What to watch during the summer player break

There is still Counter-Strike action taking place, even if the tier one scene is taking a break for the time being.

With the conclusion of BLAST Premier Spring Final the tier one professional scene has now commenced a month-long player break. Elite competitive CS will return with BLAST Premier Fall Groups in Copenhagen, which kicks off July 13.

Despite the very best teams and tournaments in the world taking a break there will still be plenty of professional CS being played across the world, both on LAN and in online events. This provides a prime opportunity to get to know some of the talents of tomorrow, and get up to date with teams set to play in tier one competitions like ESL Pro League in the near future.

From June 16-18 a raft of lesser-known Swedish talent will gather in Jönköping, Sweden for the Svenska Elitserien Spring 2023 Finals, competing for a prize pool of $22,406. Exciting academy squads PROSPECTS and Young Ninjas will be present, with Johan "⁠hype⁠" Engblom and Linus "⁠nilo⁠" Bergman serving as the players to watch for each team respectively.

Another LAN event will also take place in mid-June, the Master League Portugal XI Finals, from June 17-18 in Guimarães, Portugal. Top Portuguese sides will be battling for regional dominance, including current No. 32 in the world SAW, for whom Michel "⁠ewjerkz⁠" Pinto and João "⁠story⁠" Vieira are the up and coming duo worth keeping an eye on.

A raft of online leagues are also taking place throughout the break, such as the Perfect World Arena Premier League from June 13-18 in Asia, CBCS Season 1 from June 14-24 in South America, and FiReLEAGUE on June 19-24 in Argentina. The Perfect World event features upcoming Pro League attendees Rare Atom and Lynn Vision, CBCS will host a range of sub-top South American squads like Sharks, whilst FiReLEAGUE’s premier name will be Ignacio "⁠meyern⁠" Meyer’s BESTIA.

There is also LEON TEAMPLAY Season 1, which pits a range of upcoming squads outside the top 50 of the world rankings like ENCE Academy and Ignis Serpens against each other.

If something more relaxed will whet your appetite in the player break, the 1xBet GOAT League Summer VACation is set to go down June 15-20, featuring teams made up of pros from the men's and women's scene, streamers, coaches, and talent members. Big names like Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund and Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer are set to put together teams to compete.

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Valve announce Counter-Strike 2

There is also the potential release of CS2 to look forward to in the player break, however information on the precise timing of the release is still thin on the ground. Summer 2023 has been touted as the period in which the new game will come out.

The tournaments set to take place in the summer player break are:

Europe

LEON TEAMPLAY Season 1 - June 12-25

Svenska Elitserien Spring Finals (LAN) - June 16-18

Master League Portugal Finals (LAN) - June 17-18

1xBet GOAT League Summer VACation - June 15-20

Asia

Perfect World Arena Premier League - June 13-18

South America

CBCS Season 1 - June 14-24

FiReLEAGUE Argentina - June 19-24