Despite being in the midst of the most dominant era that most Counter-Strike fans have ever laid eyes on, Vitality’s likelihood of taking the trophy shouldn’t push you away from watching other teams who have less of a claim to the crown. Not every team is built to win championships today, many teams are biding their time and developing their own identity in the shadows as Vitality walks away the victors on championship Sundays. However, there’s still a reason to watch some opening day and lower bracket Counter-Strike. I’ll move in reverse order, selling you the weakest of the bunch first:
TYLOO
JamYoung – The one player from the Chinese region that you could make an honest case for that he should devote time to learning English. He obliterates domestic opposition individually, putting up a 1.34 Rating in his 2 series vs Lynn Vision and Rare Atom this season (his only 2 series against opponents around the Top 50). It’s worth reminding everyone that he is the sole Chinese player to win an HLTV MVP in CS2 and put up an eye-catching 1.19 in both Austin and Budapest Majors last year. If there’s any hope to Chinese CS, it lies with him.
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Jee’s Postgame Interviews – The man that stole our heart with his affinity for ice cream and willingness to just be himself at BLAST Austin last year. I always keep the volume up for a Jee interview because you don’t know what sort of personality he’s going to reveal and with DarfMike taking up interviewer roles at the upcoming BLAST Open Rotterdam, we should get even more.
9z
dgt – The prodigal son returns. After a rather perplexing stint on paiN which included highs such as a semifinal finish at the BLAST Austin Major and lows such as a 1-3 finish in the StarLadder Budapest Major, dgt has returned to 9z. He spent just shy of 6 years with the organization before and now he reunites with the Spanish speaking team. He’s been putting up a 1.22 Rating lurking for them this season and is clearly the standout on a roster which is on the rise since his return.
A South American Team that Isn’t Brazilian – And they bring a nice flare in style with them. Overpass is their first pick in series when it’s allowed and so I decided to check out some of their formations. They worked through at least 4 different starting formations (2-1-2, 1-2-2, 3-1-1, 5B) and were able to exert multiple points of pressure across the map simultaneously. They’ll keep things exciting. It’s rare to see a roster emerging from South America that doesn’t have a green flag in the server. 9z is 2 parts Uruguayan, 2 parts Argentinian, and 1 part Chilean. Well, they do have a storied Brazilian coach too in BIT standing behind them.
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NRG
Grim’s Growing Pains – I was excited to see Grim to return to an American-majority lineup with NRG. So far, we’ve only gotten a 7 map taste of what he has to offer. He singlehandedly dominated NIP on a map of Ancient where Grim posted a 2.15 Rating for the map with 27 kills over 20 rounds. We’ve also seen him post 6 kills in 17 rounds of Mirage against the very same NIP. It’s safe to say he’s still finding his footing, but if he does then I believe NRG can jump into the Top 20. The bar is depressingily low for North America right now, but that’s actuall an accomplishment. I still consider Grim to be one of the 2 best Americans competing today despite the initial outing not proving as impressive as one would hope and look forward to his growth on NRG.
oSee – The year is still young, but if one decides to go deeper into the HLTV filters (Top 30), oSee is the 9th highest rated AWPer this year with 20 or more maps. In a CS2 that is still primarily dominated by riflers and hybrids, it’s interesting to consider the fact that one of the world’s best AWPers might actually be an American. If Liquid ever want to return to a fully NA lineup, this is their man. He sits at a 1.10 for the year thus far, but he put up an an impressive 1.25 in his 11 maps at IEM Krakow. Even though that seems to good to be true, he’s posted a 1.00 or higher at all 6 events he’s played this season. He’s looked assertive and clutch in what I caught of him at IEM Krakow and hoping that form returns after a weaker online ESL Pro League.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
The cairne Gamble – When NIP replaced ewjerkz for cairne, it was supposed to be a direct upgrade, but it has proven to be more of a sidegrade for NIP who has still yet to return to HLTV’s or the VRS top 20. A recent win at the Roman Imperium Cup felt mandatory for a team that had since slipped to 36th on Valve’s rankings and jumping up to a 22nd spot today puts NIP in a position where they took one step back and have regained that step, but it doesn’t quite push them 2 steps forward as the saying goes. cairne has looked relatively pedestrian as he’s been trying to slot into the NIP system. ewjerkz held a 0.99 Rating vs Top 50 opponents in his time with NIP (122 maps). cairne is posting up a 0.96 so far vs Top 50 opponents in 31 maps. Additionally, he doesn’t always seem to be the X-factor player that made ewjerkz so vital to Snappi’s offense. cairne looks to be a bit more timid in his approaches, not using all of the smoke push timings which are a hallmark of the Snappi-system which ewjerkz knew inside and out. For the sake of an NIP project which has been exciting at various points, cairne has to start delivering consistently vs the better opposition the world has to offer.
r1nkle’s day to day form – One of the most explosive AWPs still trying to maintain the flair of another Ukrainian legend (who also conveniently has a 1 in his username). r1nkle’s last 6 months paint a worrying picture. At Tier 2 events, he tends to hold his own and farm any of the weaker opponents. As soon as he plays the big dogs, you’re praying he’s having a good day. r1nkle’s aggressive, all-in style of AWPing can lead to one of the biggest adrenaline rushes you get out of any AWPers in the Top 30 teams, but it comes with a hefty price. His off days are dreadful. Against a floundering Liquid this season, r1nkle put up 14 kills in a 40 round series while leaving the server -3 on openers. The disappointing part of this story is that there really is no flip side. His best series this season against a Top 30 team would be a 1.16 vs Gentle Mates which is a Rating you would hope your AWPer averages, not peaks at. You really do not know what you’re going to get from him day-to-day which, in a masochistic way can be a bit thrilling.
