Richard "Dr. Gonzo" Lewis recaps the first CS:S match of the day between TLR and Dignitas

First game of the day is to be Andy’s Vent – the TLR name seemed to be ditched on entrance to the venue – playing Dignitas. Nothing to lose for the former, but if the latter do not win they can expect much ridicule from those quick to give out such opinions. Andy’s Vent come as a total mix and their emergency fifth, Nathaniel “tiLs” Tilsley, has already delayed the game by getting lost on the tube. He arrives in the venue bleary eyed and bewildered, going straight into the game without a warm-up. Dignitas are a mix too, but the core of their team is in place and with the man of the moment Dan “Re1ease” Mullan in fine form they have a not so secret but savagely potent weapon. And to be fair I’ll expect Chris “blackmane” Kinnair to show that he is worthy of a pick-up from another team apart from the failed Attica.Wales experiment.

Dignitas win the knife and elect to play as terrorist first half. The pistol round is typical of what we have come to see from them, a slow build up before hitting B site in comprehensive fashion. No chance of a retake for Andy’s Vent as Dignitas keep it clinical. No shocks in the following two rounds either as Dignitas just wait for their effectively unarmed opponents to peek and then mop them up. The first buy comes around it can be the crucial point in a game where you can identify if it is going to be a mauling or a close encounter.


Blackmane's interests still lied with the CoD4 game It starts out well enough for Andy’s Vent, tiLs making a three man as Dignitas work one of their trademark A splits, but the rest of the team are not up to the task and somehow it ends up a 2v2 situation with Dignitas holding the site. Experience tells and a lack of timing enables Dig to make the first frag and then work the 2v1 as you’d expect. 4-0 and another eco on the horizon.

At 5-0 frustration was starting to set in. I was sat right behind the Andy’s Vent side and already the mood had blackened. Alex “aLex” Nock bangs his mouse down hard on his desk as he is picked in B by a blind frag – not the first time you’ll have heard about him being vocal at a LAN – something that causes them to change their tactics for the next round, moving tiLs onto B site. But apart from the occasional curse there is not a lot of talking, just the start of resignation setting in.

At seven rounds to zero Andy’s Vent make another tactical change, deciding to give up short presumably to play A site retake, but this positioning enables Dignitas to push mid and get into B without it being called. Not long before it’s 8-0 and as it was typed in team chat by Nayden “Nayden” Delchev “wilzOOO is fucking everywhere”. He is. Top of the frag charts and looking sharp with his AK, the player who some have touted as a weak link in the Dignitas chain is looking on fire.

In the tenth round it is almost a welcome to the scoreboard for the beleagued team, the round coming down to a 1v1 on A site. With the bomb ticking away tiLs made the frag with a great flick shot but wasn’t left with enough time to make the defuse and it was ten rounds without reply for the boys in black and gold.

Rounds are coming thick and fast now and the body language of the Andy’s Vent players tells you all you need to know. Already one eye on a night out, but more importantly an escape from a game where they have failed to fire on a single cylinder. Obviously feeling comfortable at this stage Dignitas work a lazy fake before trying to get to B, but it is easily read and they are mowed down, a crossfire of rifle and AWP bullets doing the job and Des “des” Bour helping himself to some frags. Finally they are off the mark and it is now 12 – 1. This prompts some shouts of “come on” from members of the team, but I haven’t seen a less convincing rallying cry since the days of the limp wristed Tim Henman trying to convince his faithful following he had a fighting spirit somewhere beyond that public schoolboy demeanour.

The half ends 13 – 2 in favour of Michael “ODEE” O’Dell’s side. Speaking of the manager he is looking pleased with what he has seen so far, a stark contrast to how he was watching UKeSA, and he can perhaps afford to think ahead to the next round.

But don’t speak too soon. Andy’s Vent take the pistol with a blaze of duallie kills and jumping headshots in what is probably the most ridiculous pistol round of the Summer. Even the Dignitas boys can spare a laugh, especially when the cry of “DUALLLLLLLLLLLLLLIESSSSSSssss” comes across from my side of the venue. This might give them a platform on which to make it respectable, but it couldn’t get much better than that... Could it?

The eco rounds give them confidence and all of a sudden they find their voices again. Jake “jakem” McCausland is starting to enjoy himself, picking up some good one bullet kills and looking to motivate his team. And wouldn’t you know it after going 3-0 for the half, they also win the first buy round. They look and sound like a totally different team this half and they go into the fifth round looking to keep that momentum going. Incredibly though they conspire to lose it, a 4v1 situation somehow being thrown away... No surprises who makes the clutch. Dan “Re1ease” Mullan is up to it again and it takes Dignitas to within two rounds of victory.


dignitas on their way to the final Now they’ve made something of a fist of it, they could sit back and take it easy, let Dignitas roll onwards to a victory that everyone is expecting them to get anyway. But they are actually starting to believe that they could make this comeback and they are talking each other through the rounds. Before you know it they have another two rounds on the board and it is 6-1 to Andy’s Vent this half. This is not the kind of performance that will please the Dignitas hardcore, but they do still have the room to play with.

At 7-2 Andy’s Vent are put into the position of needing a miracle to keep their hopes alive. A 3v1 clutch from aLex does not manifest itself and that eerie silence settles around the venue as they “connect five” the black screens that tell you they lost. But that was just the first map and we have de_inferno round the corner.

After a brief hiatus while tiLs and aLex sort some headset issues by commandeering some hardware from George “HudzG” Hoskins and James “pez” Perrot respectively, the match moves onto the second map, de_inferno. Liban “mSy” Gaal has declared himself ‘Andy’s Vent Manager’ and is looming large over their shoulders making sure no one steps out of line. Pre-lo3 chatter hears a call of “just rush Rattlesnk” from Jakem, while Nayden discusses spray patterns with a bewildered gent wearing what appears to be one of ReDeYe’s old Newcastle tops.

The aforementioned brief hiatus morphed into a 10 minute snoozefest but finally we hit the inferno knife round. Dignitas got the early shank on tiLs and moved on quad in force. It all came unstuck when they got round to arch however and got ganked by the rest of the andys vent team, who promptly choose to stay CT.

aLex treated Dignitas to a seedy treat in bedroom as he took down three before his teammates mopped up the rest and Andy’s Vent take the pistol round comfortably. The next 2 rounds follow suit, despite a desperate call of “WHY ISN’T HE DEAD?!” from Nayden.

Dignitas attack the small bombsite on the first buy round, Nayden takes down 2 as they push in however as he gets taken down Dignitas take control of the bombsite and Andy’s Vent are unable to retake with jakem being the last to be taken down as he attempts to defuse the bomb.

This starts a run of 6 rounds on the trot that Dignitas out to a 6-3 lead as a promising start to fall apart with Dignitas particularly picking on the large site. Andy’s Vent are starting to look non-plused as tiLs reclines in his chair, feet crossed. However, Andy’s Vent scrape a round, which is followed by a brilliant bit of play from Nayden as Andy’s Vent start to bring it back and put on a run of rounds and bring it back to 6 a piece.

As the tide of this match takes yet another turn Dignitas manage to take the small bombsite with a split after tiLs is taken down early on allowing Dignitas to push through and pick off Nayden while the rest of the team work the banana. Des puts up a spirited resistance but Dignitas push their way into the site and Blackmane takes down aLex while he attempts a defusal to clutch the round, this could prove to be a crucial as they take the next round forcing Andy’s Vent to be low buy for the final round of the half. Not to be perturbed Andy’s Vent execute a rush at the start of the round and then mop up the round to bring it back to 8-7 at half time.

The action goes straight into the second half and Andy’s Vent attempt to execute an A split, 4 sitting in second mid ready to push arch while Nayden works the banana. Though this secured a beneficial bomb plant, the mid pushers come unstuck by a sneaky Wez sitting in the garbage.

As Andy’s Vent attempt to overhaul their first half deficit they got about it the right way, they pick up the first gun round before taking another courtesy of a slow walk up to the banana bombsite. The ensuing Dignitas eco is greeted with a cry of “THEY’VE STACKED B. THEY’VE STACKED B” from Nayden, followed 20 seconds later by “there might have been one A actually, I didn’t check properly.”

This game has more twists and turns than a Menai tide as Dignitas take the next 3 rounds, followed by a false dawn of a recovery from Andy’s Vent that was quickly crushed as Dignitas pick up the next two rounds to close out the second map, 16-11 and consequentially the match.