Five Things We Learned From Stake Pulse Beat II and 1win Private Club
Between last week’s Stake Pulse Beat II and 1win Private Club ending this week, we’ve had an absolute feast of Counter-Strike.
It’s encompassed everything, from recognizable names to tier 2 favorites and new challengers alike. While we didn’t do our usual daily coverage, that doesn’t mean we haven’t been paying attention. In fact, we followed both events closely so we could still inform you properly.
With that out of the way, here are the five things we learned from Stake Pulse Beat II and 1win Private Club:
#1: HEROIC’s hunting ground
hese guys love a Stake event.
HEROIC’s early season has been a mixed bag so far, probably highlighted by their qualifying for IEM Beijing at the start of September. But that came right before a streak of two separate qualifiers they narrowly missed. 1win blocked them from a spot at PGL Masters Bucharest’s closed qualifiers, and VP of all teams blocked them from the Thunderpick World Championship. A fate worse than death, some would argue.
Fortunately for HEROIC, they have found consistent LAN success now, just exclusively at Stake events.
This is the second Stake event they’ve won since the Major, and they looked good. MartinezSa was a huge upgrade over the non-AWPer they had before, and as much as we’ve joked about him in the past, Brollan means business. He was electric throughout Beat II, ending up within 0.02 of the highest-rated player at the event. If this were an MVP event, he’d likely have won it. But there is a reason it wasn’t.
HEROIC looked like they smurfed the group stage, with their first real challenge coming in the playoffs.
So some of their stats are a little inflated just by their early stomps. But still, they beat fnatic, Sangal, and 100 Thieves on their way to the trophy. We wouldn’t be surprised to see this HEROIC team shock some people at IEM Beijing, especially if they have to lock in for the Major.
#2: 100 Thieves is fine, just fine
It’s a little sad how unremarkable 100 Thieves has been.
At its core, a well-supported organization with legendary players and young stars overseen by a largely well-respected GM should be cinema. But instead, this roster so far has kind of been more like season 1 of a TV show. There are moments in there that make it worth watching, but if it doesn’t improve soon, there won’t be a renewal.
That’s why it was kind of exciting to see them make a run here.
Their group was pretty easy; we didn’t doubt their ability to beat those well below them. Though it was noteworthy how good Rain looked, and has looked; now he isn’t the IGL anymore. That’s also concerning: he was by far their best player here, on a team with dev1ce and two young guns who were supposed to be the “future” of this team. But at least it did lead to them beating Astralis, who, as much as we hate this form of them, is still a tier 1.5 team, and a good scalp for 100 Thieves to take.
So, now what?
Obviously, qualifying for the Major is the end goal, but we can’t help feeling like this roster is missing something. Even for what it’s setting out to achieve right now, it’s missing that little je ne sais quoi.
So, 100 Thieves, you’re not bad, not at all. You’re just not as special as we hoped you’d be, and that’s okay.
#3: We actually like a NIP roster
Is it 2015 again?
With the removal of Snappi and n0te, NIP had our interest, but adding adamb and Krimbo got our attention. They have 5 guys who can shoot now, which in CS2 is insanely dangerous. Even if the tradeoff is having Krimbo (on loan) be your IGL, that’s acceptable if the system works, you get results, and people frag.
At 1win, that was exactly the case.
We saw a side of NIP we haven’t seen for a while, one that’s fun to watch. No more IGL whiffing shots most 2500 ELO players hit in warm-up. Instead, you saw adamb balling out and Krimbo doing his thing, while the structure looked good, if not better than before. There wasn’t the chaos you often see with these types of rosters; at least it hasn’t shown up yet in ways you can’t chalk up to a lack of practice.
We’re excited, partly because the author of this article is a massive adamb shill, and partly because a team like NIP’s legacy is so legendary; having a team playing under their banner that doesn’t suck is good for Counter-Strike.
This is just one result, though; we’re going to need to see a lot more from these guys, but beating magic and GamerLegion, the latter in a Bo5, has us bought into this project.
#4: We’re bored of GamerLegion
Pack it up; it’s over.
GamerLegion used to stand for something, a bit like Brighton in the Premier League. They had a model, they had a man with a vision, they had vibes. Over time, this team has slowly withered their identity into just a normal, well-run tier 2 org. And that’s no fun.
Maybe it’s Snax’s IGLing, maybe it’s being generally unmoved by hypex and Tauson as players, but there's just no joy here.
GL will no doubt continue to be successful at tournaments. Their management has shown that even if people think they mess up, on a large enough time scale these guys sustain their success incredibly well. Just their rate of qualifying for the Major ever since their Paris success, and even right before it, is outrageous; there are big brands that can’t maintain it. But there’s also nothing else about them anymore.
Their signing of FL4MUS was the coolest thing about this team, and he IS balling. So we’ve got that going for them.
But, as silly as this sounds, we’re just a little bored of this team. They’re somehow at every event, you know?
Though their schedule seems pretty clear now, if we end up regretting this, you’ll hear from us.
#5: Tier 2 CS is in a golden age
The more you watch these events, especially at the same time, the more you must appreciate the current scene.
Both tournaments had real depth, with teams as far down as 106th in the world playing on LAN and doing well. The general level of play was high enough that if you showed the average fan a few years ago, they wouldn’t think twice if you told them it was top-tier.
The margins between the world top 10 and these guys are minuscule now. You only need to play a few percent worse or better for an upset to happen.
All this, while three more LANs are going on right now, and plenty more events are on the schedule. It’s amazing that the circuit has reached a point where we can have this many teams competing in their own ecosystems and economies. Even if it does mean we have a bit of a saturated market at times.
The only thing we want to see change is the way this causes so many teams to spread out; you don’t see a lot of cool matchups anymore because teams attend different events.
Though you can’t have it all.
That’s five things we learned this week; we’ll be back next week with more!
