You can read the article by clicking the link as well:esportshut.blogspot.ca/2012/10/curtain-call.html. Read and comment. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

I started playing the game back in 2006. It only feels like yesterday when I did not know anything about how one could actually make a living through playing games. But slowly and gradually, I learned about it. I dug deep into the history of the beautiful game and yes I’m talking about Counter-Strike, not football.

The game has given me too many good memories, whether it be playing the game myself or watching my favorite team battling it out for the most prestigious title there was. It was, to me, as good as watching any physical sport. Somehow, it had the same feeling when I saw a good clutch that changed the course of the match compared to a goal scored in a game of football during stoppage time to level the score or win the game. Call me a geek, I don’t care but for me, it was Counter-Strike!

Today, Dreamhack Bucharest (supposedly the last proper LAN tournament of competitive Counter-Strike) is being played. It is already in the final stages. There are not many big teams in attendance but that gives chance to the underdogs of the host nation to make a name for them one last time. The tournament has currently the best team in the world, fnatic (who have for the first time in 7 years had more non-Swedish players in their line-up after they recruited Martin ‘trace’ Heldt in the summer). They are also the favorites to win this tournament. Anexis, another known name to the people who know CS, are amongst the favorites to reach the final and face fnatic for the last title of CS 1.6. The outcome is quite obvious as it seems unlikely that fnatic would be beaten but in this beautiful game, I have always been surprised by the upsets that have taken place. Who knows, Anexis or fnatic might not make it to the final! I’ll keep my fingers crossed till that moment.

As I look back, I remember my first tournament that I followed, World Series of Video Games 2006 Grand Finals in New York City. Seeing Team 3D overcome fnatic in the lower bracket final, watching aTTaX dominate the entire tournament, witnessing the grand final between the North Americans and the Germans was a treat to watch. Since then, watching Dennis “walle” Wallenberg’s 1v5 against PGS at the grandest stage during the WCG, Patrick “f0rest” Lindberg’s amazing performance at the CPL Winter 2006, Filip “neo” Kubski’s dominance at the 1st ever IEM and ESWC. I could go on and on but the list will not end.

Even the smaller LAN tournaments were a treat to watch as you saw some great players displaying their talent and moving forward to play with the “big boys”. We saw Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund, Rasmus “Gux” Stahl, Yegor “markeloff” Markelov, Johan “face” Klasson, Michael “friis” Jorgenson, Andreas “moddii” Fridh and a few others go on to become super-stars from good players. We saw Natus Vincere break all records getting the most prize money in a calendar year. They became the 1st team ever to win all 3 major titles in a single year and the 1st team ever to win 4 major titles in a row (IEM 4 2010, ESWC 2010, WCG 2010 and IEM 5 2011). We saw the Golden 5 travel half way around the world without a sponsor to create one of the biggest upsets ever, beating the unstoppable fnatic at the WCG 2009 to register themselves in the Hall of Fame. We saw them crawl out of a slump in 2010 to become the team of the year in 2011 AGAiN!

And on October 21, 2012, it all ends. We will probably see our favorite players compete in the beautiful game for the very last time. Most of them have moved on to the newer Counter-Strike, Global Offensive. I have not played the game myself so I will not comment or speculate on it. But from what I have heard, it does not look good. Players do not WANT to play the game. The tournaments are not fun to watch. I for one do not feel the excitement about the upcoming CSGO tournaments like I did for 1.6. It just does not feel………right. But there are positives about the game too. It is doing what has not been done for 6 years, that is bring the 1.6 and source communities together. I see players from both games coming together to form teams and playing online scrims.

But will this be as big as the 1.6 competitive scene was a few years back? If this does not work out, will tournaments switch back to 1.6 and source like nothing ever went wrong? Or will this mean the end of FPS games in the competitive world? I fear the latter to be the case. For the sake of competitive FPS, I hope Valve listens to the advice the pros give them in order to make the game better. I for one might not play the game the way I did 1.6 but it would be a sad day for all of us to see the sun set on such an amazing era in such a hideous manner. The memories will always stay with me forever.

Thank you Counter-Strike 1.6, for giving me some of the best times in my short life. I will keep playing the game regardless! <3

Edit: This video shows some of the best moment in CS history.