This is supposed to be what redditors want. I’ll be taking a dive into four of the teams in Stage 1 that I find most likely to qualify for Stage 2, breaking down the idiosyncrasies in their tactical styles focusing on their T-side calling across their favorite maps. We’re dialing down the fluff and cranking up the hard analysis.
All stats are from Skybox EDGE and HLTV unless noted otherwise. Two notes about my reads from Skybox EDGE, the website will characterize the T-side play calls in 4 ways: Rush, Set strat, Mid, and No site. Rush calls are no-stop nade sets out of spawn with full pace. Set strats are when a team sets up immediately for a site execute with a grenade combination to support the site hit. No site means that whatever strat was called didn’t work and was hard to identify for EDGE. From what I’ve looked into, these are usually spread out defaults that were immediately countered by aggressive CT maneuvers. “Mid” is the difficult category to look at because it does not always imply that a mid-round call was actually made by the In-Game Leader, but it can mean that the staging of the round was through various portions of the map which led to a finisher. Whether the finisher was called in the freezetime or in the mid-round is unknown to EDGE.
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The second note for clarification: I’m looking at rounds with significant buys per each team. The parameter I set for a significant buy is average equipment value of $3000 or more for each player. This would allow for a Tec-9, full armor, double flash, smoke, and molotov. I’m also looking at it versus half-buys and better, $2200 investment or more from opponents.
Teams are ordered from the team I think is most likely to qualify to Stage 2, working my way to less likely teams to qualify.
GamerLegion (Snax, hypex, Rez, PR, Tauson)
- Favorite Pick: Mirage
- Perma-ban: Dust2
Snax’s EU mix picks Mirage over 50% of the time which is my favorite map to look into when figuring out a team. Mirage offers a wealth of options that very few other maps do: rushing, set pieces out of spawn, and mid round calls are all viable.
According to EDGE, GamerLegion go for the A bombsite on 60% of all of their gun rounds. What is even more interesting is that, with mid control through a default, they still end A on 60% of their rounds. Snax is not afraid to just hammer that bombsite which he and GamerLegion look much more well versed on. Snax cycles through A execs, A contact plays, and A crunches without second-guessing against most opponents. The hits are often spear-headed by REZ, a pincer from PR from palace, and Snax in middle jockeying for position to put additional pressure on defenders.
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My biggest concern is how it doesn’t always look like Snax looks to change things up in halves until things go wrong. In the recent opening IEM Atlanta match vs SINNERS, Snax went for varieties of A hits for 9 consecutive rounds until SINNERS countered by pushing into A ramp and winning the round with a double kill. Not expecting a significant adaptation is a fine way to play against Tier 2, but it may get discovered a bit quicker by Tier 1 teams that make adaptations based on every round.
BetBoom (Boombl4, zorte, S1ren, Magnojez, d1Ledez Substitute: FL4MUS)
- Favorite Pick: Nuke
- Perma-Ban: Inferno
Boombl4 has been leading another Russian-speaking lineup to pick Nuke in just over 50% of their opportunities. Nuke lends itself to some quicker set pieces than some other maps if a team is not as well-versed on it, but not Boombl4’s gang who only rushed on 2 gun rounds out of 49 (4%).
Where BetBoom works the most frequently is in the mid-round and with outside cross smokes. 22% of BetBoom’s rounds are centered around working towards outside and conjuring up a B hit through secret. Most teams that are inexperienced on Nuke will shy away from outside takes when in man deficit situations. What’s refreshing about BetBoom’s Nuke T-side is that they will still be willing to go for a secret into B hit even when losing 1-2 picks early in a round. This is unusual due to the risks taken when crossing outside, but it has the benefit of catching teams off guard since it’s fairly off-meta.
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The willingness to continue exploring other portions of the map is a reason BetBoom was able to catch Vitality off-guard in their win in Atlanta. Magnojez’s space-taking prowess along with S1ren’s lurking capabilities, including his usage of vents on T-side are both individual hallmarks of the BetBoom Nuke.
Heroic (yxngstxr, nilo, xfl0ud, Chr1zN, susp)
- Favorite Pick: Nuke
- Perma-Ban: Anubis
If I were to pick one IGL that I could strongly assume Chr1zN has studied in depth, it would be Snappi. Both Danish IGLs have affinities towards Nuke, attempt to create misdirection with walls of smokes and flashes which can create a dense fog of war for opposing CTs, but where Chr1zN seems to have upgraded the Snappi style is that he doesn’t like rushes nearly as much – this is a good thing.
Heroic loves to fight for space. Their fights into big garage and the CT-side of outside yard is notable compared even to teams like BetBoom who also fights outside frequently. In 34% of rounds I examined, Heroic fought for the CT-side of outside. This sort of control threatens heaven wraps much more frequently than most teams would dare to fight for the space. There is also a strong grip of where Chr1zN should direct his troops next when they poke for that area. At times they will commit fully to the CT spawn wrap and other times will result in gathering up for a walk down secret once CTs are forced to defensive positions.
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This sort of pressure comes at an obvious cost, there are more opportunities for mobile AWPs to take single shots as Heroic have to inevitably take some peeks without flashes. Not every angle can be cleared and that worked against them massively in the grand finals of the CCT Global Finals as afro posted a career-best Rating outmaneuvering them on what is supposed to be Heroic’s home map.
B8 (npl, s1zzi, kensizor, alex666, esenthial)
- Favorite Pick: Mirage
- Perma-Ban: Anubis
alex666 took leading duties from npl and the playbook does not look worse for it. A massive focus on middle of Mirage (75% of rounds involve it), but a surprising willingness to give it up keeps B8’s opponents guessing. Frequently calling for 5-man mid starts with no lurker is a glaring hole in the offense of B8 and I have a strong feeling that teams will exploit extremities when facing off against the Ukrainian 5.
esenthial may take more risks than alex666 and B8 want when he’s on lurks, looking for kills from palace which is why they’d rather use numbers to achieve a common goal instead of sitting esenthial down and saying to lay low a bit more often. esenthial has a 29% success rate on Opening Kills on Mirage in the last 3 months, I’d probably call for him to come mid too.
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Opinion: Of the 4 teams listed, I feel like Heroic have the most well-rounded style. However, they do lend themselves to being upset by being so aggressive and proactive. Even though this team may have the highest ceiling, it’s difficult to pick them to go 3-0 when they just keep exploring for more space so regularly. A safe, defensive team may be able to pick them apart as long as they don’t get baited into taking the risks that Heroic can find openings against.
B8 and GamerLegion’s styles are a bit more similar due to the willingness to group up, but it does look like GamerLegion has a bit more faith in their extremity player, PR which makes Snax feel much safer when calling a more pronounced map control-focused round. I would consider any combination of GL, BB, or Heroic to be good 3-0 picks in Stage 1.
