CAC offers a lifeline for a TYLOO running out of chances

A home event in Shanghai will be TYLOO's best chance to recapture their FISSURE Playground 1 form.

With the invites for the StarLadder Budapest Major finalized, the 32 attendees have over a month to bide their time and prepare for the biggest event of the second half of the year. In the interim, these teams will have the chance to hone their skills at a number of sizable LAN events between then and now.

Among these LAN events is the CS Asia Championships in Shanghai, China. Despite the lofty $1,000,000 prize pool, the Chinese event does not command a star-studded team list, with just one top-ten side in 3DMAX, and recently tweaked lineups like Liquid and FaZe. Without many big names like Vitality, Spirit, and The MongolZ in attendance, the field is open for a new squad to join the narrow list of teams that have earned a LAN victory in 2025.

Or how about a team who have already proven capable of winning this year? Enter TYLOO. Of the 16 teams slated to compete in Shanghai, Jingxiang "⁠Mercury⁠" Wang's men are the only ones with a Big Event win to their name in 2025 and the sixth-highest-ranked team at the event overall on the HLTV ranking. CAC offers TYLOO a valuable opportunity to build on their success from earlier in the season, a chance to face off against potential Major opponents, and the potential to hoist a trophy in front of thousands of Chinese fans.

Building on FISSURE Playground 1

"I hope we can keep this form into Cologne, and at least get to the main stage," TYLOO's star rifler JamYoung shared in the wake of TYLOO's dark horse FISSURE Playground 1 victory. The Chinese side set a narrow goal for themselves after turning heads in Serbia, at least hoping to progress past the very first stage of the 24-team event, but they failed to even move past the landmark German event’s first stage. Instead, Mercury's men suffered an opening loss to a sickly Virtus.pro, rebounding with a hard-fought victory over Complexity before getting sent packing by 3DMAX.

The Esports World Cup offered TYLOO little in the way of reprieve. An opening win against their FISSURE 1 grand final opponent Astralis was a nice start, but Dongkai "⁠Jee⁠" Ji and company lacked the opportunity to do much else as Vitality romped past them in a 2-0 affair to send them packing from the single-elimination bracket.

TYLOO's next outing, at the Perfect World CS Challenge Series 1 in Shanghai, seemed like it would offer the team a straightforward opportunity for another win against mostly domestic competition, but those plans were soon foiled. 3DMAX, who had also been TYLOO's bane at IEM Cologne, bested TYLOO twice on home soil, denying them a tournament victory.

TYLOO's last opportunity for officials prior to the start of CAC was FISSURE Playground 2, where the reigning champions failed to put up a fight against stiffer competition compared to the first iteration of the Serbian event. After an opening win against GamerLegion, TYLOO suffered back-to-back-to-back losses to Aurora, The MongolZ, and Liquid, putting an end to their run in the group stage.

At bottom, TYLOO have done very little over the course of the past four months to inspire confidence that their FISSURE Playground 1 run is replicable or otherwise indicative that the team has more to give. After CAC, TYLOO will play just two more events prior to the start of the Major, hometown events at IEM Chengdu and BLAST Rivals Season 2. These events, however, will feature a far more threatening field of teams, including a substantial amount of the top 10. If TYLOO want to prove that FISSURE was more than just an anomaly, CAC will be their most realistic chance to show that they have what it takes to at least go on another deep run.

Scoring key wins before the Major

CAC also offers TYLOO the opportunity to claim revenge against a handful of teams that have kept them away from deep runs at top events, while also preparing for possible Major opponents.

Chief among these rivals is 3DMAX, the highest-ranked team in attendance, who have now accrued a winning record over TYLOO in recent months. Though TYLOO bested the French side in their first two meetings of the year, including during their FISSURE 1 campaign, 3DMAX have since accrued three consecutive victories against the Chinese side. The first of these, at IEM Cologne, sent TYLOO packing from Germany and kickstarted the woeful string of results in the wake of FISSURE 1.

"When we played 3DMAX, we made a lot of mistakes," Jee shared in the aftermath of their Cologne exit. "We also had no time to play Overpass, so when we played 3DMAX, we had no Overpass, but we still made a lot of mistakes."

TYLOO made good on Jee's observations; in their next series against the Frenchmen, TYLOO pulled out an Overpass pick and prevailed 13-9, but still faltered to the Filip "⁠Graviti⁠" Brankovic-led squad in the Perfect World CS Challenge Series upper-bracket final. Another loss in the grand final added insult to injury, as their third consecutive defeat at the hands of 3DMAX denied them a trophy in Shanghai.

Aside from being one of the highest-ranked teams at CAC, 3DMAX are also one of the eight squads that will be starting their Major campaign from Stage 2, alongside TYLOO. Given that TYLOO and 3DMAX are both arguably favorites to make the CAC's playoffs, breaking the French side's streak against them would likely be an important step towards a tournament win on home turf, while also inspiring confidence about their future Major run.

3DMAX is not the only team that TYLOO will need to watch out for, as Liquid, the second-highest ranked team in attendance, were also the ones who dealt TYLOO’s killing blow at FISSURE Playground 2. They will also start the Major in the second stage, so a win over the recently tweaked lineup would carry some extra weight. Likewise, MIBR are another Stage 2 team that TYLOO could face during their Shanghai run.

FaZe, B8, GamerLegion, and Legacy are other teams that will be both in China and at the Major, and although they will be starting their Major runs in Stage 1, they are among the highest-ranked sides there. As such, it seems reasonably likely that at least a few will make their way into Stage 2, where TYLOO will be waiting. Scoring wins now over these teams now will give TYLOO the confidence and experience that they need to take them down again if they were to face off in Budapest.

Inspiring the Chinese scene

If looking to build on their FISSURE 1 win and hone their skills against potential Major opposition wasn't incentive enough, TYLOO have yet another thing to play for: China.

Ahead of FISSURE Playground 1's grand final, Jee emphasized the impact that a tournament win could have on the Chinese community. "More Chinese people would play Counter-Strike and there would be more organizations and professional players,” he said. “China doesn't have a lot of professional organizations. In China, it's only Lynn Vision, TYLOO, and Rare Atom. We need more strong teams in China."

Yi "⁠JamYoung⁠" Yang shared a similar sentiment after TYLOO secured the trophy. "I do believe that Chinese Counter-Strike will get even better, and I just hope that we can inspire more people to play." A hometown victory in Shanghai, weeks before their next outings in Chengdu and Hong Kong, and a month before their Major campaign, could be one of TYLOO's best opportunities to inspire the next generation of Chinese talent and encourage organizational support for teams.

International LANs featuring the world's best teams aren't exactly commonplace in China, often only coming around once or twice a year. The fact that these few international LANs tend to feature at least a few heavyweight title contenders only adds to the difficulties local teams face when trying to make a deep run. A further limiting factor comes from the fact that Chinese teams have often struggled to be consistently relevant, with just TYLOO's 2018 squad coming the closest to the success of the current iteration.

Given these considerations, CAC 2025 will be TYLOO's best window for an inspirational victory in front of local fans. There are no standout favorites: Liquid, FaZe, and Virtus.pro have all freshly made changes to their lineups, paiN have struggled in recent months, and 3DMAX have yet to show that they are capable of consistently finding deep runs. Amidst this field, TYLOO have a fighting chance if they can harness the form they had at FPG 1.

IEM Chengdu and BLAST Rivals Season 2 technically offer TYLOO another opportunity for success at home, but their odds will undoubtedly take a hit. Unlike CAC, these events will feature many of the world's top ten teams, and it is highly improbable that TYLOO will be able to push past the likes of Vitality, Spirit, MOUZ, or FURIA to reach playoffs, let alone win the event outright.

A deep Major run could also help to galvanize fans, but similar issues arise. Even if TYLOO could secure a Stage 3 berth, they are likely to face off against the same teams that stand as gatekeepers to IEM Chengdu and BLAST Rivals' playoffs.

Momentum from their FISSURE Playground 1 win is waning, if not already a thing of the past, and with stauncher opposition in their future, TYLOO’s best bet to leave a mark and follow up on their FPG 1 success is at the CS Asia Championships. Who knows when they will have this opportunity again?