ESL Pro League Season 19 — The Bish Bash Bosh Part 2

With Group A and B ending in a spectacular yet expected fashion maybe except G2 and VP squeezing through the last chance bracket.

From Tuesday onwards — we begin with Group C and D which are filled with rising and falling teams.

Group C

With Group C comes a lot of teams wiling to prove their metal and arguably one of the hardest groups to predict other than Mouz.

Mouz are literally the only consistent team in this group and they are faced with some real bad news in those Kangaroos up first.

The other teams are a few steps away from glory or stuck in an incredible slump. You can probably guess who I’m referring to.

Slump = GL, Ence, Team Liquid and Furia. Few steps from Glory = Bad News Kangaroos, Forze, Mouz and Monte

Mouz

Mouz enters ESL Pro League after losing IEM Chengdu to Faze. Well, I suppose the academy team is always inferior to their main team.

Mouz have made impressive leaps as they were generally always caught in stage fright when they made the stage. They beat a rising G2 in the semi-finals.

Mouz’s newest addition in Jimpphat has made an immediate impact and has become the lynchpin of the team. The main surprise is that Brollan has now regained the form that he lost in fnatic. Brollan has been quite a star for Mouz and has seemed to have woken up from his deep slumber.

Pros: With the stage fright demons vanquished, Brollan starting to wake up and Jimpphat cooking. Mouz could easily find themselves in the quarter-finals. BNK is also a very easy first opponent and then moving into ENCE/GL

Cons: Mouz’s major con is that GL and ENCE on their day can beat them. Overconfidence can be their downfall here if they ease up on BNK (in a BO1) or GL/ENCE (in a Bo3)

Bosh: Mouz will advance to the quarter-finals. I don’t see any team that will consistently match up well against them.

Bad News Kangaroos

Another team from Down Under after BNK defeated Rooster in the ESL Pro League qualifiers. The inevitable rivalry to who gets to represent Australia in the number 2 position.

Well, Rooster got a free invited to ESL Challenger Melbourne instead to very little success. However, the same is likely to happen here for BNK.

The only change has been that Damyo has been added to the roster to replace Hatz who was effectively just standing in from what I have been told.

Damyo is Vexite’s older brother and does operate in the same vein as him but not to the calibur that Vexite has. Damyo can still clutch out and create something out of nothing.

BNK have an incredibly tough task because they can fall down to that last chance bracket extremely quickly with Mouz to either Ence/GL then to Furia/Liquid/Forze/Monte. They are effectively the whipping boy of the group.

Pros: Adding Damyo has strengthened their aim quite a bit

Cons: But they have very little international LAN experience and are outclassed in both stratbook and aim.

Bosh: Dead last — first team eliminated.

GamerLegion

GamerLegion are quite an interesting team. They have been picked apart for all of their pieces such as im- going to Navi, mezii going to Vitality and lastly, they removed Acor and Keos for andu and sl3nd.

Both of these players are unproven but they’ve managed to keep snax, isak and their star player in volt.

I’m not sure what to expect for GL as they turnover their core. Andu has played with GL previously in ESL Challenger Atlanta where they bombed out. Sl3nd has played with Endpoint quite a bit. They lack the LAN experience but I guess that is made up by their IGL, Snax.

Pros: New players — definitely an upgrade at least in ceiling compared to Keoz but could take a getting bit used to without Acor

Cons: Lack of experience especially on the awp and rifler could cost them. They have a bit of room in the lower bracket but I can imagine it’ll become a dog’s breakfast in the lower chance bracket.

Bosh: GL will get sneak in via Lower Chance Bracket in the middle of the crazy brawl for it.

ENCE

ENCE is basically that tier 1 Polish Team. There are a lot of Polish teams such as 9ine, Rebels, Ence and a few non-org ones with names that are long and i’d probably struggle to pronounce it.

However, they’re lead by a danish IGL in Glaive who has something to prove. ENCE’s initial results were encouraging but have faltered slightly. They’re slowly slinking down back to upper Tier 2 status.

This was triggered by Falcons buying SunPayus, Maden and Snappi. Heroic picking up Saw and Nertz therefore Ence was forced into a rebuild. However, they did pick up Kylar, Hades and Kuben which is massive as they managed to gain a lot of key pieces. I am still on the fence about Goofy though.

Pros: They are starting to put together the pieces of a great team. Hades is an incredible awper. Dycha/Kylar are great riflers and Glaive is a GOAT igl.

Cons: I don’t think there is many weaknesses in ENCE other than whether that they all turn up. It jsut feels that this team is lacking a X Factor.

Bosh: ENCE will qualify via the Lower Bracket spot.

Furia

You know how I said that these teams are all seemingly in slumps. Well, we grabbed one in Furia where underperformace is starting to become the norm.

Fallen is very inconsistent. Art has left the team and once again, Fallen is IGL. I honestly don’t see how yuurih and KSCERATO stay around for this. The writing has been on the wall from the start.

They never needed Fallen in the first place. The irony would be is that two players they dropped in Saffee and Drop would be a much better fit.

Pros: I wonder who will stand in — can Kscerato and Yuurih hit the form of old? Will Fallen be consistent? Can Chelo shine? If they all do — Furia shines.

Cons: Removing Art was probably the worst decision if Furia wishes to have any long-term future. This team has about 1–2 years tops to start winning tournaments before it needs to change its IGL (again) and rehaul its core (again).

Bosh: Eliminated and it’ll probably be in the last chance Semi-Final

Team Liquid

Another team to add to the pile of slump. Team Liquid’s position in NA does not feel secure anymore after an upset from M80 in the Esprots World Cup.

They also did not qualify for Chengdu but fortunately M80 were unable to go. However, Liquid performed surprisingly well in it after almost making it to the Semi-Finals. Only the team that orchestrated one of the biggest backstabs against Cadian (Astralis) had to beat them.

Their consistency hasn’t really helped them either as M80 are seemingly ready to knock Liquid off their perch. And this leans heavily on Skullz and Yekindar.

Yekindar is meant to be the star player and he definitely isn’t performing like one. Skullz has been hit or miss currently as well.

Pros: When Yekindar and Skullz are up like they were in early Chengdu. Liquid were cruising….

Cons: When they’re not, Liquid look like they are up ship creek without a paddle

Bosh: I’m expecting a resurgence from Yekindar and Skullz (this is pure NA copium) and we’ll see Team Liquid in the round of 12 (after losing to Mouz).

Forze

Well, what do we write about this team? I’m surprised that they didn’t withdraw from ESL Pro League. I’ve never seen in the history of CS2 where an entire team is benched and one of their star awpers is banned for matchfixing.

They are fielding a mix of players such as NickelBack, Smooya, tn1r, shalfey and Sellter. This is mainly to be eligible for ESL Pro League.

It is most likely to ensure that Forze do not suffer any repercussions for not fielding a team. They could probably ask for an exemption given the extraordinary circumstances.

Pros: You have no idea what this team is going to be capable of. I am assuming Nickelback is IGLing and shalfey will return to being a rifler.

Cons: Given that this is a mix group — they should be able to beat BNK but I don’t think they are beating anyone else in the tournament even if they are in a slump.

Bosh: They’ll beat BNK in the Last Chance but will follow shortly after.

Monte

Well, Monte’s initial test run with Ryu and Gizmy went as well as most people expected with a loss to OG and Pain in very close matches.

It shows that Monte is back into Tier 2 once again. Gizmy is thriving within the team while Ryu seems to be struggling for form. He has had constant low ratings against similar opponents which is not helping his confidence.

Monte still have Demqq, Woro and krasnal from the previous roster after losing sdy due to free agency and br0 due to Astralis.

Monte need to solve a few teething issues with Ryu before they can start to contend.

Pros: Is this the tournament that Ryu shows his potential? It could be this tournament that maeks it all click. Remember Flamez on Endpoint, all it took was one series for him to make a mark on the CSGO scene.

Cons: Or is it just going to be another tournament of him underperforming and regressing Monte further.

Bosh: I’m leaning to the cons but I think Monte will make the LB Final but lose to GamerLegion.

Group D

Group D is a very intersting group and I have a feeling that the D means Disappointment for some of the teams.

For Disappointment, it would definitely be for Pera, NIP and Big because god they’ve been absolutely disappointing in their last few LAN tournaments. You could probably add Complexity to this mix as well but at least they’ve made it deep enough while the others didn’t even qualify.

For others, the D may stand for Destiny and it definitely does for Navi, Flyquest, Heroic and Complexity. Flyquest looking to forge further after an impressive run in Chengdu. Navi looking to create a Dynasty. Complexity and Heroic looking to forge new adventures for themselves.

Complexity

Complexity started off incredibly strongly in CS2 especially in IEM Sydney with a brave loss to Faze. However, since Sydney, Complexity have been falling behind other teams as they update and get used to CS2.

However, Complexity is still a dark horse in most tournaments and teams should utilise caution in writing them off.

Elige is still an absolute king. JT is a strong IGL not only as a shot caller but being able to trade and nullify the other team’s star player.

However, the real struggle has been with their awper, Hallzerk. He needs to find his consistency otherwise he’ll be their achilles heel. Also, floppy and Grim have also been struggling lately as well.

Pros: Complexity have the drive and will to do this. They’ve done it before and they can definitely do it again. Also, with Hallzerk’s contract expiring, it could light the fire up under his butt to show a massive perofrmance.

Cons: If their riflers stall out again as well as Hallzerk — it could be curtins in the last chance bracket — maybe even at the finals themselves.

Bosh: Complexity will qualify for Round of 12.

PERA Esports

This team is under the microscope as everyone in the CS Community believes that they use radarhack. They also claim that it is proof that they use it due to their poor LAN results.

I think people should realise that if you’re piling in on someone that they generally don’t perform really well anyways regardless if they’re guilty or not. It is not a sign of guilt but a sign of pressure breaking them.

PERA have a mixture of advanced players such as Porya, DGL, Bibu, Ciocardau and Aaron as the IGL. They have benched msN and Kamion.

Their ESL Challenger results have been discouraging and their qualifiers have been even worse.

Pros: They can make a bit of a dent especially if they can upset Complexity. Maybe there are a few surprises from PERA

Cons: They do not have the quality in teamwork and aim compared to Tier 1 teams. They could win a BO1 but once it hits a BO3 stage, they’ll promptly be sent down and down.

Bosh: They’ll beat BOSS in the last chance but they’ll be eliminated by whoever loses the LB Final

Heroic

Heroic are such a tragedy of a team. I know the Stabbi and Cadian move occurred a long time ago but it still stings within this team.

However, the new adventures of Kyxsan and friends has lead to some interesting adventures and victories. Heroic added nicoodoz, nertz, kyxsan and Saw.

These pieces have slotted in fairly well. However, Heroic have been finishing 5th — 8th in most tournaments which for them is consistency. The players wish to have more though. They want to be winning trophies.

Pros: I do see this team winning things in the future. They have a great IGL in Kyxsan. They have Nertz, Sjuush and a lot of pieces that will develop as they bootcamp further. Heroic could even look to a Quarter-Final spot

Cons: The downside is that despite the successes — they’ve always finished middle of the pack and this could leave to them qualifying in the last chance or even the lower bracket.

Bosh: I think Heroic will sneak in via the Lower Bracket.

NIP

I can only imagine that NIP are actively shitting themselves about this tournament.

This organisation has gone down the toilet due to poor roster moves, poor management not just in the CS2 roster but with the entire company.

NIP went from a respected organisation to an absolute dumpster fire over the last few years with wasteful signing after wasteful signing.

However, they signed a winner this time with r1nkle. r1nkle is a god tier awper and has already had a huge impact for them.

Pros: With r1nkle, they finally actually have an awper who actually mains the awp. Watch NIP trying to make riflers AWP made my mind numb.

Not to mention, REZ finally has someone to play off.

Cons: The organisation that caused the initial mess is still there. They are also continuing the mess that was left off as well. The worst part is that they don’t even realise that they’re still tanking their organisation.

Bosh: They’ll lose to Flyquest in the Last Chance Semi-Finals.

BIG

This is a team that hasn’t been talked about too much and that is BIG. Big still have mostly the same team with JDC and Syrson being added in. S1n was also taken from their roster by M80 and has been living on green pastures since. Mantuu who was replaced is still not active.

However, BIG has faltering immensely with losses to Bleed and OG. They haven’t made any other meaningful inroads elsewhere either before this event.

BIG have been previously known as the team that can easily cruise through group stages but fall apart at the playoffs. However, BIG haven’t even been doing that lately. They’ve been incredibly quiet even with the big weapons of JDC and Syrson being added. They’ve made no real impact on BIG’s fortunes. It has only be roughly two months and times can change but will it change here?

Pros: JDC and Syrson are seasoned veterans and can show their firepower. Maybe this is where they have their breakout tournament and return to winning ways under Tabsen

Cons: BIG hasn’t made any significant or deep runs since December where they beat Aurora 2–0.

Bosh: BIG will probably make it to the Last Chance Finals against Flyquest and this will be a toss up on who wins.

BOSS

BOSS is kind of similar to the 2nd Australian Team in Bad News Kangaroos with the only player with any international LAN experience is Fang and Pwnalone. They have a few freshies (a pun I know) and a new IGL to the LAN scene.

They have made quite a splash in the NA scene with a 1–1 victory in Challenger against NRG. They also did trade wins with Mythic as well which leaves them in the NA Tier 2 scene which isn’t that much.

I don’t expect too much out of BOSS. However, they do have some fire power in pwnalone and Fang who is definitely looking to prove himself after being removed from Complexity

Pros: This is Cryptic’s chance to stand out as the new IGL within the NA scene. Backed by Pwnalone and Fang, this could be his time. If Freshie and d4rty don’t have significant LAN jitters — this could be a start of something great

Cons: With two playeres that are new to the International LAN scene, they could catch a bit of stage fright. Pwnalone and Fang aren’t exactly worldbeaters and Cryptic could be out of his league compared to other IGLs

Bosh: I think Boss will be exiting very early in this tournament and will be going out in the last chance bracket to PERA

Flyquest

The boys are indeed back. Flyquest’s last tournament was an incredibly valiant effort to the Lower Bracket Final where they were unable to slay final boss Faze.

Obviously, Flyquest need further improvement if they wish to win anything but that Lower Bracket run was a sign of things to come. They also ended Cloud 9 and once again Cloud 9 folded.

How many times does an Australian cause Cloud 9 to go into full rebuild. Cloud 9 have made roster moves 3 times when dexter has beaten them.

Flyquest has wasted no time in earning the Esports World Cup spot over Bad News Kangaroos but they still haven’t been truly tested since Chengdu.

Can they replicate this form in ESL Pro League? They have a steep challenge in Navi which they’ll most likely lose. It is a BO1 however.

Pros: Vexite, Dexter and INS are looking good. Alistair is starting to find form. Could be this the birth of the next Renegades?

Cons: However, international LANs other than Chengdu has impacted their performance due to Jetlag. Chengdu could have been a one-off performance. If Vexite and INS don’t have amazing games, they won’t be getting anywhere

Bosh: Last Chance finals date with BIG — A real 50/50 tossup in that Last Chance finals. I think they’ll win but that is just the Aussie in me.

NAVI

A long time since NAVI has played a Tier 1 event after skipping Chengdu. Their major win is still fresh in everybody’s memories. After all, their team name means born to win in latin.

I wonder Navi have been cooking since their major win as they have not played any events since then. They could be looking rusty going into this event but fortunately they have a lesser opponent to warm them up in Flyquest.

JL was integral to the major victory with the likes of w0nderful, b1t and im in support. Aleksib has finally got his redemption that he truly deserves with a major against his name (and no major against Niko’s name).

Some people believe it was a fluke but flukes don’t happen to get through multiple Bo3s. Navi will be approaching this tournament not as a potential favourite in yesteryear but the returning champion for the future.

Pros: Major Champions, a month to bootcamp and they’re all ready to go. Flyquest, watch out.

Cons: Ring Rust is a real thing and remember what happened to that dominant Astralis era when all they did was play BO1s. They became blastralis and fell into ruin. This could happen here.

Bosh: Navi will go through to the quarter-finals.

I hope all of you legends enjoyed this massive read and I hope you guys enjoy the ESL Pro League as much as I do.

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