After much speculation the pro teams in the top tier scene finalised their lineups after the player transfer season post major. Therefore, it’s time to review what to expect in the coming tournaments from their new players and teams themselves.

In this piece we will be taking an inside look at Astralis, who saw Kjaerbye, their previous star player going to North and picking ‘Magisk’. EnVyUs, who will be saying goodbye to a ever underwhelming ‘xms’ and ‘SIXER’. We will also take a look at OpTic that built a completely new roster.

For this detailed analysis we will be using HLTV data. With this in mind, let’s start with the new player of Astralis:

Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif was North’s star player in 2016.

Even being considered by some analysts as one of the top five players in the world. Emil managed to achieve amazing ratings in big events: above 1.25 in EPICENTER 2016, EPL S4 Finals and at the ELEAGUE Major Atlanta. If we were to compare, ‘coldzera’ one of the best players in 2016 under performed at the same events.

The Slump

However, the youngster entered into a slump period after ‘aizy’ joined North. A strategic move by the in-game leader put Magisk in the worse possible spots to adapt to the new player. This resulted in Magisk never achieving any rating above 1.25.

The problem wasn’t exclusive to that event and his performance saw a downwards turn from then on. Things didn’t get better after his transfer to Team OpTic.

A New Failed Opportunity

For the duration of 2017, Magisk played for OpTic Gaming alongside ‘friberg’ and other European players. With underperformance clouding him and not having a proper IGL, the player decided to part ways.

We feel that Magisk is a player who requires a lot of attention. A team backing him up properly like the old Dignitas did would have probably changed something.

Back to a full Danish roster

In an usual situation Kjaerbye moved to North. A situation where Astralis coach ‘zonic’ described as something that he never saw in his career, they needed a player with firepower.

I wish @KjaerbyeCS good luck in @TheNorthIsHere & they will get a great addition to their team. However, personally I am so dissapointed and have never experienced anything like this in my 19 years of CS. To all the @astralisgg fans I ensure u that I will work day & night 1/2 — Danny Sørensen (@zonic_cs) February 2, 2018

The suggested player for the role was ‘k0nfig’ yet instead of him, Astralis picked Magisk.

What To Expect

Why? Points to consider:

Astralis has a very capable in-game leader, that properly can use Magisk with his tactics and game plan

Magisk definitely has the firepower that Astralis needed to be their playmaker

He, however, didn’t have any experience with his new teammates

It was clear that it came to a point where Astralis was misusing ‘Kjaerbye’, causing his performance to fail. This could happen again

Plus, Magisk’s in-game attitude was frequently rumoured to be a reason for his removal from North

Behaviour

Magisk is known for your highly erratic temperament and unless we fixes this, he will have problems adapting to his new roster with Astralis. We see him comfortably fitting in ‘gla1ve’ leadership. He can definitely help Astralis recover their top 3 placing in the world rankings.

The squad will need time adjusting to Magisk who has a vital role to play. Once they do, the team will be a top contender in almost every tournament.

EnVyUs bring a new colleague and an old friend

It has been some months since Team EnVyUs has been heavily criticised by the community, especially ‘SIXER’. He was a very underwhelming awper. Take a look at his event ratings in the last months:

It was clear that if EnVyUs wanted to compete at the top they would need to modify their lineup and they just did it.

Exciting news for the team. ‘Ali “hAdji” Haïnouss who got promoted is a very capable rifler who was clearly being held back with his previous team.

Kioshima is back to the pro scene

After being removed from the ‘FaZe’ roster back in September of last year, ‘k1oshima’ patiently waited until his return to the pro scene and he’s finally back.

Replacing ‘xms’, the 2 times major champion is back to his old team and is a giant upgrade for the team.

Unfortunately, we can’t compare those two players as kioshima wasn’t able to play since July of the last year.

However, we know for how ‘xms’ has been performing: in the last 10 LAN events he attended, he had a negative rating in 6.

EnVyUs’ Future

It has been a while since we ever saw such a promising team under the EnVyUs banner. With three experienced players in form of ‘kioshima’, ‘Happy’ and ‘ScreaM’, the star in ‘RpK’ and the new blood ‘hAdji’ this team can cause some damage.

Compared to Team Astralis the adaption period will certainly take less time. However, since ‘kio’ has experience with the leader ‘Happy’ and hAdJi came from the Academy team, the process should be rather seamless.

OpTic Gaming New Roster

After doing a completely swap on their roster, OpTic now have a mix of North American and Danish players. This is what they roster looks like now:

The North American side

Shahzam will be the awper. He came from Misfits and when he’s on point he can surely pull out a star performance . Currently has a HLTV Rating 2.0 of 1.10.

when he’s on point he can surely pull out a star performance Stanislaw will be the in-game leader. He’s an experienced leader and was the responsible for taking OpTic for their win at ELEAGUE Season 2 . His current rating is 0.97 – but this could as he’s been off the scene since November after quitting Liquid.

The Danish side

CajunB will be rifling for the team. After not being able to provide the awping that North needed CajunB is now back as a rifler , just like he was when he was picked amongst the top 20 players of 2015. His rating is 1.09.

K0nfig is partnering up with Cajun once again. The young Dane will be probably the star player of that team after being removed of North. Currently undergoing a slump, an important detail to note, his rating is 0.95.

The surprise here is ‘ gade’ who was rumoured to take ‘k0nfig’ place on North. Also Danish, he doesn’t have any experience in top tier competition but surely has the raw skills for it. His rating 2.0 is 1.10.

What To Expect

CajunB going back to rifles is an amazing news as it was clear that he was wasting his talent on the AWP. However, k0nfig still is in a slump, gade doesn’t have any experience and Stanislaw will take his time to adapt.

Nonetheless considering everything, for OpTic this new roster seems better than the previous one. Now they have consistency with ‘cajunB’, a good IGL and a player amongst the top 20 in the world.

Not only this but as they will mostly play in the NA circuit. This could be highly useful as once they find a structure it will be hard for teams like Luminosity and even Liquid beat them in qualifiers and online leagues. Essentially giving a free pass to tournaments.

Overall this lineup is very promising. If Stanislaw find a way to get k0nfig on form once again, they will be surely a top 10 contender.

Final Thoughts

Concluding, Astralis will certainly take their time to adapt but it will surely bring a lot to the team. EnVyUs got a complete upgrade and OpTic’s new roster is very promising. One thing is certain: the upcoming season of tournaments is very exciting for every fan of the pro scene.