HLTV Confirmed crew together with Maniac talk about the long-awaited IEM Cologne on LAN: who'll make it from the Play-in, candidates for Playoffs, and a handful of teams to challenge Gambit. Recent news are also discussed: zonic leaving Astralis rumor, NBK- and Kjaerbye abandoning CS, CIS RMR with Akuma not living up to expectations, and Gambit-NAVI rivalry heating up.

📺 Join the discussion and watch live: https://twitch.tv/HLTVorg

🎧 Listen to audio podcast (Spotify, iTunes, Google): https://anchor.fm/hltv

HLTV Confirmed is presented by Xtrfy, Parimatch, and Bitskins.

🖱️ Xtrfy: https://xtrfy.com/

📗 Parimatch: https://b.link/hltv

🔫 Bitskins: https://bitskins.com/?hltvconfirmed=1

0:00 - Podcast intro 

6:20 - Introducing Maniac

Recent news

9:14 - zonic considering leaving Astralis

26:11 - NBK- transitions to VALORANT

33:55 - Kjaerbye retires from CS

43:27 - HYENAS disband - player options?

44:55 - Sinners qualify for EPL

49:28 - Who wants to be a SKINIONAIRE? By BitSkins

CIS RMR

1:00:00 - VP in Major danger. YEKINDAR performance?

1:08:32 - Akuma don’t repeat the success

1:14:00 - NAVI - Gambit rivalry continues

IEM Cologne

1:19:50 - We’re back at LAN! 

1:21:40 - Explaining event setup & player quarantine

1:44:57 - Best part of LAN return?

1:48:53 - Play-in predictions: who’ll flop in the upper?

2:02:40 - Play-in lower bracket overview

2:17:32 - Main stage: who’ll go through?

2:31:30 - “CS is the only discipline where not being #1 is unacceptable” - Maniac

Playtime

2:34:40 - Parimatch matchmaker

2:41:10 - Viewership & calendar

2:44:40 - Did Maniac’s degree help his career?

2:48:24 - Final words

HLTV Confirmed is a CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) talk show featuring Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin, and Milan "Striker" Švejda, with guest appearances from community members such as TaZ, GeT_RiGhT, device, karrigan, Maniac, Pimp, HenryG, YNk, JW, smooya, seang@res, and more. The show is based around interviews, breakdowns, analysis, and discussions about the esports and casual side of Counter-Strike.

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https://twitter.com/SPUNJ

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https://twitter.com/StrikerHLTVorg

https://twitter.com/maniac_csgo