SA’s Top CS:GO Comic Con Africa Contenders

This weekend the VS Gaming Masters CS:GO Finals takes place at Comic Con Africa. Eight teams will battle it out for their share of R570 000. The games will be played across Saturday 21 September and Sunday 22 September. 

The eight teams that will be competing at the event are; Energy Esports, Goliath Gaming, Big 5 Esports, Sinister5, Exdee Gaming, Good Gaming, White Rabbit Gaming, and Omnius Gaming. There were multiple avenues of qualifying for the event. What’s most exciting is that, in my opinion, we have the top eight teams in the country competing.

There’s no two ways about it, this is a cut throat single elimination bracket. Lose one match and thanks for coming, see you next year. Essentially, this competition is starting at the quarter final stage. Let’s go over the match-ups and see who the top contenders are.

Image courtesy of HLTV

Big 5 Esports vs Omnius Gaming

Last year’s runners up will be looking to right their wrongs of last season and go one step further. Their first challenge will be Omnius, a team with decent potential lead by Nexus. They’ve been partaking in the qualifier for the ASUS ROG LAN at rAge where they’re currently in the playoff stage. Big 5 on the other hand are coming in off the back of a 4th placing in ECL 2019. 

Omnius’ prospects of coming away with the W here are dim. Big 5 epitomize teamwork, it’s their greatest asset. The one thing is, Big 5 don’t play Nuke or Vertigo meaning whichever they ban in the first phase, OG could pick the opposite. If they’ve been working on both maps it definitely enhances their chances of an upset. Having said that, even if Vertigo or Nuke do sneak through, Big 5 should win the other two maps regardless. 

Most of the time top teams in South Africa struggle to contain Big 5’s AWPer slowYe, so that’ll be the first challenge for OG. After that they’ll have to combat Big 5’s superior teamwork, making an upset highly unlikely. I’m going with a 2-0 in Big 5’s favour. 

Sinister5 vs White Rabbit Gaming

This is going to be an interesting spectacle. One of the first aspects that draws my attention is Zeo going up against his former team, Sinister5. The change came about 2 and a half months ago, brining kaNibalistic into his place. A few weeks after that they swapped kaNibalistic for MisteM and since then they’ve looked a different team. The roles are far more balanced and the frag distribution has been more evenly spread. 

I think Zeo was a fantastic pick up for WRG, bringing on some much needed experience. There’s no denying the fragging ability from the likes of Mango, Doru and Spazz but perhaps they were lacking in the experience department before. Not any longer, Zeo has been there, done that and got the T-shirt, twice. He’ll help them keep their nerve in tough situations and be a person they can look to for guidance. He’s also taken over the calling responsibility allowing rMp to focus more on his individual game.

On the flip-side, WRG have also looked solid in the past few performances. Although they’re the underdogs in this match I think they have what it takes to push Sinister5 the distance. Especially considering the recent roster changes (more so Sin5 than WRG) the map pools of both teams won’t be stacked. 

I think Sinister5 wins but most likely goes the distance of three maps. They’re teamwork should be a cut above WRG’s, but, if Sinister5 waltz into the match thinking they’ve got it in the bag there’s definitely an upset on the cards. Watch out for their 15 year old trump card, mango. The kid’s insane. He seems super motivated at the moment too judging by his tweets so, Sinister5, proceed with caution.

Goliath Gaming vs Exdee Gaming

May as well call this one a David vs Goliath match-up. This is going to be tough for Exdee to say the least. Goliath Gaming have been looking increasingly potent under Detrony’s guise. He’s tapped into adaro and massacare’s strengths, putting them in positions where they thrive. Along with the pillars zipzip and Deviant, they’re the favourites to win the whole thing. 

Exdee managed an impressive run at the VS Gaming Championship in July 2019, placing 4th. They beat WRG and Good Gaming in the process, securing their spot at Comic Con. With nothing to lose Exdee will have to be firing on all cylinders.    

For me, their key is makmuR. No one intimidates this man, he’s lightning fast with the AWP and has devastating potential. He’s one of those players with the ability to solo win a map for his team or pick up 25 frags in a half.  If he’s on point and his teammates are too, Exdee could do some damage, but I think an upset is a stretch too far. 

Exdee can’t even hope for a pocket Vertigo pick in this match because Goliath play Nuke meaning they can just ban the map in the first phase. Goliath have been looking fairly shaky on Dust_2 though, so maybe that should be Exdee’s choice. I’d be surprised if we saw something other than a 2-0 in Goliath’s favour.

Image courtesy of Energy’s Facebook

Energy Esports vs Good Gaming 

Another great match-up. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Good Gaming in action but they’ve left an impression. Energy on the other hand is a star studded lineup, an intimidating team to face. Boasting the likes of adm, kaNibalistic and THEM4N I think it’s safe to say there’s sufficient firepower. The latter two joining the team mid-ECL 2019 season replacing rAid and MisteM. 

The thing that impressed me the most so far about Good Gaming is their teamwork. They seem to have a solid understanding of each other and work well together. They placed top 5/6th at the VS Gaming Championships in July, beating Sinister5 in the process. Energy on the other hand has been on an upward trajectory since making the changes. They pushed Goliath Gaming the distance in their semi final of ECL 2019 and beat Big 5 in their 3/4th playoff, 2-1. 

I actually think Good Gaming have the veto in their favour considering they’ve been together for a lot longer. With Energy having made the recent changes they haven’t had sufficient time to cover all their bases. They’ve displayed early potency on Train, Mirage and Dust_2 but the lack of time has been evident in other places. I’d be surprised if this match didn’t go the full three maps. 

As I said Energy’s individuals are insane, but Good Gaming’s teamwork should be able to somewhat negate that. I hope that Good Gaming has been putting time into Nuke and Vertigo, either would be a great pick against Energy right now. If that is the case I think an upset is on the cards here. I’m going to go with the 2-1 for Energy but Good Gaming are definitely in with a shout. 

Expectations

The South African CS scene is the most competitive it’s ever been, meaning there’s no clear cut favourite. As mentioned Goliath are slightly ahead of the rest but any of Big 5, Sinister5 and Energy have what it takes to challenge them and each other. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a different winner for ECL 2019, Comic Con and rAge. 

Games will be going live at 10h00 on Saturday morning and will be streamed on VS Gaming’s YouTube channel. 

Image courtesy of Comic Con Africa