The 35th season of ESEA Premier and the 13th season of the Mountain Dew League came to the conclusion of league play recently, after all 18 teams completed their best of 1 matches. With 8 teams qualifying for play-offs and fighting for a spot in ESL Pro League, one side relegated to Advanced, and four teams fighting to survive in Relegation, the season was full of twists, turns, roster moves and more.
The Elephant in the Room
SKADE started off the season well, beating the likes of Endpoint and setting themselves in a good position to challenge for a play-off spot. Unfortunately, after their coach was banned for using the notorious coaching bug during a match against Movistar Riders in the previous season (a match SKADE ended up losing, it should be noted), ESEA made the decision to disqualify the team from season 35.
The decision was controversial and unfortunately I can see both sides. From SKADE’s perspective, it seems very harsh to DQ the entire team for a bug that was used for only 6 rounds and which conferred no material advantage, especially when other teams who used the bug have not suffered similar punishments. On the other hand, it was not possible for them to be retroactively disqualified from season 34, and it is in keeping with similar punishments which saw teams disqualified, forfeiting prize money and RMR points. Ultimately, while it was harsh on SKADE, I’m not sure what else ESEA could have done. I fully expect SKADE to bounce back next season.
The Play-Off Teams
HellRaisers surprised everyone by producing an almost flawless season, going 16–1 in league play to take the top seed going into the play-offs. I myself was expecting them to struggle, but the roster has come together very well in the Bo1 format. They have struggled outside MDL to convert this into meaningful results, most notably the IEM New York CIS RMR event, where they failed to make it out of groups. They will need to improve their best of 3 form if they are to capitalise on this run.
Sprout did exactly what was expected of them, only dropping two matches across the league season and generally looking very comfortable indeed. Having won season 34, they will be heavy favourites to do so again this time.
I did see sAw (hah) making a run and surprising a few people, but 3rd in the table exceeded even my expectations. The Portuguese roster have entered HLTV’s top 30 for the first time and their aggressive style of CS is turning heads in the scene; they will be dangerous in the play-offs for sure.
Secret were another surprise; expected to take mid-table, they instead produced a great run of form, spearheaded by Israeli AWPer anarkez, that saw them take 4th place after a winner-takes-all decider against Nemiga in their final game (more on them later), setting up a mouth-watering clash against Endpoint in the first round of play-offs.
Endpoint had to replace their top player at the beginning of the season and it showed as they slumped to a 0–6 start. But, with new entry fragger flameZ putting up big numbers, they turned it around, losing only 2 of their remaining 11 matches and taking 5th in the play-offs on head-to-head. If they can clear Secret in the first round they stand a good chance of making a run deep into the play-offs.
forZe will be glad to make play-offs but disappointed with their season. After a dominant run following the player break, they seem to have reverted to previous inconsistency, dropping league play fixtures to the likes of Nexus and FATE, and scraping into the play-offs in 6th place gives them a tough opening fixture against sAw. Considering their status in HLTV’s top 30, they need to turn it on once it gets to the best of 3 format.
Wisla Krakow came into the season off a surprise run in Nine to Five 3 that saw them take out North and MIBR; they have continued that form to secure a play-off berth and recently pulled off remarkable comebacks against Sprout and MAD Lions to win Nine to Five 5. Adding ponczek has been a great move and they will be great to watch in play-offs if he stays on form.
What to say about Nexus? In a normal season them making the play-offs would be the biggest surprise on this list. They played out of their skins in their early matches, taking down forZe and Nemiga in big upsets. But their later form was not so strong, and losses to GamerLegion, PACT and Galaxy Racer left their fate in the balance. But for them to reach play-offs at all when I was predicting them to struggle is a remarkable achievement in itself — anything else will be a bonus.
The Mid-Table
Nemiga will be the most disappointed side in the table for sure. While not helped by a schedule that forced them to prioritise larger events like IEM New York, leading to some surprise losses, they still had their fate in their own hands going into the final league game of the season: a win over Secret would put them in play-offs, a defeat would put them out. Secret inflicted that defeat on them, and now they must watch from the sidelines and prepare for next season if they want another chance at that coveted Pro League spot.
ALTERNATE Attax might be my most disappointing team this season. Going into the player break they had a strong run of form, winning Malta Vibes 2 and making deep runs into Nine to Five tournaments, with players talking about a run to the HLTV top 30. But since the player break they have struggled to make any impact at all, and their league season saw them struggle against all but the weakest of the MDL teams. They will need to improve next season, and a recent report that slaxz and kressy will be leaving to join Sprout will not help matters.
Remarkably, four sides in the league finished on the same record — 7–10 — and PACT top this mini-table on head-to-head record. Having made play-offs in season 34, PACT opted to stick with their roster, which appears to have stagnated, only beating their relegation rivals and struggling against the top of the table. Perhaps changes are needed.
Galaxy Racer were expected to finish in mid-table and they have done so, taking shock wins against Sprout and Nemiga but otherwise struggling to make an impact. With their IGL benching himself, believing that a new voice is needed to take the team forward, it will be interesting to see where they go moving forward.
For the second season in a row, GamerLegion survived only on head-to-head record, having beaten FATE 16–14 in week 3. With their best player, UK rifler mezii, leaving for Cloud9, it was perhaps not a surprise that they would struggle, but only one win in the matches they have played since he left is an alarming record. The remaining players, and replacement Dobbo, will need to step up if they are to remain in the Premier Division moving forward.
Relegation Awaits
FATE have had the biggest fall from grace; last season they made play-offs in 5th place, now they have fallen into a different kind of play-off. Victories against ForZe and Secret could not make up for an underwhelming performance across the board, with that narrow defeat to GamerLegion proving particularly costly. With AWPer blocker benching himself, a lot will depend on his replacement — FATE have proven they can compete at this level, but they must not throw away their chances in relegation.
Singularity have lost 3 players this season to Copenhagen Flames, and frankly to take 5 wins regardless of that fact is very impressive from the Danish side. Staying up would be good but maybe a season in Advanced could also benefit a very young line-up that still needs time to gel.
AVEZ are another disappointing team. Starting the season off the back of several strong showings in tier 2 tournaments, that momentum has simply halted since the player break, and with star player byali leaving the team after disagreements about practice scheduling, it seems unlikely to return any time soon. With several strong teams to face against in Relegation, it could unfortunately be curtains for AVEZ for now.
Nordavind were another side badly affected by transfers; not only did NaToSaphiX stand down before the season, but IGL HS left (only returning to help them complete their fixtures) and Danish rifler TenZki recently joined x6tence. Despite promoting members of their academy, Nordavind took only two wins in regular play, and it seems unlikely we will see them again. A shame given what they were putting together earlier in the summer, but this newest roster has shown how quickly things can change — and how unforgiving ESEA Premier can be.
Who will win?
With an ESL Pro League spot on the line for the winner of the play-offs, things are going to be even more tight than usual. As I mentioned above I’m expecting Sprout to be the favourites, with sAw the team I expect them to play in the grand final. My bracket looks like this:
Opening round:
Hellraisers 2–1 Nexus
Sprout 2–0 Wisla Krakow
Secret 1–2 Endpoint
sAw 2–1 forZe
Losers’ Bracket:
Nexus 1–2 Wisla Krakow
Secret 1–2 forZe
Semi-finals:
Hellraisers 1–2 Endpoint
Sprout 2–1 sAw
Winners’ Final:
Sprout 2–1 Endpoint
Losers’ Semis:
Wisla Krakow 0–2 sAw
forZe 2–1 Hellraisers
Losers’ Final:
sAw 2–1 forZe
Consolidation Final:
sAw 2–1 Endpoint
Grand Final:
Sprout 3–1 sAw
