‘Chiu on This’ is a short and regular opinion blast

The current BIG lineup has been together for about seven months. In one of my previous blogs, I wrote how time was one of the determining factors for when a particular lineup ends. As BIG are close to their expiration date, it’s time to check up on them and see how they are doing. In the last seven months these are their results on LAN:

Tier One LANS:

2nd – ESL Cologne

Top 8- FACEIT Major

Groups – ESL Belo Horizonte

Tier 2 LANS:

3rd – Summit 3

Top 8 – StarLadder i-League Season 6

Let’s break it down. The second place at ESL Cologne was great, but taken in context with the rest of their results, that was the outlier. That particular tournament had nex play at a level we haven’t seen since all the way back when both he and gob b were playing on Mouz. Outside of that event, they have continually struggled to break out. They were unable to clean up the tier two LANs that you would expect if they were a top team. The Major result is good, but the only notable team they beat was FaZe. While TyLoo and HellRaisers are dangerous, they are both inconsistent.

So what is this team good at and bad at? I think in terms of tactics and teamplay they are a fairly good squad. They seem to innovate a bunch of small things and were one of the first to use the double AWP CT-side setup as their default. Their utility use is good and in general their tactics are well thought out. In terms of tactics and teamplay, I feel like there is only so much more that they can improve in this particular area.

When I look at the BIG roster, I think it comes down to skill. Smooya and tabseN are good players, but they don’t match up to the star power of the better squads and I think go even with the teams that are around BIG’s level. When we look at the supporting side, it’s clear that BIG need both Gob b and tiziaN to correctly function. Gob b is the leader and tiziaN is playing the 6 role on this squad. The only player that I currently think doesn’t do their job well enough on this squad is nex. Outside of Cologne and a few games at the Major, I’ve never felt like he was a true third star of this team. While I don’t think he’s done anything bad enough to be kicked, he is the player I might consider replacing if they can find a suitable replacement.

If not, then the only other way I can see this particular lineup improving is by fixing their vetoes. However I’ve seen them do so many bad vetoes that at this point, I consider it to be part of their character.

Overall, BIG is in a precarious situation as they are a mostly German core. They’ve reached a pretty good level, but if they want to get to the next level they either need to shell out for a star player that can take nex’s role or they need to gamble on a newer talent that could have a chance of backfiring. If they don’t do that, then I predict that this team will slowly decline in results and standing over time as I think they’ve nearly reached the max potential with the current squad.

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