The History of the Bad News Kangaroos — The Trailblazers

The Bad News Kangaroos. Arguably the 2nd or 3rd best team in the region. However, they were not always like that. They started off like Vantage, KZG, DXA and many other teams fighting for relevance.

They went through many different forms and variations. They have survived many trials and tribulations. Their adventure started in ESEA Open in Season 33. Their original name was MarkandLarry and their original squad actually does not contain any of the current squad.

The main reason why I really want to highlight BNK was mainly through the interviews with Kras and Mitzy on the true value of sticking together. I remember hearing those exact words coming from one person, the current ingame leader of BNK, BRACE.

BNK have gone through many transitions beginning from Mark and Larry to Bantz to Vertex and now to Bad News Kangaroos.

I’d like to thank Liquipedia and HLTV for maintaining a lot of the history that could have been lost for BNK.

Bad News Kangaroos: Origins

Their original squad was Tham, Falcon, Motion, Roflko and Method1. You may notice that Motion, Roflko and Falcon are still around in DXA. Tham is still involved with the scene overall but mainly behind the scenes. I have no idea where Method1 has gone since this original roster.

MarkandLarry fell agonisingly short in making the Grand Final for Open and would have to qualify for ESEA Premier via the Relegation Playoffs. They win their first BO3 against Mako in a dominating fashion winning 2–0. They would then take down Incept 2–1 to make ESEA Premier. This Incept Roster did have some great players in JTR and Rackem.

It’s time for Bantz

MarkandLarry were signed by Elyxir’s Bantz Gaming which had a nice little logo. Klebz replaced Method1 in the roster. Addict was added to the roster to replace Tham.

Truckers With Attitude (TWA) was an unorged mix team which made quite a stir where they almost beat Paradox and had matched it up with a lot of the top teams at the time. They all had fun names such as wigglewagon (ie. Brace), mothertrucker and what not. It added a bit of flavour to the team.

Bantz added BRACE to their roster after poaching him from Truckers With Attitude in late May. Roflko had played with Brace previously in Buckets.

Obviously, BRACE became the in-game leader after leading Truckers With Attitude. Bantz saw great potential in him given TWA’s initial success. Bantz managed to make playoffs at the 8th Position which meant of course they had to play Order.

Bantz lose 2–0 to Order but pick up a massive upset win against Ground Zero (2–1). During this season and series, Addict was starting to make a name for himself as a hot prospect to watch.

Meanwhile, TWA were making their own waves by sending Paradox to the loser’s bracket. However, Bantz’s run came to an end by Paradox who promptly and unceremoniously spanked them 2–0.

After beating Paradox, TWA would not win a map at all. They would finish 3rd. But hey, this is about BNK? Why are we talking about TWA? Well, there was one more Trucker that was yet to come over. After this season Roflko and Falcon both leave Bantz.

The Path to Ascension

During the off-season madness, Vertex sign Bantz Gaming and Bantz Gaming sign Incept. It is starting to become a dog eat dog world sometimes I suppose. Vertex remove Klebz, Addict and Motion from the Roster. They add Roflko, WillyKS, Pz and Tensai to the lineup.

Yes, if you remember correctly, PZ was on Truckers with Attitude. I forget his trucker name. Maybe PickupZipper since PZ is an acronym for PineappleZipper. Either way, a great pick-up for Vertex as PZ was incredible on TWA. PZ is a main awper and a handy one at that.

However, shortly after WillyKS is picked up. He is benched as it doesn’t work out with Vertex. Fortunately, Vertex are able to re-acquire Addict. Losing Addict would have been a massive blow for Vertex.

Vertex’s results are encouraging as they beat Ground Zero (again) and put some encouraging results against Order and Chiefs. The only blemish was losing to the aptly named “Caught Off Guard” with a handy person that everyone knows as Eddie Azzi (Viridiancity). They were also stomped by Rooster where a rivalry would start brewing.

Vertex finish in 6th spot and would take on Order. Also, this would be the first season where top 4 Australian Teams are in the same league (Avant, Chiefs, Order and Rooster). Previously, Avant were not in ESEA Premier and participated mainly in ANZ Champs and other tournaments.

Vertex lose to Order (2–0) in a pretty uninspiring fashion considering their 16–14 loss in the regular season. They fight through the Lower Bracket taking down Ground Zero and Paradox. However, they meet Order once again but this time, they manage to win a map but still lost 2–1. With a Map Win against Order, people were beginning to take notice of Vertex and whether they would be able to start challenging the Top 4 AU Teams.

During this time, ESIC had announced that they had banned 7 players in relation to betting violations in Australia. ESIC would have a large part to play in Vertex’s future.

With Pride comes the Fall.

ESEA decide to change the Tournament Structure to have two separate groups with a Group A and Group B. Also, the games were now all BO3s instead of BO1s with the top 4 each group going to the playoffs.

During the off-season, Yourwombat is picked up by Vertex along with soju as the coach. However, the hammer was just waiting to fall.

ESIC ban a further 35 players from the competition due to betting violations which include Roflko who is banned for a year. Soju replaces Roflko but after a few months, he is acquired by Dire Wolves to replace ap0c.

To make matters worse, tensai has an indefinite break from CSGO at this stage and Vertex have to sub in Kayoh. This begins the journey of the Supersub Kayoh as Vertex manage to make the playoffs in second place at 7–1.

However, the playoffs go completely against them. With a close loss to Chiefs (2–1), they move past Rooster due to their ESIC bans and run into Dire Wolves. Roflko is fortunately given clemency during the ESIC bans and is allowed to play against Dire Wolves. The return of Roflko was ultimately ruined as they lost 2–0 to Dire Wolves and are eliminated.

It is a bit of a dire time for Vertex as with so much promise from the previous season is ruined by multiple unfortunate events such as ESIC and tensai quitting. However, a 7–1 season with BO3s is encouraging nonetheless with their only loss against Order.

Operation: Fightback

During the offseason — Apocdud is released by Chiefs and Apocdud is picked up to replace Yourwombat. Roflko returns to his usual spot and Vertex gear up for the next season. Apocdud had been making waves with his awping but was now wanting to rifle instead of picking up the big green.

Apocdud was also quite famous within the Australian Scene with his famous menulog ad with Australian Talent, Mac. I wonder what sort of Milkshake, Burger and Chips he has at the moment.

The Group System and BO3 system stays but what changed was that the Renegades had returned to the Oceania season after signing Grayhound. This makes it harder for Vertex as there are now 7 teams in that top circle being Renegades, Order, Chiefs, Paradox, Dire Wolves, Vertex and Rooster.

Vertex are dropped in group A with Dire Wolves and Renegades and they finish 3rd with losses only to Dire Wolves and Renegades. They managed to snatch a map off Dire Wolves but nothing else.

However, the best was yet to come. After a disappointing playoff run last season, they had no more distractions, no more looking for subs and the boys had stuck together for a full season.

There was a clip of YourWombat’s Vertex shirt being thrown in the bin though by Jamie though. It was quite a good shot from downtown.

Vertex started strongly with a massive 2–0 against Paradox. A dominant series from Vertex where Paradox just didn’t have a chance from the start. Vertex do the unthinkable where they beat Order 2–1 and then take down Dire Wolves in the exact same fashion to set up a date in the Grand Final with Renegades.

Everything was going great, the Cinderella run was continuing and Vertex would atleast finish 2nd. Well, everything went awfully in the Grand Final as Renegades won the first 2 maps and won 3–0 (upper bracket winner got 1–0 start).

Vertex had promising results elsewhere where they finished 7th in the Hyperion OEL Launch (Guam Servers) losing to D13. They finished 5–6th in Epic Oceania League (losing to Dire Wolves 2–1), They finished 3rd-4th in ANZ Champs (losing 2–0 to Dire Wolves again).

The clock hits midnight

Well, it is 2021 and COVID is still in full swing. Vertex are heading to the 2nd half of 2021 looking pretty chirpy about their future. With significant strides to take on the big boys, they wanted to end this year on a high.

After their 2nd place in ESEA Premier, they’re looking to push the envelope a bit further. However, the Dreamhack Open went poorly as they lost to their dreaded rival, Rooster. However, the IEM Qualifier went differently as they defeated 8Ballers to be given a seat at the table for IEM Fall — Oceania.

A lot of these tournaments were split into mini-tournaments due to Covid. With IEM Fall, Vertex finished 4th after losing a close BO3 to Order (2–1). Vertex’s started was not going to plan. Teams that they previously beaten have risen up above them once again.

Finishing 3rd in ANZ Champs, 3rd in ESEA Premier 38 in a very forfeit filled season and finishing 2nd in LPL wasn’t really satisfying for Vertex. They had not had a single win in any tournament at all. They managed to make it into the closed qualifiers for ESL Challenger Anaheim to only be stopped by Order once again losing 2–1. ESEA Premier 39, they played 3rd again after losing to LFO (Former Dire Wolves).

Vertex seemed stuck in a rut. Good enough to go deep in qualifiers and domestic competitions but not good enough to claim the glory.

Addict leaves the team to join Rickehh’s new team of Aftershock which Vertex pick up the now teamless malta to bolster their veteran stocks. Malta was an incredible addition to the team as he had international experience to boot from his time in Renegades. However, losing Addict was also a key piece as well.

Vertex’s luck doesn’t improve, and they are still hard stuck in that weird 3rd-4th spot in the Oceania Scene. They are knocked out of the Antwerp 2022 RMRs by Rooster (parading as Paradox). They do make the closed qualifiers of IEM Dallas by knocking out said Rooster but lose to LFO (2–1).

However, the additional experience of malta leads them to the Grand Final of ANZ Champs where they face Renegades once again. You know how they say history doesn’t repeat but it often rhymes? Well, 3–0 and 3–0 does rhyme and it happens again.

However, even with this loss they receive an invite to ESL Pro League — Conference Stage. This would be the first time that Vertex would play internationally.

The Crowning Moment — Vertex’s First Win

Vertex won LPL Pro League 2022 — Season 1 after taking down DGG (3–0). However, even with the win. Looking at the competition in LPL was nothing to smile about. Essentially, Vertex should be winning that tournament every day of the week.

Vertex were still much hungrier for the international competition. However, a win is still a win and Vertex have been hungry for one since the beginning.

Their next adventure would be into ESL Pro League in a post-Covid era. Vertex would travel to Jonkoping to Dreamhack Summer. Roflko infamously shaved a V into his hair for it. From what I heard, the boys loved Dreamhack Summer despite the poor results.

Dreamhack Summer featured 3 Oceanic Teams in the conference stage with Encore (LFO), Order and Vertex. Order had recently acquired the Renegades roster after Renegades withdrew from the AU scene.

Vertex’s tournament was quite disappointing with 2–0 losses to both Falcons and Illuminar.

Vertex got their taste for international glory but if they wanted more international experience. They would have to make a few daring movies.

Brace’s Hardest Day

As the Order roster had mostly fallen apart, Vertex had a hard decision to face as Vexite and Valiance were now free agents. They would immensely improve the roster but that would mean removing two players from their roster.

Brace had quite a friendship with Roflko. Unfortunately, he had to let him go as well as apocdud on the 26th June 2022. Roflko wasn’t too happy with this. The last former member of the MarkandLarry squad had now left for good.

Vertex acquired Vexite and Valiance from Order to bolster their stocks further. This would enable them to build a platform to attain consistent international experience and to really build a superstar roster.

This lead to a chance at the first Dreamhack Melbourne as they defeated Encore (2–1) to get to their first international LAN.

Well, it would have been a dream run. However, fate plays a different tune as Valiance takes an indefinite break from CSGO as he didn’t really find enjoyment in it. He had mentioned that life seemed to just pass him by while things that he really wanted to do was always taken over by CSGO.

The Valiance situation here is shared by many aspiring CSGO players as how much do you wish to sacrifice for a slim chance to be a professional at a game that might not last forever?

I can relate to Valiance in this scenario with my casting. I know this is a tangent from the history of BNK but it is something that you as the reader must consider for every player.

They sacrifice time that could be spent on other things to become good at this game whether it’ll be a potential career, social interactions or anything like that.

And this what can make it so hard for so many teams in the situation that Vertex is in now. It questions whether all of this sacrifice and all of the build up from the previous 2 years was even worth it?

Well, the day gets even harder for Brace as Order acquire Vexite as well. Their two star acquisitions are just gone. Just like that. Their daring play evaporates into ashes.

The only good thing that came out of all of this is that Addict resigned much later after the failure of Rickehh’s Team Aftershock.

I have to commend Brace and Vertex for really surviving through this chapter of their careers. Their audacious advance had essentially backfired into their faces but they kept on going.

The results didn’t get much better during this turmoil as they didn’t even get to the closed qualifiers for the IEM Rio RMRs due to a lot of stand-ins. At ESL Challenger Melbourne, they had Bl1tz as a stand-in where they were unable to win a map at ESL Challenger Melbourne.

However, Addict had lead a very gutsy fightback against Imperial but for Vertex, the wheels fell off just at the end losing 16–13 to Imperial. Vertex would get pummeled by Grayhound (Ex-Order) to be eliminated from the tournament.

I had chatted to Malta after this loss and he essentially said that Grayhound effectively counter-stratted them to victory. They had scrimmed so much that Grayhound had a good idea of their strat book.

The Ferocious Charge

Inspired by the close game against Imperial, Vertex returned with renewed Vigor for the Fortress OCE Masters event which provided a spot for the Blast Premier: Fall American showdown.

Vertex took down Encore in the closed qualifier and made it to the main event. Vertex had an issue as they had not got their 5th as of yet. It became a bit of a revolving door but they added Forleks to their roster. This would be the first few tournaments for Forleks and he’d become a huge player himself in the future.

Vertex would take on Rooster who is basically like Gary Oak from the Pokemon games at this moment. You know, you get onto that cruise ship and you’re going to the Captain and Rooster shows up and says “Bonjour!”. They challenge you to a Pokemon Battle and at this point in the game, they are very annoying!

Vertex defeats Rooster soundly with a clear 2–0 and takes on Grayhound. You can pretty much cue up all the “You took everything from me” memes here for Vertex since Vexite was playing for Grayhound.

Grayhound were the clear favourites and the first map went against Vertex in a typical 16–11 fashion. It was looking like the hounds were going to America once again.

However, Vertex did the unthinkable. They managed to get 14 CT side rounds on Mirage and were leading 14–1. Vertex sealed the deal in a dominant fashion to even up the series winning 16–5. This was the shot heard around Australia. Vertex were playing for keeps.

This momentum carried through to Nuke. Vertex managed to get 7 T side rounds which is absolutely massive. All they have to do is have a decent CT side and it’s done. Vertex would be going to America.

It got close, it got 14–14 close. Grayhound had won the previous 4 rounds and Vertex were starting to slip under their own momentum. Malta was having the game of his life.

The awp isn’t such a strong weapon on Nuke. However, PZ made it so — getting 4 kills to fight back against the hound. This would put 15 up for Vertex.

The last round was just a blur. Malta and PZ had lit up the entire server and Vertex were going to America!

Vertex played a Liquid Open event but their hangover from Fortress left them finishing 5th-6th after losing to Antic. This was definitely shown to be a blip.

Vertex head to America to participate in Blast to only lose a Bo3 to be sent home by 00Nation. However, unlike their previous BO3s in ESL Pro League. These were really close against 00Nation. They lost 16–12 and 16–11 compared to ESL Pro League where they only got into double digits once out of 4 games.

Out of this tournament, Forleks managed to clutch a critical 1 v 2 and has an infamous clip of him about to give the double middle finger to 00Nation.

Vertex followed up the end of the year with a 2nd win of LPL against DGG with a convincing 3–0 win. Vertex found their 5th in Savage. I asked Brace on why they picked him on an interview in ANZ Champs. He said that they picked him for his aggression in the lurk role.

However, their eternal rival, Rooster once again served a dagger at the end of year which resulted then dropping to 3rd in ANZ Champs. This mean that Vertex would have to qualify for ESL Pro League through the open qualifiers.

The Revenge of Roflko

Well, Vertex had now slotted themselves into the Top 3 of the Australian scene that the ESL Pro League qualifier would be a hop, step and a jump? Well, that’s not what it turned into.

If you remember the MarkandLarry boys especially Roflko, Motion and Falcon. They made a team called Hello Kitten Uwu with val and Hughmungus (stat from Chiefs). They managed to do the unthinkable and beat Vertex 2–1 which costs Vertex some more crucial international experience.

Roflko’s Revenge doesn’t last particularly long as they get into Conference just to hand Grayhound and Rooster free ESL Pro League spots. This tournament also reminds me of the Valorant Last Elimination tournaments where there are only 3 teams but only 1 goes through.

This structure was a once-off as during this period, there would no longer be an ESEA Premier for the ANZ Region. It would now be run through ANZ Champs and ANZ Main instead.

Nevermind the Roflko, Here are the Vertex

After that short little detour involving Roflko, Savage returns to Encore and Vertex pick up Hazr instead. Vertex speed through the ESL Challenger Melbourne qualifiers. They beat Rooster (again) and once again, get into ESL Challenger Melbourne.

They also sneak past Encore (2–0) to make it to the Asia RMR for the Blast.Tv Major. (hazr would vs sterling for the first time) Vertex seems to be a big fan of the ChumbaWamba song, Tubthumbing because they get back up again.

However, despite the song stating that they’ll never be kept down. Grayhound soundly defeat Vertex to receive tickets to IEM Dallas.

Vertex go into the new Asia RMR format where there are 8 teams instead of 4 teams. This LAN was in Mongolia and Vertex were looking quite promising going into this. They weren’t expecting to make a major but they would be a dark horse in it.

Their first opponent was Rare Atom and this is where the disasters began. And the disasters weren’t even on the server either. The first day is essentially postponed and abandoned due to server issues and Kaze being sick with food poisoning.

There were also wide reports that the Asia RMR was being played on a slightly different ruleset such as the coaches being able to interact with players and that players could access the internet. The even had longer timeouts and post-round time was seven seconds.

To make matters worse when they returned for Day 2, malta had food poisoning (and Kaze was all better!). Malta was unable to play and Kingfisher would sub in. They also had to play their lower bracket (BO3) if they lost to Rare Atom as well. They lost to Rare Atom.

Vertex would take on Twisted Minds (Loba’s Team) which they would win their first international map (with a stand-in as Kingfisher). They won 16–8 on overpass (2nd map). They had lost the first map on Anubis at 16–11.

However, Vertex would be eliminated as they lost Inferno (16–7). An absolute disaster for Vertex who really should have finished 5–6th but incidents outside of the server hampered them greatly.

The worst part was that all of these incidents were out of their control. They couldn’t do anything about it.

Vertex would return for ESL Challenger Melbourne but fall again at last place to Rare Atom. They manage to win a map but are unable to win a series.

At ANZ Champs, Vertex would make another amazing run and look to solidify their 2nd spot in the Oceania scene once again. However, they would lose Grayhound in the finals (3–1). And to make matters worse for Vertex, 2nd spot doesn’t mean an ESL Pro League spot.

The second spot is decide by an ESL Pro League qualifier. The final BO3 is against Rooster (again — won’t these guys just go away at this stage!?). Vertex know all about Rooster and Rooster all know about them too. Rooster and Vertex’s map pool are quite similar.

Rooster picks Overpass, Vertex picks Nuke, Inferno left over. Rooster leads a 9 round T side and completes the stomp on their CT side to take a 1–0 lead.

Rooster proceeds to ride the moment to Nuke leading 11–4 at the end of the half. Vertex fight back but Rooster seal the deal with their 5th T round and ending the series 2–0. Rooster steal another chance away from Vertex to get to the international level.

The End of CSGO and the Dawn of CS2

With Rooster and Grayhound off in ESL Pro League, LPL announce that CCT wishes to run a series in Oceania for CSGO. ESL Pro League would be the final tournament in CSGO before it transitioned to CS2.

During this period, Vertex qualified for IEM Sydney by taking down LFO (2–1). Vertex would win the first 2 CCT series against LFO and Sunday School in convincing fashion. However, these wins were mostly empty due to the two other teams that could beat them, Rooster and Grayhound were at ESL Pro League.

Vertex would look to IEM Sydney and this time instead of versing Tier 2 competition, they would be facing Tier 1 competition. Mouz quickly welcomed them with a 13–2 loss and Apeks kicked them out of the tournament. Vertex did manage to make it close against Apeks but still couldn’t eke out a map win.

Nobody really expected Vertex to make it far at all. They were all significantly outclassed.

Malta would announce his retirement shortly after IEM Sydney with Kingfisher leaving as coach. Valiance would later be added as the 5th as he makes his return to Vertex.

Vertex’s loss at IEM Sydney was only added to by Rooster. Rooster winning both CCTs 2–0 to nab a higher ranking than Vertex. However, Vertex had more CCT points which allowed them to qualify for the Global Final. The higher ranking would come much later.

Meanwhile in ANZ Champs, Vertex would at least maintain their 2nd place by taking out Rooster. However, another tournament shift would occur with the closure of ANZ Champs and ANZ Main.

ESEA Premier would return for the ANZ Region as the ESL Challenger League. This is similar to the Asia region where one game would be broadcasted per day via studio and the rest was available for community casting. It would return to a different style utilising 2x Bo1s similar to the old ESL Pro League (NA and EU) rules.

Grayhound would defeat Vertex to earn a spot in ECL S47 and to earn another ESL Pro League spot.

At the CCT Global Event, Vertex play Bad News Eagles who they lost narrowly in a BO3 (2–1). Valiance launched an incredible start and forced BNE on the backfoot early on Mirage. They lost 13–7 but Vertigo was all Vertex. However, Anubis was just disastrous, BNE got 9 CT rounds and that is pretty much all she wrote.

Vertex fell to Zero Tenacity in the lower bracket. Zero Tenacity aced them out of the tournament with 13–7 on both maps. This was a great tournament for Vertex who showed immense amounts of fight against Tier 2 teams within the European Scene.

When you compare their previous experiences where they didn’t look in it at all. They definitely looked competitive against their Tier 2 European Opposition.

The Birth of the Bad News Kangaroos

It really came out of the blue. The PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen was announced and the Asia RMR Closed Qualifier Invites went to BNK, Grayhound, Rooster and Vantage. Also, it was announced that Rooster qualified for IEM Katowice due to ranking in CS2 (remember those CCT ranking things I talked about?)

People were wondering who this Bad News Kangaroos team was and others were wondering where is Vertex? Unknown to most, Vertex were most likely struggling internally as an organisation and their CS2 team had left it.

Vertex has now become inactive and has effectively closed it doors despite slowly becoming a well-known name in the Oceania scene in various different esports.

Valiance had left the team once again as he was essentially a temporary stand-in until BNK had found their fifth. Hatz became the 5th for BNK during this tournament.

The strangest thing for this Asia RMR Tournament that the Valve World Rankings rated a dead Middle Eastern Team above Australia. The Middle East who finished 7–8th and 5th-6th retained 2 spots in the Asia RMR while Oceania who finished 1st and 7–8th due to outside circumstances retained 1 spot.

Oceania was in up in arms in regards to this injustice which was met with radio silence from Valve. To make matters worse, the team that provided two spots to the Middle East didn’t even participate in their own closed qualifiers or even competed in a tournament outside the Middle East. This enraged Oceania further.

So essentially if BNK wanted to go to the Copenhagen Major, they would have to beat Grayhound. BNK sailed passed DXA and managed to beat Grayhound in a BO1.

This sent shockwaves throughout Oceania that Grayhound could be eliminated. Grayhound would have to win 3 Bo3s to make it to the RMRs.

BNK would have simply hope that Grayhound would be tired before they got to them. Grayhound weren’t tired and Grayhound just shut out BNK like the rest. Grayhound completes their gauntlet and makes the Asia RMR.

BNK make the Oceanic closed qualifiers of IEM Chengdu due to ranking from CCT and they would take the Open Qualifier 1st Seed due to ranking. You want to know who the 1st Seed was right? It was Grayhound. BNK lose 2–1.

You know the funniest bit, the other open qualifier team, Mindfreak managed to beat Rooster. Rooster eliminate BNK (2–1) in probably the most topsy turvy closed qualifier that I had seen in Oceania.

Mindfreak manage to repeat the same performance against Rooster again and then proceed to lose to Grayhound. It was absolutely stunning to watch and must have been gut-wrenching for BNK and Rooster as they now have another competitor in the OCE Scene for international spots.

Next up was the ESL Pro League qualifier for Oceania and Brace was in France for a family holiday which meant Valiance was called up as a sub. BNK sneaked by the disciples to make it to the semi-final where they beat Vantage (2–0).

They would face a familiar foe in the Grand Final in Rooster (again). You wouldn’t have thought that BNK were missing Brace given the fact that they won 2–0 against Rooster. BNK claimed the ESL Pro League spot.

In a nod to good sportsmanship from Rooster, Rooster earned their ECL spot via the open qualifiers despite the fact that they could have achieved it on World Ranking. They gave their World Ranking spot to BNK. A nod of respect from their persistent rivals in Rooster.

BNK start their ECL Season against Grayhound which they lose 13–4, 13–3. They also attain 3rd place in the IEM Dallas Oceania Closed Qualifier after losing to Grayhound, defeating Vantage and losing to Rooster.

BNK had played OneQode which is another tournament bringing Asia, CIS and Australia together on Guam Servers. They had placed 1st to 4th during the season but were eliminated by FYR Gaming (2–1)

And now to the future — The Bad News Kangaroos

BNK have an issue with their 5th always. It is essentially a revolving door and Hatz parts way with BNK. BNK pick up Damyo from Making History. BNK make a video about Poaching in a similar vein to the old you wouldn’t steal a car or download a movie videos.

During this time, BNK are invited to an Indian Tournament as the Skyesports Grand Slam 2024 which they were the 2nd favourites to win. This tournament also had Aurora who were heavy favourites to win.

BNK used this tournament to promote their new merchandise and website at https://badnewskangaroos.com/

Unfortunately, they had to use Yourwombat as a standin because Damyo had not received his passport in time.

BNK lost to Aurora initially 2–0 as expected with a close battle on Overpass but an absolute drubbing on Inferno. BNK mentioned that a lot of the Indian Fans wanted to take pictures with them which they happy to oblige to.

BNK took down GRDX very easily as they won 2–0 where the opposing team only mustered 5 rounds in total.

However, BNK crashed out to Gods Reign after a significant advantage on Map 2 and 3 — they couldn’t seal the deal losing 2–1.

During this time, it was a part of a larger shadow of the struggles of AU CS as Grayhound failed to make the major.

You could say that not having Damyo was a major factor in it but nobody cares about what the truth is but whatever the preferrable narrative is.

BNK’s next big tournament would be a Local LAN at The Game Expo which yours truly reported. BNK were served an early spanner as they lost to Vantage early on. However, life works in mysterious ways as Vantage lost two critical games which allowed BNK to sail through as the first seed at 4–1.

BNK would waltz into the Semi-Final to take on Vexx. Well, these guys are a familiar team because remember that Making History team? Yeah, they got picked up by Vexx and they’re incredibly upset on how BNK poached Damyo.

BNK would take on DXA in the grand finals which contained friendly faces such as Roflko (oh no, him again) and Motion from the Mark and Larry days. Fortunately, since they didn’t have a cool name like Hello Kitty, BNK won 2–0 and won TGX!

BNK continued in the ECL with a few key wins but a key loss in a BO1 against MindFreak. However, BNK are still in the top 5 for the Playoff Race.

Their next big event would be the Esports World Cup for Oceania which was not provided a broadcast for few of their games which was frustrating. BNK lost to Rooster in the initial match but managed to send Mindfreak home in the lower bracket.

BNK managed to get their revenge against Rooster in the Consolidation Final with a massive Map 3 on the T side (9 T side rounds). Damyo was showing more and more on why BNK picked him up.

However, Grayhound were now picked up by Flyquest and Flyquest promptly sent BNK home and took the Esports World Cup spot.

The Painful Choice

BNK had secured an ESL Pro League Invite but ESL Pro League occurred at the same time as ESL Challenger Melbourne. BNK desperately tried to find a way to attend Dreamhack Melbourne and ESL Pro League at the same time. However, this was deemed to be impossible as both Group Stages would run during Dreamhack Melbourne.

This devastated the BNK team as they would like to play infront of their home crowd once again. However, they continued into the ESL Pro League while the Australian Crowds watched Sunday School and Rooster instead.

ESL Pro League again!? — BNK Boogaloo

ESL Pro League would involve at least 3 BO3s for BNK. BNK had mentioned to me that out of all their ESL Pro Leagues, they felt the most prepared for this one. They had mentioned that they learnt the most off Heroic (Cadian, stavn, jabbi et al) from their previous venture in ESL Pro League.

BNK had Mouz in their first match-up. Mouz sent them to the lower bracket in a quick 2–0 fashion. They got close on Mirage but Mouz were always the superior outfit.

BNK had ENCE up next and BNK made it quite hard for ENCE. It was all going according to plan for Ence as they took BNK’s map pick of Vertigo (13–7). Brace had an impressive 1 v 2 Clutch to keep the map alive for BNK but it was all in vain.

However, the wheels started to get a bit wobbly as BNK had an amazing CT side on Ence’s Map pick ending 8–4 at the half. Addict maintaining the momentum with a huge 1 v 2 clutch.

Addict being a shining light for their offence managed to swing the map winning 13–9 for Nuke leading to an epic finale on Anubis.

ENCE were very upset with losing their map pick. So upset that they decided to really just stomp BNK into the ground on Anubis. A huge 13–0 and a demoralising one to for BNK.

BNK fell into the last chance bracket to take on Fallen’s Furia. Fallen’s Furia had really fallen off and there was an inkling that BNK could potentially beat them. A slight change, not a good one.

BNK lost 13–6 on both maps to Furia which ended their ESL Pro League campaign as expected which was to be one of the first few teams eliminated. Their crowning achievement was stealing a Map away from ENCE to keep themselves in it.

And to end on a sad note, PZ has left the team mutually and yourwombat coming in to take the 5th spot. Damyo will now be main awping (Damyo is a main awp). Parting is such a sweet sorrow.

So what was the point of this article?

This article was meant to highlight all the ups and downs that a team has. Your team may not be perfect but as long as you work together to address issues and progress your team forward. Your team may succeed and thrive in the long-term.

It shows that BNK went from bottom-feeders to middle of the pack to being one of the top teams in Oceania. It has come with massive sacrifices and tough decisions to make. Nothing is ever all sunshines and rainbows.

It is to provide a spotlight of what goes on inside of a team and the work required to make a team.