ASIA Underdog #1: Vertex
VERTEX breezed through the Oceania qualifier dropping just two maps - one to Antic, and one to Encore who they beat 2-0 in the rematch. While they’ve not consistently dominated domestically, that’s in large parts down to the fact that Grayhound are seemingly infallible.
The experience and guile that mbri ngs are what make him largely the most well-known threat, but Christian "ADDICT" Pendleton has been cleaning up recently with Jared "hazr" O'Bree making a bright start to his VERTEX career.
hazr joined in lieu of James "SaVage" Savage after an embarrassing loss to Hello Kitten - yes, really - which was a bit of a low point for the core, and his first event was the RMR qualifier, where he dropped a 1.22 rating to help push VERTEX through.
Though they exist in the shadow of their friends at Grayhound, the gap is not as big as many would have you believe.
Elfishguy: "I still see Vertex as an up and coming team who is still testing the waters outside of ANZ, they have some experience on their roster with malta & the recent addition of hazr, but I am not sure they will match up pound for pound with the top Mongolian & Chinese teams."
ASIA Underdog #2: TYLOO
Once the crown jewel in Asia, TYLOO’s fall from grace has been slow and steady. Their unique brand of chaotic, mechanic-forward Counter-Strike was occasionally brilliant, but too often confusing and unkempt.
Results of late haven’t been of the standard that TYLOO set way back when, and the general feeling is that as the other teams in the region have wised up and adopted a more globally-accepted style of play, TYLOO stuck to their guns.
However, they still have a boatload of talent, and can quite easily upset any team who has an off-day with their punishing first bullet aim and relentless aggression. Freeman has always been very gifted, and DANK1NG rarely misses when given an opportunity.
Skill-wise, TYLOO can still match anyone here mano a mano - it’s just there are some concerns over how well they’re able to abuse their mechanical advantages.
Elfishguy: "TYLOO is a wildcard at this event, frankly I am somewhat surprised they even qualified over Lynn Vision given their troubled results recently. If they can find some of their form of old, maybe they can still be one of the top teams in Asia, but I won’t hold my breath."
ASIA Underdog #3: Twisted Minds
This team is a real, genuine question mark in terms of how they’re going to perform. While many have seen players like Nikola "Lobanjica" Mijomanović and Shuaib "D0cC" Ahmad play in some capacity, their ability to translate from content to real gameplay is yet to be seen.
Qualifying out of the Middle East, due to the majority Syrian make-up of the squad, little is known of Twisted Minds. Few recorded games exist for the three Syrians, who were last spotted on the wonderfully named ‘POGGERZ’ a year ago, also with Lobanjic, and as such, it’s hard to know quite how good they will be.
However, D0cC is a player who remains an enigma; an overtly skillful player with a ton of tricks and ability who has never quite taken to team Counter-Strike. A lot of us have seen his highlights and the numbers he used to put up in PUGs, and now maybe we will get a glimpse of D0cC in a real environment.
It would be a huge surprise were Twisted Minds to sneak through, but who knows - maybe D0cC is really that good.
Elfishguy: "I consider the Middle Eastern region to be the weakest subregion at this event, and Twisted Minds are the 2nd seed from that region, so they will round out my underdog picks. There may be an upset coming from the region somewhere in the bracket, but if there is, I would expect that will come from iG International not Twisted Minds."
The ASIA RMR kick off on April 6th.