The story of Vertex and their rise in the rankings in 2020 has been a fresh storyline in the Oceanic CS:GO scene. Following impressive runs in the recently-concluded LPL and MDL seasons, Vertex are looking to solidify themselves as a team that can make these four-team events.
Amidst Chiefs’ and Avant’s recent roster moves, Vertex have buckled down and worked on developing themselves as a five-man unit with structure, a plan, and firepower that can take over the top teams if they let their guard down.
Despite being at a one-map disadvantage to the Chiefs in the best-of-five qualification match for IEM Beijing-Haidian, Vertex stayed true to form and didn’t give the Chiefs any breathing room.
“We are ecstatic to have qualified, and throughout that entire series we were so fired up. When the same four teams are qualifying for these events, it takes a lot of the pressure off because they have everything to lose,” James “Roflko” Lytras told Snowball.
Chilling with @Renegades @inscsgo CYA THIS WEEK!!!! pic.twitter.com/k51RxGjhry
— James (@Roflko) November 7, 2020
With Chiefs using Yam, their coach, as the fifth man until they secure a new player, the roster has been unable to live up to expectations, considering past results and the talent on the team. This has had a clear impact on their recent results, but has been to the benefit of Vertex.
“They may not have played their best CS but in a best-of-five with a map advantage, you expect the better team to win. I don’t think it was them dropping the ball in the sense that sloppy play and mistakes cost them the game, rather they just couldn’t match the strength and play we brought into the series,” Roflko said.
Seeded to play Renegades in their opening match, it would take nothing short of a miracle for Vertex to make a deep run at this event. However, this opportunity is not often afforded to the lower-ranked teams in OCE, and brings with it the chance to develop, work on their brand of Counter-Strike, and push themselves against the best competition available in the region.
“We’ve never had the chance to play against Renegades this year, so it’s going to be a great match first up. If we go in confident, knowing we got into the event for a reason and playing well, play to our strengths and avoid panicking I think we will do well,” the Vertex star said.
“We’re not fixated necessarily on the win or to beat Order and Avant. We’re looking to use this as a way to build ourselves and an opportunity to work on our brand of CS then it will give us a direction on where we’re going next with the team.”
James “Roflko” Lytras
Vertex are threats to Order and Avant as underdogs with nothing to lose. They have already benefited from merely qualifying for IEM Beijing-Haidian. Any map victory, or even just a close series with the Renegades, will give other teams reason to have Vertex on their radar.
Vertex begin their IEM Beijing-Haidian journey against Renegades on Saturday 13th November at 5.30pm AEDT. Watch live on Twitch.
