Ok so….
- 1st, CoL (my admitted fav team): Recent victory at Jonkoping shows us that "it is what it is" with this team and roster, meaning, their ranking and position as a borderline top 10 team is accurate, but it remains to be seen whether they can push upwards to ~5 and stay there.
- Unlike what this subreddit would have you think, if you have any investment at all in NA CS these past few years, you will obviously feel that CoL (and this specific roster) is still exciting and far from dusted. These 5 +TC rose VERY quickly through the ranks after EliGE joined and their true ceiling is not yet known. They are up and down like every other 5-15 ranked team, occasionally losing to 15-25, occasionally beating a top 5. They generally prove their worth as a contender, but need improvement to win S-tier trophies.
- No clear need for immediate roster changes IMO. Every player is pulling their weight, or has very recently proven their ability to pull their weight in big series.
- floppy, though slumping, absolutely destroyed at Sydney in key series less than a year ago with this same roster, and has still performed decently well in elimination/important matches since. IMO, floppy's slump is not long or serious enough to boot him during the player break. Beyond his insane performances in quite recent memory, he has clear synergy with EliGE and crew. tl;dr more data needed, rooting for the flop, obviously he's gotta up his game a bit, but deserves that chance.
- With Jason Lake back in charge, the team likely cannot, and will not, make frivolous roster changes and my guess is that they are committed to their NA core. I am happy with this, and not foaming at the mouth for immediate results as many reddit naysayers seem to be.
- Now Liquid: I feel similarly about their recent performances, and think they rank behind CoL in terms of immediate potential, but not far behind. They have a real shot to be good, depending on how this rebuild plays out.
- IMO, amidst this rebuild, they are in a worse position than CoL, and are unlikely to lift an S-tier trophy anytime soon.
- Many unknowns. Will Twistzz IGL? Recently confirmed Skullz and Cadian are both gone. Who will fill their shoes? What about money?
- -yeki, or give him another shot with new roster and new IGL, perhaps new role?
- With NAF and Twistzz both solid, the team has serious potential. Like CoL, I am not counting Liquid out.
- Finally M80: I admit I don't know as much about them, but like many, have been entertained and surprised by recent performances.
- -malbs is a bummer, but predictable. I can't help but be a little sad, because I was hype that they could rise and eventually go toe-to-toe with CoL and Liquid, which could only be good for NA CS.
- Everyone said "they don't want to be an NA feeder team," but now….they're an EU feeder team?
- M80 stans: Any chance that they can get to the point where players like malbs will want to stay and build, instead of bounce to a top 10 first chance they get?
Thoughts? >>
8 Comments
Look I like floppy as much as the next guy, but playing bad for roughly a full year actually IS long enough to boot him. I hope he lands somewhere good and fits in well there, but I feel like the roster has hit their ceiling without making any other changes.
Also in regards to malbs, my understanding is he’s already on the bench so I would be immensely surprised if a change does not occur. According to HLTV confirmed they’re basically just negotiating buyout then the transfer is a reality.
Liquid is the team 3d of the 1.6 era. Lots of money and resources but always second fiddle to coL.
It does not remain to be seen whether Col can be top 5, we have the answer which is no. Frankly I think they are going to firmly fall out of the top 10 after more roster complete their changes.
It is pretty much unheard of for a top 15 roster to notably improve after 6 months.
I’m going to burn my TL Jersey if the sign nitr0 again; and that’s what the signs are all pointing to. He’s nice guy, a selfless leader, and an NA hall o’famer, but he’s already left twice, and he didn’t look great in that second stint. It was a huge mistake blowing up this roster, but an even bigger one thinking that NA players would buy into a “team” system as that’s simply not the CS we play. IMO this is a bigger mistake than the EU roster, but I get that Cadian wasn’t happy, Twistzz was visiblu underwhelmed by his IGLing, and Skullz/Yeki didn’t put up the numbers (especially Yeki). I just don’t see how signing a guy who left becuase of the travel schedule is going to be the play when the partner leagues are dying and the calendar is only going to get my hectic.
I think M80 simply need to keep qualifying for things and getting reps against T1 competition. Even without Malbs I can see them going somewhere
I honestly find it hard to be content with Col’s performance this year when EliGE has been so strong in CS2. If this was the previous roster with Fang then being a fringe top 10 team would be fantastic for Col, but right now EliGE is being wasted carrying floppy and Grim most events. I hope I’m wrong and floppy and Grim both improve, but I don’t think their results will get much better after the player break.
“it is what it is” haha
so true lol I’m kinda sad cuz I feel like they were on an upswing
I guess t2 exists in part to feed t1 so it’s no surprise
I think you need to realize how biased your opinion on floppy is, considering he’s one of your favorite players. The guy can’t even get a 1.0 rating last 3 months. Having a good event at Sydney 8 months ago isn’t enough to outweigh the bad. Especially considering that was the first CS2 event, everyone was clueless and the game has changed a lot since then. Col need more firepower, especially after just signing a non-elite awper. I just want to watch Elige get to enjoy some consistent success. I know he’s working so hard as igl. This lineup has been tried and tested, better than expected, but there’s no reason to think they can have sustained success, imo