Both in Stockholm, at Stake Pulse Beat 1, and in Paris, at the Esports World Cup 2026 Qualifier, our Counter-Strike team didn’t reach the wanted results. In both competitions we failed to make it out of the Group Stage, finishing far from our target placements. With a new team structure after Liam “MaiL09” Tügel was reinstated into the line-up, Team Captain Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz and his men struggled to find the proper groove, but the 32-year-old is also confident that with time they will get back on their feet.
“Now it’s just up to us to figure things out, get back to work and make sure we’re getting the results. I know that we have the players, we just have to figure out how to find a system for these players”
– stanislaw after the elimination from Esports World Cup in Paris.
Head Coach vinS in Paris
With our new ambition to show more from behind the scenes around the team, Our Creative Producer Torstein traveled with the squad to both Sweden and France, capturing a lot of footage that gives more depth to the performance side of professional esports, as well as what obstacles our team are facing at the moment. If you want to watch, you will find both videos at the bottom of this article.
Now a month of theory sessions, lots of practice, and several official matches in various online tournaments await. The first competition will be next week, on August 18, as the guys roll up to ESL Challenger League S52 Cup 4 aiming for the spot in the regional finals later this year. We have also accepted invitations to Exort Fiesta Series 1 with a $20,000 prize pool, the Closed Qualifier for Logitech G Connect 2026 (a $100,000 LAN in Warsaw next month), and $25,000 CCT 2026 EU #8. Our next LAN event remains undecided.