There are several big names that come to mind when you think about German Counterstrike. One of them is gob b who fame is not limited to his country but across all of esports. The veteran player has been a name synonymous with Counter-Strike in Germany for several years, first as a player and more recently as a coach.
Almost fifteen years ago, gob b started his career playing Counter-Strike. Right from the start, he was one of the best CS players, often commanding his spot on the best German time of the time. With mousesports, he won several big tournaments including IEM II in March 2008 and IEM III Global Challenge. In the tournaments where he didn’t win, his team, then mousesports was usually in the top 4. He switched to Global offensive in late 2012 and has represented teams like Alternate aTTaX, mousesports NRG until he was a founding member of BIG. He has been a part of BIG ever since.
GoB led BIG’s expansion into Valorant in 2020. It was time for him to lend his expertise in yet another FPS title, this time in the Riot ecosystem. BIG’s Valorant squad qualified twice for the Valorant Champions Tour circuit under his leadership and established itself as the best German Valorant roster. But the veteran player soon returned to CS: GO, this time in a new role as the Head Coach of BIG.
Gob b’s motivation for returning to Counter-Strike, apart from his love for the game, was TabseN. TabseN acknowledges the impact gob b has had on the players and on him in his role as the team’s IGL.
BIG come into IEM Cologne after a Roobet cup victory with a 2-1 series win over FaZe Clan in the Grand finals. The team has been playing in tournaments continuously for the past few months and has been slowly gaining momentum ahead of Cologne.
Since gob b joined the team, BIG has looked much stronger. After a somewhat disappointing Major, the team finished in the top four at both IEM Dallas as well as the Pinnacle Cup. Their run at the BLAST Premier Spring finals was cut short by Navi but the team bounced back in the next event, the Roobet cup with a victory.
When asked what they would like to improve in their performance for this particular event, TabseN said the team has been working hard almost without a break.
Gob b’s influence on the team extends to more than just the captain. Speaking on how Gob B has influenced him as the newest addition to the team,
“Gob b for me is more like a father figure,” says Krimbo when asked about Gob b’s influence. “He’s a legend, I watched him play when I was a kid. When I was 13-14, I saw him playing at the highest stages of CS. He gives the team a lot of confidence, he has a solution for every problem that every player has. He is really a blessing for every player here but especially for me as a young player, he can share everything what he went through in his career and experience.”
For now, BIG aim to put their best foot forward at Cologne. The last time gob b was on a big stage as a player was during the Grand finals of IEM Cologne 2018. With the LANXESS Arena crowd behind them, every BIG round victory saw loud cheers and support from the crowd.
For TabseN it was a dream come true, not only for the current roster but for every German CS: GO player.
“This is the dream of every German player to play in front of this kind of crowd. And hopefully, we will be able to make it true,” tabseN reiterated their motivation to win IEM Cologne this year.
BIG went unbeaten in the Play-in Stage with victories over ORDER and Outsiders and are now in the top 16.
