Tech Girl Talks Tech Girl Talks

Complexity wins the whole damn thing. Du Preeh pops off for Falcons. The Aurora manager shouts insults at ELiGE...  @Darfmike  and I have got together to chat about all the best bits of ESL Challenger Jönköping 2024 and to see how our predictions panned out from the BEFORE video we did. We'd love to hear if your predictions panned out as well so be sure to let us know in the comments.

0:00 Introduction
02:19 Behind the Scenes at ESL Challenger & broadcast team dynamics
04:02 Complexity's victory and the significance of the win for the team
06:26 Bravado Gaming & Project Destiny 2.0
13:20 The ENCE surprise and Podi's performance
16:46 Let's talk about Team Falcons
20:45 Falcons line up changes?
22:38 Sam embarrasses herself in front of Snappi
29:50 What happened to the Mongolz?
35:14 Is Yalla an S Tier tournament?
35:42 Aurora gets to the semi finals
38:52 The problems in Aurora
40:32 Aurora Manager shouting insults at ELiGE
42:51 Best parts of the event

Follow Mike on X: www.x.com/darfmike

Find me on the socials:
Blog - http://www.techgirlblog.com
Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/techgirlza
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/techgirlza
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/techgirlza
Twitch - http://www.twitch.tv/techgirlza
Discord - https://discord.gg/SKvCd82nv4
TikTok - http://www.tiktok.com/@TechGirlZA

My gear:
- Canon EOS M50 Mark ii
- My PC: Z590-GUNDAM (Wi-Fi) Motherboard, ROG Strix RTX3080 Graphics Card, PSU ROG Strix 850G GUNDAM edition, Intel Core i7-10700 Processor & ROG Strix Helios GUNDAM edition case.
- ROG Strix XG27AQV Gaming Monitor
- TUF Gaming VG27VH1B

At the end of May 2024 Valve announced some changes to the qualification and regional slot distribution for the Shanghai Major being hosted by Perfect World at the end of the year. The trolls were not impressed with the European, North American and South American open qualifiers for the RMRs being done away with... but it made little sense because the changes seemed... positive maybe? Complexity's CS General Manager & well known scene figure messioso joins  @Thooorin  & myself to chat about the changes. We share the good, the bad, the ugly and to speculate why folks got so damn tilted about all of this.

Find Thorin on X:
http://www.x.com/thorin

Find messioso on X:
http://www.x.com/messioso

0:00 Introductions from Yalla in Abu Dhabi
01:42 Old Major Qualification Format and RMR open qualifiers
06:29 New Major Format Qualification Format explained
09:12 Pros & Cons of the new format
14:38 The impact of the changes on top teams and the schedule
21:37 The need for regional specific considerations
24:26 The future of the qualifiers and ensuring fairness
27:24 The Importance of the RMRs for regions with limited domestic play
30:12 The distribution of slots for the Major
33:01 Flaws in the previous system and the need for improvement
37:37 The need for more communication from Valve
43:45 Striking a balance between circuit ranking and the RMRs

Find me on the socials:
Blog - http://www.techgirlblog.com
Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/techgirlza
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/techgirlza
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/techgirlza
Twitch - http://www.twitch.tv/techgirlza
Discord - https://discord.gg/SKvCd82nv4
TikTok - http://www.tiktok.com/@TechGirlZA

My gear:
- Canon EOS M50 Mark ii
- My PC: Z590-GUNDAM (Wi-Fi) Motherboard, ROG Strix RTX3080 Graphics Card, PSU ROG Strix 850G GUNDAM edition, Intel Core i7-10700 Processor & ROG Strix Helios GUNDAM edition case.
- ROG Strix XG27AQV Gaming Monitor
- TUF Gaming VG27VH1B

This is a new Counter-Strike series called CHALLENGED. DarfMike and I realised we work the same events but never get to work together, so we made a thing so we could. CHALLENGED is a series focused around the ESL Challenger Events for 2024. We’ll do a pre and post event video showcasing what to expect from the teams competing and then what we got wrong about those expectations.

The first episode is ESL Challenger Jönköping Part 1. In it we share some war… we mean work, stories and give our opinions on the teams you’re going to see compete at Dreamhack Summer.

0:00 Introduction to our new show CHALLENGED
02:23 Mike’s fun GeT_RiGhT story from IEM Dallas
03:50 Sam’s Jonkoping Travel nightmare
06:25 ESL Challenger Jonkoping, last chance for Team Falcons?
10:26 Complexity’s chances
12:16 The question marks around hallzerk
14:40 Party Astronauts and the American dream
16:45 ESL Challenger format
19:35 ENCE’s new line up and what to expect from sdy & podi
22:17 The MongolZ - back to back LAN winners
25:01 Last Challenger’s winners MiBR
26:44 Sam doesn’t have faith in Aurora
29:20 Sweden’s home town rep is Alliance
31:10 Final Predictions
25:51 Some more on potential Complexity roster changes

Follow DarfMike on X:
https://x.com/DarfMike



Find me on the socials:
Blog - http://www.techgirlblog.com
Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/techgirlza
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/techgirlza
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/techgirlza
Twitch - http://www.twitch.tv/techgirlza
Discord - https://discord.gg/SKvCd82nv4
TikTok - http://www.tiktok.com/@TechGirlZA

My gear:
- Canon EOS M50 Mark ii
- My PC: Z590-GUNDAM (Wi-Fi) Motherboard, ROG Strix RTX3080 Graphics Card, PSU ROG Strix 850G GUNDAM edition, Intel Core i7-10700 Processor & ROG Strix Helios GUNDAM edition case.
- ROG Strix XG27AQV Gaming Monitor
- TUF Gaming VG27VH1B

After months of question marks concerning their performance, G2 beat Vitality in the finals of IEM Dallas 2024, with a stand in. HooXi is attending his sister’s wedding, Major winner Stewie2K who hasn’t competed in ages, stands in. The final is arguably the best CS2 final of the year.

So where to go for G2 now? Were the pundits like Kassad who called for HooXi’s head correct? Should the IGL be removed from the lineup? Is Niko’s career about to shift towards IGLing much like Dev1ce? Can m0NESY continue to dominate on the server for the remainder of 2024? There are so many questions around this team and their future. So Moses joins @Thooorin and myself to try to answer all of them and guess future moves for the team.

0:00 Introduction
01:19 HooXi’s sister announced MVP
09:38 Do G2 play better when the pressure is removed?
13:09 HooXi as a coach or analyst versus player
15:06 NiKo as IGL
19:20 No quick fix for G2
21:01 m0NESY fan club
24:18 Should G2 build a roster around m0NESY
29:14 Will we see G2 make roster changes soon?
38:02 HooXi, TaZ and Nexa need to prove everyone wrong
40:04 Here’s a random chat about Donna & Launders to break up this discussion
41:16 TaZ as a coach
46:11 HooXi deserves more credit as an IGL
48:40 Can this team do something as the roster stands
53:00 Can G2 win the Perfect World Shanghai Major?

Find Thorin on X:
http://www.x.com/thorin

Find Moses on X:
http://www.x.com/mosesgg

Find me on the socials:
Blog - http://www.techgirlblog.com
Instagram -   / techgirlza  
Twitter -   / techgirlza  
Facebook -   / techgirlza  
Twitch -   / techgirlza  
Discord -   / discord  
TikTok -   / techgirlza  

My gear:
- Canon EOS M50 Mark ii
- My PC: Z590-GUNDAM (Wi-Fi) Motherboard, ROG Strix RTX3080 Graphics Card, PSU ROG Strix 850G GUNDAM edition, Intel Core i7-10700 Processor & ROG Strix Helios GUNDAM edition case.
- ROG Strix XG27AQV Gaming Monitor
- TUF Gaming VG27VH1B

Team Falcons was meant to be the incredible Counter-Strike super team. Rumours flowed as Falcons was touted as the Saudi Arabian CS2 team with deep pockets and a list of legendary players were linked with signing to the organisation after they announced Major winning coach Zonic had agreed to move to Falcons from Team Vitality. However, the lineup never materialised and now the team consisting of Snappi, Magisk, maden, du Preeh and Sunpayus appears to be struggling. So what is wrong with Team Falcons? Kassad joins  @Thooorin  and myself to discuss what went wrong for the (not so) super team.

0:00 Kassad & Thorin the grumpy men of Counter-Strike
01:10 What is a Super Team? Kassad's answer
03:08 What is a Super Team? Thorin's answer
06:20 What was Team Falcons supposed to look like
09:20 Kassad "the decision makers at Falcons did everything wrong"
14:59 Did Team Falcons damage the Counter-Strike scene?
19:55 Why does this current lineup not work?
23:07 Falcons vs. HenryG's Cloud9
29:08 Too much hype and too much money?
32:30 Kassad fires everyone
36:30 Learning from the past on how to succeed
38:31 Let's discuss Zonic
45:50 Kassad reveals industry buy-outs and salaries
50:00 When unlimited money demands results
55:30 What would your super team look like?
59:00 We like the players in Team Falcons

Find Kassad on x:
http://www.x.com/kassad

Find Thorin on x:
http://www.x.com/Thorin

Find me on the socials:
Blog - http://www.techgirlblog.com
Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/techgirlza
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/techgirlza
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/techgirlza
Twitch - http://www.twitch.tv/techgirlza
Discord - https://discord.gg/SKvCd82nv4
TikTok - http://www.tiktok.com/@TechGirlZA

The Heroic Astralis drama that dominated social media and HLTV forums started a soap opera in competitive counter-strike. Stavn and Jabbi joined Astralis to create a “super team” which never got off the starting line. Recently, the Danish move was to drop IGL BlameF and announced that multiple Major winning MVP dev1ce would take up IGL duties. The announcement was met with shock and concern by the CS trolls. However, a few top tournaments in the small sample size would point towards this… working? On this episode of Feed The Trolls I’m joined by  @Thooorin  & SPUNJ (yeah, these two reunited again, old school analyst desk vibes) to weigh in on dev1ce as an IGL. How did Astralis get to this point, could it work and what are the potential pitfalls?

While we’re here we also weigh in on the recent rumours that ex-Heroic IGL Cadian may be getting the ex from Team Liquid and where he might go. From the role of the IGL in and out the server, the origins story of dev1ce and BlameF’s exit from Astralis to focusing on what the future looks like for competitive Counter-Strike as a whole - there is a lot to sink your teeth into with this episode.

Follow Thorin on X: http://www.x.com/thorin
Follow SPUNJ on X: http://www.x.com/spunj

0:00 Intro and why we think dev1ce is great
06:05 The dev1ce origins story
11:45 the fall of BlameF
25:36 Addressing the negative response to dev1ce being announced as Astralis IGL
30:51 Do we buy into the dev1ce as IGL?
32:08 Taking a look at the Astralis team roles now
34:11 Potential downfalls of dev1ce as IGL
38:44 What does Cadian do now? Where to from here?
40:59 Are the Astralis players with dev1ce good enough?
48:53 Will we ever see another dominant counter-strike run like the Astralis of old?
58:28 Ruggah as Astralis coach

Find me on the socials:
Blog - http://www.techgirlblog.com
Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/techgirlza
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/techgirlza
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/techgirlza
Twitch - http://www.twitch.tv/techgirlza
Discord - https://discord.gg/SKvCd82nv4
TikTok - http://www.tiktok.com/@TechGirlZA