UNOFFICIAL NONFACTUAL CS:GO TOP11

We’re nearing the 2^nd half of the year in which all the hard grinds and qualifications culminate in a series of LAN finals.

The early part of the year saw lots of shuffles, especially after Mettlestate. I’m going to do a non-factual and completely unsubstantiated ranking where I look at the teams and the order in which I think they will end up on LAN in the latter part of 2017.

1. Bravado Gaming (bvd)

One of the few teams who remained with their core, Bravado looks to solidify their spot at the top, which they rightfully claimed with their convincing thrashing of local opponents at the Mettlestate LAN finals.

Fadey’s gameplay seemed to lack at the end of 2016 and the start of 2017 – but more free time to practice has given Rhys the ability to regain the terrifying form which made him famous. JT doesn’t put up the numbers he did for Carbon anymore, which could be directly contributed to having a much stronger group of teammates. Though he did walk away from Mettlestate with blood on his hands as the top rated player for Bravado according to HLTV.org

Bravado improved rapidly from the show match they lost to Energy up until Mettlestate and upon studying the finer detail of their play – there has been a complete overhaul in their executions and especially the timing thereof.

The big question mark hanging over Bravado’s head is their talk about international tournaments at the start of the year and at this stage its confusing to some of us why they are still here. They are a good step ahead of the pack in SA, and coming to comps demolishing everyone is good for confidence and some pocket money, but Bravado won’t realise their true potential unless they rent a flat somewhere in NA/EU and start grinding it out.

 

2. Energy Esports (eN)

They finished 2^nd at Mettlestate but the result seemed more like a “tied for 3^rd”. This wasn’t due to Damage Control posing a threat to them, but more a case of showing the same general lack of answers to Bravado that Damage Control struggled with during their run.

I called it before Mettlestate and in my post-tournament article, but it was no outlandish claim as it was inevitable that Nefan would be removed from the line-up.

I’ve always rated Nefan as one of the top 5 players in South Africa and he will always carry that potential, which he could realise Goliath Gaming. The unexpected break he took from CS:GO did a lot of damage to his form.

My mind about Energy changed a lot when they announced the addition of ex-Bravado star, BlackpoisoN. The player brings a much different contribution to that of Nefan and could well mean a resurgence for the somewhat directionless Energy line-up.

Nefan was added to the Energy line-up based on prior performances and high skill ceiling with the hopes that he would catch up quickly. Robby’s skill and experience, on the other hand, is far above that of any Energy players currently and instead of having to play catch up like Stefan did, Robby will rather be at the top, pulling some players up to his level of skill and competitiveness.

Energy was in dire need of leadership and, dare I say it, energy. I cannot think of a better solution to Energy’s woes than adding BlackpoisoN. I can’t make calls early but it was reported on HLTV that Robby joined Energy on the condition that the players understand and share the same ambitions he does – which tells me that Energy’s practice regime was kicked into overdrive.

Kanibalistic and Domsterr are two players whom I earmarked as ones who could become top 3 players and with this new and revitalised setup, its more than likely to happen sooner than I thought.

Energy is now in the anti-gravity chamber and it remains to be seen what they can do at the next LAN. Can the 1^st place spot be a 2-horse race again? I’m inclined to think so.

 

To save space, here is a photo of Flipsid3, Goliath Gaming and Bravado, dressed in Energy clothes.

 

3. Damage Control (DC)

Dam1age Control remains to be the most frustrating team to lose to. Individual parts of this machine seem lacklustre if compared to the superstars in other teams, but when these 5 players are on the same server, they become an absolute nightmare to deal with.

Damage Control don’t have the time nor the ambitions of the top two, but still manages to hold their fort solely due to solid team mechanics and chemistry. Their motivation is purely for passion and pride, which gives them the added advantage of not feeling the pressure which some of the other teams do. This is augmented by the fact that they’d rather disband than change their roster, meaning no individual player has anyone looking over his shoulder.

I’ve discussed this in a very subtle manner in previous articles as well as in general discussions at tournaments, but it should be a very big concern for any serious team in South Africa to still be losing to Damage Control. It’s 2017 and all serious teams now have every little piece of info needed to improve at their fingertips and losing to a team who spends this little amount of time

It’s 2017 and all serious teams now have every little piece of info needed to improve at their fingertips and losing to a team who spends this little amount of time practicing both as a team and individually is a bit awkward.Team splits

Team splits does affect this and in many cases a new team has to proverbially “restart” their past efforts due to mass overhauls. This point should only prove to be a hurdle and not a brick wall.

Teams are clearly under-utilising their practice time and not improving at the pace which is required to become a top 3 team. Having the same 3 teams on the podium is not healthy for an infant scene and the onus remains on the rest of the pack to find ways to topple the top 3.

Damage Control disposed of everyone outside the top 2 in convincing fashion on LAN and will remain to do so unless the rest step up.

 

From left to right: Apocalypse, Explicit, Incin, Hellhound and Style. The guys have really changed over the years.

 

4. Goliath Gaming (GG)

Goliath can be considered as the new Flipsid3, as they retain 3 of their members in HackeM, Golz and MassacRe. They forced ex-Bravado stalwart deviaNt out of semi-retirement and caught Nefan before he could land.The team has a good combination of experience and firepower. MassacRe, whom would be considered inexperienced by many, has 3 good LAN events under his belt and proverbially graduated from his “young talent” status.

The team has a good combination of experience and firepower. MassacRe, whom would be considered inexperienced by many, has 3 good LAN events under his belt and proverbially graduated from his “young talent” status.

Due to them moving away from Flipsid3, didn’t retain any of the seeds, berths and sign-ups that Flipsid3 had which is different to international standards where a core of 3 players retains all the berths. It’s therefore hard to make a solid prediction – but I think it’s fair to say that the team on paper should be the team on the field.

The case with this team is different than other mix-and-match situations, as the core 3 has played together before and simply replaced zer0ch4nce and ZipZipZA effectively with players who are better riflers and have a much higher skill ceiling.

Goliath Gaming will have some time before their next LAN event and their quality of preparation is paramount to them achieving something. If they live up to their names, they should be a solid 3^rd above Damage Control.

They are now the first officially salaried CS:GO team in South Africa and should their contracts be set up in the way normal employment contracts are – they are under pressure to obtain results in the same way that many international teams are.

 

Golz is the first player who named a whole MGO after himself (Golz Gaming) and by the looks of this photo, is also 16 years old.

 

5. Big5 Gaming (B5) (formerly MixKompany)

Mix Kompany gives me Mix Feelings. The team boasts a list of talented players in LigtherTZ, Konvict and Kustom. They are rounded off by ex-WRG awper in PuFFy and Spartan, who joins the half of the CS:GO community (and team) in being an ex-APG player.

The team boasts some impressive online results, which is no surprise as all 3 core players have been at the very top of the scene. It’s also no secret that Kustom is still a CS:GO superstar.

Creating a team like this (not unlike Goliath Gaming) is nothing short of a chemical concoction and it’s always possible for an unlikely group of players to find that they fit well as a unit.

This team is hard to place for me and I’d have to see them on LAN before I can make a statement.

I will leave this with a caveat as I do with any newly formed team: It remains to be seen if the product is the sum of all its parts. If that is the case, they will have the 5^th seat. I don’t see them beating Goliath Gaming to the spot, simply due to experience and past LAN performances but they won’t place outside the top 5, should the brackets permit it.

 

I contacted my sources and they got me this exclusive team picture of Big5. I can’t really figure out who is who though.

 

6. Exdee

It’s hard to go in depth with Exdee since they don’t have any. The team consists of three classic CS 1.6 players and then they have two younger players in BlazE and MakmuR to ensure that they don’t get to be classified as old ballies such as DC.

Exdee doesn’t practice CS:GO, they just LAN it – which means there’s not much to dig into, but I have a few interesting facts about them that I’d like to share with you:

Facts about Exdee:

– Exdee will beat every team below this line:
________________________________________________________________________________________

– Exdee will not beat anyone above this line:

 

This picture is self-explanatory.

 

7. Xperts@Total.Chaos (xTc)

I’ve been waiting for xTc to show me what they can do since they took de_train on LAN vs Bravado at the Evetech Champions League LAN final. It seemed like the start of something bigger back then, but up until now xTc is still to produce a result worth mentioning.

They have a good combination of talented players with SandpitTurtle and Panda at the helm, while the rest of the team slots in around them.

They’ve had a lacklustre LAN run in 2016 and the start of 2017 and there is no indication that we could expect any surprises in the latter half of the year.

They’ve been showing good online performances and look more solid than usual. The devil is in the detail and while the scorelines might not attest to this, the number of rounds which xTc usually had to labour for a win come much easier now – this shows some growth in my mind.

I believe that xTc is on a life-line of sorts and any result short of 3^rd/4^th will be a failure for the team in the coming months. Guys like Johan, Aidan and Carlo are extremely competitive guys and I can’t imagine them being satisfied with constant shortfalls.

They’ve leveraged their chances by removing Spazz, who was not only an unlikely fit for the team but also bottomed out completely on LAN. We’re not an internationally strong scene yet and you can’t afford to bet another LAN with a player who could well bottom out again.

The roster has 5 players in Gauteng now which makes boot-camping easier, but it remains to be seen whether they have the energy to go back to the drawing board for the umpteenth time.

Ingame screenshot of  xTc rushing B on Inferno.

 

8. Flipsid3 Tactics

It’s that time of the year where the James Factory of CS:GO gets new stock. James aka zer0ch4nce was once more given a group of wild CS:GO players whom he needs to herd and nurture into a top CS:GO team

Impressive young players such as Schizzy, adM and EnigmaX all made names for themselves coming up through the bottom half of the top tier teams and are joined by MisteM who was released from CS prison after his… MisteMeanor… eh eh eheh hhehe.

I am a firm believer of second chances when dealing with a young child, so I won’t go into this any further.

The team shows tonnes of potential and is in a different boat than the ones above them, as I believe they won’t have any delusions about their short-term goals. If James imprints successfully on the young group – we should see a strong competitive team for the 2018 season.

For now, it’s time for them to get grinding and build a team from the ground up. That said, I still see them as a solid top 8 team and should the brackets permit it, can end anywhere from 6^th to 8^th on a good day.

zer0ch4nce taking Schizzy through the playbook with the rest of the team looking on.

 

 

9. Veneration Gaming

Veneration is another mix-and-match affair, sporting players you would never guess to be in the same team. Zeo and Kustom broke up which is the local CS:GO version of the Brangelina split, which ended up in Kustom getting the kids and Zeo getting a new team. Slowye appeared on the scene with a bang, Crankz is an old COD player, Tiaantjie left xTc and BaNaNaZz, well BaNaNaZz joins and leaves teams more than Taylor Swift does boyfriends.

On paper the team has a good mixture of experience, talent and individually skilled players – as a whole it’s difficult to plot out the roles in such a team and I would pay good money to be a fly on the wall in their Teamspeak channel during matches.

It’s always going to be difficult to live up to Brad’s standards. It’s simply a matter of time before 6 out of the 5 players are kicked because they are, and I quote “So shit, I don’t even know why their parents were born”.

The team is however skilled enough to rip through any team up until 6^th place and if they manage to stick together by some alignment of planets and wishes from the Gods, should be a good LAN contender this year.

 

Bradley “BaNaNaZz” Altona at Rage 2016.

 

10. Aperture Gaming

Formerly called Pulse, the team did some shuffling of sorts – removing Lichl0rd and Hugo, replacing them with Dean “tkz/kzr/kpd/dvd/bvd/rpg/fps” Fleming and former potch-dongler, Dyvo.

The team literally moved up several paces when they acquired Dyvo, who could hopefully be the injection that the team needed.

Kaspar0v had an impressive run with his AWP at Mettlestate and KrucifieR was putting up good numbers – but other than that the team functioned entirely like a pickup. Their timing of their executions and retakes were completely off the mark and it didn’t seem like they had defaults (or they just have 32 defaults per map and I am being an asshole).

The team could be a contender and start scaring people if they practice their team dynamic and spend less time raking in hours on public servers. This is not the case at the moment for Aperture and it would therefore be irresponsible to place them any higher than 10^th.

 

As you know, I believe in saving bandwidth and time – Here is a picture of Energy, Goliath and Big5 together dressed as APG.

 

11. Ventus Gaming

Ventus retains an oldschool core of UnreaL, Chronic, dffiant and Maniaq – all whom have played together in different iterations such as Clutch Kingz and Altitude.

They are joined by ZipZipZA who wasn’t picked up by any top teams after the Flipsid3 split. This team lands just outside my Top 10 but I simply cannot see them beating any team above them with the current line-up.

During his time in Flipsid3, ZipZipZA struggled to find form and I believe time with a stalwart such as Unreal would be healthy for every youngster’s confidence and temperament.

Ventus as an organisation scored a better hit, fielding experienced players who are much more likely to stick together and avoid drama. The players got a good home and it would be cool to see this mix of players compete once more.

The best part of Ventus is that no matter where in the LAN arena you are, you will hear Dillon “UnreaL” Jost’s laugh.

 

Dillon “UnreaL” Jost is a stalwart of the scene and always a fun time!

 

—

More than anything, I am excited for the end of the year as there’s just no solid ranking and any team could come out blazing with their new, fresh line-up.

Not unlike Axtremes’ grandpa hat, the last transfer window was ugly and good results from teams such as Big5 and Goliath Gaming could give us another solid roster going into 2018 – which is something I look forward to have as an analyst.

I enjoy watching CS:GO stories and I enjoy the narrative that goes with it and while I understand why transfers and shuffles happen, it’s really hard to go into every tournament with absolutely no idea where teams will place.

Hopefully the last part of 2017 will ease that pain.

If any person feels upset and wants to give me the right hook. I’ll be around at the VS Gaming event next week for your convenience.

A Tale of Two Teams

The rare people who do become truly exceptional at something do so not because they believe they’re exceptional. On the contrary, they become amazing because they’re obsessed with improvement. And that obsession with improvement stems from an unerring belief that they are, in fact, not that great at all.

It’s anti-entitlement. People who become great at something become great because they understand that they’re not already great—they are mediocre, they are average—and that they could be so much better. All of this “every person can be extraordinary and achieve greatness” stuff is basically just jerking off your ego.

It’s a message that tastes good going down, but in reality is nothing more than empty calories that make you emotionally fat and bloated, the proverbial Big Mac for your heart and your brain

– Mark Manson, ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck’

The bravado story has been a hot topic not only on the local front but all over the international scene ever since Dreamhack. Top players, casting talent, analysts & HLTV staff all poured in support and congratulations in the form of both words and Avocadoes.

I experienced a mixed cocktail of emotions when I heard the news that Bravado is going over back in the beginning of 2018. I was happy for them to have received the opportunity to go abroad but it was strange as they were at that point in time 2^nd to Energy in two big tournaments. They were not the best local team. This plan however, was a long time coming and was a business venture orchestrated by the owner of Bravado, Andreas Hadjipaschali.

Bravado went from absolute nobody’s to the 3^rd tier in a space of 10 months and could be regarded as one of the top North American based teams currently. They gave the South African CS:GO scene a level of exposure we have not yet received.

The amount of ground that Bravado has cleared in this short space is genuinely put into perspective when you compare it to the normal working arena, where even the most stellar performance in such a timeframe could yield nothing more than an increase, or promotion in the best of cases.

The most sobering part of Bravado’s successful run is not necessarily the result itself – but the notion that they are consistently beating teams and players whom we saw playing at major tournament grand finals & majors.

To realise such a feat in such a small time, one can only conceive that the Bravado squad had to spend every waking second toward that goal, and they had to become exceptionally effective with their use of time to improve and eliminate mistakes.

They landed in the US as nobodies with a clean slate, they had nothing to lose, but also nothing going for them.

There were hard times and tough results, but they persevered – and what resulted wasn’t because of luck, it wasn’t because they have “talented players” and it wasn’t because they are “destined for greatness”. It’s because they worked themselves to the fucking bone. That’s it.

What these players are left with is not only a deep and meaningful sense of achievement – but they have advertised to themselves the fruit of hard labour and will for the rest of their gaming and otherwise working careers, know what it takes to reach the top – or at least somewhere near it.

The local CS:GO scene was nothing more than a two horse race when they left for the US. Energy were crowned the “Champions of Africa” after a convincing win over a dejected Bravado squad.

Bravado were down and out – they weren’t only nobodies in the international scene, they were not even the best team in South Africa. The players were humbled, pulled down to earth and forced to face the reality that they were reset and have to start anew.

Energy on the other hand, were on top of the world – they have solidified the notion that there was a turn of the tide in local CS:GO with victories over Bravado at both the ESWC qualifiers and ESL Africa.

What followed afterwards that is nothing new and nothing inexplicable:

The rare people who do become truly exceptional at something do so not because they believe they’re exceptional. On the contrary, they become amazing because they’re obsessed with improvement. And that obsession with improvement stems from an unerring belief that they are, in fact, not that great at all

Bravado were forced to face their errors and mistakes, and subsequently started improving on them – slowly but surely. They had no grand plans to win international tournaments, they weren’t aiming to become the best players in the world either. They set out to improve – they focussed on the process of improving without stressing the end goal too much.

What happened afterwards is no secret – Bravado had plenty of opportunities and despite early disappointments, started breaking through. They undoubtedly have moving goalposts and still have a lot they want to achieve – but for all intents and purposes, if they were to hang up their mice today, they have already accomplished much more than what they set out to do initially. They wanted to win MDL – instead they reached the grand finals of Dreamhack and qualified for Katowice 2019.

In contrast, Energy stayed at home and proverbially basked in the glory. They went on to absolutely destroy every single local team in a string of excellent results and walkovers.

Along the way however, Energy fell victim to a classic combination we see in all forms of sport: They took their victories too serious. They got lost in the euphoria.

To be fair, the storyline was just too sweet to ignore.

After months of consistently losing to Bravado in every form of competition – they beat them on the greatest local theatre. On stage, at LAN, in front of the whole CS:GO community to see. It wasn’t even close. Bravado looked shaken, they had no answers.

Robby “blackpoisoN” Da Loca felt vindicated by beating his rivals and ex-tream after publicly highlighting issues around respect and compatibility in his last stint with Bravado.

It was a story from a book.

Their local dominance continued up until the start of the final quarter of 2018, where they started showing signs of wear-and-tear. The reality was that the other local teams saw the gap and started closing it fast. Energy’s victories became more laborious and stringing rounds together was arduous at best. Their flashy plays were punished, their mistakes augmented and their confidence in their aggressive style dwindled. Suddenly the Champions of Africa seemed vulnerable. This didn’t bode well for their aspirations of performing on the international stage.

There is no doubt in my mind that they worked hard, but unfortunately time spent does not equate to success and failure to use that time efficiently negates all the effort in the first place.

Players from the undisputed number one team in the world, Astralis, indicated in several interviews this year that it has been much harder staying in the top spot than getting there in the first place.

Astralis has won back-to-back tournaments in December, but each victory starts to look less comfortable, their structure seems wobblier and they’ve had to grind out more maps than they did earlier in the year. The task of staying number one is starting to take its toll and you can see it.

It’s clear that the same predicament knocked on Energy’s door, and they started letting it slip. This however, is not an excuse for recent lack of results. It is rather an obstacle that came their way which they needed to deal with. Their efforts, however valiant, were not enough.

After ESL, Sam Wright conducted an interview for Red Bull with the captain of the Energy team, Robby “blackpoisoN” Da Loca:

Coming into the ESL African Championship I didn’t expect an easy final. With me joining the roster later in the year and our limited time together we presumed it would be a battle. We wanted the win but we knew it would take hard work. Yet the final seemed far easier than we anticipated. Winning LANs seems to be getting easier. I just think my entire team is getting better every day.

This current lineup is the best team I’ve played with in South Africa. They’re versatile players who desperately want to be better. From the moment I’ve joined I’ve been made to feel welcome and have been respected as their leader. They’re constantly thanking me for input I make and allowing me to voice my opinion on our game. It is incredible.

It was clear that confidence was out of proportion and the response to victory was met with chest-pounding instead of a more humbled approach. We all celebrate our victories differently but letting it get into your head is like a drug – the high is phenomenal but the subsequent crash is nearly fatal.

I’ve written about this issue around their team in the past and have received plenty backlash from the Energy camp. In this day and age it’s much easier for individuals who are criticized to lash out at their critics and follow the predictable narrative of “haters will hate” and “Just jealous because he’s not achieved anything” than to address the points that were raised, because if you address the points that were made, you are risking the possibility of admitting that you’re at fault – which is difficult for anyone to do, including myself.

It was Aristotle that said: “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

If you’re in a team environment and competing with the goal of advancing forward, you need to be able to face the bitter truths and you need to respect criticism, even from sources you don’t necessarily like or agree with. If you think you know everything, you’ll be blind to your faults – something which all of us have an abundance of.

The best players in the world are persons who have the distinct ability too critically fault themselves and even at times over-criticize themselves and take responsibility for errors that’s not even theirs – it’s called extreme accountability. This trait is found in the most successful individuals in the world of sport and business.

The reality is that we’re a small scene and nobody wants to come across as a dick, so everyone tweets happy thoughts and support but are all guilty of indulging in the criticism, jokes and memes running in the background. I don’t have to elaborate on this, everyone knows exactly what I’m referring to.

My situation is that I simply despise this double standard and I understand that others might do this to protect themselves from the inevitable backlash. I’d rather be straightforward and get told that I’m trying to be edgy or that I’m looking for attention, than to wear a mask and participate in the mental masturbation happening on social media. I have the same disdain for these fake Facebook and other social media accounts who uses anonymity to spew bile at players and teams – it’s the lowest form of character. If you have something to say, show your face.

This brings us to the present, where the local CS:GO teams competed for the annual ticket to WESG in China. The tournament bracket indicated that we were heading towards an El Clásico in the Grand Final – but this wasn’t an easy road for either Bravado or Energy, as the new line-ups of Goliath Gaming and Energy Academy really impressed. Goliath Gaming came within 4 rounds of taking Energy out of the competition, was it not for MisteM and Domsterr picking up the slack. Bravado themselves, while not being pushed to a 3^rd map, didn’t have too much comfort in their victory against Energy Academy.

Maybe subconsciously, all of us were keen to see Bravado come back to compete here, just to gauge how they compare to the local scene after their year in the US. Their performance in the Grand Final answered that question and they dismantled Energy without breaking a sweat – it was a methodical and disciplined display from Bravado. Ironically, Bravado had an easier time disposing of Energy’s main CS:GO squad than they had facing the Academy team.

Like any other local CS:GO aficionado, I always back our local boys and are just as excited when they win and just as distraught when they lose. The idea of having two South African teams performing on the international scene is exciting as fuck.

That said, I don’t allow myself to slip into the delusion that Energy was either ready or that they had a fair chance to make it out of their group – they weren’t going to narrowly beat Goliath, then get doused by Bravado and in the space of a week continue to beat Fnatic. Let’s be realistic here.

Energy went up in their first game against Fnatic – they started off looking structured and early rounds indicated a light at the end of the tunnel – but that quickly changed and Energy crumbled – they looked frantic, scared, disorganised and to be honest – completely lost.

I didn’t read into it as much, since Fnatic is a top international team and there are lots of great teams who have off days and lose with less than five rounds – especially in best-of-one scenarios.

Energy were in the bottom half of their group and had to face the loser of the other match, which turned out to be the Chinese team called 5Power – a relatively unknown team, but one who has beaten some of the middle-tiered teams in Asia and Eastern Europe. 5Power came into the match after struggling to muster more than a first full of rounds against Sharks and it seemed like Energy had a wounded animal in their cage – there was a chance after all.

Energy lost their two matches in a best-of-three with score lines of 3-16 and 3-16 respectively. This wasn’t a mere loss, it was an absolute humiliation. There’s nothing to analyse in it, there weren’t critical turning points nor were there big shifts – it was just a straightforward stomping.

Social media went off with tweets along the lines of “unlucky guys”, “bad luck”, “you’ll bounce back” and “all those delays threw you off” coming from supporters, friends and others. I’m not a sociopath, so I am not impervious to the emotion of sympathy or empathy, but I am allergic to bullshit.

This culture of pampering has gone too far. These players are adults and are completely responsible for their own result and they should be held accountable for it and jerking off their ego will do nothing good but distract them from the reality. They mustered 3 rounds per map against a team that fell out of the group-stage with them. That’s not bad luck, that’s bad performance. End of story.

If they came within a few rounds and some clutches went sideways – sure, I’d be the first one to say that luck swung the other way – but they weren’t even close to qualify for that level of sympathy.

It sucks to lose, it really does, especially when you worked hard to win – but if it’s not good enough, it just isn’t. Tough shit. It’s a lesson that life will hurl at all of us constantly and the sooner you start taking it on the chin the softer the consequent blows will feel. The shots will never stop coming.

The reality is that Bravado is ticking their boxes and doing great, so they get praise. Energy is doing poorly, so they get criticised. That’s how it works in all other forms of competition. There losers don’t get headlines, the winners do.

This result brought energy back down to earth and showed them in a merciless fashion that they are, just as Bravado was a year ago – absolutely nowhere.

It is fitting then, that this coming weekend will see this now defunct rivalry revisited. Bravado and Energy were both invited to Dreamhack India and to the amusement of many, are to face off in the very first round of the tournament. Bravado are the favourites and based on historical empirical evidence, they are most likely to win the match with a likelihood that Energy won’t manage double digits in either maps.

Should Energy win this matchup – it will qualify as a massive upset and would redeem in part, the dismal form Energy has been struggling with recently.

Failure to show progress in the weekend’s matches would certainly place doubt over the current line-up if they are serious about competing on the international stage.

Dominic “Domsterr” Sampaio has been the pillar of the team for a while and holding onto him will be crucial should they rebuild. There are big question marks over the heads of Trevor “kaNibalistic” Morley and Rieghardt “Flexeeee” Romatzki as to their BMT on the international stage.

Bravado and Energy have swapped places by the end of 2018 and they are at the same crossroads they were a year ago. I’m not comparing the teams head-to-head – Bravado and Energy are in completely different places in their story, but they remain our best two teams.

Energy is down and out and is faced with difficult questions.

If they accept the reality of their predicament and take unerring belief that they are, in fact, not that great at all – we might see them become a force to reckon with on the international stage.

Bravado celebrates a successful year and are sure to continue this upward trend, should they stick to the grind that got them there in the first place.

Talent

The dust has settled on a “twitter debacle” which I honestly didn’t see escalate in the way it did. I gave my opinion as a an analyst, player and spectator regarding two prominent talent figures in the community and was met with the standard backlash of other talent (even some from Dota 2 strangely enough) with the default narrative of “we need to be positive and support each other” and “It’s not constructive criticism so you’re an asshole, screw you”.

Let me then set my final question for everyone:

At which stage are we going to become a professional scene?

Everyone is yearning for an esports industry in South Africa that facilitates paid talent & players, where you can endeavour to make a living off esports without risking everything you have.

Yet, everyone has the casual forum mentality. Everyone gets commended for all their efforts however poor, casters remind everyone that they’re doing this in their own time for the good of the community so all criticism and all complaints are moot. The whole group of talent is supporting each other with positivity and high fives instead of doing one another the favour of critically evaluating each other.

The real world is results driven – if you put in 20 hours a day for weeks at a time but you don’t yield any results – it means nothing. My boss doesn’t give me positive vibes and unconditional moral support, he doesn’t pat me on the back for “trying my best”.

My boss and my company expect results, if I cannot produce those results, I am met with a reprimand which is far worse than the tweet I was lambasted for yesterday because I’m being paid to do it. This is what the real world is and that’s how it works in the international esports scene as well – when international talent screws up or falls short of the mark, they are canned.

If myself and my colleagues all produce good results, we improve the bottom line which grows the company, grows our client base and invites investment opportunities. The esports scene is no different, why do we treat it differently.

Your top international CS:GO casters and analysts have all gone through rigorous flaming and suicide-inducing criticism including self-initiated Reddit AMA’s where they are torn to shreds. Instead of having a good cry about it, they take that information and work on improving those aspects.

They take their ego or feelings out of the equation, in the same way that any professional person in both sport and business needs to do. What did that do for them? It took them all the way to the top.

I just couldn’t help but laugh at a number of people telling me that I’m an asshole after my twitter post as if it has any bearing on the subject matter at hand. Rather than telling me something I already know, show me that the point I made is wrong and why that’s the case.

If the greater community feels that the actual argument is fictitious and that we need to keep up supporting mediocrity with happy hugs and positive vibes – by all means, continue.

Just don’t expect the local esports scene to become a professional one with feasible jobs for production, talent and players.

Nobody gets rewarded for “effort” in the real world. It’s time we start living in it.

ESL 2017 roundup – Energy S6 vs Bravado 5s

I haven’t really spent much time writing these past few months, which is partially due to the quiet LAN scene and the fact that I find immense pleasure in playing again. I don’t consider any online leagues worthy of any written content nor do I really take any online matches as an indicator of what might happen on LAN.

I’ve also seen some top players criticize analysts locally for using online games as a catalyst for what might transpire on LAN. I agree and disagree with the sentiment and think it’s more of a situational issue than anything else.

Yes, LAN is different and teams react differently. Some players are driven by the pressure and adrenalin that comes with offline play while the same setting disrupt others.

It’s important to note however, that if you’re put on a desk on a livestream after months without LAN tournaments and asked the question “So who do you think will win on LAN”, you’ll have a hard time pleasing both players and spectators. Simply saying “I don’t know” or “Let’s wait and see” doesn’t add any entertainment value and as an analyst, I could guess that you’re forced to spew out some generic bullshit that will inevitably anger someone.

That’s the main reason why I don’t “work” for anyone as an analyst and have mostly turned down any official work. I can’t really function in an environment where I’m expected to follow a premeditated narrative and avoid stepping on toes, even if this means that a lot of people think I’m trying to be “edgy”.

The ESL tournament means nothing other to me than an Energy and Bravado face-off and after watching a sufficient amount of other African teams playing, I don’t see our local teams suffering a loss unless something goes horribly wrong.

The storyline

Bravado and Energy have been going at each other for the past few months and there has been no shortage in scrims between the two, which in most cases went both ways but with Bravado taking the last big title when they won Mettlestate.

Robby “BlackpoisoN” Da Loca was a wildcard pickup for Bravado back in the day which paid off as the player instantly performed and played a large part in Bravado’s DGC victory short after being added to the squad. His performances kept improving to the point where the player decided to take a swipe at the international scene.

He proved to do well and played with some of the top players in EU as well as getting an invite to the Face-it Pro League (FPL) which is a platform reserved for pugs between only the very best players.

Citing Visa issues as well as personal responsibility at home brought him back and with him a wealth of experience. There is a clear scent of animosity between blackpoisoN and Bravado for reasons unknown to me, which probably fuelled his new vigour in toppling Bravado.

The “If you can’t join them, beat them” approach often proves much more motivating than it’s more popular counterpart. This was evident when he assembled an ex-“ApG/Carbon” line-up of talented players and formed a formidable antagonist in the book of local CS:GO.

Rieghardt “Flexeee” Romatzki has his own Vendetta with ex-carbon teammates Johnny “JT” Theodosiou and Rhys “Fadey” Armstrong after their controversial transfer to Bravado.

The transfer was predicted by many and made complete sense from a continuity perspective, which caused controversy in a scene that claims to be “professional” whilst refusing to divorce emotions from pragmatic decision-making.

Together with other smaller hostile haikus, these events formed a formidable rivalry between two groups of players whom all possess not only immense talent but a deep-seated hunger.

It’s true that every player obviously wants their team to win a tournament, but there’s only a few that is strong and focussed enough to win. They engage in thoughtful and deliberate practice on a consistent basis and never lose a grain of motivation – they spend their time valuably and grind out mistakes instead of enforcing bad habits.

These two teams are prime examples and for this reason made it impossible for me to make a prediction. Citing past results prove worthless as such a close margin is only decided by the team that has the upper hand for that specific match on that specific day.

Instead of exposing you to an opinion that lacks sufficient factual content, I will present you with exclusive features of each team and you can decide which jersey to wear on the day.

In the true fashion of an iPhone vs Samsung review, here are your two options.

Feature	Energy	Bravado
1. Team playstyle:     Winner: Bravado Better mid-round decisionmaking.	Explosive, disruptive and unpredictable in many cases. Doesn’t bother too much with structured tactical play. verdict: 8/10	Calm, collected and structured. Relies heavily on discipline and mid-round decision-making. verdict: 8.5/10
2. Overall shooting          Winner: Energy Disgusting aim, ability to shoot as hard as Bravado but whilst moving at a faster execution pace.	Very strong with pistols, fluid and aggressive movement and peeking with the right shoulders at the right time. Strikes a nervous fear in the hearts of CT’s. verdict: 9/10	Shut down vibes. Patient and coordinated, good use of pop flashes and team play when pushing and taking over parts of the map.   verdict: 8.5/10

Feature	Energy	Bravado
3. Team vibes       Winner: Bravado Momentum not always there, stronger mindset needed in times of drought.	Vocal, aggressive, excited and emotional. Good for momentum and gets the blood flowing. Dangerous when on a winning streak. verdict: 8.5/10	Calm, collected, unfazed by any negative events, incredibly hard to tilt. Hard to gain momentum against, every round is a new one. verdict: 9/10
4. Role diversity         Winner: Energy Energy players set in their roles, know what to do and is very good at it. Bravado a tad too ambiguous.	Two explosive entry-fraggers, two good aggressive & defensive awpers. Overall strong forcebuy potential. Verdict: 9/10	Two strong leaders, versatile awper/rifler/pistol combo’s and adaptability. Verdict: 8.5/10
5. X-Factor Star Player Impact             Winner: Sonic Hey look, we’re 4v1, this is our rou….	blackpoisoN – Leads while still being strong awper, cunning rifler and has the capability to shut down entire executes by himself. Able to change the course of a match. Verdict: 9/10	Sonic – Usually only gets traded after 3 kills. His team often dies on purpose just to watch him clutch 1vX. Only has a 50% chance of getting blinded by a flashbang. Able to win an entire game by himself. Verdict: 10/10
6. Signature team play:            Winner: Energy “Guys we know they’re coming A, this is our rou…..”	Energy doesn’t see smoke grenades so you might as well not throw it because you’re the only one who’s at a disadvantage. Players have no respect for any team or any player and will keep pushing and peeking until you break your keyboard because no matter how much you figured them out or know when they’re coming, they still out run and out-aim you. Tilt level: 10/10	Improving against Bravado is measured in amount of extra steps made into the bomb site before being decapitated. Kind enough to keep you flashed for 40 seconds so you’ll never see your own death. Dimi buys an auto-sniper later in the half and kills at least 1 player through a wall. Said wall-banged player stops playing CS for a few days. Tilt level: 9/10

Feature	Energy	Bravado
Bonus Lan features:                             Loser: Poor north African teams and international casters who needs to deal with our bullshit.	Takbok doesn’t wear shoes to a LAN. This basically tells the opponent: “I don’t give a shit about this LAN or this stage or this booth, this is my living room, I’m the captain now” Everyone keeps waiting for Flexeee to get banned for cheating after years of hackusations. Truth is he is hacking, but he was smart enough not to implement the hacks in-game but instead BUILT A ROBOT THAT IS A HUMAN HACK ANDROID AIMBOT. He called the robot “Domsterr” and gave him eerily realistic curly hair. It would explain his immaculate posture and weird eye movement. verdict: 0/10	JT hasn’t cracked a smile in 3.5 years. Emotions such as “happiness”, “Joy” and “satisfaction” is for weak people. This upsets opponent teams as his horror-movie-like gaze makes you want to lose in the off-chance that he actually murders you if you manage beat him at CS:GO. This explains why Fadey always looks restless and scared next to JT. This also explains why Ruan makes a good captain as he lives in P.E. and has had to deal with horrors far more terrifying than JT. Luckily the team has a doctor with a tetanus injection at the ready in-case JT bites any civilians. verdict: 0/10

Both teams received a similar amount of points which was not intentional at all.

Supporting a team is hard these days as there are so many teams on the market, but these two teams stood out from the rest. Their team jerseys are more expensive than other teams’ but if you pay for a premium product you’ll get one.

If you’re looking for a team with a structured and locked operating system, that’s stable and not prone to crashing I’ll go with the Bravado 5s.

If you’re looking for a team with fast processing speed and stronger specs that’s more open-sourced, I’ll go with the Energy S6 2017.

Conclusion

In the end it comes down to preference and no matter what you choose, it will be a safe bet and while the final benchmark this weekend at ESL might prove one team to outperform the other, it’s still good to note that our country can produce such good teams to choose from.

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM METTLESTATE!

On Sunday morning, I woke up in the Kruger National Park at 6:30am after an awesome wedding. By this time, I’ve made peace with the fact that I didn’t partake in the amazing Mettlestate LAN finals. I then realised that if I can get my passengers to pack faster, I could just make the finals!

I arrived in Pretoria at 13:20 and shot through to Joburg to attend the Grand Finals of Mettlestate.

Wow, just wow. Where do I start? The venue was perfect. It had ample parking and is situated right next to the highway. The production at the venue was incredible, with all lighting, video and audio being of the highest quality and marks the first tournament in the history of South Africa that went on without delay. The hospitality in terms of food and drink was on point. The level of CS being played was unprecedented and the prize money was abundant.

It was, by all standards, the best esports tournament ever hosted in South Africa. The passion and hard work that Barry, Lewis, Samantha and the many self-less hands behind the scenes bring to the table, is nothing short of remarkable.

I did a prediction before the tournament and got very close in the end, other than Energy taking 2^nd place instead of Damage Control.

The results of the Mettlestate LAN followed the current trend in local CS:GO to a tee. My prediction of Damage Control ending in 2^nd place was the only call that went against the grain.

I want to look at the results, as well as what we learned from the weekend’s matches.

The results were as follows:

1. Bravado Gaming

This is no surprise to anyone and anyone who witnessed the sheer dominance in the grand final will understand. If I can quote Chris “Apocalypse” Lautre from DC after the match: “I don’t see this Bravado line-up ever losing against a local team on LAN again”

Rightfully so, the structure and discipline in the Bravado camp was unrivalled and does not exist in any other local team. Bravado’s defaults into executes are immaculate and you can clearly see the coordination when entering sites, even on anti-eco rounds where they have a clear advantage.

Bravado traded out favourably in almost every team-duel and is currently the only team in SA that does this effectively. Their utility use compounded with their discipline on peeking and choice of engagements made it frustrating for teams who are used to opponents making mistakes in this regard

Any team captain would be smart to watch the demos of this team to get a glimpse into the right way of doing things.

Bravado unsurprisingly won the tournament without dropping a map and will be setting their sights on the international scene, after clearing the RSA level with a new high score.

They walk away with R350,000, ensuring that Rhys “Fadey” Armstrong and Johnny “JT” Theodousiou can continue their expensive game enhancement subscriptions.

The team helping Ruan with his homework before he’s allowed to play computer games.

2. Energy Esports

Energy similarly eased their way through the tournament, but confirmed my opinion about their unsavoury temperament after a 16-5 loss in the winner’s bracket

Trevor “kanibalistic” Morley’s need to condescend opponents felt awkward, once again showing the type of mentality that the team is burdened with.

It’s a team of exceptionally skilled players, whom on an individual level rival that of Bravado, but lack the level of composure and discipline needed to be a contender in grand finals.

Casually disposing of xTc, Flipsid3 and then Damage Control – they made the Grand Finals. Unfortunately for them, it was a rather one-sided affair as Energy didn’t have any answer for Bravado’s teamwork. It required individual brilliance by players to claw back some rounds but due to Bravado’s strong economic advantage, Energy never managed to gain any momentum.

In both round victories and defeats, Bravado displayed a calm demeanour and never felt the need to intimidate their teammates out of the game. In contrast, some Energy players threw hands into the air and were visibly annoyed on the comms, which definitely had an effect on the team’s mental state.

This would make up part of the reason why the current Energy line-up will most likely never defeat the current Bravado line-up. This level requires a player to be skilled both in-game and on a menta level

Nefan confirmed my prediction and had a nightmare of a tournament. He found himself out of position in most situations and other than a few clean steps, failed to produce the skill required to be competitive at this level. I wouldn’t be surprised if the expected return of blackpoisoN coincides with the departure of Nefan, but this is just a bunch of rumours for now.

Even if Nefan departs, Energy will need to sit down and assess their objectives and requirements to get there. Their current approach might be able to rip through most local teams, but will most definitely not deliver them the nr. 1 spot anytime soon.

I was also informed that Nefan played the final using my Zowie EC2-A that I sent with the DC team as a backup mouse, which might explain his performance, as the mouse was tainted by BOT zdrAg.

Tecbok and his beautiful hair.

3. Damage Control

Damage Control almost confirmed my prediction when they knocked Energy into the lower bracket, but failed to repeat this feat during their rematch after being casually ushered downstairs by Bravado.

Energy didn’t take the loss well and enacted brutal revenge on Damage Control to claim their spot in the Grand Final. Damage Control’s structure was evident as ever in their victory over Flipsid3 and Energy on Inferno, as neither IGL’s could find a hole in the Damage Control defences.

Unlike 2016, Damage Control doesn’t serve as the “gatekeepers” of the top tier anymore, but rather as regular podium finishers.

Damage Control’s objective remains to bring Energy down, but carries no delusions toward their stance with Bravado, as the chase might not be worth the catch.

Damage Control is considering a line-up change and looks to replace Christopher “APOCALYPSE” Lautre with Tig “<G4mbit> Botha and Harry “inciN” Apostoleris with Tilton “The_Sniper[MoD]” City.

The core 3 will remain, however.

DC’s APOCALYPSE ‘s height has plagued him for most of his life. Playing on LAN is very uncomfortable for both him and his teammates.

4. Flipsid3 Tactics

James “zerOch4nce” Wijnberg, captain of Flipsid3, said before the LAN that his team will be showing a new face after a considerably lacklustre online season.

They struggled to attack Damage Control’s CT hold on de_inferno, but constant opening frags by Ashton “Golz” Muller showed semblances of his past and the team was unfortunate not to capitalise on the space created by it.

They disposed of Pulse in the lower bracket, but was made to work for it as it took two overtimes on Inferno to push Pulse over the ledge.

Exdee was next on the list and despite their dominant display against xTc, never came close to making Flipsid3 sweat. This time it was the youngsters MassacrE and ZipZipZA who took the lead and mercilessly ripped into their opponents.

As destined, they met Energy in the lower bracket and despite putting up an impressive fight, couldn’t manage to take a map with overpass and inferno going 16-10 and 16-12 respectively in Energy’s favour. The team upped their game and showed more discipline and composure than perceived in previous tournaments but still lacks the bite to consistently challenge for the nr.2 and nr3 spots.

There are times when teams reaches a level that starts to look like a ceiling and despite my absolute distaste of the constant shuffle in the local scene, I don’t see Flipsid3 currently moving forward without bringing in a bit more firepower.

HackeM and MassacRe currently carries too heavy a load and needs a 3^rd player to share the burden if they want to move upwards. I can’t realistically look at the other 3 players and make a clear opinion, but something’s got to give.

MassacRe is showing the talent that we all expected of him when he moved into the main line-up for Flipsid3, but the clear ego and attitudinal instability weighs heavily on the young player.

Many of the top players agree that the player will not reach higher levels unless he steps back and evaluates his behaviour. Sledging your opponents after a pistol-round is dangerous as you’ll inevitably end up with egg on your face if you don’t win the match

I hope Flipsid3 avoids the big culling and remains with at least 4 of their players. If they do this

They are nearing stability where they can start competing for podium finishes. This LAN wasn’t their best and the players surely didn’t aim for 4th place, but it seems like the team still needs some time before they can expect a higher finish.

Before Dean “MassacRe” David’s starts swearing at me profusely,  I have to mention that it was pretty cool to see the type of support he gets from his parents – many of us older players have had to fight an uphill battle back in the day and didn’t have the type of support he’s currently receiving.

Flipsid3 Tactic’s players Ashton “VoiceNote” Muller, James “zerOCh4nce” and Dean “MassacRe” Davids.

5. Exdee Gaming

Exdee Gaming came into this tournament with no expectations. The team didn’t have the capacity to put in practice as the rest of the teams did, but performed as expected – and in some cases, better.

The Mettlestate pundits expected the games to be close, but never gave Exdee a winning chance, which I can honestly say was my sentiment as well. It was not based on the idea that Exdee was bad in any way, but that a team as settled and experienced as a unit such as xTc, would not have trouble in disposing them.

This was in vain and from the get go, Exdee strangled xTc into submission. Exdee then moved on to face Flipsid3 in the lower bracket, this time with a bit of more expectation, owing to their victory over xTc.

It was a valiant attempt, but individual skill and unpredictability can only take you that far and Exdee fell to Flipsid3 16-10 and 16-9.

I’m not sure if this team has the same goals in mind such as Energy, Flipsid3 and Damage Control – but I am very curious to see what deliberate practice and time together can deliver.

Exdee will remain a top8 team for the rest of the year, owing to strong showing by these players in a LAN environment and the inability of any CS:GO player in South Africa to understand what’s going on in Daniel Wynand “Spooooooooooof” Van Wyk’s head.

Exdee walks away with the first prize for not giving two shits. If the next Mettlestate prize pool is a bit lower, you might want to blame these guys, as they basically drank the tournament into liquidation.

“SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF”

6.  xTc Gaming

xTc gaming almost seemed to have used my prediction as a mission statement when they shocked everyone in a surprise romping by Exdee on Cache, only managing 6 rounds on a map which is arguably their worst.

I said before the comp that xTc’s map pool might bite them in the back, but I never expected them to allow Cache through the cracks. Playing your worst map which also happens to be the most pug-friendly map, against a team that has quite literally not practiced a single round of CS:GO for the tournament puts a severe question mark over the team’s leadership capabilities.

This was evident with xTc’s star player, Carlo “pnd” Farinha unable to produce more than a 0.29 rating in this match.

xTc recovered in the lower-bracket where they faced a Ventus team that never posed a threat, posting a strong 16-5 victory on inferno, but labouring to a victory on their strongest map when they edged out Ventus 16-12 on overpass.

All stories are told with a smile, up until you face a top 3 team. xTc took 12 rounds against Energy on Inferno thanks to the brilliance of Carlo “pnd” Farinha, but his efforts were in vein as the rest of the team struggled to pitch up for the match.

Their strong map pick, overpass was a walk-over and a few bright moments by Aidan “SandpitTurtle” Nell and Carlo “pnd” Farinha was overshadowed by the lacklustre  performance of their teammates.

I honestly like xTc and I want them to do well – if you scroll through my archives you will see songs about this team and what the future might hold. Unfortunately, we’re halfway into 2017 and still waiting for xTc to pitch up.

Aidan “SandpitTurtle” Nell and Carlo “pnd” Farinha are both consistently responsible for pulling the team out of the mud and it’s hard to imagine that they’d take this result in their stride.

xTc requires a few new players and a definite change in leadership – I don’t see the two star players of the team staying around to see the boat submerse entirely.

It is an unfortunate series of events, but there’s a certain time in life and sport where you have to realise that things aren’t getting better and they’re not going to change. I firmly believe that xTc is currently in this predicament.

Aidan “SandpitTurtle” Nell from xTc having a shoot.

7. Pulse Gaming

I was harsh in my prediction article when I discussed Pulse and while this team did end in the position which I predicted, also impressed me a bit more than I expected.

The team is a young bunch of players with severely limited LAN experience, but didn’t show fear in the face of Flipsid3, against whom they managed to take 29 rounds over two maps – including a double overtime on Inferno.

There are many good things I can take away from their games and the onus is on Pulse to download their demo’s and study it like an exam. This will prove as valuable information to enable them to improve vastly going forward.

The players have a lot of game-time under their belt and I remain of the opinion that additional direction-less game-time will only damage them. These players now need to stick together and work on their mistakes, create an environment where players can critically assess each-other and themselves. They have experience on LAN as a team together and will be able to carry this into their future match-ups.

I look forward to a Pulse team that wants to spend their time to get better as a team and not senseless mm/pickup hours. If they do this, Pulse will definitely remain a regular on the top 8.

They might just surprise me and break up, which means that this is my last time writing about this bunch of spunky clickers!

Liam aka Baitlord and his teammates fighting for tournament life.

8. Ventus Gamin

Ventus’ online performances didn’t carry into the LAN and as a team, Ventus definitely didn’t have what it takes. The team didn’t seem uncoordinated as much as they seemed nervous and it was abundantly clear that Michael “CruciaL” Bishop and Chris “CricK” Davies doesn’t have what it takes to play on this level, at least not yet

As a team however, it seemed that there were no clearly defined roles and most of the players seemed to be of the same utility – meaning that the composition of this line-up doesn’t really make sense.

This event was not in vein and Cahil “Schizzy” Henry-Leyte, Shaun “TheMan” Deyzel and Calvin “Enigma_X” Pedersen showed talent and survived the LAN baptism with enough skill to secure themselves positions on several of the other top teams going forward.

Whether it be rumours or not, Ventus is widely reputed to be a difficult organisation to be aligned with as a player and I am certain that this was the last time we see this line-up of players compete together at a LAN tournament.

This is surprising as the team owner, Pieter “Cyrus” Venter, could most likely be the most professional and above-board team owner in the local scene and I refuse to believe any lie regarding his conduct with teams and players. As much as I hate the term though, it’s a Kappa.

Sam aka “TechGirl” and the Bravado loaded analyst desk.

Overall

The South African player market is a volatile one and it’s no surprise that we will see quite a few roster changes now that the tornado that is Mettlestate has settled.

I’m not a fan of the constant roster swaps but I also cannot deny that there are a few local teams currently who needs to shed the dead weight to make progress. It’s just a much more difficult landscape nowadays as players are contracted to teams, which will probably create a nice few episodes of drama in the coming weeks.

Teams appear to not educate their players on the content of contracts and the severity of breaches to stipulations therein, and players are signing without ensuring that they understand what they are binding themselves to. Players also need to watch out what they say to self-proclaimed CS:GO journalists, as they might just get the…. Ax. The Local “Richard Lewis” is dangerous and on the prowl, hunting for fresh youtube views.

I have no sympathy for a player that doesn’t educate himself before signing a contract but I also don’t condone the actions organisations who try and screw over players or keep players on a leash who they have no intention of including in their future plans.

That said, these player movements are a good sign of the growth of the local scene as seasons now become much shorter with the quantity of tournaments and their rewards.

Thanks

My thanks go out to Samsung- & Asus South Africa for believing in esports and providing the Mettlestate team with the resources necessary to make this tournament a reality.

I also take off my hat and give a bow to Barry “Anthrax” Louzada whose passion for esports, professionalism and technical competence created a tournament where the players could display their very best without interruption.

I also want to specifically thank Barry for being the only tournament host to truly listen to the players wants and needs, which undoubtedly set the stage for the perfect tournament. It requires a special type of person to be this patient and understanding in a market where arrogance and apathy reigns.

My reach is probably very limited but if there are any companies or organisations who ever had concerns regarding the risks and challenges associated with involvement in esports, look no further than what Mettlestate, Samsung and Asus managed to achieve.

NOTE: I wrote the article the day after the tournament but delayed it in order to wait for the release of all the photo’s of the event. Unfortunately I have not received them so if I didn’t post an action photo of your team, it’s because I don’t have an action photo of your team. I will add them as I receive them!

METTLESTATE LAN FINALS

This weekend marks a point in the history and future of esports in South Africa. The largest prize pool for one title, standing at R1,000,000 is up for grabs by 8 of the top local CS:GO teams.

What makes it even more phenomenal, is that the tournament is hosted by Barry “Anthrax” Louzada and his team, which consists of people who have not only played at the top level, but people who are fanatically passionate about esports.

This means that every little detail of the tournament thus far has been carefully considered to benefit the player in every possible way it can. We, as South Africans, have never experienced this level of competence from a tournament organiser before.

As a pundit, it’s obviously my responsibility to present my 5 readers with a prediction article before a big tournament such as this. I’m equally depressed at the fact that due to planning clashes, I cannot attend the Mettlestate LAN finals due to a commitment to friends who are getting married. While I am thrilled to attend the best day of their lives, I honestly wish it could take place at a more suitable date!

In any case, it is what it is and while I cannot attend the tournament, I can give you an insight into my predictions for the tournament and my reasoning thereof. As most of you know, I respect my readers so I opt to write honestly and straightforward, as I have absolutely no interest in stroking anyone’s ego nor winning brownie points.

I’ve written about how the gap is closing in the local CS:GO scene at the end of last year, and it has definitely happened, but not at the pace which I had hoped back then.

The top 3 is still locked in and where we had 4 teams by the end of last year knocking on the door, we only have two left in the form of Flipsid3 and xTc. The shuffles which we saw over the last few months has been fatal in many cases, which saw more watered down teams as well as line-ups that just didn’t make sense anymore.

With that said, I still think that we have an abundance of talent in the local scene, and now that we’re seeing an explosion of the side of tournament size and prize money, I’m certain that we’re seeing the beginning of a true professional scene.

My predictions for the weekend are based purely on my opinion after watching almost every local match both online and offline over the last few months – if you disagree, you can go on twitter, search @AloeAlwyn and swear at me!

Predictions:

1^st place – Bravado

This is a no-brainer and any person who has played against this team will tell you how quick this new line-up gelled together. They have the perfect combination of younger and older players, as well as South Africa’s best player in every position. They might be rivalled piece-for-piece by other teams’ structure, aim or communication – but their combination of these factors is what truly maketh the team.

Since the acquisition of Rhys “Fadey” Armstrong , Bravado’s entry capabilities have increased tenfold and added a new dimension to their attack. His educational responsibilities are done and since he’s been putting in time, his performance has become nothing short of terrifying.

Replacing Robby “blackpoisoN” Da Loca was always going to be impossible, but it seems less so with the addition of Johnny “JT” Theodosiou, whose versatility with rifle and AWP fills the gap left in the team. His addition was basically Bravado acquiring their biggest threat, which was evident in his myriad of 30-bombs against Bravado in the 2016 season.

While these additions were unpopular with emotionally attached individuals, it ushered Bravado into a whole new tier.

In the top echelon of teams where everyone is insanely skilled, the margins ultimately lie not in how good teams are, but in which teams make the least mistakes. Currently, Bravado makes the least mistakes and it would take several Bravado players to have a nightmare of a tournament for them to place anywhere but 1^st.

2^nd place – Damage Control

I know that I’m going to be called biased about this pick, since my tent is in the Damage Control camp, but I can honestly say that this is my money prediction. Damage Control has evolved considerably over the last few months into a whole new identity (Get it? Anyone?).

I’ve read several other articles referring to Damage Control as the “old experienced guys” and “they have the LAN BMT”. This is not wrong per se, but one needs to step back and realise that it’s 2017 now and if you look at the players in Energy, Bravado, Flipsid3, eXdee and xTc – you’ll see that all the top teams consist of players with years’ worth of LAN experience.

DC cannot be set apart on that basis anymore and even though the team’s average age hovers around the 30 mark, has no impact other than hair loss and having to get up in the middle of the night to pee.

DC sets themselves apart from the pack with their intelligent and structured approach, paired with careful planning. These individuals have considerably less game time than any other team at the tournament due to work commitments, but still manage to hold their position near the top.

To keep up, they are forced to think of ways to stay ahead that doesn’t involve pouring time on the matter.

In the past I’ve placed DC in 4^th place which they cemented via the “Virtus.Pro” approach of fixing mistakes instead of replacing them.

I now place them in 2^nd place due to other teams watering down with roster swaps, but also higher than Energy due to their strong leadership skills, calmness of mind and their completely honest approach to the game.

3^rd – Energy

The leaderless Carbon seemed to be stuck by the end of 2016 and after conceding JT and Fadey to Bravado, seemed to be down and out. To their fortune, the other top4 team in Aperture was falling apart due to several inconclusive reasons.

Energy was formed with Rieghardt “Flexee” Romatzki & Dominic “Domsterr” Sampaio from Carbon and Kanibalistic & Takbok from Aperture. Stefan “Nefan” Smit, who removed himself entirely from the esports world for a year, decided to return to the scene where he matched up with his old teammate Takbok.

This line-up is truly scary, which was witnessed first-hand by Bravado at the Mettlestate show-match earlier this year. Their fire-power is unrivalled in the scene and their explosive play is impossible to stop by any team outside of the top 5. In the same sense that the old Energy (KustoM, Zeo, Takbok, Nefan, T.c) dissembled, due to their aim-based approach to the game combined with Carbon’s leaderless assault, this Energy line-up seems to lack direction in a certain sense of the word.

The team has no definable leaders nor does it have clearly defined roles, other than Kanibalistic on the AWP. On the outset, it seemed like growing pains but not much has changed since then and any sort of threat to Bravado seems to be slipping from their fingers. This should prove to be more evident in a LAN environment.

Where Rieghardt “Flexee” Romatzki, Trevor “Kanibalistic” Morley and Dominic “Domsterr” Sampaio looks like they’re steadily upskilling themselves, the two Afrikaans lads in Takbok and Stefan “Nefan” Smit seems like they have reached their skill ceilings. I earmarked Stefan “Nefan” Smit to become the South African wunderkind which blackpoisoN turned out to become. His temper and tendency to tilt unfortunately turned out to be too high a hurdle.

Nevertheless, this group of players can and most probably will decimate most of their opposition up to the top 3 and even though I predict Damage Control to beat them, I won’t bat an eye if they send DC packing.

Their success will lie in their ability to recover from setbacks in-game as well as emotional stability throughout obstacles in their way. If they execute these factors, they will put a knife to Bravado’s collar all the way to the final map.

This line-up will remain a top3 candidate throughout the year, and if they stick together, might be able to grow into the team we expect them to be.

For now though, 3^rd place will suffice.

Rieghardt “Flexee(eee)” Romatzki planning to DDoS Bravado into the losers bracket!

4^th – Flipsid3 Tactics

I have traditionally always underrated this team in the past due to its high player turnover. The current line-up however, looks settled and ready to challenge the top3. They have a good combination of older players such a James “zer0chance” Wijnberg,  Ashton “Golz” Muller and Dean “HackeM” Seyfried – all with an abundance of LAN and international experience, coupled with the youngsters Dean “MassacRe” Davids and Rikus “ZipZipZA” Klue.

The former has proven themselves on LAN and will have no issue doing so again with zer0chance showing a quiet confidence in his team which I haven’t seen from him before. The onus will be on the youngsters to keep up and show their mettle for this team to reach the podium.

Flipsid3 is a solid choice for 4^th and I earmark them as the upset team of the tournament. They can dethrone both Energy and Damage Control on any day and both those teams will be required to have a specific plan when they face this team.

Bo1’s should favour Flipsid3, not because they have a weak map pool, but because an explosive start could put this momentum team just where they want to be.

The Flipsid3 boys! from left to right : Golz, HackeM, ZipZipZA, MassacRe and zer0chance.

5^th – xTc

xTc has become a more disciplined and structured team by the day and also happen to be the most stable line-up since Damage Control, only changing 1 player in the form of Tiaantjie. They have two very good “star players” in the form of Carlo “pnd” Farinha and Aidan “Turtle” Nell. Both these players have made turns to singlehandedly dismantle opponents and close out rounds which was never theirs in the first place.

They are also incredibly strong at their specific map picks and have shown this with victories over Damage Control and Bravado on LAN.

It’s these two advantages which also causes their downfall at times, as their map pool isn’t very wide and most teams will be able to out-veto them in a standard format and seeing as the winners bracket is a bo1, it will be difficult for them to avoid playing a neutral map.

They also put a lot of reliance on Aidan “Turtle” Nell and Carlo “pnd” Farinha for crucial positions on the map – if these two players have a bad day, the impact could prove fatal.

However, as I said, it could swing both ways and it depends on the day whether xTc will continue their impressive online form.

In the same light as Flipsid3, they have the ability to beat the top3, but have a few too many stars that need to align on the day for me to place them higher at the moment.

6^th – exDee

Exdee has had a rollercoaster ride of a tournament which ended in a loss to Armor Legion, which is void due to ALG being tainted by a selfish individual who stepped on 4 other players’ dreams and hard work due to his own lack of moral fibre.

Nevertheless, Exdee has a great group of players with guys like Daniel Wynand “Spoof” van Wyk and Travis “Azterix” Coppin, both whom have sacrificed a lot of their time and money into growing the scene. Not unlike myself, it’s hard to watch other people play when you’re so close to the game and together with ex-carbon AWPer Jandre “MakmuR” Makmur and 1.6 talent Connor “KING” Laming, they make up a strong line-up with a lot of top level experience.

The team doesn’t pour a lot of their time into playing due to extracurricular responsibilities and would therefore not pose a threat to the top 5, but will still be able to stand their ground in a strong competition environment.

I give exDee 6^th , as I don’t see them losing to  Pulse or Ventus on LAN but I don’t see them having the depth to dethrone a top team either.

Azterix, focusing on his game.

7^th – Ventus

This team sports some great local talent and some of the best up and comers in the scene. We’ve seen what players like Cahil “Schizzy” Henry-Leyte is capable of and I’ve been increasingly impressed with Calvin “Enigma_X” Pedersen and Shaun “TheMan” Deyzel. These players have been criticized for being onliners, but without opportunity, it’s hard to criticise them.

They are coming into Mettlestate without massive expectations, which might just make them an underdog tag. The players are explosive in their creativity and have upset many teams before.

The crucial factors for this team would be maintaining composure and not to be intimidated by the other teams. Subsequently, it’s also important that they go into the tournament with a bucketful of modesty. They have not proven anything yet and the onus is on them to do so, nothing less will suffice.

I’ve placed them at 7^th due to the gravitas of the occasion, first time at such a tournament could be stressful and I see a few situations where the team could get stuck without the necessary experience and stability to overcome it. If they manage to keep a tight ship, they could place anywhere up to 5^th.

8^th – Pulse

Pulse comes into the last spot of my prediction and unlike the above, I don’t entirely see them performing any kind of miracle in the Mettlestate LAN finals.

The team comes from a very lacklustre online period, even with help from the seeding dice as the only notable team they beat was Ventus.Pro, which they managed to do.

The roles in the team seems like it’s still unassigned and the team seems to rely on individual skills to get by, with little to no effort in improving together as a team. The players collectively have over 20,000 hours of CS:GO game-time but lacks any sort of direction going forward.

They have a tough first matchup in the form of Energy and will need to play out of their skins to post a decent score-line.

While it might seem harsh, there’s a certain point where you look at a team and ask whether the players age and date joined truly qualifies him as a “young talent”. This team has poured thousands of hours into CS:GO and have little to nothing to show for it as the team doesn’t seem to care about growing together.

Storylines

I am always amused by the narrative within a community and to highlight certain matchups that might evolve into a grudge match. Just like the predictions above, I am very aware that due to bracket restrictions, some of the predictions and some of the storylines are not possible, but it’s fun to dream.

1. Flexee from Energy clearly has a point to prove against Bravado, after looking visibly betrayed at JT and Fadey’s choice to join forces with the latter.

2. Damage Control relishes the Energy matchup, as they are growing tired of the “3^rd best” tagline they’ve been carrying this year.

3. xTc wants the Damage Control skull on LAN that’s been evading them. Nothing short of a win there will be enough.

4. Flipsid3 wants to show that their online results are a bad reflection of their true ability and that LAN will be the place to show it, which means a victory against Damage Control in the first round is key.

5. Ventus players want to show the scene that they can bring their boxing gloves to LAN. A good performance for this team means reputation points for the players when they eventually join better organisations.

6. Azterix from exDee likes LAN CS and would like to stay in the competition as long as he can so that he can play more LAN CS.

7. Pulse is looking forward to taking home prize money without needing to win a game.

The brainchild and co-owner of Mettlestate, Barry “Anthrax” Louzada, also an awkwardly close personal “friend”.

Excitement

As always, I never really care about who wins and who loses at a tournament such as this, as the results mean nothing to me as a CS:GO fanatic. I’m more interested in close games, where teams take eachother right up to the 30^th round. I’m interested in seeing an evolution in the way our local teams play the game, as it’s quite literally the only way for us to start making a mark internationally.

I have no doubt that this will be the case, and I’ll walk over hills to find wi-fi so I can watch Mettlestate on my iPad!

Good luck to all the teams participating and may the best team win!

For those of you who have no idea what you just read. Head over to www.mettlestate.com and have a read. Otherwise, you can catch the games on www.hltv.org from 9am on Friday the 5^th of May 2017.

The state of your competitive mind.

What maketh a good gamer is in many aspects the same as any other sport, but different in one very particular aspect, and that is “Talent”.

Now before you start arguing with me in your head, I think it’s safe to say that most of us have a much different idea of what talent is and I’ll make sure you understand the way I think about the subject and why I think that.

In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that I don’t think talent has anything to do with any sports person – there’s obviously genetic advantages that could benefit certain sports, like Usain Bolt in the 100m who’s not only ridiculously tall, but has an almost perfect genetic make-up for sprinting (a gene called ACTN3 which is expressed in fast-twitch muscle fibres and elite performance in sprinting events).

Many people would argue that AB de Villiers is a very talented and go as far as to say that he obviously would have become a superstar at any sport (which he never did – in his autobiography he clearly states that the myths regarding him being on national level in any other sport than cricket is ludicrous and that the only other sports he showed any promise was Tennis and Rugby, and only in Tennis did he ever make a provincial squad).

AB de Villiers’ autobiography was packed full of solid reasons as to why he became the international superstar cricket player that we know him to be. He used to play cricket in the back yard with is older brothers, whom he always looked up to and tried to beat (motivation from a young age).

The cricket bat that he used to cover his wickets, which was essentially a big dustbin, was very heavy and he had to rest the bat on the dustbin as the bowler made his run-up, this trait is still evident in his technique up to this day. He played with much older players who were light-years ahead of him skill wise, which meant by the time he went to school, the kids his age were miles behind.

Compound all of that with the fact that his whole family was sport crazy and his mother spent countless hours driving him to and from practice, as well as taking him for practice sessions on weekends and it’s obvious as to why he is the player he is today.

People tend to attribute a lot of accomplishments by hardworking individuals to some kind of magic gene that makes them inherently good at an esports title. I do believe that there is a specific sequence of events, life experiences and a set of attitudes which culminates into a “setup” which is perfect for gaming.

In fact, it can be described using a computer. Your whole life is a sequence where code is being written every time you have an experience or do anything. This code gets patched and “improved” as you continue your life and learn from your mistakes and other experiences. This code never gets replaced – only modified. The operating system stays the same.
While you’re a child, you’re very impressionable and because you’re in the beta version, big changes can be made and whole sections scrapped. As you get older, in final release form, the basis is there and while you can patch it and download new content, you’re not going to change the core.

Look at “AB de Villiers” examples in our local CS:GO scene, Damage Control has two brother pairs and Bravado has Dimi “Detrony” Hadjipaschali and Andreas “Cent” Hadjipaschali.

Brothers Jannie “Hellhound” van Niekerk and Riaan “stYle” van Niekerk are good examples of my theory. When they started playing Half-Life Deathmatch, and later-on Counter-Strike when the mod became popular, they only had one computer between the two of them and had to make turns to play.

To make this fair, they decided on a system where if one of them died, he needs to move up and let the other player play, until he dies and they switch again. This process, while completely unintentional and wholly forced by circumstance, created an environment where you had to improve if you were to have more game time.

This created an environment of rapid improvement together with a fierce rivalry, one which pushed them to then become arguably the most lethal pair in CS:GO of the past decade. If that’s not enough, their true success came when they paired up with the Lautre brothers, Chris and Tyrone (Apocalypse and Explicit), who quite possibly had a similar situation growing up.

The same goes for the Bravado brothers, who evidently pushed each other constantly onto great levels.

While I don’t necessarily say that brother pairs are due to be great nor that you need to have sibling rivalry to be a good gamer, but it must be evident that these experiences at a young age, played a massive role in what these players achieved and are still achieving.
I’m certain that you’ll find these events in most professional gamers’ lives, whether it be siblings, parents, coaches, teachers, friends or any other factor whether intentional or not. Something made you as a player the way you are and moulded your mind into the shape it is today.

You get one player who joins a server and gets eliminated. His immediate thoughts are questions: How did I get eliminated? Where was my enemy when this happened? How did I react? What could I have done differently?

This creates a mental state of improvement where the player is genuinely curious as to what happened and how he can stop it from happening again.

Another player has a different type of thought process, in fact, he has an emotional process. When he gets eliminated, he doesn’t ask questions, he makes statements (whether to himself, in chat or over the microphone): “My teammates weren’t covering me”, “I’m getting lots of lag”, “My hand slipped”, “The other player was lucky”, “My resolution/sensitivity is wrong”.

Such players have neither motivation to ask questions nor have they ever been required by events in their life to ask questions and find a way to get to a bottom of a problem. The issue is that these players are also motivated and they also want to become the best, but they’re completely oblivious to the fact that they’re stuck with the WANT to get better but not a single inherent skill to make that a reality.

They keep thinking that external factors are keeping them back, even stupid things as a mouse, screen, mousepad or headphones. People like this should see the small block tables and downright dilapidated junk the Russian Quake players used to compete on and destroy their geared-up rich Western-European opponents.

My message might come across as one that says it’s too late to change and that some players are earmarked to become superstars and others not. This is not entirely true.

The big thing that everyone reading this needs to know, whether already a top player or only a new one starting out, is that there is nothing other than life experience and an attitude setting you and the other players apart.

That guy on the server who is better than you simply asked more questions and he was more honest with himself when he looked inward. He had the ability to throw away all emotions and all external factors and instead asks “What can I do better?”

I believe adopting this mindset and sticking to it through thick and thin, is the most profound way for players of all skill levels to move forward.

The whole internet and media have this stupid motivational-poster-esque mentality that the most successful people are the ones who “wants it more”. Bullshit, all competitive gamers whether young and old wants to be professional paid esports athletes more than anything in the world, the want is with everyone.

You don’t “keep going when you’re down and out” and you don’t need to “stand up when you fall” and “when you feel you can’t go another inch, go another mile”

This is esports, when you lose you quit the server, get a can of soda from the fridge and watch TV. I’m sure you’re going to survive.

Stop focussing your mind on stupid self-improvement bullshit to misdirect you from the real issue at hand.

If I can be a hypocrite and leave you with one quote, it is this:

If you’re not the best, YOU are OBVIOUSLY doing something WRONG. Go find out what it is and fix it.

 

Mega8 Autumn Cup Review!

The top CS:GO teams in South Africa battled it out for the top spot in the Mega8 Autumn Cup this past weekend, after a brutal online qualifying stage.

The tournament also boasted fine production with a line-up of some of South Africa’s top CS:GO talent. There were almost no delay and the tournament ran like a hot knife through hot butter.

The competition was fierce and while a lot of the matches were incredibly close, there were no real upsets and the results is a good indication of where teams are currently standing in the scene.

The results were as follows:

1. Bravado Gaming.
2. Energy Esports.
3. Damage Control.
4. Flipsid3 South Africa.
5-6. Aperture.
5.6. White Rabbit Gaming.
7-8. Exdee.
7-8. Veneration Rejects.

What we learned from the Tournament:

1. Bravado needed time.

There was a big question mark over Bravado’s head after the Mettlestate showmatch where they were ousted by an Energy Esports line-up that seemed to be uncontainable. While Bravado didn’t resort to excuses, having a new line-up played a big role in a team that relies more on structures than their rivals, whose explosive nature and immaculate aim steamrolled them to victory.

However, with subsequent boot camps and a bit more time, Bravado looks more comfortable and you can clearly see the improvement in interplay between old and new teammates with all the role adjustments settling nicely.

Bravado disposed of all their opponents without dropping a single map and had an aggregate of 64 rounds to 31 against their closest rivals, Energy.

If they continue this trend, I personally don’t really see anyone coming close to them throughout this season.

Such as the Fnatic dream team of 2016 – Bravado’s success inevitably made them somewhat of a love-them-but-hate-them team, with many people in the community starting to bash and condescend Bravado’s results. This is usually the case when a team of any sport or esport dominates the scene for a considerable amount of time and is somewhat expected.

Detrony and Elusive welcoming JT and Fadey to the Bravado boot camp.

 

2. Energy needs leadership.

Expecting backlash, it was clear this weekend from both in-game and out-of-game incidents that Energy is in dire need of mature leadership. Having some of the best talent in South Africa should be enough, but it has been proven time and time again that the lack of leadership nullifies any combination of skill or talent.

The matches against Bravado showed that Energy ran out of ideas in a case where they couldn’t break through and in such cases, an aim “plow” won’t get you anywhere. Energy needs to visit the drawing board and critically look at how they plan to approach the game, if they are to match Bravado’s level of teamwork in upcoming tournaments.

While this was just one online tournament and cannot be used as a reliable yard-stick, some “characteristics” cannot be mistaken and could prove to stunt growth going forward.

Pics from the recent Energy teambuilding session.

 

3. There’s nothing new about DC, and that could be good.

While Energy is focussing on their rivalry with Bravado, Damage Control is improving quietly in the shadows, patiently chiselling away their mistakes into a more complete outfit.

The team is also constantly benefitted by team-shuffles that sees stronger line-ups watered down, which proverbially resets the clock for most organisations.

If you look at the statistics closely, it’s quite telling that Damage Control only has 2 players in the top20 rated players of the tournament. Their team-based methodology produces rounds that are won with patience, experience and smothering rather than the flashy individual skill found in other top teams. Individual performances are inconsistent and cannot always be produced, where an ingrained teamwork structure ensures a guaranteed level of performance on any day of the week.

It’s for this reason that Damage Control has floated at the number 3 spot for quite some time and probably will for some time going forward.

If Damage Control is to challenge upward, it will require significant personal investment by all the players and a good amount of hours, otherwise I don’t see them posing a big threat to Energy or Bravado in the near future.

Damage Control sitting in TS, waiting for the Billosoft countdown timer.

 

4. Flipsid3 is going in the right direction

After a myriad of lacklustre results in all forms of competition over the past few months, it seems that Flipsid3 finally found their rhythm and is starting to produce results expected of their line-up. The team has undergone an abnormal amount of roster changes after the past few months and finally settled down with the acquisition of Ashton “Golz” Muller from Bravado.

Their 16-11 loss to Energy was a good example thereof and the team seems to be handling pressure situations much better than previously – also disposing of lesser opponents in the way they should, when they took out VnR Rejects at 16 rounds to 6.

Flipsid3 has an upcoming boot camp which should go a long way in helping them grow. I look forward to seeing them in action after spending some time together in the trenches.

Flipsid3 having a team chat in-between halves.

 

5. Aperture is slowly going nowhere and I have no idea why

Boasting some of the most experienced players in South Africa, Aperture seems to be punching far below their weight class, and still getting knocked out.

Konvict, Kustom and Zeo are household names and they are joined by the very talented Spartan. This should be a team to reckon with. Unfortunately, they are not producing the results we expected and due to not really having any view into the team, I honestly have no idea what the issue is overe there.

The team looked overwhelmed against Damage Control and completely flustered against Energy, where they only managed 4 rounds in one of half of Train.

The solution eludes me, but from the games I watched, it seems like a very pickup-like style and a clear lack of communication could be some of the culprits.

Zeo frustratingly calls a new strat.

 

Overall

The tournament was lots of fun to watch and props must be given to the organisers of the event, who amidst a few ruleset differences and seeding mistakes, handled every detail and player request with professionalism. All decisions went the way it should have and the tournament turned out to be a smacker.

In the end, the level of CS:GO was still a bit lacking in some aspects and some teams who aim to be a competitive entry into tournaments still need to do a lot of work to iron out basic mistakes. The other side of the spectrum saw teams such as Energy, Bravado and DC going upward and producing more cutting edge gameplay – ensuring their 3 seats on the throne.

Whether or not the other teams will make a concerted effort to dethrone them remains to be seen.

 

The throne might be empty, but if Joffrey and his team don’t make work of it, Bravado might just snatch it for themselves.

 

STATS!

Thanks to the powers that be, the entire tournament was connected to HLTV.org which provides us with a full set of statistics which we can enjoy, the tournament link can be found here:

For those of you who are lazy or if your name is Travis Coppin, I’ve snipped a few interesting stats which you can see here below:

Professionalism in local CS:GO

Every January in South Africa, all gaming related media is bursting with positivity and excitement about the new year and new opportunities to take esports to a greater level in South Africa. This is an awesome mentality and as I sit here, I have a list of new and exciting opportunities and events that I really look forward to.

While that might be the case, there remains a shadow which has been following the local scene for a while now, greatly contributing to our stunted growth. It’s with the burst of international trips for local teams in CS:GO and DotA 2 that caused this shadow to reveal itself to me again and I feel that this is a topic which is not only incredibly important – but also surprisingly obvious if you think about it.

We spend a lot of time locally building brands, acquiring capital and other goods through sponsorships and creating content. The idea has always been to give the players what they need to succeed and to ensure that they have the space and freedom to focus solely on their gaming and not having to deal with administrative duties and other bureaucratic bullshit.

This isn’t always achieved as most players either have jobs, studies or other future-career responsibilities and therefore have a limited amount of time to put into practice and tournaments.

The scene is quantitatively small when compared to the North American and European scenes and due to our geographical situation, you rarely get significant offline tournaments in other places than Cape Town and Johannesburg. If you take these factors and mince them together, it is obvious why our local esport communities are close-knit and friendship based.

As a writer, the friendship factor makes life difficult and due to having known most of the players for quite some time and because I’m friends with a few, things can get a bit ugly when I choose to report objectively. I enjoy CS:GO and I love the local scene – which is why I write honestly and bring up the harder topics. This makes life difficult at times, as a lot of players take things personally and lash back at me for reporting the facts or for saying things that inconvenience them.

It is this friendship-relationship dynamic that forms the backbone of most of the decision making by teams and MGO’s. This has worked for the local scene up to this point, but I feel that our local scene has graduated and is heading to High School in 2017 and therefore needs to start wearing shoes.

South African teams and MGO’s in general lack professionalism. This professionalism is a blanket-term in this context and touches a lot of factors within these organisations – from the CEO’s down to the C-team’s 2^nd reserve.

MGO’s such as Bravado has shown a lot of improvement in this regard and serves as the pioneer for professionalism in South Africa. A lot of you are probably tired of opening my page or any local esports page for that matter, and reading about Bravado, but as long as Bravado keeps winning tournaments and writing the book on professionalism and brand awareness in local esports, I’m going to write about them in my articles.

This includes but is not limited to:

Social media interaction by players and members of management

While everyone has a right to be themselves and certainly have the luxury of adding a disclaimer to their social media profiles which “does not share the views of the organisation”, it’s humanly impossible for people to discern between an MGO-owner and his organisation and will always assume that an owners’ personal opinion reflects that of the organisation, whether intentionally or subconsciously.

Team owners need to completely detach themselves from their personal opinions when on social media and act accordingly – rather aiming to inject local social media with knowledge, patience and respect than join the fray of the usual arguing and bickering by the casual community.

The same goes for players and it is shocking that teams locally still do not add clauses into player contracts that limit the ability to spew bile on social media. A good example would be the backlash from the Carbon/Energy/Bravado/Flipsid3 player shuffles where many top players were openly trashing each other for whatever reason.

I’m not saying that organisations should apply censorship, but rather to remind players that they are the face of esports locally and that younger players look up to them to be an example.

If I were a sponsor and I witnessed a player act toxic on social media, I would most certainly reprimand the team owner in a serious manner.

Player decorum

You wouldn’t find a single serious sport where teams don’t have strict rules regarding player decorum. Teams travel in matching outfits that are neat and players practice good hygiene.

It really pains me that this needs to be said but everyone is well aware of the nauseating stench we experience every year in the DGC area at rAge. It saddens me that something this obvious and elementary somehow slips the minds of many a gamer.

I remember overhearing two gentlemen at rAge a year ago discuss how unkept, smelly and unappealing the gamers are in the DGC section and how it seriously appals them. These two men were members of management of a sponsor that was backing a respectable local organisation and wanted to see where their money was going. Needless to say, this team isn’t sponsored by that company anymore and whether it was for the reasons stated above or not, I’m sure it had quite the impact.

Players should be clean, well-kept and dressed in matching team apparel – they should act and speak with professionalism and a certain amount of poise. You as a player have no idea who’s watching and what impact it might have on you, your team or the reputation of esport in South Africa.

In larger sports, teams even travel with matching uniform – it looks professional and instills trust and confidence.

Inter-organisational communication

Transfers will always happen and it is a sign of a growing and healthy community. Sometimes the solution to a team’s problems does lie in its composition and I’ve witnessed many cases of teams excelling after only swapping 1-2 players.

This season we saw had one of the bussiest transfer window yet and there’s a bible full of WhatsApp, Skype and Steam communication happening behind the scenes. It is there where new relationships are formed and teams are created.

Sadly, it is also the place where the most drama happens as players and team owners seem to do and say anything to get their way. This largely includes team owners and players insulting other teams and their owners in order to persuade a player to join them instead of the other.

I wrote a piece on the local CS:GO transfer window, but it never saw the light of day due to the upsetting amount of material I received where players and teams were cutting each other down. Publishing what I know would have been a bucket of oil on the fire, which I feel is a real pity, as that article was one of my hardest grafts to date.

Teams and players are generally still acting like children which severely damages trust between organisations, teams, players and sponsors. This also stunts the growth of the local scene from an amateur hobby to a professional sport.

I’m not sure if it’s the answer, but increasingly strict player/team contracts need to start surfacing which not only holds the players, but also organisations accountable for unsavoury behaviour. We’re entering an arena where certain rules need to be in place, otherwise there will be chaos.

A lot of people can look to Hashim Amla on what professionalism means.

 

Practice Regimen

The return of Bravado and the performance which they had overseas ripped this old sock from my drawer and almost confirmed my opinion on the matter.

Local South African esports teams are lazy and don’t practice the way they should. As much as people will scowl at me for saying something like this, I believe it is first and foremost the reason why our teams aren’t competitive and why only 3-4 of our plethora of Counter-Strike teams are able to compete for a podium spot.

A lot of players are in top teams due to friendships, and a lot of them due to the ignorance of team owners (whether due to negligence or not) who rely on team captains to “form” a team of capable players, with no knowledge of whether the team captain is actually building a good team or inviting his mates(also due to owners lacking knowledge of the local scene).

While looking at Master’s team demo’s from 2016 I was shocked at the high amount of players who do not know the basic smokes or fluffs it consistently. Some players openly played for KPD and disregarded their teammates, over-rotated, over-peeked, over-extended and a handful of other displays of an utter lack of discipline.

Certain teams seem to lose on the same maps to the same opponents who do the same strategies and hold the same positions at such a high frequency that I’m completely convinced that only 2 top teams in South Africa actually studied their local opponents in 2016.

There’s also by my count about 7 local players that has moderate to acceptable skill in the timing and general use of utility. The amount of players and teams that either depleted their utility too quickly or died with a whole backpack is alarming, especially on a level such as the Telkom Masters teams or Top 8 ESEA contenders.

Look, I really understand and grasp the financial and infrastructural challenges we have locally, including the fact that our players aren’t paid enough to be able to practice full time. These factors are real and in some cases insurmountable, but you can’t blame your bad internet or lack of money if you can’t do a basic execution smoke.

It’s a harsh bunch of statements that I’m making, but can you honestly disagree? Do you feel that the level and quality of South African CS:GO is at an acceptable level?

A lot of teams and players will argue that they’re putting in a decent amount of hours and you can go online and see many of them grind day in, day out. Playing 15 scrims a day amounts to nothing if you’re not actually practicing with your team and ironing out bad habits/mistakes.

It seems like our community is in a comfort zone of sorts – where experienced players know they simply need to pitch up on the server and occasionally show sparks of brilliance to stay in their team or to keep their team in the league.

If we want to become a force to reckon with, people are going to have to start practicing the way a professional sports team would. Practicing basic skills and specifics – teams learning do split executes with better timing, entry-fraggers studying their opponents to know common angles to pre-aim, support players learning to use their utility more wisely, in-game leaders who learn how to shift momentum in mid-round situations, AWPers who learn how to do proper scope-movement instead of trying to become KennyS.

There is a sea of aspects to the game of CS:GO which our local teams and players have not even touched and it’s not until teams decide to be more professional and commit to deliberate practice regimes instead of pugging, that we’ll see the general level of skill elevate.

Most players of any sport despise fitness, but they know they’ll be useless without it.

To conclude

Don’t get me wrong – there are immensely talented players locally and it’s those sparks of brilliance which tells me that players are capable of more than we are seeing at the moment, but a lot of introspection is required.

If teams make a concerted effort at improving, even if it means many hours of practicing boring aspects of the game, I will be the first person to call them professional gamers.

Until the day that we as a community make the effort to apply ourselves professionally in the way we act and the way we play, we can forget about more money or opportunities falling in our laps.

We live in a country where it is the norm to complain, point fingers and shift blame – but it’s high time we start acting the way we want to be perceived, as professional sportsmen and women.

Bravado at WESG Global Finals

Just after Bravado finished their run at ESEA, they took a plane to China, where they took part in the WESG Global Finals in Changzhouu. The total cash up for grabs was the biggest CS:GO prize pool to date, summing up to a whopping $1,500,000.

While some might have argued that Bravado had a moderately easy group at the start, they were certainly pacified when the tournament was over. Bravado’s group consisted of the following teams, in order of how I would have rated them before the tournament:

– GODSENT (Sweden)

– Space Soldiers (Turkey)

– Kinguin (Poland)

– Bravado (South Africa)

– Signature (Thailand)

– Five (China)

The polish boys of Kinguin, beating their countrymen to reach the Grand Final.

Fortunately for the whole group, GODSENT got a scare at a prior tournament and decided to skip WESG to practice for the upcoming ELEAGUE major

I usually write my articles according to the schedule of the tournament, but I have to stop here and quickly give some perspective to the tournament.

Kinguin, whom Bravado lost 16-10 and 16-8 to, went on to reach the finals of the WESG Global Finals, beating Epsilon from Sweden and the Polish powerhouses, Virtus.Pro – who are considered to be the best Counter-Strike team of all time

Bravado then fell short when they met Space Soldiers whom they lost to 16-10, 16-11. Space Soldiers went on to play in the semi-finals where they got narrowly squeezed out by the French team, EnvyUs, who went on to win the competition.

The scorelines don’t entirely tell the story either, as 1 or 2 gun rounds could have swung the score entirely, as Bravado were at times a mere round away from economically strangling their opponents and swapping the digits of the scoresheet.

The scorelines don’t entirely tell the story either, as 1 or 2 gun rounds could have swung the score entirely, as Bravado were at times a mere round away from economically strangling their opponents and swapping the digits of the scoresheet.

The Bravado boys having a rest after a very strict travel itenerary.

The important match of the group came when Bravado faced off against Signature, the Thai team who, while Thailand might not seem relevant to esports, have extensive experience in the Asian scene.

The first map was Train where Bravado won the match 16-14, which wasn’t as tight as the score-line might suggest but nevertheless gut-wrenching for anyone watching the stream at the time.

Aran “Sonic” Groesbeek and Robby “blackpoisoN” Da Loca took ownership of the game and while Sonic’s inside B-site defence rendered Signature’s pushes inadmissible, blackpoisoN never allowed free movement on the outside A bombsite.

It seemed that wherever their teammates might have fallen short, they were able to pick up the scraps. To the untrained eye, it might have seemed that Bravado only has two good players on a map like this, but it is crucial to understand that in order for a team to have their star players fire on all cylinders, the other teammates need to make way in terms of buying guns, surrendering their favourite positions or just playing a supportive type of game.

If you have a player on your team who is on fire, you simply give him the guns he wants and leave him to go wherever he wants to – because if you invest in your best resource, it will yield the best results.

Bravado then met Signature on Mirage, where one of the most frustrating anomalies in CS:GO occurred. I’ve personally always felt that Mirage stands out as the biggest momentum-trap in CS:GO.

Bravado then met Signature on Mirage, where one of the most frustrating anomalies in CS:GO occurred. I’ve personally always felt that Mirage stands out as the biggest momentum-trap in CS:GO.

A good example will be at DGC 2016 where Damage Control started as CT on Mirage in their match vs Carbon in the lower-bracket finals. DC had a really good start on mirage and after two crucial rounds didn’t go Carbon’s way – the whole matched collapsed and DC just steamrolled over Carbon.

While DC is by no means a team to dismiss, it’s important to note that at that time, Damage Control was relatively poor on Mirage as opposed to Carbon, who frequently beat Bravado on this map.

In the same fashion, Bravado lost the knife round and Signature decide to pick the CT side. Bravado’s initial surge was stunted and their subsequent attempts to gain rounds and any type of economic stability failed to launch, which caused the classic Mirage meltdown.

Signature and Bravado ended their group stage on equal points but with Signature leading with 6 rounds in the round-difference metric – effectively knocking Bravado out of the competition.

Bravado simply couldn’t find a foothold despite frequent opening kills by Detrony and BlackpoisoN and the half ended with a horrifying 14-1. As with many halves that ends this way, Signature comfortably closed out the match and unknowingly at this stage of the tournament, effectively beat Bravado to the knockout stage.

Bravado ran over the Chinese team of “FIVE” with a 16-10 / 16-7 score line and had this game not required Bravado to win considerably more convincingly due to Round-difference requirements to progress, would have been great to experience.

Signature and Bravado ended their group stage on equal points but with Signature leading with 6 rounds in the round difference metric – effectively knocking Bravado out of the competition.

It would seem to me that Bravado has reached the 3^rd tier in Global CS:GO, just shy of Tier2 simply for falling short against Space Soldiers and Kinguin.

This was a good consolation for Signature, who lost both maps to Kinguin – including one of the maps reading a 16-0 result, which leads one to bite thine tongue in frustration.

WESG Global Finals’ glass dome!

Signature’s Mirage anomaly put them ahead in a race which I personally don’t believe they even should have been part of. Bravado did considerably better against high tier opponents than their Thai tjommies.

It would seem to me that Bravado has reached the 3^rd tier in Global CS:GO, just shy of Tier2 simply for falling short against Space Soldiers and Kinguin. They showed a very versatile defence and frustrated Space Soldiers and Kinguin in most of their executions. There wasn’t any stage at the tournament where I felt that Bravado lost control.

Bravado has shown that a South African team is definitely able to compete with the rest of the world and that even though we lack exposure, that it’s still entirely possible to compete with the best.

This considerably narrows the excuses of several local pundits and players who often blame poor performance on exposure. That said, the exposure that Bravado received is invaluable and should set them apart from the local scene for 2017 – especially given that Bravado is rumoured to not have signed a Masters contract, allowing themselves flexibility in their endeavours abroad.

They aren’t perfect however and Bravado revealed a weakness in their overall Terrorist side approach which was luckily counter-acted by their impeccable eco rounds. Bravado needs to work on their attack in order to yield better results, as they cannot simply rely on CT side’s to carry them through. This was apparent on maps where they started on the T side and was forced to claw their way back in the 2^nd half.

I’ve had many local players message me in private asking me what I really thought about Bravado and not to sugarcoat it. My reply was consistent.

They’re a local team that stood up against the best in the world and had me shouting at my PC screen on several occasions. I had to close my eyes at times only to realise that my heart was beating at 160bpm+. I even went into a severe case of denial when I realised they were 6 rounds short of progressing – I truly believed that there had to be a mistake and that Bravado was in fact going through.

As I said they are not perfect, but they are best esports team we have on a global scale and as an esports enthusiast, I feel that they deserve our praise and unwavering support – even when they don’t win when we want them to.

The french bulldogs, winning the Grand Final and $800,000

That said, I decided to add a player review section to my article, as every player has a lot I’d like to speak about. Here it is:

Players:

Dimi “Detrony: Hadjipaschali – 8/10:

I’m not sure what happened somewhere in the middle of the competition, whether any roles were changed or adjustments made – but Detrony started playing out of his skin, showing everyone why he is rated as the best AWPer in SA, and one of the best in Asia too.

Scoring a 1.33 rating against Kinguin and a 1.46 rating against Space Soldiers are things you have to write on the back of a medal. He also holds the title of Bravado’s best pistol-round player and 3^rd best at the tournament overall.

I give Detrony a 8/10 due to stepping up when it was needed against really strong opponents, all this while leading his team.

 

Robby “BlackpoisoN” Da Loca – 8/10:

I decided to give Robby an 8/10 due to sick performances against Signature (1.56 rating) and Kinguin (1.5 rating). Robby was explosive and when he started firing, he fired at full power. He was responsible for some of the most influential mid-round eliminations and confidence for the team. It seemed that when Robby went crazy, that the team followed suit.

The reason why he didn’t get more than 8 is due to inconsistency throughout the competition, where he had 2-3 maps where he simply did not show up at all. This isn’t uncommon for a player in a Lurker position – as a lot of your success is based on your team executing convincingly.

 

Ruan “ELUSIVE” Van Wyk – 7.5/10:

Ruan plays the supportive role on the team and is also the “off-site” player, who holds secondary bombsites on his own. Playing in a role such as that is often not very glorious and grossly overlooked when considering player performances. It is however a crucial role in supplying freedom and weapons to the star players and the main AWPer.

The word on the street is that Dimi is the caller, but couldn’t help to notice how active Ruan was on the microphone as seen on stream (especially at ESEA), leading me to believe he supports the IGL or calls mid-round.

Ruan in his own right is an excellent rifler and should you have swapped him into a role held by Sonic or blackpoisoN, I would not have doubted that he could pull the same amount of frags.

However, every team needs a support and Ruan filled this role amicably.

Aran “Sonic” Groesbeek – 10/10:

Aran is a world class player and showed this throughout the whole tournament. His movement, aim, game sense and positioning not only equals, but surpasses that of a lot of tier 1 players I’ve seen play.

He ended the tournament with the 4^th best rating above KennyS and Snax, who are both top15 players in the world – and both players got their ratings against the same teams as Aran, which validates the significance of his rating.

He also holds 2^nd place for the amount of clutches in the tournament behind SIXER from EnvyUS and tied with KennyS. This shows his ability to perform under severe pressure regardless of the position his team is in. He has several other statistical achievements in several categories for the tournament.

I would not be surprised at all if an international team approaches Aran in the coming year. He is an invaluable asset for his team and gets my MVP for Bravado at WESG.

He is the best player in South Africa without a shadow of a doubt.

 

Ashton “Golz” Muller – 4.5/10:

Ashton is one of the most talented and passionate CS:GO players in South Africa and has exponentially grown in the local scene and quite unsurprisingly made his way into the Bravado line-up, as their entry fragger.

He has had a shaky 2016 however, and has been unable to produce the form which landed him the place in Bravado.

Throughout the tournament he failed to hold positions successfully and as entry-fragger was unsuccessful in securing opening kills on the Terrorist side, which could be a big factor in Bravado’s struggle to win rounds on the attack. He ended ESEA with an overall rating of 0.59 and WESG with an overall rating of 0.54.

Suffice to say, it remains to be seen whether Bravado will opt to give Ashton the opportunity to regain form or if they will replace him in 2017.

Ashton remains one of the top players in South Africa, but lacks the form to justify his spot on the best CS:GO team in South Africa at the moment.

Images from :

Bravado’s facebook page
HLTV

 Statistics from:

HLTV

Disclaimer: All statistics were double checked and verified at the time of writing via http://www.hltv.org, should any of this change, please feel free to inform me via the contact section of my blog.

All opinions here are my own and do not reflect that of any of my employers.