Talking Counter
Episode 161: w/ mauisnake! NiP, Astralis, BCG, M80, Spirit all make changes, Budapest Major is over!
20 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: What insights does Maui share about his Budapest experience?
You know what? Screw the Na'Vi game. It's really funny to me now that like Zway, Zway's entire career in Spirit was to have one life game, destroy Falcons in the quarterfinals and then get in cut. It came, I know it came. You brought up Spirit and that's all I've been thinking about while you've been talking was waiting to get into this is,
he was like a guest on a talk show once and he said the only reason why i'm getting hired is because like they think i can do every european accent yeah but like to american producers that sounds like a good hungarian accent or something he's just like bullshitting his way in some of these shows and that's like why he's getting all these the roles which is kind of hilarious
Yeah, I've read that. The Eastern European accent in the 90s for movies was just taken as communist accent. So it was just like, no matter who the enemy is, here you go. This is the guy. This is the one. He nailed it, though. He fucking nailed it. Made a career out of it. Yeah, made a real nice career out of it.
It was funny, though, mentioning Duncan. It was some major or something. You remember Maui when he was like... Or some random tournament where he just took swings at us both because we... I tweeted something, I disagreed with him on something like just off the cuff, I tweeted and he thought it was like a declaration of war on him. And then I think we were on your stream like watching something.
Oh, yeah. And he just came in and gave you and me like, you know, gave us a good burn.
Yeah. It's hard to have a civil disagreement with him. It needs to be a very much outlined debate or else suddenly you're his enemy forever.
Sometimes you just got to take a shot, you know, just to let the playing field feel equal. That's the trick. Exactly.
All right. We heard Jason's, you know, sort of description on Budapest, Maui. How was it for you? Did you go to the ruins bars?
Yeah, I went to the ruin bar. I went to one of them. I went to the original one. I just went with my girlfriend. We were kind of surprised that it didn't have music playing.
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Chapter 2: What were the key takeaways from the Budapest Major storylines?
I just wish we got some of those games right where it could have really...
been a bit more of a banger right but it's just a lot of these other teams crumbled and failed you know vitality persevered i had this weird feeling watching the playoffs where i was like this kind of like there was like i'm not gonna say they sucked or anything but like having so many of the favorites lose like that but also the whole major to me felt really weird in the sense that it felt like teams individual levels of players felt like so up and down from stage to stage either like awesome or like disappearing for a
i feel like you know a lot of teams like almost like over performed to get into the next stage and then would go back to like revert back to the mean for an individual and just get kind of swept and that's what like a lot of the playoffs sort of felt like to me was like i don't know like falcons you know in that g2 match having nico performing the way he was kiyosuke putting things together modesty figuring things out and body bagging them and then showing up in the quarterfinals and just being everyone across the board completely pedestrian
Like, I feel like that happened so much at this major that it kind of made the games feel flat, you know?
We didn't really get all of the head-to-head star versus star clashes in the way that we necessarily would have wanted, I suppose. I would say that the favorites, the biggest disappointments for me, I would say, from the playoff bracket are definitely
Definitely Fury is number one because it would have been nice to see any of the other side of the bracket, whether that's Falcons, whether that's Spirit, or whether that's Vitality, any three of them play the team of the moment in Furia because then you'd really get to see can they revert back to their form or is Fury actually just the favorite? Are they just the best?
Also, in a weird way, it probably would have been nice to see... Just just so that maybe Furia could have had a slightly easier route going into the semifinals. Any team except for a blade, Alexi, totally anti-stratted game plan where they get to just play a little bit more of the style that they like to. And hopefully it's just better Counter-Strike in general than a target strategy.
That was a baller fucking quote, though. Wasn't it wonderful? Who came out was like, yeah, I expected to win. We had like four days of preparation on one team with Blade and Alexi. Yeah, he was just like, yeah, like we came into that game being like, we know everything. This is over. But I think like part of the disappointment, too, is like the amount of blowouts.
You know, like FaZe, FaZe, Malz having a close nuke and then Inferno just being a smash for Malz to go out on. Same with like Falcons, like the smashing on nuke to open up the series. Like, you know, like having and then in the Furia losses, 13-5 and 13-3, like feeling like there were maps in these series that were supposed to be awesome and having the favorites just put up no fight whatsoever.
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Chapter 3: How does the performance of players like Broky impact the discussion?
While in reality... If you just played around, if you just played default, made sure that, you know, any aggressive move that they go for can be punished, take map control. That's what people neglect. It's like you're constantly getting information as you're doing that, right? Like you're seeing what counter utility are they throwing? Where is the op? Do they have single op, double op?
Like is the rotator down CT? And, you know, that's helping you get to read. All right, they might be playing. Maybe they're playing double long this round or they're doing this or they're playing. They're giving up short, right?
And then you have finishers and endings and ways to mid-round and play these rounds out where you're like, all right, this is a good solution against a couple of different things. And I thought that's why Furia is, for example, good at that, right? And... in that game against Na'Vi didn't really pan out. You know what? Screw the Na'Vi game.
It's really funny to me now that Zwei's entire career in Spirit was to have one life game destroying Falcons in the quarterfinals and then getting cut. Fuck you, Jason. You were going to bring it up. You brought up Spirit and that's all I've been thinking about while you've been talking was waiting to get into this is...
Yeah, that's his entire tenure is just ruining Falcons majors, just coming in, spanking them, two aces in the series, knocking them out of the major. Peace out. I'm done.
I want to hear Maui tell me what does this mean for Niko's legacy. The fact that Zwei decided to have a fucking higher rating than Donk. This guy had two aces. He has aces in back-to-back maps. He doesn't have back-to-back aces in a fucking face-it game. And he had them in the quarterfinal of a major. Are you fucking joking?
Nico's just, Nico's just cursed in ways that sometimes they're his own doing. Sometimes you can't game plan around his way. In fact, they did try to game plan around his way, but he just, he undid the game plan. The Zonic game plan was actually thwarted by 18 year old now Bench's way. It's, it's kind of a miracle actually.
Like from, from a Nico's friend standpoint. Yeah. not being at the event and cheering him on. I was molding about all of that happening, like Zwei having a life game, and then also Chopper who had two kills on Dust, coming up with a 3k and a Clutcher, like the most important moment of the game really. And of course it was in the end Niko in the 1v1 and he did, I don't know what the fuck he did.
He was trying to wait for the headshot instead of just spamming it through the box when he saw him.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of roster changes for teams like Astralis and NiP?
I was thinking that they clearly worked on a handful of things. I mean, they were selling fakes with his way, running out, pop, and they would throw nades from T-Main at the same time and flashes over as well so he could swing out with some smokes, and then they would do a B hit at the same time. They were doing multiple...
things at the same time on train in particular so i thought that was one map where i said okay that they're clearly worked on things and then also mirage versus mouse is another map where they actually use a little bit more misdirection they had mouse off of the bomb sites that they were ending ending on because they sold enough of a fake going towards one side so those two maps in particular but there does two more or less is pretty similar to what it was before i think the only play that i really noticed they added was that they would do this
kind of like Tenir or somebody would go long at the beginning, then they would 20 seconds later just do a dry hit B. It doesn't, it's not a sexy call, but it's one that fucks with the timings a lot of opponents. So there were some little misdirection elements that I saw with Spirit, but obviously, I don't know. Nuke...
Nuke, I wouldn't go out and say that they were calling a significantly better Nuke than they ever had, or much more than a single Dust2 call. But Mirage and Train, I definitely saw improvements on, even though, obviously, we saw them... Fucking botched that shit versus Vitality. The Vitality loss is where it all came crashing back down.
But then in overtime, the first two rounds that they had of T-side were actually pretty good. It's just that they had this 12-6 stretch where they had six rounds in a row of just running out of time or losing themselves to just kind of not clearing angles or grouping up. They were trying to do an A-split, I think, one time with two people going through Palace, three coming up Connector.
So obviously they lose because there's a ramp push. Yeah, they had some weird... gaps in what they were doing, but at least sometimes threw off opponents in terms of just making sure that they went to the less stacked site.
Well, I think against Vitality, too, that was the one we saw Donk visibly pissed after the game ended, the way he was walking off. Something clearly broke down on that final map to where it was just like, this is un-fucking-playable. He clearly just had a moment where it just broke in his mind.
I guess last team we can really... Oh, a couple more teams we can latch on, but the big one, obviously, Mal's going out in the quarterfinals as well. I... I don't know. I just feel bad for this fucking team. This has to have been like a nightmare these past two years in a sense of never being able to get over the hump.
And especially this year, never being able to get over in a significant fashion over vitality earlier in the year. And now you're having issues with everyone. And then I don't know if we should have ever considered this would have been a home arena for Maus considering Torji. But that was like the extra kick in the balls at the end of the day is just like...
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Chapter 5: What are the implications of roster changes for teams after the Budapest Major?
But so now you're like... Yeah, this one tournament, even though it's the major, can't make up for what's been going on throughout the year. You know, I think they would still have to change something going into next season, right? It's just too little too late for this lineup. Sure.
Well, that's a great segue.
Unless you got some Maui. I mean, I would probably bank on Navi hanging around as the seventh best team in the world. I just think they're going to the lack of star power. The only time that they're going to win a tournament is if wonderful plays in this forum because it gradually gets better. And I'll actually just be real.
I feel like Bitt was not as much of a factor at this tournament than I'm used to seeing. Not getting the multi-frags when he's in anchor positions and not also being that X factor on lurks.
Chapter 6: How do roster changes impact team dynamics in Counter-Strike?
I mean, I feel like I don't even really remember that many Bitt lurks where I was just, whoa, he just headshotted two people walking into the bombsite. That was something a lot that happened last year. But this year in general, I just feel like it was maybe in the first few months we saw it. But then, nah, he was... Wonderful was the workhorse of this team, for sure, for me.
Yeah, that was a cool turnaround. I hope that one sticks around, too, because that obviously makes Na'Vi a completely different team. Yeah, well, the roster change season has begun. We touched on a couple already, so let's... I mean, easy one out of the way first, NiP and Ujerx part ways. Don't think we really need to talk about it too much. I don't know where he's going.
Just thought it'd be a nice warm-up to get the juices flowing. I know. As I read it out, I was like, Gekko's going to fucking grill me for this. I think...
think you jerks and arrows does say probably two of the more unoverrated players we've had and I didn't really understand people, you know going For them necessarily as this kind of we're gonna think outside the box and pick these guys up Yeah, it was not panning out and was just a matter of time before they were both gonna be gone.
I
Yeah, I just I wonder where you jerks is going to head off to. Snappy had some good things to say about him, though. Magisk leaving Astralis. So that team is now kind of like cooked a little bit. That team has been gutted.
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Chapter 7: What are the potential effects of Magix becoming the IGL for Spirit?
Device is already rumored to go to 100 Thieves. Magisk now. He was what? A loan short term contract. It's official. Device is going to 100 Thieves. I can't remember what's official. Was it not when we talked about it? That was just a rumor report. I don't think it's been official.
Actually, one thing. I had to make sure that this happened, so I now can chime back in on the you jerks thing. I think the Saw lineup... are the biggest benefactor. If you would point at any team and say who benefited the most from SnapTap, that Saw team, they all got contracts for it. That Cologne run was the SnapTap tournament.
Did it line up with SnapTap?
Yeah, they all used SnapTap, and that's when Muterus had the clutch of his life. like on on nuke lower bombsite just like jiggling perfectly around the the silo that like i think he killed phase in the quarterfinals of of cologne and that was also just where everybody from saw got wildly overrated so the the snap tap come back to earth That's all I had to say about you guys.
Perfect. I'm glad we got that. Yeah, Magisk leaving Astralis now, which leaves that team a little bit strapped. What Stare, Hooksy, and Yabby at the moment are on the roster with Device and Magisk leaving. So who knows what goes on from there? But I mean, it feels like I guess this is the turning of the leaf or it's the next generation of Astralis finally.
Yeah, Maui, were you surprised that 100 Thieves didn't try and just get the whole core? Like, why just get Device?
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Chapter 8: How does the M80 roster change affect their performance in upcoming tournaments?
Why not get two more guys like Stare and... Yappy, I don't know what's going on with him because he seemed checked out for a lot of the season. So maybe you don't want to get him. I'd even be fine with getting Magisk for just the first couple of months and then moving on like mid-season, you know, once the point situation settles. But what are your thoughts on that?
I... I don't know what they're going to go for as a core now. I felt like Gamer Legion was the one that was most floated. I actually felt like there were some underrated cores in the European mix that you could probably pick up just so you have a starting point there in VRS. I'm going to throw out a name that nobody probably cares about.
I thought 9 was like, if you want to budget three-man core to just... be competitive and basically need one local land win to now be in the invite range. Nine is probably the biggest steal on the market. But for Astralis and for 100 Thieves, if I were them and I had the funds to to do it, then yeah, I mean, I don't see why you could probably even play with whole with rain device
stare and literally take your pick i'm honestly kind of kind of game to pick any of them up except for if you get magisk just don't put them on a contract that's longer than a year like make this guy fight for it every single time because every time he knew he was out of a team he just starts playing like this contract here yeah he plays he played his best in a falcons jersey practically in the two months before he got cut which to me just said that okay you were you were way too complacent
making whatever you were making on that that team and suddenly you know that you have to fight for something then just just keep them in that loop over and over again keep them hungry which seems weird for a guy that's a multi-major time winner but it did it did seem to affect him yeah i guess i guess like not getting the core i just i guess that's a price issue i don't know how much 100 thieves are trying to get out of this or how much they're trying to min max well
I'm sure 100 Thieves have the budget. I would be surprised if Astralis would let that happen because I don't believe they would in any way have the budget to rebuild from nothing. I think if someone came and approached the core to buy three players, I think that price would just skyrocket. If I'm Astralis, I'm not letting that ever happen.
Unless contractually you're required to do it, I'm being like, yeah, like 10 million, bro.
Yeah.
You know, I don't I don't want to start from scratch with this org that just got just just got bankrupt, bought, sold, you know, whatever they've gone through as an organization in a weird place. So core would be hard, I think. Gamer Legion got a bit crazy. Ash is gone. Burnout. He steps away from coaching. ZTR is now benched and snacks is back in.
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