CS2 News
CS2 esports, skin market, and case opening news · Republished with permission from SkinPulse
CS2 May 1 Patch: Cache Map Polish, Aimpunch Capped at 90°, Counter-Strafe Hand-Popping Fix
Valve shipped a maintenance patch on May 1 focused on the recently reworked Cache map, capped aimpunch at 90 degrees, fixed a hand-popping animation bug when c…
IEM Atlanta 2026 Preview: 16 Teams, $300K, FaZe Without Karrigan and NEO — May 11–17 in Georgia
IEM Atlanta replaces the traditional Dallas slot this year — 16 teams, $300,000 prize pool, May 11-17 at the Georgia World Congress Center. Vitality, NaVi, FaZ…
CS2 Case Market Surges as Valve Discontinues Rare-Drop Cases — Total Skin Cap Hits $7.89B
CS2's total skin economy capitalization sits at $7.89B as of early May 2026, up 2.59% week-over-week per CSMarketCap data. The trigger this cycle: Valve moved …
Karambit Doppler Sapphire Hits $11,400 — Why Sapphire Outpaced Ruby in 2026 Knife Market
Karambit Doppler Sapphire FN hit $11,400 — a new ATH driven by Pattern 387 hype, mature collector demographics, and skin photography trends favoring blue tones…
The $2.41M Howl: Stewie2K's 4x Foil Titan Katowice Craft Sets New CS2 All-Time Sale Record
Stewie2K's M4A4 | Howl with 4x Foil Titan Katowice 2014 stickers (gen 1.0, 0% scratched, FN float 0.0089) sold for $2.41M in a private deal — the largest CS2 t…
Operation Riftway Leaked: Dataminer Aquarius Confirms First New Valve Operation Since Riptide
Dataminer Aquarius dropped strings, sticker entities, two map IDs (de_atrium, de_blackshore), and 10 new weapon-finish entries — all pointing to Operation Rift…
CS2 April 27 Patch: Thera Map Released, M4A1-S Range Buff, Deagle Air Nerf, AnimGraph 2 Bug Fixes
Valve dropped a major CS2 patch on April 27, headlined by the new Thera map (designed by Cache creator FMPONE), an M4A1-S range damage buff, a Deagle airborne …
April 2026 Skin Market Recap: $943M Volume, Cases Surge 14.7%, Operation Speculation Drives Top Skins
April 2026 was a strong month for CS2 skins: $943M total trade volume (+10.4% YoY), case prices surged 14.7% MoM led by Operation Bravo (+39.6%), Wild Lotus +2…
CS2 Sticker Crafts Beginner's Guide: Katowice 2014, $187K Howl Sales, and How to Spot Real Value
CS2 sticker crafts have made millionaires (recent $187K Howl, $1.2M Foil Titan), broken records, and confused new collectors. This is the comprehensive primer:…
BLAST Rivals 2026 Day 1 Preview: Vitality vs FUT, NAVI vs Post-karrigan FaZe — All Group Draws Locked
BLAST Rivals 2026 Season 1 group draw locked: Vitality opens against PGL Bucharest champs FUT Esports, NAVI faces post-karrigan FaZe in their first event witho…
IEM Cologne Major 2026 Format Deep Dive: First All-BO3 Stage 3 in CS Major History, $1.25M Prize, 32 Teams
ESL has finalized the IEM Cologne Major 2026 format with a historic first: all Stage 3 matches will be best-of-three. The 32-team event runs June 2-21 with $1.…
AK-47 | Wild Lotus Deep Dive: Why It's the Most-Watched Skin Ahead of CS2 Operation 2026
AK-47 | Wild Lotus is up 20.3% in April 2026 to $4,620 FN — the strongest performer among top-50 high-end skins. Operation speculation, ~3,200 active listings …
AWP Dragon Lore Market Deep Dive: $5K to $700K+ Range, 5,584 Total Supply, and the Investment Outlook for 2026-2028
The AWP Dragon Lore remains CS2's only true 'blue chip' skin — fixed supply of 5,584 units, only 17 Factory New Souvenirs in existence, and prices ranging from…
IEM Atlanta 2026 Preview: 16 Teams, $1M Prize Pool — karrigan's Falcons Debut and Last Major Prep Event
IEM Atlanta 2026 runs May 11-17 with 16 teams competing for $1 million. It's the first event with karrigan officially on Falcons, the last tier-1 test before I…
ZywOo's 2026 Era: 1.34 Rating, Five Trophies, and the GOAT Conversation Has Changed
ZywOo's 2026 stats are crossing into s1mple-2018 territory: 1.34 HLTV rating, MVP at four of Vitality's five 2026 trophies, and a real path to a third Major at…
Valve Faces Two Loot Box Lawsuits, Quietly Transitions CS2 Cases to Terminal Format
Valve faces an NY Attorney General lawsuit and a federal class action alleging CS2 loot boxes constitute illegal gambling. In parallel, the company has been ph…
CS2 Anti-Cheat Surge: 75,000+ Bans in a Week as Animgraph 2 Makes Cheating Visually Obvious
The Animgraph 2 update did more than smooth out animations — it gave VAC Live new signal to detect cheaters. Community data shows 75,000+ bans in the week post…
All 32 IEM Cologne Major 2026 Teams Confirmed — FaZe Clan Misses First Major Since 2018
ESL has confirmed all 32 invited teams for the IEM Cologne Major 2026. FaZe Clan misses their first Major since the ELEAGUE Boston 2018 Major after failing the…