BIG can surge to the top with syrsoN and JDC
Three years ago BIG were riding high at the top of the HLTV rankings thanks to massive success during the online era.
Fast-forward to the present day, BIG find themselves without a place in the first Major of CS2, and to make matters worse, they failed even to make the RMR.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenThe failure to make the RMR was described as "incredibly devastating and a real shame" by Anders, furthering his point by saying:
"Germany really could and should be a great Counter-Strike nation. As someone who has played this game since 1999, I remember the days when Germany fielded a lot of top talents, Blizzard, JohhnyR, Cyx (rest in peace).. So what I’m really saying is, BIG not making it through is more than a loss for the org or the players in my opinion," Anders told BLAST.tv.
It seems BIG shares this opinion, and following their failure to make the RMR they made two big changes; s1n and mantuu were benched in favour of syrsoN and JDC.
What went wrong with the previous lineup?
The previous lineup excelled in online events, as BIG always has, and Mantuu performed well with a 1.15 HLTV rating in all competitions.
Failure to make the RMR was, of course, devastating, but that was a team performance, so does that suggest a deeper core problem?
As Anders put it, including mantuu meant that BIG had to "sacrifice some kind of core essence," just as they did with the signings of smooya and XANTARES years ago.
An incredibly tactical team, the Polish AWPers arrival would force the German team to transition to calling in English, something that would always have an impact on how well they could perform on the server.
Photo: Michal KonkolIt wasn't just that, though; s1n was never really able to fulfil the role he was meant to do.
Back at BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023, Krimbo told us that s1n "will take over as IGL now with tabseN’s help, so tabseN can get more freedom that he can use to focus on his game", but by IEM Cologne 2023, a mere two weeks later, that had all changed.
"We started the practice season with me IGLing, but after a few games in the BLAST event, we noticed that we need to value tabseN's experience more.
He's done such a good job in the IGL role, and I still need to learn a lot. For the results of now, both short and long-term, I think it's just a case of everyone benefitting from it.
Right now, we get to value the experience tabseN brings, and I can learn from that, learn from his calls, and that's why we switched it up. So right now, it's tabseN, but long term, it should be me." - s1n told BLIX
Although s1n wasn't performing badly on BIG, without operating within the IGL role his services weren't as valuable as they may have been when he was initially brought into the squad, so looking for a change there was understandable.
Photo: Michal KonkolThe new blood... sort of
The bigger name of the two new signings is undoubtedly syrsoN, an AWPer who established himself as one of the best in the world while on BIG.
It was a surprise when he initially left the team and his re-signing serves as a huge coup for the storied organisation, so what does he bring with him?
In short: firepower.
In his first stint with BIG, syrsoN was one of the best AWPers in the world and with that comes a level of firepower that BIG have been sorely missing since forming their previous lineup. Not just that, but he also brings with him experience that mantuu might lack, given the amount of time he spent away from the game following his benching by OG in 2022.
Photo: Michal KonkolExperience is also the game's name when it comes to the signing of JDC.
Formerly of MOUZ, unlike s1n, JDC has played in a Major playoff. He's also appeared in the LANXESS arena, the venue that will now surely be seen as BIG's best chance for success in 2024.
JDC's experience extends beyond that, though, and you have to go back to his days in MOUZ NXT to understand why.
Back when JDC and s1n were both still academy starlets, MOUZ NXT was by far the dominant force in the WePlay Academy League. The NXT core won four Academy Leagues consecutively, and JDC was a big reason why they managed to do so.
You can say what you will about the Academy League, but given that the league also included names like m0NESY, headtr1ck, volt, zont1x, and Wicadia at that time, you can't take away from the level of competition JDC was facing.
Getting back to the top
We aren't saying that getting back to the top will be easy for BIG, and they won't say that either.
However, what we will say is that to compete at the top in 2024, you need three things: firepower, experience, and chemistry.
With these two signings, they have absolutely raised their firepower and experience, so if they can find chemistry within this new team, then what is stopping them from getting back to the top once again?
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenTactics can carry a team a long way.
We saw that with Astralis in 2018 and Outsiders at the IEM Rio Major. BIG have carried out heroics before, they can do so again.
The disappointment of missing the Major will have hit all five of these players hard. JDC and syrsoN also failed while on 00NATION, and they'll all be determined to make sure the rest of 2024 is exceptional.
They have the players, they have their core essence back, and now they just need to cook.