Explore the guide below to get the rundown on how to play HLTV's CS:GO Fantasy game mode before the Rio Major Challengers Stage game begins.

HLTV's Fantasy gamemode has given out $20,000 in prizes across the two previous seasons and another $10,000 is set to be awarded to the most successful players of the current Fall season. If you want to join the thousands of users who enjoy the game as a new player or are only here to gather some tips to help you climb the seasonal leaderboard, HLTV is here to help you get started with the runner up from Season 2, Vadims "UnfriendlyV" Vekšins. Read through the tutorial before taking part in the IEM Rio Challengers Stage league, HLTV x Roobet league, which starts on October 31 and features skin prizes.

How points work

Points in HLTV Fantasy are awarded in several different stages. The first is the player points, which are based on their HLTV rating in the game, positive or negative — alongside a six-point bonus for a win or a three-point penalty for a loss. Next come role points, where each player will get five, two, or minus two points based on fulfilling certain criteria outlined in the role you have chosen. The roles are set for the entire tournament and cannot be changed during a game. Last but not least are boosters, which provide a bonus of five points when they are triggered, and zero points if not. Each booster can be used once and is active for just one match.

Total points = rating points + team points + role points + booster points

Building a lineup

Once you decide to join a Fantasy game, your first task is to build a five-man lineup. The only limits to selecting your squad are the $1,000,000 budget and a restriction of two players from each respective team at the tournament.

Before you start picking your favorite players, however, it is crucial to think about the tournament format first. If the tournament is played in a Swiss System format like the IEM Rio Major 2022 Challengers Stage, a viable strategy is to pick players from more than three teams. The Swiss system means that all teams will play in the same group, with half the field advancing to the next stage. If the tournament is played in a single-elimination bracket, then the optimal strategy is to pick players from teams that will meet as far into the tournament as possible. This reduces the chances of your players eliminating each other early on, as eliminated players receive a three-point penalty. UnfriendlyV spoke about the key for the upcoming Challengers Stage game: "Most important is to identify the teams with 3-0 potential alongside teams with favorable matchups, narrowing down the list to four teams with the highest chances."

Once you examine the tournament format, you can begin with the fun part — picking the players! There are several ways you can approach squad-building, which we will talk about in the next part.

Counting on a superstar

One option you have is going for a superstar player, such as Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut. With his incredibly high price of $244,000 he gives little move to maneuver with the other four players, but there is no doubt the AWPer will deliver big points for the users that decide to pick him. If Vitality are to have a successful Challengers Stage, he is set to receive padding for the last two rounds, further increasing his potential for points. The drawback of the strategy is the lack of budget for the other players, with Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov ($200,000) the most expensive player of the quartet, and the other three players all priced under $190,000.

A balanced approach

One more option when it comes to squad-building is to forgo a superstar player, instead combining a squad of five individuals who will all contribute points during the tournament. An approach like this is most viable with players from high-rated teams, as winning will elevate their rating along with a six-point bonus for a victory. While the above squad lacks an AWPer, the players still have a high trigger rate in all their roles. With their prices all around the $200,000 mark, this approach makes the player less reliant on one player and instead more on team performance.

Going all out on a favorite team

Another high-risk strategy is using most of the budget on a favorite team that you believe will dominate the competition. In the Challenger Stage, the most appropriate for this approach is the Vitality duo of ZywOo ($244,000) and Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi ($214,000) or the even more exorbitant Cloud9 duo of Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov ($232,000) and Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov ($231,000). The downside of this strategy are the remaining three players, who you need to pick from a very limited budget-friendly list.

Scattergun approach

The most risk-free approach to team-building is to pick players from many different teams, which reduces the chances of an unexpected underperformance by one of the favorites derailing your team. While this strategy won't work for single-elimination brackets, a Swiss System tournament is perfect for it, giving users more chances to select a player that goes 3-0. It also provides an opportunity to pick players with high potential for points, with every member of the above lineup capable of an overperformance that gets users an edge over the competition.

Expert choice

Above is the lineup chosen by UnfriendlyV, which combines several different strategies into one lineup. The Season 2 runner-up has chosen to gamble on two OG players, citing their good seeding and favorable opening matchup as the reason for his choice. They represent a big financial outlay, as they are the two most expensive players from the European combine. Alongside the duo is community-favorite Timofey "⁠interz⁠" Yakushin, who coupled with a Support role usually doesn't disappoint. His Cloud9 team are among the favorites to go 3-0, so the Russian is likely to receive padding toward the end of the tournament. UnfriendlyV's budget option is Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David, banking on the Brazilian's recent form and home-crowd buff. Rounding off the roster is Evgenii "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev, one of the best players in an in-form Outsiders roster. If his team is to do well at the tournament, he is another player with a high ceiling.

Roles

Roles are an important part of Fantasy, as a good role choice can get you an edge over other users with similar or identical teams. Users generally gravitate towards a few select roles, which have the highest chance of triggering the maximum five-point bonus or at least avoiding the two-point penalty. Some of those roles include Leader, Support, Main AWP, Entry Fragger, Defender, HS Machine, and Multifragger. If you end up with a team containing two similar players, for example primary AWPers, you can check some other roles they are good at — main AWPers usually get a lot of entry frags and have a low DPR. You can check the estimated role trigger rate by flicking through the selection for each respective player.

While roles are important, UnfriendlyV states that they shouldn't take priority over picking players with high potential, as he usually builds a team first and deals with the roles later.

Boosters

Boosters are the most interactive aspect of HLTV Fantasy, users apply them in every game that their players take part in. There are 17 boosters to choose from, with some much harder to trigger than others. Each successful booster awards users with five bonus points, while an unsuccessful booster comes without a penalty, giving you no excuse to not use all of them. Keep in mind that boosters apply to individual maps, meaning they are much more likely to trigger in a BO3 game than in a BO1. It is therefore a good option to save some of them for the deciding matches of the Swiss System.

Now that you have been familiarized with the Fantasy format, you are invited to join the HLTV x Roobet league starting on October 31, featuring the following skin prizes:

1. Hydra Gloves | Emerald (Field-Tested)
2. Hydra Gloves | Rattler (Field-Tested)
3. Hydra Gloves | Mangrove (Field-Tested)

Please take note of the Fantasy rules before competing as they provide important information regarding the prizes, eligibility, and selection of winners. Fantasy is free of charge and can be played in official HLTV leagues, as well as independently organized private and public ones.

Start playing Fantasy by going to the Fantasy page here.