CS:GO News Month in Review: July

Image courtesy of ESL/Helena Kristiansson

SK Gaming wins ESL One Cologne 2016 

The Brazilian line-up of SK Gaming secured yet another major title at one of the most important events of the year, following a decisive victory over Team Liquid in the grand finals. Cologne 2016 was historic in another way; it was the first CS:GO major with a North American team coming in the top two.

Valve outlaws skin gambling

July may have been one of the most pivotal months in the history of CS:GO: Valve announced that they would be cracking down on skin gambling after a number of controversial incidents involving some of the most popular betting sites. Soon after sites that had not complied with Valve's new rules received cease and desist letters, threatening legal action.

Virtus.Pro tops ELEAGUE Season 1 

Virtus.Pro scored an impressive $390,000 first place prize at the end of the month from their first place finish in the inaugural season of ELEAGUE, TBS's first foray into eSports and the first televised CS:GO league in North America. For a full summary of the grand finals of the league, check out our final ELEAGUE recap.

Tarik announces break from professional play

In a surprising announcement last month Tarik "Tarik" Celik revealed that he will be taking a four month hiatus from the competitive circuit in order to stream full time from home until his contract with Counter-Logic Gaming expires at the end of the year. He will also be using the time to catch up on his personal life, specifically spending more time with his family.

Dignitas add Magiskb0y to their roster

The Danish roster said goodbye to Jesper "tenzki" Mikalski to accommodate the latest arrival to the team this month, Emil "Magiskb0Y" Reif, who took over the role of primary rifler on the team. According to the players as well the coach, the decision to make roster changes came after the Dignitas failed to make it to the playoffs of the recent ESL One Cologne major.

zews quits SK Gaming, joins Immortals

SK Gaming's Wilton "zews" Prado decided to vacate his coaching position in July to return to the scene as a player once again, joining up with Immortals in the place of Gustavo "SHOOWTiME" Gonçalves. Read a small piece of Immortal's statement below:

We would like to facilitate his placement on another roster. All interested teams should reach out directly to him or me. Until then, at Gustavo’s request, he will continue streaming on Twitch under the Immortals banner.”

Luminosity Gaming signs new roster

Luminosity Gaming secured the services of a new Brazilian CS:GO roster, taking the place of the now-SK Gaming line-up that left LG late last month. The new line-up consists of promising regional talent from a number of different teams, including Keyd Stars and g3x.

Cloud9 win iBP Summer

The North American team came out on top at this month's iBP Summer Invitational following their victory over Team SoloMid in the grand finals of the tournament. For a summary of their run through the event as well as series summary, head over to our winner's announcement.

Tres "stunna" Saranthus leaves managerial position at Cloud9

In other Cloud9-related news, the North American team lost their manager this month following the announcement that their long-time manager Tres "Stunna" Saranthus has decided to seek greener pastures. Read a snippet of Stunna's full statement below:

There are many stories over the course of my travels that will be forever memorable. I wish the players and staff of Cloud9, both past and present, the most good luck and fortune that I can send their ways. I look forward to working with them again in different projects and ventures. GL HF! ”

MVP add second CS roster 

MVP has decided to invest in a second roster this July, this one built from the ground up with Korean players hand selected by the team, including their first team's original coach as well as another successful 1.6 player, Keun-Chul "solo" Kang.