DeKay Mailbag (Part 1): Deciphering the OG/Jamppi Situation, Cloud9's CS:GO Future, New NA League

Welcome to Part 1 of the DeKay Mailbag, a semi-regular feature in which Counter-Strike reporter and insider Jarek "DeKay" Lewis answers questions from readers on Twitter. Do you have a question you'd like to see in a future mailbag? Tweet @dekay.

The professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene is in a weird place at the moment, with a few new and exciting rosters in the works. But without any real deadlines until well into 2020, they are taking their sweet time to get completed and announced. There is also a new league forming in the background, which means there are more questions than answers. I've done my best to answer some of them in the first part of this DeKay Mailbag.

There was an original discussion about it on reddit from what I remember (that’s where I heard about it first) and then I remember FaceIt clearing him to play FPL. Since we all know by now he was targeted by OG, I think one of two things happened. 

Either Jamppi and OG got Valve clarification and they passed on him because Valve didn’t clear him -- or they never heard back and decided not to risk it. My guess is the former happened, unfortunately. I don’t agree with holding poor underage decision making against a player for their entire life. He looks like a tremendous piece of talent and it would be a shame to see him go to waste.

I have no idea honestly. Almost everyone lurks on Twitter, though, because that’s where a majority of people in the industry share their work and spend their time.

Cloud9 does not really have a deadline for building a new roster (assuming the Gen.G move didn’t run into any issues), so I don’t expect any news soon. They are probably still deciding if they want to keep a CS:GO team or not. My expectation is that they will remain in the game because of the effort they’ve put in to formulate the new league in the works.

I don’t see that happening in CS unless a team can find two coaches that work extremely well together. Even if the approach of the two differs slightly, it has the potential to hurt the team more than it would help. Theoretically I like the idea because each coach could have a different aspect they bring to the team that the other isn’t capable of doing, but that’s easier said than done. 

On top of that, CS:GO is already expensive for organizations, and I don’t think they would really like the idea of paying another coach. Tournament organizers would also take issue with having to transport more than one per team.

It's a forgone conclusion that mantuu joins, yes. Jamppi hasn’t been practicing with them or even in the conversation for nearly a month now.

You would think that is what would happen, but we’ve been crying for young in-game leaders in North America especially, and almost none exists to this day that are notable. Then again, AWPing is a much more attractive role so I do expect some sort of influx down the line. Players like ZywOo tearing the world apart right now are a tremendous help as well. Things like this are impossible to predict but I think it’s safe to say yes, I just don’t know what the magnitude will be.

The new league is still so early in its development that I think making moves specifically for it would be foolish. It is possible that players could be indirectly making a move due to the new league if organizations are offering more money than anyone else on the assumption they’ll be involved. To answer the question directly, I would say yes, probably a couple of them. I’m just not exactly sure which ones just yet.

It’s looking that way, though there are still some moving parts to take care of. Getting f0rest from NiP will be the most difficult part, even if he wants to leave. They don’t have a real deadline at the moment, so it will probably take some time.

I don’t know for certain but I would feel confident saying blameF and/or poizon are the highest paid players in CS:GO. As for the team, you don’t have to look far. Complexity is likely the best paid team overall. If not, they are very close.

From what I’ve heard, Cloud9 doesn’t even know what they want to do just yet. They are far from having a “list.” I have not heard those two players mentioned anywhere.

I actually don’t know what his official status is. I would assume by now after their tournament win that they probably purchased him outright from Cloud9. That is worth looking into, now that you mention it.

I’ve heard a couple names mentioned, but it’s still early. From what I know, they are planning to replace more than one player on the lineup. On top of that, it’s possible they add European players from other countries rather than more from Norway.

I would assume some bad blood exists between NiP and draken due to what he said about them publicly a few months ago, though I wouldn’t blame him if he accepted another offer if it came his way. I believe he deserves to play on a solid lineup. I’m sure adding THREAT will have changed their approach a bit so I’d be curious to know how he feels about draken. To directly answer your question, it’s still too early to know. They still have multiple events lined up over the next couple weeks.

I said last week on my stream to expect an announcement in a week or two. So within the next week I would say? Not much longer than that.

My information matches what neL said publicly on Twitter. The German leak account was wrong about smooya and xantares’ contract length. They extend well into 2020, and benching those two has been discussed but not officially decided. Upcoming performances will dictate the direction they take more than anything else.