The live audience at BLAST Paris CS:GO Major has one clear favorite in the form of Team Vitality, but it has been given a warning during the squad’s semifinal against Apeks on May 20.
During the first map, Mirage, the game was stopped for a few seconds to turn attention to James Banks, who walked on stage. There, the tournament’s host and interviewer warned the crowd for giving Vitality players hints about Apeks players’ positions and similar information, which the crowd was doing continuously in the first half of Mirage. If the behavior didn’t stop, Banks said BLAST would turn off the X-ray and radar in the arena.
After the warning, the crowd calmed down as Vitality claimed Mirage 16-14 and currently lead the charge on Vertigo, the second map of the series.
Such warnings to the live audience aren’t anything new in the CS:GO community. Similar situations took place last November during IEM CS:GO Rio Major, where the crowd aided Brazilian teams in an unfair way. As a result, organizers turned off X-ray and radar as well.
In these situations, the crowd usually makes an “ooooh” type of noise when a player they support is about to approach an enemy, for example.
Related: Brazilian CS:GO pro admits IEM Rio Major crowd helped his team
Should incidents like these repeat at the BLAST. CS:GO Paris Major, Dot Esports will update this article with new information.
Published: May 20, 2023 02:56 pm