Three matches, three wins. SAW are through to the second Swiss group of ESL Pro League Season 21, after coming into the tournament on the back of two massive roster changes. This is a team that has shown remarkable adversity so far, battling through tough matches against Heroic, FURIA, and M80 to complete a flawless start to their underdog run in Stockholm.
I’m a sucker for an underdog in Counter-Strike. There’s something so compelling about rooting for the Cinderella story to come to fruition, and for me, SAW are just that right now. Let’s take a look at why their first few matches have looked so impressive.
SAW sees benefits of the international gamble
Credit: Helena Kristiansson | ESL
SAW’s recent roster gamble saw the team make the controversial move to go international, after previously being a Portuguese-only organization. AZUWU was brought in to represent British Counter-Strike, while Polish rifler cej0t arrived at the same time. In the 2:0 bracket match against M80, I’ll give you one guess as to who SAW’s top-fragging players were.
That’s right, cej0t and AZUWU, with 52 and 49 kills respectively. They massively outperformed their Portuguese teammates to secure that spot in the second Swiss group stage, showing exactly why going international has been the recipe for success for so many CS2 teams over the last few years.
It has gone so well, so quickly for SAW at ESL Pro League S21, with many having very tempered expectations for the new lineup pre-tournament. I was in the camp that even a single series win here was a successful base to build from going forward, and never in a million years could I have imagined them reaching the next stage of the event. Yet with players like this popping off, the sky seems to be the limit. With ESL Pro League’s studio format, they don’t even have to worry about crowd pressure at any point, a big stumbling block for many budding rosters.
The second Swiss group will be SAW’s big test
Credit: ESL
Wins against Heroic, FURIA, and M80 are great, but the second Swiss group is where the real big boys enter the fray. How will they fare if they come up against the likes of Spirit, Vitality, or NAVI? That will be the true test of whether SAW have stumbled onto a winning formula from the word “Go,” or whether we’re just witnessing a good ol’ fashioned new team buff.
In my heart of hearts, I know the second ESL Pro League S21 group will probably mark the end of SAW’s run in Stockholm. I’m rooting for them to beat the odds all over again, but the quality of competition jumps so significantly in the next stage. With four days until the next Group kicks off and we see SAW back in action, the team now has a period to reflect and see what has gone so right so far. If they can translate this same level of Counter-Strike into the latter stages of ESL Pro League, then I’m all for this epic SAW underdog run.