Danish Counter-Strike team North have fallen off the trail as of late and have struggled to reach the playoffs at recent events.

North an outfit who were runners-up in Malmö, champions in Montreal and a semi-final placement at the ELEAGUE Premier after losing to in-form FaZe have seemed to stall as of late and their decline has continued, finishing in 5th — 6th place at EPICENTER after falling to Danish counterparts Astralis, placing 4th at BLAST Pro Series after defeats to NiP and SK whilst drawing to G2 and Astralis. Finally, North bombed out of the ESL Pro League Season 6 Finals in 11th — 12th place after losses to SK, Misfits, NRG and an overtime loss to NiP.

North playing on home soil — Image Credit to Daniel Ranki

The importance of k0nfig

The Dane, who is of great value to the roster and is required to be on his A-game for the team’s success. Unfortunately, Kristian ‘k0nfig’ Wienecke has shown worrying inconsistencies as of late as North’s star player, underperforming at the ESL Pro League Season 6 Finals and at BLAST Pro Series. Prior to these two events, k0nfig had a mediocre performance at EPICENTER 2017. Without k0nfig firing on all cylinders North struggle, the lack of a second-star player doesn’t help this issue either. However, when k0nfig is on his A-game he turns this side into a title contender, at Malmö he had a 1.32 rating where his team eventually fell short to G2. Next up, Montreal where once again k0nflig was sublime and was a key factor in Norths reign of victory with a 1.20 rating. The Dane also had an impressive rating of 1.17 at the ELEAGUE Premier where his side fell short in the semi-finals. It isn’t realistic to expect k0nfig to perform well every single game — we’re human after all. However, when he does perform it is no surprise that North dance with the big dogs of Counter-Strike. A solution is to share the burden, but with no teammate seemingly stepping up to plug the gap, it leaves k0nfig with a heavy weight on his shoulders.

A second star is needed

North need a second star, MSL seems to be out of the question, cajunb a mere possibility and then we’re left with aizy and valde. The former seems miles away from his scintillating form of 2015 which could instantly turn North into contenders, but, his potent and electrifying performances have become something of a rarity. aizy has struggled to recapture his former performance and at EPICENTER, ESL Pro League Season 6 Finals and at BLAST Pro Series the Dane has struggled immensely. Next up, valde who also seems a shadow of his former self. Since his transfer from Heroic, Valdemar ‘valde’ Bjørn Vangså has struggled to replicate the form that earned him his move up the Danish ladder. It is a similar story of poor performance, notably at EPICENTER where he dropped a year low rating of 0.88 and once again struggled at BLAST Pro Series with a 0.99 rating. North need one of these two players to step up and help share the load that k0nfig currently bears. In an ideal world, aizy recaptures his form of 2015 and valde returns to his Heroic form which would alleviate pressure on k0nfig. A possible fix would be to grant more freedom to valde, similar to how he had it during his success at Heroic. If this scenario was to occur we really would see North firing on all cylinders.

A frustrated Aizy — Image via Epic Esports Events

The leading of MSL

Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen a player who splits opinions, from his odd vetoes to lack of firepower at times. Lately, one of Norths largest downfalls has been their CT side. Partly due to Norths lack of firepower across the roster when facing elite sides such as FaZe or SK. MSL’s ability to construct his teams CT-sides has come to mention. After Magisk was benched due to poor in-game performance, Sam Delorme pointed out in a article, ‘How MSL Set Up Magisk For Failure,’ that MSL perhaps failed to notice the downfall of aizy which subsequently impacted Magisk’s CT performances due to the many spot-changes that were made in favour of aizy that didn’t come to fruition. MSL’s lack of firepower is also a worry especially when valde and aizy aren’t contributing to k0nfig’s numbers. The questionable vetoes that MSL is well known for also create a question of uncertainty, often being too predictable. It comes across that MSL plays whatever he feels is their best pick without any consideration of the opponent whatsoever.

The solution for North

There are two potential options for North, fundamental reconstruction or physical adjustments. North need more firepower to compete with the top teams which means one of valde or aizy need to step-up and any contribution from MSL will aid in this task. A way of reigniting valde’s form could be reinstating his freedom that he had at Heroic, whether that’s through spot changes or a role change. In my opinion, cajunb is average, his numbers are stable but could be improved. A greater contribution to the big green would be beneficial to Norths quest for success. In a quest to lighting Norths second star, MSL could potentially put aizy and valde in better spots across the T and CT sides to see if their impact differs and they reap the rewards. Possibly MSL could implement a more aggressive CT side to Norths arsenal to make them a force to be reckoned with.

Finally, could North be tempted by the rise of JUGi and his impressive AWP’ing or even the leadership of Snappi?