How It All Started.
Before there was GSU, there was just me — a new player, a borrowed Steam account, and a game I barely understood but quickly grew to love.
I was introduced to Counter-Strike 1.6 by my stepbrother. I’d heard of the game before, but that was the first time I really got to dive into it. He gave me access to one of his extra Steam accounts, and I spent hours getting lost in the chaos — jumping between crazy mods and random servers, soaking it all in. Back then, I remember clans like Ownage, COF XA , MOB, BSK being a big deal. But more than anything, what stood out to me was the sense of community. These places had an energy to them — players talking trash, admins running things, people just hanging out. It was alive.
That’s what really hooked me — not just the gameplay, but the people. The culture. The idea that this was more than just a game.
The first time I started thinking about building something myself was during my time around a clan called Mob. I wasn’t a full member — more of a regular associate — but I spent a lot of time with them. Guys like Kingpin made the server feel like home. It had that tight-knit vibe that a lot of groups back then tried to capture. Even when that phase faded — like a lot of small groups did — it stayed with me.
Later, when KSC (Killing Spree College) came around, I started taking on more responsibility. I helped with admin work, led some of the community building, and made friendships that have lasted over 15 years. That’s where I learned what it actually meant to run a community — to care for it, shape it, and keep it together.
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The Story of GSU.
Alright, so here’s the deal.
GSU —Ostensibly short for Gamers Stand United — officially kicked off on July 13, 2013. But let’s be real, the story started way before that.
This wasn’t some overnight thing. GSU was built from years of gaming, messing up, figuring stuff out, and slowly putting the pieces together. It was trial and error, rinse and repeat — until finally, it clicked.
Before GSU, there was Arctic Oblivion (AO), a clan I helped run with my longtime buddies AndKev and Sub-Zero. That came out of an earlier group called sR (Soul Repair), started by Oogie and Drake. And that came from a chill little community called Killing Spree College (KSC), originally led by Softy and my stepbrother Oogie.
We also had this short-lived but important pit stop called Phobos Tech Gaming (PTG). It wasn’t supposed to be a “real” clan — just a temporary project while I figured out where I wanted things to go. But every group along the way — KSC, sR, AO, PTG — taught me something new about leadership, building a community, and keeping a clan running without losing your mind.
GSU was the final product of all that learning.
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What Made GSU Special?
We had one simple mission:
Make a fun place where people could play, get better, and feel like they were part of something.
It wasn’t about just hosting servers — it was about building a place that people actually wanted to stick around in.
The crew that helped launch it included me, AndKev, Sub-Zero, Goon-Mike, and Shadow. (Shadow was like a mentor to me — he taught me all the behind-the-scenes technical stuff about running servers.)
Everyone brought something different: some had game sense, others had tech knowledge, others were just good at keeping people hyped and connected.
We kept the rules simple:
Don’t piss off the admin. (“Simple. Direct. Occasionally screamed in all chat.”)
Yeah, sounds easy. But we were pretty chill. The goal was to keep things fun without turning the place into chaos. Play your game, have a good time, don’t be a jerk — that was the vibe.
Eventually, it was mostly just me and Shadow still holding it down from the original crew. Nothing dramatic — no falling out or beef. The others just had their own lives and dreams to chase. That’s how it goes.
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What We Hosted.
GSU was built on Counter-Strike 1.6, and we hosted everything:
- Warcraft 3 FT mod
- GunGame
- Deathmatch
- 5v5 competitive servers
- And of course, the classic public servers
If people liked it, we hosted it. If something needed fixing, we tweaked it until it ran smooth.
But we didn’t stop at CS. We also jumped into:
- Day of Defeat
- Team Fortress Classic
- Left 4 Dead 2
- Garry’s Mod
- CS: Source
- Deathmatch Classic
- Minecraft
-
GoldenEye: Source
Basically, we gave people options. Whether you wanted to sweat it out in a scrim or just mess around in some chaotic mod — we had it.
At our peak? We were sitting around 100–150 active members. A solid mix of new blood and veterans. Competitive but cool — which is rare.
Even when CS:GO came out, we didn’t fade. (“We just yelled louder about how 1.6 had better recoil.”) If anything, we thrived — especially during the pandemic. Every night like clockwork, we had competitive scrims. The pubs stayed poppin’. We were alive while other 1.6 clans were fading out.
We even ran tournaments and clan matches constantly. It was nonstop.
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The People Who Made It Work?
Way too many to name, but I gotta shout out a few:
Nevar deserves a special mention. He handled a ton of the behind-the-scenes hosting and server stuff. A lot of what we did wouldn’t have worked without him.
The competitive crew?
Monsters.
Regular scrim grinders and frag machines:
The pub squad — the backbone of the servers: [m] Diddy, Diamond DruDallas, Ishimura, Pink Bandana, Youko, FluffyKnight, Commando, French Money, Ian from LA, David, Wayne, Pet Defective, Leon, and Playboy — always online, always vibing, always keeping things alive.
Also gotta give love to the rhythm keepers:
Swoop, Spoon, Boker, Skam, }{itman[dj] pw solar, and NeOiCeSHoT — regulars, mods, and friends who kept the culture strong and the wheels turning.
Sweet zombie Christ the pub is still going strong, even to this day. I appreciate everyone who’s ever joined — for the most part, (you know who you are. You know what you did. Well perhaps it was more than one? It’s no one? )
So many wild personalities, so many interesting people… always a fun, chaotic time. Anyone who’s ever played in the pub knows how it goes, especially since we barely had any actual rules — except the gold standard: don’t piss off the admin.
But yeah, so many bonds and friendships came out of that community. It was really something special back then, and honestly, it still is.
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Creative side? We were blessed.
- Adam Sinclair, Mystyc Cheez, Harry, Χάρης, and Foofinno — custom mappers who made our servers feel unique.
- NeoHL and Takatalvi — incredible player model designers. Gave our clan its visual identity.
- Iil4Death — longtime friend who made a bunch of our signature sprays.
- And Princess — she helped with early beta assets and was a huge part of the creative team before we lost her. She’s still missed.
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What the Spirit of GSU Really Means?
There’s one quote that’s always stuck with me — and if you ask me, it sums up the GSU mindset better than anything else. It’s from Paul Heyman, back when he was running ECW. Right before their first-ever pay-per-view, he gave this raw, passionate speech to the locker room. It wasn’t about money, or fame, or looking polished. It was about heart. About doing something your own way, even when the world’s laughing at you.
“17 million homes that have access to this show tonight will pay $20…hopefully (knocks on wood)…for the privilege to see you guys do what you have done for 3 and a half years.
Thank Terry Funk for all he’s done for this company. For help putting us on the map. For being unselfish in selfish times. For taking the young guys and showing them a better way.
Tonight we have a chance to say: ‘Yeah, you’re right! We’re too extreme! We’re wild, we’re too out of control! We’re too full of our own s***!’ But we have a chance to say: ‘Hey, F*** YOU, YOU’RE WRONG! F*** YOU, WE’RE RIGHT!’
Because you have all made it to the dance. Because, believe me, this is the dance.”
That speech isn’t just wrestling hype — it’s a blueprint for what I’ve always believed GSU should be. We weren’t trying to be the biggest, flashiest, or most elite. We just wanted to build something real. Something that meant something to the people who were part of it. And we did — even when people doubted us, or tried to tear it down, we didn’t stop.
We’re not the biggest clan in the world. We don’t run things like it’s life or death. But we’re still here. We show up. We have each other’s backs. And more than a decade later, we’re still standing. That’s the spirit of GSU.
Or, if you prefer a different kind of inspiration — in the words of Dr. Gregory House:
“Be good, get good, or give up.”
Simple. Brutal. And true.
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Where Things Stand Now?
Like any long-running group, GSU has had its ups and downs. Games change. Life happens. People drift, and that’s okay.
But the core? Still here.
Some of us still play. Some keep side projects going. Others just drop in every once in a while to say hey.
The one thing that always kept us together?
We loved CS 1.6.
And we loved the people who came with it.
GSU wasn’t about having the highest KDR —
(“Which is exactly what someone with a bad KDR would say,”)
— or running perfect scrims —
(“Didn’t stop me from yelling at the team, though.”)
It was about the friendships, the late-night chaos, the weird jokes, the sick plays, and the memories that stuck.
So if you were ever a part of this clan —
From that first map rotation to the last scrim before bedtime —
Thank you.
You helped make something that actually lasted.– Krowley
