On the night of July 3, Valve released the first major update after the conclusion of the BLAST Austin Major. In addition to the usual bug fixes, the update introduced a new type of item — highlight charms. Let’s break down what makes them unique and what else to pay attention to in this update.
Champion Stickers
Following the conclusion of the tournament, stickers featuring the winning team's logo appeared in the game. Recall that in the final of the Austin Major, Team Vitality claimed victory — losing the first map to The Mongolz, but winning the next two. With the update, the Champions Autograph Capsule was added to the game. It contains name stickers of the players in various finishes (paper, holo, metallic, and gold). Unlike other autograph sets, these include the word "Champion" at the top. The Vitality logo combined with the signatures looks especially good on foil and gold stickers.
Highlight Charms
To mark the occasion of the Austin Major, Valve added another unique feature: souvenir weapons from the playoff cases now include charms with video highlights from the match. You can watch the highlights via Steam or directly in-game by selecting the appropriate option in your inventory. This might increase the popularity of charms, which aren’t yet widely used by players.
Note that the highlight charms — which look like small metal tags — can be reused, unlike stickers. You can easily remove them and attach them to another weapon. So, if you receive a cheap skin with a cool highlight, you can move the charm to a more valuable weapon to enhance its theme.
In total, charms can include nearly 500 clips, featuring both great shots and funny fails. Full lists of all highlights are available online. For instance, there are around forty highlight moments featuring Team Vitality. It’s possible that champion charms may become more valuable for collectors in the future.
Other Updates
In addition, the July 3 update included several minor bug fixes.
In Premier mode, voice chat is now available in the lobby and during map selection.
Text formatting in the scoreboard has been improved.
Several bugs have been fixed, including issues with restarting custom maps.
How to Get the New Items?
Weapons with new charms can drop from souvenir cases, and autograph stickers come from a separate capsule. As players continue to obtain these items, they’ll start appearing on the open market. On LIS-SKINS, you can already purchase a wide range of stickers featuring team and player logos from the Austin Major, as well as souvenir cases and sticker capsules. Try your luck and expand your collection with the newest champion stickers and skins.