ECL Season 49: Our predictions for champion, best player, and more

Australia’s best teams are back in action this month at ESL Challenger League Oceania Season 49, and notably without FlyQuest to crush every team’s dreams.

DFRAG’s resident analysts Harper, Josh, Flam, and BreadHead came together to make some predictions about the upcoming season.

Champions

Iceo: TALON is seemingly the team to beat in ECL this season. Being the only team that seems to be able to truly take it to FlyQuest (who they now don’t have to come up against with FlyQuest’s withdrawal), for the first time in several years, a team that isn’t a Grayhound, Renegades, or FlyQuest core will win Oceania’s highest-tier domestic tournament.

While Mindfreak, Rooster, and Housebets are all capable of beating TALON on their best days, TALON’s experience will speak volumes come season’s end.

Josh: For me it’s Rooster. I believe dpr will be a massive boost to get revenge over nettik and allow Chelleos to become more of a support player and potentially eclipsing what dangeR was for this team.They still have asap and TjP- who are amazing riflers.

I felt this team got caught in a mental battle trying to replace nettik when they had the pieces to do so all along.

Breadhead: Rooster are poised to make a strong comeback and claim victory in Season 49 of ECL in my opinion. With FlyQuest pulling out and the addition of dpr for DangeR, Rooster easily has the most firepower heading into this season. 

Flam: Housebets. The only reason I picked Housebets is that they have made a roster change that makes the team more comfortable. Picking up pz again opens up opportunities with the AWP and more aggressive playcalling for IGL BRACE. 

Personally with the pz pickup I think this team now has more firepower to be able to pick up an ECL win or finally get over the hump that is Mindfreak!

Dark Horse

Iceo: Art of War is a fascinating team. They have demonstrated they are so close to being the real deal, coming up a few rounds short of international event qualification on several occasions. 

If they put themselves in a good spot to qualify for playoffs (as most would expect in this pool), they are capable of causing a big surprise.

Josh: KZG is my clear dark horse. They picked up an anchor in foggers, and they picked up a decent IGL/coach in TRIPLUS which can help out Estate even more. The downside is losing dpr and having Hassie back on the AWP. They also kept some clutch potential with Kras in the roster which will take a lot of pressure off Estate. 

It is going to be an absolute gamble from KZG to see whether this roster works or not.

Breadhead: Vantage. They possess a powerful rifle core with plenty still to prove. While they have the potential to easily surpass the bottom half of ECL, they may lack the experience needed to claim the title. If all goes according to plan under the HudzM system, Vantage could emerge as unexpected champions.

Flam: KZG. This isn't a knock on KZG—Tito wants me in trouble already—but I think there is a single determining factor with this new KZG roster.

Can the team mesh? The KZG overhaul saw the Arcade trio of Foggers, Kras, and coach TRIPLUS. The only reason they are a dark horse in my mind isn’t from the quality but from how well the team meshes. I could be shocked: KZG is quite famous for being pretty reclusive and closed off from the rest of the scene (but not in a bad way!).

Most Valuable Player

Iceo: This in my mind is always going to be a toss-up between the main rifling core of TALON, however I’ve gone with HaZR here as I think he has consistently demonstrated in his roles that he is one of Australia’s most reliable riflers, and he has had a chokehold on domestic competition across various rosters for a long time.

I will add however that ADDICT has only gotten better and better since he started playing in international tournaments dating back to his days on VERTEX, and wouldn’t be surprised if he were to dominate either.

Josh: Well, I’ve said Rooster were going to win the ECL so I feel like it’ll be asap. Asap can be a clean difference maker in clutch scenarios and trading or backing up his IGL/entry TJP. Asap shares a similar attribute to ADDICT who can turn rounds on their heads with scintillating multi-frag rounds which shift momentum completely.

Breadhead: Asap. With Nettik out of the team, the spotlight opens up for asap. The 21-year-old has been Rooster’s best player in the past six months and has the eye test to back up his impressive 1.20 HLTV rating from last season.

Flam: This may be a shock to some, but give me a little known fella by the name of ADDICT. The New Zealand national has been a menace in the past under the Vertex and Bad News Kangaroos banner and has a knack for just ruining the night for any Aussie he faces. 

Breakout Player

Iceo: Looking lower down the team list to find an under-appreciated gem, Winnieeeee was the first name to grab my attention. A former teammate of mine, his arrival in MANTRA was, in my eyes, long overdue. 

His development across the last two or three seasons is reflective of his dedication and persistence to improve. He has developed into being an essential cog of MANTRA, and I think he will take many by surprise.

Josh: Dpr will break out even more. He showed signs at KZG, now he has a rifling core built around him. Pain is going to have a challenger for the prodigy young AWPer (and he’ll enjoy that challenge!).

Breadhead: Jynx. Vantage boasts a young core of highly talented riflers, with Jynx standing out as the most dominant of them all. Jynx has shown incredible improvement in his short time in the scene. Jynx will be set up as the main guy on this team and will be the key to their success this season.

Flam: rahley. That's it, that's the tweet. 

The Underground ESC secondary caller had a great last ESEA season being one of the better rotational players through the whole year. Alongside IGL Mechanical I'm sure the leading duo for an underrated team should give a tough fight in OCE’s newest ECL team.

ESL Challenger League Season 49 kicks off in Oceania on January 22!