E-League Group D Preview

The ESL One Cologne 2016 qualifiers was brutal. It was the hardest tournament of this roster’s counter-strike tenure together. Having battled over 5 days against the best teams in the world, they finally clinched their major with their 16-3 victory over the Chinese powerhouse, TyLoo. This was a fascinating run given their history of failing to qualify for the major.

In the hardest format yet, they demonstrate that they have grown as a team. In-game leader Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen’s sweat, blood, and tears exerted have finally paid off. Even with the departure of star player Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjaerbye, Dignitas has only improved with the arrival of ex-Astralis rifler René “cajunb” Borg. This past weekend, we witnessed Ruben “RUBINO” Villarroel rise to the role of the super star, displaying the best tour de force of his career. This roster is finally coming together. All the troubles, the disappointments, the trials, and the dedication. This is a scary team.

Unfortunately for Dignitas, they have no rest period before E-League group matches. Fnatic, with Olof, will be well rested and prepared to fight, while TSM are looming in the background. The sole solace Dignitas can take in is that FaZe is in the same situation. That could very well be the deterministic factor for the group stages.

Speculating of their chances in the group stage, Dignitas has a tough road ahead. Fnatic with Olofmeister is the worst possible nightmare. The only advantage Dignitas has against Fnatic is the fact that Olof hasn’t played an official match since his announcement of injury break. But considering that he is the world’s best player for multiple reasons, that in itself is a pipe dream; Olof will have no trouble getting back into the swing of things.

Against FaZe, Dignitas will need to sharpen up. FaZe served them a heavy lesson on Mirage, a 16-8 scoreline. Dignitas has been rising, while FaZe has been resurging. These two teams will have a hell of a battle in the group stages. And let’s not forget about TSM. Dignitas are heavily favored against the American squad and there is no reason the Danes should drop any map. TSM winning a map would be a surprise.

FaZe, the definition of the super star mix team. In the same shoes as Dignitas, FaZe just recently qualified for the ESL One Cologne 2016 major. Their recent slouches and under performances have all but disappeared as they cruised through the gauntlet, exiting victoriously in three matches. Their successes will propel them into the group stages as E-League as they have a difficult group to fight. The recent addition of Fabien “kioShiMa” Fiey to the team in April has bolstered the depth of this roster greatly. With him performing well, Håvard “rain” Nygaard will have pressure relieved off his back. No longer must he always carry out the super star performance; backup is there.

While FaZe is strong now, they must take care to not let themselves regress back to their fluctuating levels of mediocrity. Ricardo “fox” Pacheco needs to evolve his gameplay to be more than a flash in the pan. He needs to find consistent rhythm for the sake of FaZe’s future. Joakim “jkaem” Myrbostad and Philip “aizy” Aistrup have been keeping pace with their rifling, but will be enough? This week of E-League is the prime time to prove that.

FaZe has a tough group. Once again, Fnatic with Olofmeister cannot be underestimated. In addition, FaZe has to worry about Dignitas, the gatekeepers to the spot on TV. Their one map win over Dignitas on Mirage was impressive, but Dignitas will still pose quite a challenge. TSM shouldn’t pose a difficult fight, lest Kory “Semphis” Friesen somehow discovered a working hyperbolic chamber and spent the past 6 months in there with his team.

Team SoloMid, the NA hopefuls, will be playing with stand-in CadiaN due to E-League rulings barring youngster Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken from competing. While this is a minor setback, CadiaN provides much needed international experience to the NA squad. The only saving grace for Team SoloMid in this group. One can liken TSM’s chances to sports movies where the underdog wins against the titan, against all impossible odd. While TSM making it to Friday would be a god sent miracle for North America, it’s not happening.

Team SoloMid have to face off against teams who out class them player for player. Taking TSM’s best riflers in Timothy “autimatic” Ha and Hunter “SicK” Sims, they are no match for the likes of rain, rubino, aizy, let alone any player on Fnatic. Semphis’ awping has worked in the NA circuit, but every other team’s awper outclasses him. To make matters worse, TSM’s tendency to force buy often will not work against the European teams. They are wary of such gameplay and already know how to react accordingly; something NA can learn from.

That is not to say TSM cannot win any match. With the deck stacked against them, TSM has one trump card left. TSM has the trump card of perseverance. In the past six months, TSM has been slowly, but surely improving. On paper, their roster is weak, but that is only a cocky assumption. This team are the personification of improvement through grinding it out, not unlike the main hero’s retreat to the mountains in shounen battle mangas. TSM will be the surprise factor should they show up.

TSM have the ability to upset Dignitas or FaZe. They won’t be able to defeat Fnatic. The real question for TSM is if they can qualify for Friday. Only one way to find out.