Short news: Week 29

The new Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski -led Aurora got off to a winning start in the StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 Europe Closed Qualifier with wins over K27 and Nemesis .

While they were able to show their prowess on Nuke (13-3 and 13-2 victories), they had to work for both victories after losing their opponent's map pick.

In terms of individuals, Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo led the way with a 1.23 rating.

The European combine now await their opponents in the playoffs, set to begin on Saturday.

Luca "⁠Luken⁠" Nadotti has announced he is no longer under contract with Gaimin Gladiators and is open to new opportunities. The organization benched the entirety of its roster after the Cologne Major following a "strategic review" of its Counter-Strike program, and now has only Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles left on its books.

"Unfortunately, following the changes made by Valve regarding the stickers, the organization understood that the project was no longer profitable and the team could not be sustained," Luken said on X, before adding that the organization treated the team well.

Gabriel "⁠NEKIZ⁠" Schenato has announced that he has become a free agent following the end of his contract with Gaimin Gladiators .

The 30-year-old was moved to the organization's bench alongside the rest of its roster "after a strategic review into their Counter-Strike program," with Gaimin Gladiators pointing towards changes to the Major revenue model as part of the reason.

His departure leaves the team with just two players:

Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles (benched) Luca "⁠Luken⁠" Nadotti (benched)

100 Thieves have lost their first match with Jack "⁠Gizmy⁠" von Spreckelsen at the helm in the StarLadder StarSeries Fall Europe Closed Qualifier, getting sent down to the Group D elimination match after a narrow loss to Ninjas in Pyjamas in their opener.

The team will have to collect itself quickly as they are set to face Cologne Major champions Falcons in BLAST Bounty S2 later today.

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EYEBALLERS have announced that Simon "⁠yxngstxr⁠" Boije will stand in for Max "⁠maxster⁠" Jansson , who was granted a leave to go on vacation before the team accepted the invitation to BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 2, in the first stage of the tournament.

The Swedes are set to face off against FaZe in the first round of the single-elimination bracket.

Phantom have announced the addition of Kamen "⁠bubble⁠" Kostadinov as their assistant coach.

The move marks bubble 's return after previously coaching Imperial Valkyries .

The latest edition of Last Week on has been sent out, summing up our concerning reports from the IEM Cologne Major sticker sales as well as the month-long rostermania in one big swoop.

Link copied Last comment 21/07 03:32 By Nohte Short: Bomb explosion interacts with smoke clouds and molotovs after new update

Valve has shipped a new update to Counter-Strike 2 that sees the new bomb shockwave blow away smoke grenades and snuff out molotovs/incendiary grenades.

The update also adjusted the bomb damage health preview to only show when the bomb becomes audible to players.

A few community maps were updated and a workshop maps section was added to the Steam China release, with the complete patch notes available here .

AM have announced that Alexander "⁠Altekz⁠" Givskov left the organization as a free agent following the expiry of his contract.

The news comes shortly after AM shared that their squad will move on to a new organization.

A French team called Subtop De France , which has been participating in various lower-tier events including the CCT circuit for the past four months, has been banned from the CCT circuit and its matches in the ongoing Europe 6 tournament have been forfeited.

The decision follows an "integrity assessment" by the company behind CCT, GRID, which deemed the French team "a material risk to competitive integrity."

Sashi have benched Lukas "⁠Beccie⁠" Bauder Balcells and replaced him with former ECSTATIC player Anton "⁠Anlelele⁠" Huynh , making the lineup the following:

Frederik "⁠acoR⁠" Gyldstrand Casper "⁠Cabbi⁠" Jensen Rasmus "⁠Zyphon⁠" Nordfoss Mikkel "⁠MistR⁠" Thomsen Anton "⁠Anlelele⁠" Huynh

Nicolai "⁠HUNDEN⁠" Petersen (coach)

Check out Week 28 for more