https://www.cybersport.ru/counter-strike-go/articles/glavnye-razocharovaniya-sceny-cs-go-v-pervoi-polovine-2021-go-razval-fnatic-i-spad-glavnogo-konkurenta- s1mple

Fnatic

The main disappointment of the season at the tier-1 level was unambiguously history. Fnatic… Although, to be honest, after such a disastrous six months, the roster of the British club could hardly be counted among the fully elite representatives of the professional CS: GO scene.

Already at the beginning of 2023, it was clear that Fnatic had embarked on the path of restructuring the team – there is no other way to explain the replacement flusha on the Jackinho in January it was impossible. Of course, there were objective reasons for this in the form of the team’s results during the second half of 2023, for which the roster could not win a single tournament. The team needed that very fresh blood, and representatives of the organization responsible for breeding work were able to find this blood. After the replacement, it seemed that Fnatic had assembled a working roster: two experienced players represented by KRiMZ and JW along with the young talents Brollan and Jackinho under the command of the captain Golden… However, as the first half of this season showed, the scheme did not work.

What exactly are the reasons for the failures of the Swedish squad is known for certain only to its members. But let me assume that the team simply lacked “chemistry”: the players simply did not fit each other, as evidenced by the countless number of stupid mistakes during the matches. At times, it seemed that esports players were playing in silence. Such that teammates simply do not fit together, it really happens even in professional eSports. For an example, you can turn to another discipline – Dota 2. Remember how Vladimir No[o]ne Minenko explained the reasons for the failure of the roster Virtus.pro with Save- and Nightfall? The Ukrainian mid-leader said that the players “did not stack with each other,” although there could be no questions about the individual skills of all participants. Apparently, the same thing happened with Fnatic’s CS: GO roster.

But if in Dota 2 almost half of the result depends on team interaction, then CS: GO knows cases when teams won thanks to the phenomenal performances of one or two players (s1mple, hello!). But in this particular case, even the individual indicators of the Fnatic participants were in a deplorable state. Experienced leaders suddenly faded: during the first half of the year, the legendary sniper of the Jesper team JW Veksel, who once won three Majors, issued the worst tournament of his career (the Swede’s rating is Flashpoint Season 3 was 0.5), and Freddie KRiMZ Johansson, who has always been highly stable, has his worst season in 2023 (average rating 1.02). The young representatives of Fnatic are also not far behind: none of the young talents have surpassed the average individual rating of 1.1. In a word, none of the Swedish line-up took on the duties of a leader or, as it is fashionable to say now, did not become a superstar player.

In the offseason, the roster decided on a full-fledged restructuring, removing JW and Golden from the team and taking the British in their place. ALEX and mezii… In a recent interview, one of the club’s co-owners stated that Fnatic is a team for LAN tournaments. Perhaps this is true, but now the squad will have to be selected for the notorious offline events through qualifications, and, unfortunately, they do not plan to move from online in the near future. How the team will get out of the crisis – we will find out in the second half of the year. In the meantime, Fnatic fans can only wish you strength and patience, because, apparently, they will need them.

Team Vitality

If at the end of 2023 I was asked how things would be with Team Vitality in the new season, I would answer without hesitation that the team will continue to remain in the top and will be one of the main contenders for victory in literally every tournament. But apparently, the players of the French team spent the New Year holidays so well that they still cannot leave them. Several factors indicate this at once.

First of all, it is quite obvious that something has broken inside the team. And by “team” I don’t mean five players playing on the same server side in CS: GO. When I say “team,” I mean a collective — people who are next to each other most of the time. I have no idea what exactly happened, but Team Vitality’s transfer policy in the first half of 2023 had an obvious glitch.

The first bell sounded in early February, when a few hours before the start BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023 news came from the camp of the French club that Dan apEX Madesclair leaves the team temporarily. At that time, it seemed that Team Vitality discovered the problem that prevented it from gaining a foothold in the status of the best team in the world, and decided to replace the captain, who consistently sags according to statistics, and also regularly undermines the image of the squad with his antics. However, if any of the fans managed to rejoice at such a decision, then they did not celebrate for long: apEX returned to the team after nine days. There were more questions than answers.

But the unexpected rearrangements in Team Vitality did not stop there: he left the team in March Nivera… There can be no questions about a specific transfer – the French club was forced to play according to the new rules of Valve and refused the six-person roster. But a month later, a real bomb tore the sky over France: Team Vitality kicked RpK and took in his place a young Kyojin… Someone will say that Goipue’s statistics forced the team to make such a move, but even at 31, the “tank” remained an elite-level support. In attack, RpK very often paired with ZywOo, performing a huge amount of rough work for the sniper, and after his departure this role in the team is still vacant, since the newcomer performs completely different functions on the map. It seemed that the role of full support would pass to apEX, but if you watch the matches on a conditional IEM Cologne 2023, it turns out that Madesclair was the first of his team to die, trying to be an entry fragger almost more than anyone from Team Vitality, which means that he did not like doing that very rough work. Summarizing the above: For some reason, Team Vitality created a huge chaos in terms of selection of players, having performed unsuccessfully in only three tournaments. Why it was necessary to break something that worked well at a distance is unclear, but now the French have to re-search their style.

In addition, speaking of Team Vitality, one cannot fail to note the disastrous performance of the superstar of the team Mathieu ZywOo Erbo at the recent IEM Cologne 2023. Yes, the rating of 1.12 is a very solid result, but not for the best player of the last two years. The sniper missed an unacceptable amount, being a backbone member of the team, as a result of which his team was unable to reach the playoffs at one of the most important tournaments of the year. There is no doubt that Erbo will correct individual statistics at future championships – even the most rabid critic cannot have any questions about the highest skill of the Frenchman, but whether this is enough to bring Team Vitality back to the top is a huge mystery.

Heroic

History of the current squad Heroic An old but very wise adage perfectly describes: “Don’t say ‘gop’ until you’ve jumped over.” Showing pretty good results online, the team decided that they had already reached the level to show their teeth at famous opponents.

After defeating Astralis on the DreamHack Masters Spring 2023 captain Heroic Kasper cadiaN Möller allowed himself a very caustic and, frankly, unsubstantiated statement. The sniper stated that his team is much better than the four-time champions of the Major and that he does not want to hear about any rivalry at all. Karma sometimes manifests itself in an interesting way, and soon she gave Möller a great opportunity to prove her words with deeds on the very first LAN after the tournament returned to offline. The conditions at IEM Cologne 2023, frankly, were greenhouse – no spectators and a huge arena. An ordinary quiet studio, no one and nothing interferes. It would seem that the perfect alignment for Heroic, which was so good at playing online. But here’s the bad luck – the Danes from Astralis approached this LAN in better shape than online, and easily defeated Heroic on all fronts. And then it was the turn of the captain of the winners (by the way, to some extent experiencing perestroika) to shine with oratory. Gla1ve advised Heroic to first beat Astralis on LAN and only then flutter their tongues. Rossander absolutely rightly snapped cadiaN on the nose, reminding that LAN in modern reality means more online.

Of course, judging by one tournament is not entirely correct. But this is forced by the absence of other offline events, as well as the most disastrous performance of Heroic players. If we move away from the lyrical part and look at the facts, it will immediately become clear that the Danes were not ready even for the minimal (I remind you of the greenhouse studio conditions) pressure on the LAN. Take a look how stavn, one of the main stars of the team, “cleverly” used incendiary grenades on Ancient.