The Recap - EP05

by OnlyJoshinTV

Welcome to The Recap, a new weekly content series covering Counter-Strike in the ANZ region with a touch of global action here and there. We aim to provide a regular series covering our region, from ESEA Open, ECL, and global events, to local LAN and online tournaments hosted here at home.

IESF World Esports Championships – Oceania Qualifier

The local rivalry between the Aussies and the Kiwis kicked off in the IESF World Esports Championships. It looked to be a clash of ages even with Chelleos and dangeR deciding to sub out due to clashes with ESL Pro League.

Nettik was still in the roster with ADDICT which breathed some life into the Talon rumours. However, I’d put that down to Team New Zealand not having 3 emergency subs, especially at short notice (according to sources, dangeR was subbed out at the last minute before the match).

Denvon from LE-LUX (he subbed in at one stage) and cookie from MANTRA were called up to fill in the gaps.

From this point onwards, everyone expected the BO3 to be a stomp. The picks were Mirage (NZ), Anubis (AU) and Dust 2.

With a crushing 11-1 CT side from Australia, it was heading that way. Pain and Tucks led the charge, with Tucks having an ADR of 107 and Pain having an ADR of 94 as the primary AWPer. Team New Zealand’s Nettik and Denvon led a counter-attack until falling short at 13-7 on Mirage.

Team Australia wished to push the advantage on Anubis and sweep the series 2-0. The casters, Anders and Ne0kai, were expecting it to head the same way. Team Australia scored 5 rounds on their CT side which is a par score for Anubis. We were expecting a slaughter on their T side.

Team New Zealand’s CT side on Anubis just clicked and they took Anubis (13-6) with Team Australia only scoring 1 T side round. It was an absolute shock to the system.

Pain was subbed out due to technical issues on the 3^rd map, for Kiyo. Kiyo hyped up Team Australia after a huge upset on Anubis. Gump was immense on Dust 2 with 2 key clutches. Team Australia recovered on the 3^rd map to win 13-7 and to win the spot at the Asian Esports Championship.

The Talon Rumours

We discussed the Talon rumours in the last recap. It looks like there are more European AWPers who have become available with Woro2k leaving Monte.

There have been rumours about Hades joining a different team with Liquid being one of these teams. Liquid have quashed these rumours as Liquid are looking at a polish AWP called Ultimate.

Looks like they were looking for the “ultimate” Polish AWPer.

Is there going to be a twist on the European AWP for Talon? Or is this another red herring and the Talon rumours are just a mirage?

ESEA-O starts in a week!

The ESEA Open League starts in 7 days and the Oceania scene has been rallying to have 70 fully registered teams. As it stands, Oceania has 35 registered teams in the Oceania’s Open League.

The Oceania scene was pushing hard for the chance of an intermediate division. Mosswi, Live Services Manager of FaceIt and various of Australia’s known players such as Eddie have been leading a charge with a promotion code for ESEA’s Season 50.

They have a new looking for team option for players looking for a team or a team that is looking for one more.

We encourage any players who are looking for a team or want to get involved with the ESEA Open League player to sign up today. You can use the OCE3 or OCE12 promotion codes to get a 50% discount on your ESEA League Pass.

ECL Season 49 kicks off in a fortnight

I asked a few players about which teams would surprise the scene in the next season of ESL Challenger League.  

Eddie "Viridian" Azzie (Art of War) wasted no time in stating that his team would be the biggest team to surprise given their firepower with b4nana, bebest, and neo. He did mention Vantage with their new line up would be a team to watch out for.

"Our team will be the biggest team to surprise given our firepower" - Viridian

Foggers (Arcade) had similar confidence in his own team at Arcade, but he mentioned that DXA with their new roster could surprise. He is expecting DXA to be a top 6 team this season.

Mingovi (KZG) shared a similar opinion to Eddie with The Art of War being the surprise team. He also expected his team to surprise as their 5th is no longer a revolving door.

Our thoughts?

Art of War will make the playoffs in their first season with the roster they have, there is no reason that they shouldn’t.