StarLadder’s observers criticized for missing plays during Berlin CS:GO Major

The production team responsible for observing matches during the StarLadder Berlin CS:GO Major has come under fire for missing crucial kills and important moments during games. 

The talent lineup was announced on Aug. 21 with multiple regular observers missing, including David “prius” Kuntz, Heather “sapphiRe” Garozzo, and Connor “Sliggy” Blomfield. Instead, StarLadder opted for a full-Ukranian observer lineup. 

The observer lineup was researched by a Reddit user who found that four of the eight workers—Aleksey “PsychoAlexeiz” Bryl, Tymofii “Iefomit” Pavlenko, Vladislav “MentoS” Vansovich, and Antonio “Stxrm” Lodin—are dedicated PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds observers. So their experience in observing one of the biggest events in CS:GO is being questioned. 

During a match between Astralis and DreamEaters today, an observer missed an entire set piece by Astralis after the observers stayed on Anton “speed4k” Titov’s point of view rather than switching to a Terrorist or Counter-Terrorist getting a kill.

Prius said he was upset to see this type of observing at a CS:GO Major when the observers switched to Alex “ALEX” McMeekin after he died to Christopher “Dexter” Nong. 

CS:GO observer Sliggy released a statement yesterday to comment on the recent performance of the StarLadder observers. 

“On Sunday I found myself getting angry watching the games but put it down to a bad day/games,” Sliggy said. “However, after watching yesterday, and watching the Grayhound/Vitality VOD again the whole thing just feels like a kick in the teeth to our audience.” 

Sliggy said that he heard rumors of a language barrier or budgeting issues as two of the potential reasons why StarLadder didn’t hire the best observing talent possible for this event.

Observing is a crucial element to every CS:GO match because it determines which plays viewers get to see. Observers are supposed to ensure that viewers don’t miss any intense moments or highlight plays. Good observing is crucial to the success of any major esports tournament.

StarLadder hasn’t commented on the recent observing issues.

Update Aug. 29 12:27pm CT: Sliggy said on Twitter that he’ll be observing at the StarLadder Berlin Major.