Nerd Street CS:GO Winter Championship December update
by Brian Bencomo
Nerd Street’s Winter Championship open tournament series for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is well underway, with some online opens, local LANs and regional majors in the books. The top teams from these qualifiers will compete in the CS:GO Winter Championship finals from March 4 to 6 for a share of a prize pool of $50,000.
More details and sign-ups for qualifiers in the Winter Champs series for CS:GO can be found here.
The upcoming qualifier schedule as of this publishing looks like this:
Jan. 1: online open 3
Jan 8: local LAN East Falls
Jan. 15: online open 4
Jan. 22: Frag Major Chicago
Jan. 29: online open 5
Feb. 5: local LAN Fullerton
Feb. 12: online open 6
Read more: Nerd Street VALORANT Winter Championship December update
Players on teams that have competed in these qualifiers have earned points to place among the Nerd Street Winter Champs leaderboard. The top 16 teams on the leaderboard after the sixth open qualifier on Feb. 12 move on to the finals. Another eight spots will be up for grabs at the Winter Champs Last Chance Qualifier on March 3.
So far, these are the top 16 teams on the leaderboard:
- Strife
- Bad News Bears
- InControl
- Drypeek
- Team Volted
- Sniper Team Delta
- Extra Salt
- Party Astronauts
- TeamoNe
- Fourth Quarter
- Triumph
- YeniCherry
- Stealth Esports
- Stomp Gods
- Genesis Gaming
- Headband Klay
Three teams to watch
Bad News Bears
Bad News Bears are one of the best amateur teams in North America. They are currently ranked No. 47 in the world and peaked at No. 40 in September, according to HLTV. The team earned the bulk of their leaderboard points by winning the online charity tournament Mustache Masters. They also earned points by finishing first at the second online open, an ESEA Cash Cup that took place in early December.
Read more: Inagural Frag VALORANT competitions bring LANs to Philly, Fullerton
InControl
InControl won the Frag Philadelphia Major in November. With a win at one of three Frag Majors that are qualifiers for Winter Champs, the team has placed themselves firmly near the top of the leaderboard. They beat a team called Drypeek in the final of that major 3-2. InControl are currently ranked No. 134 in the world, according to HLTV.
Extra Salt
Extra Salt are ranked No. 22 in the world by HLTV. They are the highest ranked team that has competed in the Winter Champs series and will be one of the favorites to win it all in March. They won the first online open, which was an ESEA Cash Cup. They feature one of the most diverse rosters in North America with an IGL and coach from South Africa, a player from Mexico, one from Canada and two from the U.S., including Ricky "floppy" Kemery, who joined in October after a stint playing VALORANT with Cloud9 Blue. Their roster is even getting attention from Complexity, who reportedly might sign the core of the roster, according to HLTV.
Lead image credit: Valve
