How Talon Esports’ return to CS shakes up the Australian scene

by BreadHead

According to a June 28th HLTV report, Talon Esports, a Hong Kong-based organization known for fielding teams across a variety of Esports titles, including League of Legends where on 18 June 2020 they would partner with PSG Esports and compete under the name PSG Talon. Talon Esports is poised to significantly impact the ANZ esports scene by assembling a new CS2 team around a core of Oceanic players.

Talon has set its sights on Aaron "AZR" Ward, a 31-year-old Australian Counter-Strike veteran with six major appearances under his belt, to lead their ambitious new project. Following his departure from Sprout in April 2023, where a brief stint saw the team bomb out of many big event qualifiers including the prestigious BLAST Paris Major Europe RMR, AZR now looks to revitalize his career closer to home.

Talon has set its sights on Aaron "AZR" Ward, a 31-year-old Australian Counter-Strike veteran

Rumors swirl around potential additions to the team, with standout performers like Rooster’s top talent, Corey “Nettik” Browne and skilled players Jared “hazr” O’Bree and Christian “ADDICT” Pendleton from Bad News Kangaroos reportedly on the radar. Talon is also contemplating a significant move to fill their AWP position, eyeing European prospects such as the seasoned Polish sniper Olek “hades” Miskiewicz and the promising Kazakhstani Beksultan “Khan” Ospan, known for his sharp AWP skills with Nemiga.

Now that Talon’s supposed shortlist of signings has been made public, we can assess how the move could alter the trajectory for Oceanic Counter-Strike. OCE players now have an improved pipeline into the upper echelon of competitive Counter-Strike, whereby joining Talon will see an increase in participation to international events and opportunities.

These international opportunities promise greater prize money for the team, thereby justifying higher salaries for OCE players striving to excel on the global stage. More positions on top OCE teams are now open for new talent to come through and make a name for themselves against the best opposition in the ANZ region. IGL Toby “BRACE” Barnes is now potentially on the market as the future of BNK is up in the air given they lose their two best players. BRACE is someone with rare international experience and would be an upgrade at the IGL position to the majority of teams competing in ESL Challenger League Oceania this season.

BNK will be losing their two sharpest riflers in hazr and ADDICT, both in the prime years of their playing careers at 22 and 23 years of age respectively. Removing long-time team member and AWPer PZ back in mid-May of this year split up the original Vertex core. With the possible loss of ADDICT and hazr, the team's identity would be shattered leaving behind captain BRACE to scramble together his next pieces to rebuild what was formally the second-best team in the region.

After losing their most recent bout to Mindfreak in the lower bracket final at ESL Challenger League, this places BNK potentially 4th or 5th after years of being a cemented top team in the region. BRACE will be able to find new talent with potential to be as good as his departing teammates but will be a giant setback to reach the goals of competing at the biggest international LANs. 

The Rooster boys will also be feeling the hurt if Talon swoops in and signs Nettik. The 20-year-old phenom from New Zealand, is irreplaceable on the Rooster roster putting up Donk-esque numbers and dominating the scene in the most recent ESL Challenger League season, standing above the rest with a HLTV rating of 1.51 over 25 maps. Nettik secured the top spot in HLTV rating, even outperforming the consensus number 1 player in the region INS from FlyQuest.

An Australian shuffle is inevitable for ESL Challenger League Season 48 with multiple spots up for grabs amongst the top Oceanic teams. I am excited to see how the offseason unravels for Oceanic Counter-Strike and I expect the rankings to heavily fluctuate if we see Talon Esports have a go at revolutionizing our scene. ECL Season 48 resumes on 15th July, kicking off the second competitive CS2 season for 2024.