New Valve and Plantronics Headsets!
2012.12.20 - 
Today we’re excited to announce a brand new series of CS:GO headsets, brought to you by Valve and Plantronics. Valve proudly presents the GameCom 780 and the Commander gaming headsets with an official Counter-Strike headband:
Plantronics has been an avid supporter of the competitive Counter-Strike community, providing support for major events including ESWC and DreamHack. They’ve helped get CS:GO off to a great start, and plan to continue supporting the community in 2013.
Find these headsets and much more at the Valve Store and at Plantronics.
Also, be sure to stay up to date with all of their latest contests and announcements at: https://www.facebook.com/GameComFaceOff
CS:GO Pro Tip Series: ruggah
2012.12.14 -
Today’s Pro Tip comes from Casper ‘ruggah’ Due, of Anexis eSports. Casper gives a broad overview of the support role in de_inferno from both sides of the map, with a focus on some clever smokes, flashes, and even a molotov to help your team attack (or defend) each bombsite.
We’ve occasionally highlighted some excellent community resources for new CS:GO players, but these are just a small fraction of what the Counter-Strike community has produced over the past months and years. If you’d like to get your tips out to other CS:GO players, there’s a new community feature being developed for Steam that can get you started: Game Guides.
Join the Steam Community Beta Group and create your own CS:GO guide today!
Update 12/12/12 – Nuke, revisited
2012.12.12 -
If you’ve been following the pro tournaments, you may have noticed that they often play de_nuke_ve, a competitive revision of de_nuke by Sal ‘Volcano’ Garozzo.
In today’s update, we have incorporated elements of Volcano’s revision into the standard de_nuke. In addition, we’ve updated competitive matchmaking so you can create a custom set of maps that you’d like to play.
Want to get up to speed on the new de_nuke?
The best way to learn is to play – jump in a casual or competitive match, or practice offline with bots.
You can also read up on de_nuke strategy in a recent issue of the excellent de_fuser magazine, or you can learn about NiP’s successful strats in our recent CS:GO Pro Tip.
Finally, an excellent way to learn how to approach a map is to watch the pros. This weekend, you’ll have a chance to see some of the best teams battle it out in Germany at NorthCon. Don’t miss it!
Update/CS:GO Pro Tip Series: Fifflaren
2012.12.03 -
In the past month we’ve been traveling around the world to collect feedback from pro CS:GO players, casters, and organizers of major tournaments. Along with the useful feedback players provide in the forums, these conversations have helped drive some of the recent changes we’ve been making in CS:GO.
For example, today’s update includes a reworking of the Decoy Grenade, new rules to monitor team-hurting in competitive matchmaking, and adjustments to GOTV to ensure a complete broadcast.
If you’ve been following the major CS:GO tournaments you’ll definitely recognize the featured player in today’s CS:GO Pro Tip. Here’s Robin “Fifflaren” Johansson from NiP, giving an overview of how his team goes for picks and executes their inner strat on de_nuke. He also demonstrates useful smoke grenade and flashbang locations on the map.
For those of you who haven’t picked up CS:GO, we’re part of Steam’s Big Picture celebration sale – pick up CS:GO (which is controller-friendly!) for 50% off, now until December 10th.
DreamHack CS:GO Grand Final
2012.11.26 - 
After making it through their group stage matches and working their way through the quarter and semi finals, both Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team VeryGames managed to meet each other once again on another Grand Final stage. This time it was at DreamHack Winter’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Tournament.
In the end, the hometown heroes NiP claimed the top spot; taking first place in this years DreamHack Winter: CS:GO Tournament. They won 16-9 on de_dust2_se and 16-1 on de_inferno_se.
Now that DreamHack Winter and the ESWC are in the past, all eyes will be on next week’s Insomnia47 and the Mind Sports Festival CS:GO Tournaments. The following week, the Thor Open will be taking place in Stockholm, Sweden, and with new CS:GO tournaments popping up every day, 2013 is shaping up to be a great year the competitive scene.
If you’re feeling inspired from all of this professional CS:GO and really want to get into the action, fire up CS:GO and hop into a Classic Competitive match. Work your way up the skill groups and don’t stop until you’re Global Elite. If you’re looking to get a team together, thanks to the Steam Autumn Sale, you can pick up a copy of CS:GO to gift to a friend for 25% off. What are you waiting for?
Go! Go! Go!
