DHW team introductions (2/4)

Here's the second of our four part team introduction series leading up to DreamHack Winter's $250,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament.

After covering Clan-Mystik, fnatic, Universal Soldiers and n!faculty in the first part, the second one goes over the two Swedes SK Gaming and LGB eSports, as well as French Recursive eSports.

If you missed our first part, which featured the aforementioned four squads, you can read it here. Otherwise continue reading below to get an idea of who these next three teams and their players are and what to expect from them starting Thursday.

CS:GO will fill this arena once more this week

SK Gaming

SK Gaming qualified for DreamHack Winter by being the highest placing team at DreamHack Bucharest without a spot at the event, as defending champions NiP were directly invited. Since then the team has changed organizations as they've joined up with the legendary SK Gaming name, a former home of the team's marque star player Marcus "Delpan" Larsson. The team also went through a roster change, as they robbed n!faculty of their best player, a youngster called Jacob "pyth" Mourujärvi, who has shown very good form since his breakout performances during the summer.

Had SK Gaming not attended MSI Beat it! Grand Finals this past weekend in Beijing, everyone likely would have expected a little more from them simply due to Mourujärvi's signing, but at the same time it's a little unfair to judge them solely on that one map loss against fnatic, one they had an 11-4 lead in at one point, as no one should have expected them to conquer VeryGames in the semi-finals after getting the bracket draw they were given.

Player	Rating
Marcus "Delpan" Larsson	1.09
Faruk "pita" Pita	1.00
Jacob "pyth" Mourujärvi	1.11
Simon "twist" Eliasson	1.09
Jerry "xelos" Råberg	1.00

SK Gaming have potential to be a very good team, and one who can upset some of the world's best, as they've proven earlier in the fall in Bucharest with their shocking second place finish that saw Larsson finally break out in top form as one of the best AWPers in CS:GO. He already showed promise at DreamHack Summer as his Lemondogs demolished fnatic on de_train_se, but left a lot to be desired in the months after the last Jönköping event.

Simon "twist" Eliasson has also proven to be a very capable player ever since last year's DreamHack Winter event that started rumours about him possibly being Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson's replacement in NiP, and the duo is now flanked by a rising star in Jacob "pyth" Mourujärvi, giving SK Gaming plenty of firepower with two good role players, including former fnatic Counter-Strike 1.6 member Faruk "pita" Pita, who has proven he can also lead a team to final placings in CS:GO.

2nd	DreamHack Bucharest *	$4,500
2nd	ESWC Sweden *	-
3rd	MSI Beat it! Grand Finals	$5,000
	(* with cype instead of pyth)

Unfortunately there still isn't a lot to judge SK Gaming on because they've avoided a lot of the online tournaments as well due to Pita's busy schedule and their choice to prioritize DreamHack preparation over actual matches, but the MSI Beat it! qualifier series versus VeryGames and a couple of their wins online, including ones over Natus Vincere and Copenhagen Wolves in ESEA Invite Season 15, are certainly good signs for the Swedes who are still working to implement Mourujärvi into their system.

We've seen time and time again how much being a successful CS:GO team is about individual skill, and if Larsson has put in the hours we've seen him put in at times during his career when he's been motivated, I think SK Gaming can surprise some people in Jönköping. I don't think they can win multiple best-of-three series against the top three teams in the world, but it wouldn't be impossible for them to cruise to another shocking placing by getting a favorable bracket draw and taking down one of the giants on their home soil.

PTW: Delpan - Larsson joined the CS:GO party much later than other players, but quickly established his AWP as one of the best in the game, just as it had been in the previous version of Counter-Strike. Prior to Mourujärvi joining he was clearly the star player of the team, and still holds the most weight in determining how SK Gaming will fare at DreamHack. He could potentially be the best AWPer of the event, which can make a major difference in any given series.

SK will hope to improve on their MSI Beat it! showing

LGB eSports

LGB eSports are an interesting wildcard going into DreamHack Winter's $250,000 tournament later this week. On one hand they possess players such as Dennis "dennis" Edman, who even had a brief stint along two of the world's best CS players in SK Gaming in 2011, but on the other hand their team is wildly inexperienced, have scored most of their impressive results online and have hardly any LAN experience as a team to back up their case.

For youngsters such as LGB eSports it's often easier to play on your home soil as you don't have to deal with problems such as language barriers, odd food or the thought of being potentially thousands of miles away from home, so DreamHack would be an ideal place for people like Olof "olofm" Kajbjer to break out of their shell for real and become a force to be reckoned with in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive community.

Player	Rating
Dennis "dennis" Edman	1.12
Mikail "eksem" Bill	0.97
Freddy "KRiMZ" Johansson	1.04
Olof "olofm" Kajbjer	1.21
Alexander "SKYTTEN" Carlsson	1.00

LGB eSports have had promising results, especially online where they've bested the likes of Astana Dragons, Copenhagen Wolves, Natus Vincere, Universal Soldiers, VeryGames (albeit only on one map in a best-of-three series) and more, and even took NiP to their limits in a 14-16 loss. The problem lies within the shortage of data though, as they simply haven't attended many events or played a big enough number of online competitions to claim their own place within the world rankings, instead jumping up and down like a yo-yo.

1st	TECHLABS Cup Minsk	$3,500
1st	ESWC Sweden	-
9-12th	ESWC	-

LGB eSports are possibly the team that is the hardest to predict out of everyone, as they could realistically even top their group and face a beatable team in the quarter-finals on Thursday, but it also would hardly shock anyone if they went out against fnatic and Natus Vincere and left Jönköping with a sour taste in their mouths, and a disappointing top sixteen finish that they'll have to deal with as they wait for another chance at the world's best, potentially already in January if they qualify for ESEA Invite Season 15 Finals.

PTW: olofm - He has somewhat silently wrecked havoc when LGB eSports have done well, including a monster performance in the finals of TECHLABS Cup Minsk qualifier where his side bested Natus Vincere on de_inferno_se. Pending his ability to keep up his statistics as he garners more maps under his belt in our statistical database, the Swede should be headed towards a top ten placing in rating, which speaks loudly about his ability on a Counter-Strike server. However, he had a so-so showing in Paris, so it might still be too early for Kajbjer.

SKYTTEN & co could shock everyone in Jönköping

Recursive eSports

French Recursive, formerly known as WEGOTGAME, snuck into DreamHack Winter through the last minute online qualifier, where they took down the likes of mousesports and EnRo GRIFFINS. The Frenchmen led by former VeryGames talent and Prague Challenge winner Kenny "kennyS" Schrub are no strangers to top levels of competition, but success has eluded Schrub well since his VG departure, if we forget about that glorious July weekend in the Czech capital.

After looking like one of the world's best teams in the spring, Schrub's LDLC.com, which featured some of his current Recursive teammates, placed 3-4th at DreamHack Summer before failing at RC EMS One Summer Finals in Cologne. Now Schrub has returned with a new team after a period of inactivity, and although he doesn't have a lot of stars backing him up, Recursive have put up some solid results and Schrub himself has proven he can take over matches all by himself when he's playing at his best.

Player	Rating
Robin "GMX" Stahmer	0.85
Vincent "Happy" Cervoni	1.10
Kenny "kennyS" Schrub	1.20
Mathieu "Maniac" Quiquerez	0.94
Kevin "Uzzziii" Vernel	1.01

Recursive don't have a lot of results to look back on as they've only attended ESWC France, where they got ran over by both VeryGames and Clan-Mystik, scoring only eight rounds across two maps against the duo, and then defeating just mousesports en route to qualifying for DreamHack. They aren't currently a top ten team in the world, and a lot would have to change for them to become one, though it has to be pointed out it's been three weeks since those damaging losses in Paris.

Without a major break through it's hard to imagine Recursive making it too far at DreamHack, as their team is simply outmatched by a lot of the competition, all of whom are expected to be in top notch shape. Recursive didn't look weak by any means in the online qualifier that granted them a spot for DreamHack, but even having to doubt their ability to attend the event just days before the trip certainly signal the fact they aren't going to be nearly as prepared as the competition they are facing, who are already favored over them.

3rd	ESWC France	-
1-2nd	DreamHack Winter Online Qualifier	-

I wouldn't count Recursive out of a miniature version of Clan-Mystik's ESWC surprise performance, as Schrub alone could carry them to the quarter-finals on a great day, but with the competition stiffer than ever and each team definitely trying their hardest to not underestimate others, it would simply require something much more than the best performance of Schrub's career and a favorable bracket to make the finals; the Frenchmen would also need other players to break out and have amazing performances at Elmia.

PTW: kennyS - the young Frenchie is arguable one of the world's most skilled players, but he has also shown signs of inconsistency since his time in VeryGames, where he'd have matches in which he completely carried the team, but then disappear at times when they needed him the most. I think he's one of the best players in the world and will likely show up in great form due to the amount of prestige and money at stake in Jönköping, and he is definitely the player to watch out for not only for the spectators, but also for the opponents of Recursive.

kennyS must be in monster form for Recursive to do well

Coming up next in our third installment of the DreamHack Winter team introductions later today will be Natus Vincere, Copenhagen Wolves and the American duo of compLexity and iBUYPOWER.