DeKay Mailbag Part 1: If the Major Will Happen, Possible Changes in Denmark, and the leaf situation

This is Part 1 of my Mailbag series responding to questions on Twitter covering a wide array of topics in CS:GO:

Success during an online only period isn’t enough, from what I can tell. It would also have to take place when we are back to playing normally. Keep in mind that the possible financial toll of this pandemic will extend far longer than most think. We are at risk of a rough 2021 when it comes to the number of financially supported teams in Counter-Strike and Esports. I expect organizations who were hemorrhaging money to get caught with their pants down.

The recent Chaos situation was the only one I heard of when it comes to teams who are actually relevant. I don’t believe cheating occurs outside of unknown teams playing online. Those people who still believe the professional scene is full of cheaters are just delusional.

It was embarrassing to say the least. There is no reason any player should receive abuse like that over what people think they see on a broadcast. Without a player being caught by anti-cheat, we simply cannot accuse or even imply they are cheating unless it is painfully obvious. I was disappointed that so many pro players added fuel to the fire. While they cannot control what their followers do, players must recognize what speaking out about this might influence them to do. As a result, the kid received death threats for just doing his job. I hope we can do better in the future.

The Major is not happening in Brazil this year, that to me is certain. The question then becomes if it will happen elsewhere at the same time... It’s hard to predict how things will be in November but I get the feeling it won’t happen in 2020. It’s unfortunate, but only makes sense when you consider where all the teams come from to play in it.

I haven’t heard a single word about it. It cannot be ESL One: Cologne, so I imagine it will get moved or be an event that obviously isn’t announced yet. We will see.

I haven’t spoken to enough people to really gauge sentiment right now, but I believe Henry won’t be affected all that much. From what I reviewed and understand, most in the industry feel that he was falsely accused. I myself feel the same.

Pickups like that are something I do not expect anytime soon for just about every team, unless they can get a player for free. Organizations are not in the business of spending right now, especially based on online play only. If they continue to play that well offline in the future, they will most certainly get picked up by a bigger organization.

I have not heard any rumors about them and can only imagine they are just trying to survive this period like everyone else is. If they make a change at any point, it will have to happen for a very good reason.

I’d be shocked and kind of disappointed if they did, considering they just won a tournament and are playing the best they have thus far as a team.

That’s the thing. I believe they can sit and wait, what is the reason not to? The tournaments aren’t prestigious right now and there is likely no Major anytime soon. As long as they are maintaining their league spots, I think it makes more sense to coast right now. They are exhausted from the currently playing schedule, just like so many other teams. Trying everything to be the best team right now will only exhaust people even more and set them back when offline play resumes. If it happens naturally, then so be it.

I expect big changes at North, so there will be some type of Danish shuffle. Even if core Astralis players stay put, I think there are multiple changes to come. Bubzkji is available if someone wants to pay for him, so I’m keeping an eye on the situation. Overall, I think Denmark is the one area where change will come sooner rather than later.

The word is that he will come back after the summer break, but I’m not sure exactly where. Logically he will come back to North, but it’s too early to say just yet.

I haven’t heard a single thing, unfortunately.