The franchise took to its official Twitter page to announce the extension of the ��good working relationship.�� In line with the renewed partnership, both parties will work together to promote diversity and talent development in esports.

BIG’s partnership with OMEN is now in its fifth year. The brand has sponsored the organization’s VALORANT, Trackmania, League of Legends, and CS:GO rosters over the last four years. OMEN is also the title sponsor of BIG’s academy team.

In addition to supporting the organization’s main and academy CS:GO rosters, the gaming brand will help promote the organization’s female CS:GO roster, which is currently competing in the ESL Impact tournament circuit. According to the press release, OMEN will assist BIG EQUIPA in meeting its “professional aspirations” over the next year.

BIG renewed four existing partnerships in the first half of 2022. In addition to OMEN, it has agreements with Streamcoi, a stream management platform; Volvic, a mineral water company; die Bayerische, an insurance company; and Backforce, a gaming chair manufacturer.

This is OMEN’s second partnership expansion in 2022. The brand extended its agreement with Belong Gaming Arenas, a subsidiary of the esports and gaming technology company Vindex, in June.

The CEO of BIG, Daniel Finkler, talked about the extension of the partnership, describing OMEN as an ��incredibly important pillar�� to BIG’s development.

��For more than four years, OMEN has been an incredibly important pillar as a partner for BIG, and have contributed significantly to our development,�� Finkler said. ��I am delighted that we have been able to extend and even expand our joint cooperation once again.��

He also spoke about the brand’s commitment to promoting female esports athletes, which led to the acquisition of BIG EQUIPA. The female CS:GO team is said to feature talents from Portugal and Spain.

��We were already looking for an internationally successful women��s team in the past years,�� Finkler added. ��With the BIG EQUIPA team, we were finally able to successfully conclude our search. In the future, we will increasingly support talented, female gamers to enable them to realise their dream of a professional career in esports �C OMEN will act as a partner and sponsor as an important driver of this new chapter.��

Jochen Ziegler, Director of Personal Systems Marketing DACH at HP Inc., shared the brand’s excitement about the partnership��s extension and expansion. He particularly reiterated that diversity is at the core of the brand’s ethos, welcoming the inclusion of BIG EQUIPA.

��Diversity is part of the corporate DNA at HP �C both internationally and nationally there are numerous initiatives for equal opportunities and diversity. I am all the more pleased that we now have the opportunity to combine our pioneering role in both diversity and esports sponsorship and to promote female talent together with BIG,�� Zeigler stated. ��We are confident and excited and keep our fingers crossed for BIG EQUIPA on their way to a professional career.��

?More esports news

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It is the first time the German side have achieved that feat, and it comes on the back of an impressive run of form since Counter-Strike esports tournaments shifted to online play as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online tournaments are known to produce more upsets than LAN events, and BIG have taken full advantage of the format by winning five titles since the turn of the year. That list includes three high-profile competitions: DreamHack Open Leipzig 2020, DreamHack Masters Spring 2020: Europe, and now cs_summit 6 Online: Europe.

At the cs_summit, the German squad finished second in the group stage but went on to produce a strong run through the playoffs. There, Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz and his crew won the first two rounds against GODSENT (2-0) and Fnatic (2-0) but were unfortunate to lose to Team Vitaly (1-2) in the upper bracket finals. They bounced back, however, edging out OG (2-1) to set up a 3-2 revenge win over Vitality in the grand finals.

By winning cs_summit 6, BIG pocketed 2,000 Regional Major Ranking (RMR) points to go eighth in the standings behind FaZe Clan, Ninjas in Pyjamas, ENCE, GODSENT, Astralis, G2 Esports, and Vitality, who have earned 3,535 RMR points thus far to guarantee a spot at the US $2 million ESL One: Rio 2020 Major in November 2020.

BIG’s performance through cs_summit 6 was just as impressive as their run at DreamHack Masters Spring, where tabseN and co. topped their group, swept FaZe twice, and reverse-swept G2 Esports in the best-of-five (Bo5) grand finals with 16-5 on Nuke, 16-6 on Dust II and 19-17 on Mirage.

The latest CS:GO world rankings update shows BIG at the top of the standings with 851 points, which is just three points ahead of Vitality in second and 96 points ahead of Evil Genuises in third. The former no.1 team and IEM Katowice champions, Natus Vincere, are fourth with 738 points, while G2 Esports are now ranked fifth with 689 points.

The best-performing player for BIG across the past three months has been Florian ��syrsoN�� Rische (1.21 rating), followed by Ismailcan ��XANTARES�� D?rtkarde? (1.20), tabseN (1.18), Tizian ��tiziaN�� Feldbusch (1.06) and Nils ��k1to�� Gruhne (1.05).

CS:GO world rankings – top 10

1. BIG – 851 points
2. Team Vitality – 848 points
3. Evil Geniuses – 755 points
4. Natus Vincere – 738 points
5. G2 Esports – 689 points
6. Fnatic – 640 points
7. FaZe Clan – 579 points
8. Team Liquid – 578 points
9. FURIA – 540 points
10. Astralis – 500 points

The post BIG take top spot in CS:GO world rankings appeared first on Esport Bet.

Tuesday’s clash between Astralis and Berlin International Gaming (BIG) at ESL One Cologne 2019 might appear one-sided on paper, but it should prove to be a much closer contest than the odds suggest.

Astralis come into the match after a disappointing ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals campaign, where they exited in the quarter-finals with a 2-1 loss to the eventual champions, Team Liquid. The Danes looked a shadow of their former selves in Montpellier, with the quality of their teamplay nowhere near as good as it was a few months ago when they were at their peak.

Astralis started the tournament with a 16-9 win over Cloud9, followed by a 2-0 win over Heroic, but the fun stopped in the match against NRG, where they lost 2-1 and were relegated to the lower bracket. Fortunately for them, they managed to get deep enough in the tournament to get directly promoted into the Quarterfinals, where they were eventually defeated by Team Liquid.

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Astralis have made no roster changes of late, but it looks like they have lost their mojo. ESL One Cologne is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the CS:GO esports scene and with Astralis looking more vulnerable than ever, every top-10 team will be looking to get their revenge against the former world no.1 side.

BIG recently attended the Moche XL Esports 2019 in Lisbon, Portugal, where they played only one match – a BO3 match against Virtus.pro which they somehow managed to lose in two straight maps. While that performance was far from praiseworthy, BIG did manage to qualify for the European Minor a few days prior, which will lead the top two teams into StarLadder Major 2019.

In the closed qualifiers, BIG played three matches. They won the first one against Sprout, lost the second against Fnatic and ended their qualifiers with a 2-0 win against Virtus.pro to secure their spot in the EU Minor.

Astralis vs BIG CS:GO betting predictions

BIG have no business being priced as high as +550, which is where some esports bookmakers have them. Sure, their form looks terrible, but it is safe to say they have had eyes on this tournament for quite a while now. With Astralis looking very beatable, BIG have every right to hope for an upset.

All in all, these odds don’t make much sense. Astralis are clearly struggling for both form and morale, while BIG will have the home crowd advantage. Expect the locals to keep it close and cover the rounds handicap with ease.

Prediction: BIG +6.5 rounds – -120.48 at BetOnline

The post ESL One Cologne 2019 betting preview – Astralis vs BIG appeared first on Esport Bet.

Heroic and Berlin International Gaming (BIG) will face off this week in the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 9 Europe.

BIG have made two roster changes this year. In February, Owen “smooya” Butterfield was let go and was replaced by Johannes “nex” Maget, who returned to the team after his wrist surgery. Sadly, nex’s wrist problems came back in March, so they were forced to replace him with Denis “denis” Howell, who came over from Sprout. It remains to be seen whether denis can deliver the firepower required at this level.

As for the team’s performances, BIG Clan are coming from a disappointing IEM Sydney 2019 tournament, winning only against mousesports 16-14 in a BO1 match and against Korean team MVP PK. They lost 2-0 to the eventual champions, Team Liquid, and were eliminated by mousesports.

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Considering they had to play with a stand-in, the results are not surprising. Their star player Ismailcan “XANTARES” D?rtkarde? was having visa issues, so they had to replace him with their coach, Nikola “LEGIJA” Nini?.

SEE ALSO: HOW TO BET ON CS: GO ESPORTS

Heroic’s last big LAN tournament was also IEM Sydney 2019. They played a total of two matches, losing both to Fnatic (16-7 on Train) and Grayhound (2-1 in a BO3 match).