While we’re just some weeks into 2022, Counter-Strike fans already saw a lot happening. From Funspark ULTI Finals to BLAST Premier Spring Groups, we’ve already seen plenty of action happening in CSGO servers.
However, even more storylines are set to happen in the coming weeks with IEM Katowice starting in less than two weeks. Since Katowice will be the first high tier tournament in CSGO this year, we’ll be taking this opportunity to review what happened until now since the start of the year in CSGO.
Here are our main takeaways from the couple of weeks of 2022 leading to IEM Katowice 2022!
RISING STARS
Over these past couple of weeks, some teams have stolen the spotlights. The Russian squad K23, led by Sanjar “neaLaN” İshakov, for one, started the year hot. The squad defeated Astralis in their first match of the year. Then, they reached the grand-finals of Malta Vibes Knockout Series 5 after defeating ECSTATIC and Sinners. Most recently, K23 took part at Pinnacle Winter Series #1, which they won after eight games and only one loss.
K23 isn’t the only team rising through the ranks, though. The Danish squad playing under the ECSTATIC banner and the French team which just signed with HEET are both making waves. HEET, especially, started the year with the right foot as they won Malta Vibes KS 5 with wins against 1WIN, forZe and K23.
While it’s early to evaluate the full potential of any of these squads at this point, it’s safe to say that if there’s one team none of them lack, it’s potential. Now, it’ll be great to see these squads’ attending events like BLAST seasonal Showdown events, and the RMR events by Valve. They absolutely deserve a shot at playing against bigger fishes.
NOT THERE YET
During the holiday break, many fans were excited about the new, revamped North American rosters of Complexity, Evil Geniuses and Team Liquid. Unfortunately, though, their debuts weren’t quite strong as some hoped.
Complexity started the year at Funspark, where they actually did well all things considered. Back then, their captain had to play from North America in European servers, so the team were at a disadvantage. Even then, they managed to take one map from Gambit, and put a fight against ECSTATIC. Unfortunately, they failed to resume their momentum at BLAST Spring Groups, and after losing a BO3 against MiBR, they were eliminated from the event.
As for EG and Liquid, both teams had their debuts at BLAST Spring Groups. EG started their journey by getting demolished by Vitality’s new line-up, then beaten by Liquid in a close best-of-one that went to overtime. In their last game, they faced BIG, and while they started strong in that BO3, they couldn’t keep it and got eliminated.
Finally, Team Liquid so far is the only NA team out of the trio to win a match – the one game they faced Evil Geniuses. While this isn’t quite the positive result, Liquid also managed to push FaZe Clan to overtime twice, which definitely is something worth mentioning.
At the end of the day, North American CS isn’t quite back just yet. Team Liquid will need more time to get Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella up-to-speed after he returned from VALORANT. EG made a bet on keeping Tsvetelin “CeRq” Dimitrov from their previous roster, and so far, it isn’t paying off. As for Complexity, the NA squad needs to figure if Paytyn “junior” Johnson is really the right man for this team. The AWPer had a disappointing year in 2021, and he hasn’t gotten better.
STARTING THE YEAR WITH THE RIGHT FOOT
While 2022 has already been rough on a couple teams, some other actually had a solid kick off. G2, for one, is looking quite sharp with their new captain, Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen and new AWPer, Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov. While they have only played three best-of-one matches, they managed to defeat Complexity and NiP convincingly enough.
In the same line we also have OG. No one know what exactly to expect from the team after they brought in Nemanja “nexa” Isaković from G2, but the team seems to be flowing much better right now. Nexa, especially, seems to be quite revitalized in this team, as his individual level is definitely miles above compared to last year’s.
And there’s also MiBR. The Brazilians came to BLAST Spring Groups with a stand-in, and even so, they started the year strong. After upsetting Na’Vi, the squad fell to OG and Astralis, but eliminated Complexity afterwards.
Of course, we can’t forget about FaZe Clan or Team Vitality either. Both teams are looking much stronger with their new additions, and their first encounter at BLAST Spring Groups was one of the best games we saw in the event yet. As expected, Vitality’s new roster will need sometime in the oven before they reach their full potential, but even now they’re a threat. As for FaZe, Robin “ropz” Kool seemingly brought the last missing piece of the puzzle Finn “karrigan” Andersen needed.
Finally, we can’t leave Gambit out here. It was completely expected, but the Russian powerhouse led by Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov won Funspark ULTI 2021 Finals and they were definitely looking strong as always. Surely, Gambit were the favorites, but even so, we have seen favorites dropping the ball on their first games in 2022.
STARTING SLOW, AND SLOPPY
The North American squads we talked above weren’t the only ones to have a slow start of the year. Unfortunately for Astralis, FNATIC, FURIA and others, 2022 has been quite rough so far.
Astralis started the year earlier alongside Gambit and the other teams at Funspark ULTI. The Danes were expected to at least reach a high placing at the event. Instead got eliminated after winning only one game. After getting beaten by K23 and then eliminated by Entropiq, Astralis left Funspark ULTI in 5 – 6th place. The Danes returned at BLAST Premier Spring Groups. There, they managed to win against a sloppy Natus Vincere and the underdogs at MiBR. They got beaten twice by OG, though, and their run continues.
FNATIC had even worst results, though. The team finished Funspark ULTI in last place after being beaten by Astralis. It was an awful series by both teams. Yet, FNATIC was the worst team in the server at the end of the day. The English squad returned at Pinnacle Winter Series, but got eliminated in their first game after getting demolished by Apeks.
As for the Brazilians, FURIA debuted their new player, Rafael “saffee” Costa, at Pinnacle Winter Series. With one of the worst debuts seen in high tier CSGO in recent history, FURIA got crushed by Wisla Kraków. Unfortunately, it’s undeniable that saffee’s performance was key for this defeat. His 0.64 HLTV Rating in the series certainly spoiled any momentum the 26-years-old had.
NOT OVER YET
All of these squads will have chances to redeem themselves, and it’s too early to judge most of them. Astralis, however, has been struggling since last year, and their issues are becoming more and more clear. As for FNATIC, the English team will need to work with Owen “smooya” Butterfield first and foremost. He is essential for the squad and has been quite underwhelming so far. And as for FURIA, the key thing here is helping saffee adjust in the team.
IEM KATOWICE STARTS IN A FEW DAYS
It won’t be long before CSGO returns to the big stage at IEM Katowice. The USD $1.000.000 event is set to start on February 15th. Also, the event’s playoffs will be played in front of a live crowd at the Spodek arena. Until then, though, make sure to follow us to be up-to-date with everything esports!
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