Post-ELEAGUE Major shuffle report card

[hkes_show_google_ad] The CS:GO shuffle at the end of the ELEAGUE Major saw some of the biggest changes in the scene since Fnatic and GODSENT initially swapped players back in August 2016. Between Richard “shox” Papillon and Kenny “kennyS” Schrub uniting under G2 Esports, and Nikola “NiKo” Kovač joining the other big guns on FaZe Clan fans and analysts alike are chomping at the bit to see just how good these newly formed dream teams will perform in the long-run. Some lineups have already lived up to the hype while others have yet to find that initial success. Here’s our assessment of what each team has shown so far and their potential moving forward.

FaZe Clan

OLD FAZE	ROLE	NEW FAZE
rain	Rifler	rain
kioShiMa	Rifler	kioShiMa
aizy	Rifler	NiKo
allu	AWPer	allu
karrigan	In-game leader	karrigan
RobbaN	Coach	RobbaN

New Roster Results

2nd – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice (Invited)

Of all the supposed super teams to form in recent time, none have met expectations quite like the new FaZe Clan. The team has been on an upswing since they brought in well-known in-game leader Finn “karrigan” Andersen from Astralis — as evidenced by their Legend spot from the ELEAGUE Major. But now that they’ve brought in Bosnian powerhouse rifler Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, this squad has the makeup of a Reddit dream team. FaZe debuted at IEM Katowice by clinching the top seed from their group over the likes of Astralis and Immortals, then advanced to the Grand Finals after they defeated Immortals 2-0 in the semifinals. FaZe started the Grand Finals on the right foot after they won Cache 16-9, but Astralis won Overpass 16-12, Nuke 16-12 and Inferno 16-13 to take the series.

FAZE @ VEGAS (PRE-NIKO)	STAT	FAZE @ KATOWICE (POST-NIKO)
0.92	Team HLTV Rating	1.04
0.89	Kill/Death Ratio	1.07
-53	Kill/Death Differential	+72
5	Maps	13

FaZe didn’t end up winning Katowice, but that’s more than one should expect from a fresh roster. They went deep in a stacked tournament and their results match their hype. Grade: A+

G2 Esports

OLD G2	ROLE	NEW G2
bodyy	Rifler	bodyy
RpK	Rifler	NBK
ScreaM	Rifler	apEX
SmithZz	AWPer	kennyS
shox	In-game leader	shox
N/A	Coach	SmithZz

New Roster Results

4th (DNQ) – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice Closed EU Qualifier
0W-3L – ESL Pro League Season 5 EU

The new G2 Esports lineup is the French team that we’ve always dreamed of and sees an upgrade in just about every role on paper.. Although it’s arguably missing Belgian one-tapper Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom, the pairing of Richard “shox” Papillon and Kenny “kennyS” Schrub more than makes up for his absence. The reality, however, is a bit more grim as they were unable to qualify for IEM Katowice, losing to the likes of Heroic, who were playing with Danish mercenary Casper “cadiaN” Møller as a stand-in. With that said, this is still a fresh roster and their dynamic has changed dramatically after swapping out three players. Even though the team has the support of Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux as their coach, in-game leader Richard “shox” Papillon undoubtedly has his hands full. Few teams have the same potential as the new G2 Esports in terms of their raw talent and tactics, but the fear that, like previous French lineups, their short-comings may be mental is still cause for concern. We’ll see how they perform at their first LAN, if and when they qualify for one. Grade: B

Fnatic

OLD FNATIC	ROLE	NEW FNATIC
KRiMZ	Rifler	KRiMZ
disco doplan	Rifler	dennis
olofmeister	Rifler/AWPer	olofmeister
twist	AWPer	JW
dennis	In-game leader	flusha
Jumpy	Coach	Jumpy

New Roster Results

1st-2nd – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice Closed EU Qualifier
9-12th – DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017
7-8th – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice
1W-2L – ESL Pro League Season 5 EU

Fnatic are attempting to turn back the clocks to when their late-2015/early-2016 roster dominated CS:GO by bringing back Jesper “JW” Wecksell and Robin “flusha” Rönnquist. But a lot of time has passed since then and while Fnatic have gone back in time, the rest of the CS:GO world has been moving forward. Fnatic will effectively be making up for lost time as the players have accomplished little during their split, when two to three of them played with GODSENT. And even if they get back to the form they had when they were in their prime, their competition has also made marked improvements. The potential is clearly there for the “new” Fnatic, but getting back to that form requires some serious out-of-game changes. It’s too early to judge their progression, but its also worth noting that the team has considered the idea of a sports psychologist as well. Grade: B-

SK Gaming

OLD SK	ROLE	NEW SK
fer	Rifler	fer
TACO	Rifler	TACO
fnx	Rifler	felps
coldzera	Rifler/AWPer	coldzera
FalleN	AWPer/In-game leader	FalleN
dead	Coach	dead

New Roster Results

2nd – DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017 (Invited)
11-12th – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice (Invited)
6W-0L – ESL Pro League Season 5 NA

SK Gaming’s lineup has never been lacking. Since their Major victory at ESL One Cologne 2016, they’ve made it to at least the semifinals of every event they’ve competed in. That’s nine LAN events in a row over the span of eight months, a streak that came to an end at IEM Katowice with João “felps” Vasconcellos in the lineup. While that sounds like a condemnation on paper, the reality is that felps was not only SK’s top performer at Katowice, but he currently averages the single highest HLTV rating of the tournament with a 1.28 rating. FalleN had an uncharacteristically bad event and averaged an 0.84 rating, one of the lowest at Katowice. It’s also worth noting that SK were hit hard during the group stage. They lost 16-14 to Virtus.pro on Inferno and 16-12 to Natus Vincere on Overpass, but the real nail in their metaphorical coffin was their loss to Cloud9. C9 pulled out a surprise Nuke pick, a map that was constantly banned during their map vetos, and shocked SK 16-9. Given SK’s second place finish at DreamHack Las Vegas and seeing how Katowice itself played out, it seems clear that the Polish event was an outlier. SK’s potential with felps has already been shown. Grade: A-

Team Liquid

OLD LIQUID	ROLE	NEW LIQUID
nitr0	Rifler	nitr0
EliGE	Rifler	EliGE
Pimp	Rifler	Pimp
jdm	AWPer	jdm
Hiko	In-game leader	stanislaw
zews	Coach	zews

New Roster Results

2nd (DNQ) – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice NA Closed Qualifier
5W-1L – ESL Pro League Season 5 NA

One of the biggest unknowns in the scene is Team Liquid’s latest roster, which is currently under the leadership of Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz. They’ve already some shown promise online as they currently hold a 5-1 record in ESL Pro League, and narrowly missed IEM Katowice. With that said, this team has yet to really be tested on LAN. The main problem with Liquid’s previous lineups was its lack of real leadership. Brazilian coach Wilton “zews” Prado was meant to bring stability to the organization, but even he could not bring marked improvements to a Spencer “Hiko” Martin-led lineup. But considering the IGL role was never really Hiko’s choice, it couldn’t be helped. In comes stanislaw, an improvement from Hiko on paper considering his achievements as OpTic’s IGL. They may have lost a bit of firepower, but they’ve more than made up for it in terms of leadership. Grade: B-

Team EnVyUs

OLD NV	ROLE	NEW NV
SIXER	Rifler	RpK
apEX	Rifler	xms
NBK	Rifler	ScreaM
kennyS	AWPer	SIXER
Happy	In-game leader	Happy
enkay J	Coach	maLeK

New Roster Results

5-6th (DNQ) – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice Closed EU Qualifier
4W-2L – ESL Pro League Season 5 EU

Team EnVyUs are largely considered the losers of the 2017 French Shuffle, but considering neither nV or G2 Esports qualified for IEM Katowice, the two currently stand on even ground. With that said, nV currently have the upper hand in the EPL EU Season 5 rankings with a 4-2 record compared to G2’s 0-3 record. Granted, online games hold less stock than LAN games, but if nV keep up their performance they will eventually qualify for the EPL finals. The same can’t be said for G2. The saving grace for the French squad is the last-minute inclusion of Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom, who was trying out for FaZe Clan but was passed over in favor of Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, according to FaZe captain Finn “karrigan” Andersen. Regardless of their actual potential, ScreaM joined nV under some awkward circumstances and with the loss of Kenny “kennyS” Schrub, you’d be hard pressed to call this roster move a win. However, the team is playing admirably with the hand they’ve been dealt. Grade: C+

Cloud9

OLD C9	ROLE	NEW C9
n0thing	Rifler	n0thing
shroud	Rifler	shroud
autimatic	Rifler	autimatic
Skadoodle	AWPer	Skadoodle
Stewie2k	In-game leader	Stewie2k
N/A	Coach	valens

New Roster Results

9-12th – DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017 (Invited)
9-10th – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice (Invited)
6W-0L – ESL Pro League Season 5 NA

The only change for Cloud9 was the addition of well-known North American coach Soham “valens” Choudhury. It’s a change that’s pretty low-key as far as roster shuffles go, but one that could have a significant impact if it hasn’t already. C9’s gameplan at DreamHack Vegas was largely unchanged, and it was only until IEM Katowice that we saw a dramatic change in their play, as evidenced by their map veto. At Vegas, their permaban was Nuke and it was always C9’s first ban in the veto, but at Katowice their vetoes varied a lot more and Nuke was the map that SK Gaming infamously lost 16-9 to C9 and eventually led to them finishing last in the group stage. C9 did not advance past the group stage at either Vegas or Katowice, but a team shouldn’t be expected revamp their map pool overnight. What we’ve seen was only a start for C9 and it’s something that could pay off big as they develop in 2017, but potential only counts for so much. Grade: C+

North

OLD NORTH	ROLE	NEW NORTH
k0nfig	Rifler	k0nfig
Magisk	Rifler	Magisk
RUBINO	Rifler	aizy
cajunb	AWPer	cajunb
MSL	In-game leader	MSL
ruggah	Coach	ruggah

New Roster Results

3-4th – DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017 (Invited)
5-6th – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice (Invited)
2W-0L – ESL Pro League Season 5 EU

The previous iterations of North’s squad, when they were still part of Team Dignitas, were solid teams that were plagued by inconsistencies. However, the new North has advanced past the group stage at both DreamHack Vegas and IEM Katowice, but it’s hard to give credit to their new player Philip “aizy” Aistrup given his performance in both events. aizy was North’s lowest HLTV rated player in both the Vegas and Katowice events, 0.87 and 0.89 ratings respectively, which are low numbers considering his reputation and his role. Still, it’s hard to argue with results and perhaps aizy’s numbers belie his actual impact, but it will be interesting to see where the team finishes when aizy comes online. Grade: B

Immortals

OLD IMT	ROLE	NEW IMT
lucas1	Rifler	lucas1
boltz	Rifler	boltz
felps	Rifler	fnx
HEN1	AWPer	HEN1
steel	In-game leader	steel
zakk	Coach	zakk

New Roster Results

1st – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice Closed NA Qualifier
3-4th – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice
3W-3L – ESL Pro League Season 5 NA

João “felps” Vasconcellos was Immortals’ star player before he left to join SK Gaming, which meant that his replacement, Lincoln “fnx” Lau, had some big shoes to fill. fnx is best known for his intelligent play in clutch situations and his experience as a support player, but his performance at Katowice showed that he can be a real powerhouse when he wants to. fnx looks renewed on his new team, but time will tell as to how long that will last as his parting from SK was not due to his poor performance according to former teammate Epitácio “TACO” de Melo, and rumors of him losing motivation for practice surrounded his departure. For now, Immortals look good with their new lineup. Grade: B

OpTic Gaming

OLD OPTIC	ROLE	NEW OPTIC
tarik	Rifler	tarik
RUSH	Rifler	RUSH
NAF	Rifler	Hiko
mixwell	AWPer	mixwell
stanislaw	In-game leader	NAF
N/A	Coach	peacemaker

New Roster Results

9-12th – DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017 (Invited)
11-12th – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice (Invited)
5W-1L – ESL Pro League Season 5 NA

OpTic Gaming saw a rapid rise after they won ELEAGUE Season 2 over Astralis and finished second at ECS Season 2. However, the team bombed out during the ELEAGUE Major and their downward trajectory has continued with the departure of in-game leader Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz. Replacing stanislaw was former Team Liquid “dad” Spencer “Hiko” Martin, while Keith “NAF” Markovic took over as the in-game leader. It’s a role taken out of necessity, similar to Hiko’s role on Liquid, but it’s a transition that should have been made smoother with the inclusion of Luis “peacemaker” Tadeu. On paper it’s a team that should have functioned well, but didn’t. Freed of the IGL chains, Hiko should be a powerhouse for the team, but in both DreamHack Vegas and IEM Katowice he had the second lowest HLTV ratings and posted abysmal average damage per round numbers. Only Spanish star Oscar “mixwell” Cañellas put up decent numbers for the team. Hiko will need to step up in his next event with OpTic, assuming his temporary stay has even been extended. Grade: C-

mousesports

OLD MOUZ	ROLE	NEW MOUZ
denis	Rifler	denis
loWel	Rifler	loWel
Spiidi	Rifler	oskar
chrisJ	AWPer	chrisJ
NiKo	In-game leader	Spiidi
lmbt	Coach	lmbt

New Roster Results

2W-0L – ESL Pro League Season 5 EU

mousesports were arguably hit hardest from the roster shuffle. The loss of a star player would hurt any team, but when a team loses a player like Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, they are not only losing a ton of firepower, but it also changes the entire dynamic of the team. mouz formed their entire team around the actions of NiKo, but with him gone they’re forced back to the drawing board. We’ve only seen a glimpse of the new mouz roster as they defeated Team Kinguin 2-0 in EPL, an upcoming team for sure but by no means a solid test for mouz. Still, mouz performed well in the series with Christian “loWel” Antoran continuing to be mouz’s rock and Tomáš “oskar” Šťastný stepping up as the star player. NiKo’s departure may very well work out to being the change mouz needed in order to move forward as a team, but losing arguably the strongest player in the world doesn’t do much for your stock. Grade: D

GODSENT

OLD GODS	ROLE	NEW GODS
znajder	Rifler	znajder
Lekr0	Rifler	Lekr0
flusha	Rifler	disco doplan
JW	AWP	twist
pronax	In-game leader	pronax
rdl	Coach	rdl

New Roster Results

6W-2L – MDL Season 24

GODSENT is a team that should work on paper. You have a world-class in-game leader, two veterans and two young gun, but it’s a lineup that has yet to show off its potential and is arguably weaker than the previous iteration with Jesper “JW” Wecksell and Robin “flusha” Rönnquist. The team has been going off in their MDL Season 24 games, but as well they should be, since they’re facing objectively lesser teams. It’s also worth noting that GODS also dropped a couple maps in the league, which is inexcusable for a team of it’s caliber. Grade: D+

Heroic

OLD HEROIC	ROLE	NEW HEROIC
MODDII	Rifler	MODDII
valde	Rifler	valde
niko	Rifler	niko
Friis	AWPer	JUGi
Snappi	In-game leader	Snappi
N/A	Coach	N/A

New Roster Results

3-4th (DNQ) – ECS Season 3 EU Development League Qualifier #2
3-4th – IEM Season 11 World Championship Katowice
3W-3L – ESL Pro League Season 5 EU

Though Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander was not the in-game leader when he was on Heroic, it’s clear that he had an impact on the team’s leadership dynamic. Heroic were on a downturn after gla1ve’s departure to Astralis and his influence was made more clear after Astralis won the ELEAGUE Major. However, Heroic made a change to their lineup by swapping out their passive AWPer, Michael “Friis” Jørgensen, in exchange for a much more aggressive AWPer in Jakob “JUGi” Hansen and it’s a setup that’s worked wonders at IEM Katowice. The team caused some major upsets by defeating North, Natus Vincere and Virtus.pro to top their group in Katowice. They lost 2-0 to Astralis, though those games were close as well. It’s too early to tell if they can keep up this form, but if a fresh roster, with a rookie no less, can make the semis in their debut LAN, they’re a team worth watching. Grade: B [hkes_show_google_ad]