CS:GO smoke bug exploited during PGL Major Antwerp 2022

CS:GO fans were quick to spot a CS:GO bug exploit used by G2’s Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov in the ongoing PGL Major Antwerp. The incident occurred last Saturday and was followed by a backlash from the CS:GO community. 

During the second round match of the Major’s Legends Stage, G2 Esports went head to head against Imperial Esports to secure their spot in the Champions Stage. Following the vote, Mirage was chosen as the map of play. Typically, this isn’t a strong pick for G2, who won only 41.7% of games on this map in the last three months.

During the Round 3 of the best-of-one match, it became apparent that m0NESY had a trick up his sleeve. Whilst defending mid on the CT side, he popped a smoke over a pre-existing smoke that was blocking the mid window. The result gave m0NESY a one-way smoke, allowing him to take out Imperial’s Vinicius “VINI” Figueiredo and Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo. The game concluded with a 16-12 victory for G2.

After an outburst from fans on social media, tournament officials from PGL made an official announcement, stating that the bug will be allowed.

PGL allowed the bug, Valve followed with a hot fix

The statement proved to be highly controversial and poorly received by fans, as many were expecting a quick ban on the smoke. It later became apparent that this bug was not just exploitable on Mirage, but on every map in the tournament map pool.

A few hours later, the Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association shared that all teams at the Major have agreed not to intentionally use the exploit. Later in the day, Valve was quick to release a patch to fix the bug. The rest of the tournament will be presumably played on the new game version. No ruling against G2 Esports has been made.

All remaining teams are now battling it out to claim their spot in the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Champions Stage, which starts this Thursday, May 19. At the time of writing this piece, Team Spirit, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas and FaZe Clan are in the lead, while BIG, Bad News Eagles and Team Liquid were already eliminated, ruling NA out of the competition.

Header: PGL