. The show is based around interviews, breakdowns, analysis, and discussions about the esports and casual side of Counter-Strike.   / spunj     / professeur_cs     / strikerhltvorg     / lukaswiinholt   #HLTVConfirmed #podcast #cs2

21 Jan 2h 28min

NER0 joins Confirmed to talk about the Awards decision-making process (and accidentally leaks Rating 3.0), Valve's circuit interventions, Train replacing Vertigo, BLAST Bounty and role situations in G2, FaZe, and Liquid. ➡️ Follow us for updates:   / hltvconfirmed   📺 Watch live:   / hltvorg   🔊 Listen to audio (Spotify, iTunes, Google): https://anchor.fm/hltv HLTV Confirmed is presented by 1xbet & Skin Place: 📗 1xBet: https://cropped.link/hltvtwb 🔪 Skin Place: https://p.skin.place/hltv5 👕 HLTV Merch: https://hltv.org/shop 0:00 - IntroAwards aftermath 3:26 - Awards impression 8:44 - All-star match? 10:00 - Highlight of the year 13:02 - ZywOo placement explained 15:32 - Decision-making process explained 23:42 - Rating 3.0 in 2025?! Recent news 30:42 - Valve listen & judge 48:31 - Major Regional Qualifier 57:28 - 2027: battle lines drawn 1:09:55 - FaZe skip EPL 1:12:32 - Train replaces Vertigo 1:22:30 - WATO: Train at Bounty 1:33:28 - NER0 takes Skinionaire BLAST Bounty 1:45:10 - Matchup selection process 1:58:43 - Bounty expectations 2:09:54 - G2 with HeavyGod role check 2:12:40 - FaZe with EliGE role check 2:20:17 - Liquid with NertZ role check 2:28:00 - tN1R on Heroic   / ner0cs     / spunj     / strikerhltvorg     / professeur_cs     / lukaswiinholt   #HLTVConfirmed #podcast #csgo

14 Jan 2h 33min

All the new roster updates, Major goes 32-teams, season timeline, which tournaments are gonna have the best teams, and time capsule for 2025 in this episode of HLTV Confirmed! ➡️ Follow us for updates: https://twitter.com/HLTVconfirmed 📺 Watch live: https://twitch.tv/HLTVorg 🔊 Listen to audio (Spotify, iTunes, Google): https://anchor.fm/hltv HLTV Confirmed is presented by 1xbet & Skin Place: 📗 1xbet: https://cropped.link/hltvtwb 🔪 Skin Place: https://p.skin.place/hltv5 👕 HLTV Merch: https://hltv.org/shop 0:00 - Intro Roster change rumblings 7:00 - Falcons falling in places 8:36 - Heroic buy a core 16:01 - Nice NIP purchases 28:45 - WATO: NIP reach MRQ 38:48 - EF replace Calyx 42:16 - fnatic get fear 48:25 - FlyQuest add regali 51:41 - Complexity +cxzi +nicx 57:05 - Legacy +lux +n1ssim 59:10 - OG +spooke Season 1 2025 1:05:00 - Striker & Prof take Skinionaire! 1:13:42 - 32-team Major & "Minors" 1:25:35 - What will the season look like? 1:32:55 - "Just don't watch" - SPUNJ on viewer fatigue 1:36:50 - Event timeline for S1 2025 1:51:23 - Who's cooler: ESL, PGL or BLAST?Time capsule 2:13:21 - Prof 2025 prediction 2:20:00 - Striker 2025 prediction 2:25:33 - SPUNJ 2025 prediction https://twitter.com/SPUNJ https://twitter.com/StrikerHLTVorg https://twitter.com/Professeur_CS https://twitter.com/LukasWiinholt #HLTVConfirmed #podcast #csgo HLTV Confirmed is a Counter-Strike (CS2) talk show featuring Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin, and Milan "Striker" Švejda, with guest appearances from community members such as s1mple, device, ropz, Twistzz, karrigan, smooya, dupreeh, cadiaN, Pimp, and more. The show is based around interviews, breakdowns, analysis, and discussions about the esports and casual side of Counter-Strike. https://twitter.com/SPUNJ https://twitter.com/Professeur_CS https://twitter.com/StrikerHLTVorg https://twitter.com/LukasWiinholt #HLTVConfirmed #podcast #cs2

7 Jan 2h 37min

Talking through every big change that was announced or reported in the off-season so far: Falcons to get Heroic's core, ropz to Vitality, EliGE to FaZe, NertZ to Liquid, VP pick up FL4MUS, Cloud9 fall apart, and more! ➡️ Follow us for updates: https://twitter.com/HLTVconfirmed 📺 Watch live: https://twitch.tv/HLTVorg 🔊 Listen to audio (Spotify, iTunes, Google): https://anchor.fm/hltv HLTV Confirmed is presented by 1xbet & Skin Place: 📗 1xbet: https://cropped.link/hltvtwb 🔪 Skin Place: https://p.skin.place/hltv5 👕 HLTV Merch: https://hltv.org/shop 0:00 - Intro 4:24 - Christmas gifts & air fryers 2024 Awards temp check 7:04 - Top 20 begins - and so do critiques. 16:21 - Role based finalists revealed 21:52 - Imperial fe Valve ranking qualification Rostermania speculation 24:25 - Skinionaire: roster changes 34:45 - Rostermania kicks off! 38:09 - ropz to Vitality 50:25 - EliGE to FaZe.. more changes needed? 1:11:05 - Liquid: -YEKI +NertZ; b*tch roles who? 1:30:21 - Heroic $10m buyout?! 1:31:45 - Falcons get Heroic trio 1:41:12 - Falcons roster future 1:46:44 - VP keep repeating their mistake 1:57:42 - BetBoombI4 2:02:02 - HeavyG2D 2:10:52 - ENCE rebuild in Heroic?! 2:13:20 - fnatic fear? 2:19:17 - FlyQuest regali 2:21:24 - kyousuke made Academy TOO GOOD? Other news 2:22:33 - Falcons wildcard invite - what players?! 2:32:42 - Calendar predictability issue 2:35:47 - Imperial fe invites: “not fair” HLTV Confirmed is a Counter-Strike (CS2) talk show featuring Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin, and Milan "Striker" Švejda, with guest appearances from community members such as s1mple, device, ropz, Twistzz, karrigan, smooya, dupreeh, cadiaN, Pimp, and more. The show is based around interviews, breakdowns, analysis, and discussions about the esports and casual side of Counter-Strike. https://twitter.com/SPUNJ https://twitter.com/Professeur_CS https://twitter.com/StrikerHLTVorg https://twitter.com/LukasWiinholt #HLTVConfirmed #podcast #cs2

31 Dec 20242h 48min

Talking the results of the exciting Shanghai Major, including Spirit's win, FaZe and G2 heartbreaks, Vitality and Mongolz quarter-final disappointments, and the crowd insanity. We also look into what's next: MOUZ to fall apart? m0NESY stays? Falcons to keep SanPayus? ropz Vitality? EliGE G2? And more! ➡️ Follow us for updates: https://twitter.com/HLTVconfirmed 📺 Watch live: https://twitch.tv/HLTVorg 🔊 Listen to audio (Spotify, iTunes, Google): https://anchor.fm/hltv HLTV Confirmed is presented by 1xbet & Skin Place: 📗 1xbet: https://cropped.link/hltvtwb 🔪 Skin Place: https://p.skin.place/hltv5 👕 HLTV Merch: https://hltv.org/shop 0:00 - Intro 6:15 - Fans & China experiences 12:42 - Is there a curfew in China? 15:05 - Prof takes Skinionaire Major takeaways 22:28 - Broadcast insights 27:23 - Crowd enthusiasm impressions 30:45 - Crowd cheating issue 32:25 - Arena experience 35:44 - Security & more fans experience 40:11 - Spirit’s Major win 41:26 - magixx’s performance & reaction 44:02 - donk’s winning reaction & MVP 56:16 - zont1x: why is he like this? 1:00:12 - Does donk really not care? 1:05:53 - Major merch: giga banger! 1:08:13 - FaZe’s run & expectations 1:18:50 - karrigan 18 rounds of from 3 Major wins 1:23:00 - G2 storylines 1:29:25 - Vitality’s run & apEX’s post 1:38:10 - MOUZ: what holds them back? 1:46:04 - HEROIC: above the expectations 1:49:42 - Liquid: what are the missing? 1:56:40 - The MongolZ: the nerves? 2:02:45 - NAVI: (dis)honorable mention Shuffle time 2:05:45 - Hottest post-Major players 2:08:32 - EliGE: where can he go? 2:09:50 - Top 3 teams race 2:12:20 - The Major got bigger 2:13:12 - m0NESY’s future & shuffles 2:27:25 - Will MOUZ change big? WATO 2:33:22 - Remaining teams 2:35:50 - Community awards & Top 20 HLTV Confirmed is a Counter-Strike (CS2) talk show featuring Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin, and Milan "Striker" Švejda, with guest appearances from community members such as s1mple, device, ropz, Twistzz, karrigan, smooya, dupreeh, cadiaN, Pimp, and more. The show is based around interviews, breakdowns, analysis, and discussions about the esports and casual side of Counter-Strike. https://twitter.com/SPUNJ https://twitter.com/Professeur_CS https://twitter.com/StrikerHLTVorg https://twitter.com/LukasWiinholt #HLTVConfirmed #podcast #cs2

18 Dec 20242h 41min

The RMR results, Major-less Astralis getting fined by ESIC, mid-RMR rulebook change sets BIG back, Opening Stage Pick'Em, roster rumors, and more in this episode featuring hawka. ➡️ Follow us for updates: https://twitter.com/HLTVconfirmed 📺 Watch live: https://twitch.tv/HLTVorg 🔊 Listen to audio (Spotify, iTunes, Google): https://anchor.fm/hltv HLTV Confirmed is presented by 1xbet & Skin Place: 📗 1xbet: https://cropped.link/hltvtwb 🔪 Skin Place: https://p.skin.place/hltv5 👕 HLTV Merch: https://hltv.org/shop 0:00 - Intro 3:41 - Welcoming hawka aka Striker replacement Recent news 5:33 - Hall of Fame announced! 9:00 - ESIC ruling on Astralis BLAST sub 15:02 - FalleN’s tweet RMR debrief 18:10 - Rating RMRs: viewing, surprises, controversy 22:51 - Mid-RMR changes controversy 31:50 - How much cinema was at the RMR? 35:27 - RMR numbers 36:55 - Asia RMR teams; will Mongolz get support? 39:46 - Americas: Wildcard over M80 44:08 - RMR upsets: EF, Sangal, B8, Nemiga 50:35 - RMR surprises: Sashi, CZ teams, Passion UA 56:20 - Astralis 4th Major missed 1:02:20 - Are these the last RMRS? 1:02:55 - RMRs of the past - Skinionaire 1:16:14 - Looking back at What Are The Odds Major preview 1:18:55 - Will BIG make the top 16? WATO 1:25:54 - Who’s in the title contention? 1:36:35 - Opening matches overview Opening Stage Pick’Em 1:40:30 - Rare Atom, The MongolZ 1:41:50 - Liquid 1:43:20 - FURIA, VP 1:45:50 - Complexity, paiN, MIBR 1:49:25 - FlyQuest, Wildcard 1:50:30 - Passion UA 1:52:40 - C9, GL, misc Roster rumors 1:56:40 - Vitality rumors: Spinx, apEX 2:01:34 - Jimpphat to Falcons? 2:03:35 - device to Falcons?! 2:06:00 - s1mple status & post-Major shuffle HLTV Confirmed is a Counter-Strike (CS2) talk show featuring Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin, and Milan "Striker" Švejda, with guest appearances from community members such as s1mple, device, ropz, Twistzz, karrigan, smooya, dupreeh, cadiaN, Pimp, and more. The show is based around interviews, breakdowns, analysis, and discussions about the esports and casual side of Counter-Strike. https://twitter.com/hawka_cs https://twitter.com/SPUNJ https://twitter.com/Professeur_CS https://twitter.com/LukasWiinholt #HLTVConfirmed #podcast #cs2

28 Nov 20242h 15min