OG’s patience pays off as they reach Stage 2 of the BLAST.tv Austin Major

It has been a while since we last saw OG at a Counter-Strike Major. Two years, as a matter of fact, their last appearance coming at the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. As an organization, their biggest successes have always come in other games, although the OG CS roster has often been a place for talented players to ply their trade and build a reputation before moving on to bigger and better things. The likes of flameZ, degster, and Aleksib spring to mind.

Coming into the BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, very few knew the floor or ceiling of this team. Comprised of three talented Danes in nicoodoz, Buzz, and Chr1zN, alongside Swede spooke and OG mainstay F1KU, their Stage 1 run could have just as easily ended 3:0 as it could have 0:3. Now, after just three days of matches, OG are through to Stage 2 by making it in 3:1 fashion, ensuring it never really looked in any doubt.

For OG, this is a validation of the project. Their patient months of grinding Tier 2 online matches with this roster have seen them secure a Stage 2 berth at the Major, but perhaps more importantly, they have climbed the VRS dramatically. From 38th at the start of the event, they currently sit in 27th – that’s nearing “Tier 1 invites” territory. The importance of wins against teams like NRG, TYLOO, and Complexity can’t be overstated.

So, why do they suddenly look so solid? After all, there has to be a reason OG have come to the Major looking as sharp as they have – it’s certainly no accident. Let’s discuss a couple of the big factors.

nicoodoz is elite – just not with an AWP

When OG beat NRG to secure their slot in Stage 2 of the BLAST Austin Major, nicoodoz was at the heart of the action. 34 kills and 19 deaths earned the AWPer a 1.39 rating, which, incredibly, is his second-lowest rating of the event so far. After spending the last couple of years as something of a forgotten man in Tier 1, nicoodoz has reannounced himself at the BLAST.tv Austin Major in style. Notably, his 3.08 rating in the opener against Complexity is the highest rating a player has EVER achieved at a Major.

He has been utterly immense. In this kind of form, OG are going to look comfortable against most teams. But (and it is a big but) I still have one reservation about nicoodoz: his AWPing. Yes, he’s an AWPer. No, he’s not actually all that good at it. It has long been a running gag that nicoodoz is a better rifler than an AWPer, but that joke has become reality in Austin. His mechanics are elite, and he’s able to pick out a headshot with an AK as well as any of his peers on OG.

The numbers back it up, too. Across 91 rounds played at the event, he has mustered just 13 AWP kills in total. That’s compared to 59 with the AK-47, by the way. OG might genuinely perform better throughout the rest of the Major if he just… stopped using the Big Green, and committed full-time as being a part of the rifling pack. Either way, his awesome firepower is a huge factor in OG’s form at the Major – long may it continue.

Chr1zN is an easy pickup for Tier 1 teams

At every Major, there are always one or two players who level up their game when the stakes are highest, making a name for themselves on the big stage. You can never tell who it’s going to be, either – that’s what’s so compelling about the Major. These players will often get picked up by one of the big boys looking to make a CS2 roster change coming out of the Major. Think, NAVI picking up iM and jL coming out of Paris. FL4MUS earning a move to Virtus.pro on the back of the PW Shanghai Major. Those kinds of players – you know the ones.

With OG’s Stage 1 run coming to a close, Chr1zN feels like one of those. He’s a rare commodity – an IGL at 18 years old, and a MOUZ NXT graduate to boot. His Danish roots ensure he’d be a good fit for teams like Astralis, for sure. His staggering 1.31 rating across the BLAST.tv Austin Major so far puts him well in “fragging IGL” territory, which feels like it could soon become the meta. His calls are solid, too – he’s turning water into wine on OG given the pieces at his disposal.

All of this is to say that Chr1zN is arguably the most significant reason OG have looked red-hot in Austin so far. Don’t be surprised to see a big team come sniffing for an IGL if his form so far continues through the rest of the Major.