Aleksib on OG move, ENCE\u2019s struggles, and building a roster with NBK StarLadderAleksi \u2018Aleksib\u2019 Virolainen had an incredible season. The Finnish in-game leader helped ENCE to heights that few thought they were capable of before being unceremoniously, and unexpectedly, benched. It was one of the most controversial moments of 2019 for CS:GO. Now part of the all-new OG Counter-Strike project, he has told Dexerto how he reacted to being cast aside by ENCE and what he thinks of his new team. To understand how big a shock it was for Aleksib to be dropped by ENCE, and exactly what he\u2019s bringing to the table in OG, we need to look back at his rise and just how pivotal he was to his team\u2019s success. For most of CS:GO\u2019s history, the idea of an all-Finnish roster competing at an elite level would have been almost laughable, so when ENCE pulled off a stunning second-place at the IEM Katowice Major, many assumed it would be an outlier, and the Finns would quickly fade out of Counter-Strike\u2019s top tier. Instead, they went on to establish themselves as a legitimate top-three team, regularly contending with the likes of Team Liquid and Astralis. At the center of it all was the team\u2019s dynamic 22-year-old IGL, Aleksib. ENCE weren\u2019t close to the most skilled roster at the majority of the events they attended, but their strong fundamentals and understanding of the game was second only to Astralis, and the plaudits soon came flooding in for Virolainen\u2019s tactics and ability to structure a team that was more than the sum of its parts. Despite a few blips, most notably a bitterly disappointing top-16 at ESL One Cologne in 2019, the general consensus heading into the second half of the year was that ENCE were still a team performing above their pay grade. That\u2019s why it came as such a surprise when it was announced that Aleksib was to be cut from the team after the StarLadder Berlin Major \u2013 an announcement that was made immediately before the tournament got underway. Most players would have crumbled at the news, but not Aleksib. When asked how being cast aside affected him, Aleksib replied: \u201cNot too much to be honest. I wanted to play as good as I could for the team one more time.\u201d And perform he did. It is still uncertain how much of the tactical responsibility was shared between him and Aleksi \u2018allu\u2019 Jalli in Berlin, but whatever the arrangement, they surprised everyone with a stunning 3-0 performance in the group stage, defeating AVANGAR, MIBR, and Vitality in the process. Aleksib\u2019s maturity shone through during his last tournament with the team. A consummate professional to the end, he shouldered the same responsibilities that he always had, dealing with post-match interviews and refusing to throw his teammates or org under the bus. Unfortunately, the team\u2019s miracle run ended in the first round of the playoffs with a 2-0 loss to Renegades, meaning the Counter-Strike community was robbed of seeing one last deep run from Aleksib\u2019s well-oiled ENCE lineup. Their tournament was over and Aleksib\u2019s time with the organization was also finished. \u201cI\u2019m happy we reached the Legend status with a clean 3-0 result,\u201d he told us. \u201cUnfortunately we lost the first game on the stage to ex-Renegades, but I\u2019m still happy with how it ended.\u201d That was in September, and despite not playing a single official match since, Aleksib has remained a name on the lips of everyone in the CS:GO community. Shortly after being benched by ENCE, it became apparent that the Finn was one of the hottest properties around, and in October Richard Lewis revealed that Complexity had offered the star an eye-watering two-year deal worth $1 million. Aleksib didn\u2019t take the offer. Instead, rumors began to circulate that he was linking up with another player that had been unceremoniously ousted from a top team, Nathan \u2018NBK-\u2019 Schmitt. The 25-year-old Frenchman, who was removed from Vitality in September, is one of the most experienced and decorated pros in all of Counter-Strike and seemed keen to build an international roster. After some speculation about a move to 100 Thieves, reports began to surface in October that claimed Aleksib and NBK- were in talks with an organization that had never before fielded a Counter-Strike roster. If those reports were to be believed, the back-to-back champions of Dota 2\u2019s The International, OG, were about to enter CS:GO with a powerful new roster. \u201cWe had talks with multiple people,\u201d Aleksib told us. \u201cBut we knew we are going to end up in OG a few weeks before signing.\u201d The exact lineup of the roster was a point of speculation and debate but two things seemed certain: Aleksib and NBK would be donning OG jerseys before the year came to a close and North\u2019s Valdemar \u2018valde\u2019 Bj\u00f8rn Vangs\u00e5, a respected Danish player with an underrated amount of firepower, would be joining them. Finally, on December 4, the official announcement was made. OG confirmed their CS:GO entrance and revealed their full starting lineup of Aleksib, NBK, valde, Issa \u2018ISSAA\u2019 Murad and the relatively unknown Mateusz \u2018mantuu\u2019 Wilczewski. It took a while, but Aleksib can\u2019t wait to get started with OG in an official capacity. \u201cIt feels great, like a burden off your shoulders because It took longer than expected and there were other things happening as well. OG is filled with great people and I\u2019m happy to work with them.\u201d When asked about his input into building the OG CS:GO roster, Aleksib made it clear that this isn\u2019t a team of random individuals, but one where every part has been scrutinized and picked for a reason: \u201c[We had] a lot of input obviously,\u201d he said. \u201cWe put a lot of thought on the mental aspect as well when thinking of players with NBK. \u201cWe started practicing a few weeks ago, one of them being the bootcamp we are having right now.\u201d Emphasis has been placed on the fact that this will be NBK\u2019s first international lineup in a career that has spanned two versions of Counter-Strike and around a decade of professional play, and on Aleksib moving from an all-Finnish team to one with players from five different countries, but he\u2019s quick to remind us that only ISSAA actually has any experience in a situation like this. \u201cIt\u2019s something new for valde and mantuu also,\u201d he says. \u201cISSAA is the only one with experience in international lineups. I\u2019m looking forward to watching us grow and work towards the goals we set for ourselves. We will try our best to overcome all bumps along the way.\u201d ISSAA, who spent two years with HellRaisers under the tutelage of Kirill \u2018ANGE1\u2019 Karasiow, is a talented player from Jordan. During his time with the multi-national team, he showed glimpses of his potential and was named HLTV\u2019s MVP of DreamHack Open Tours 2018. The most unproven player on the team is mantuu. The Polish player spent the majority of 2019 with ALTERNATE aTTaX and has never competed in a top tier international event, but Aleksib is confident that he has what it takes. \u201cMantuu is definitely a guy to keep an eye on because he will be the new guy on the block,\u201d he said. Returning to his in-game leadership role, Aleksib will have the experience of two-time Major winner NBK and former North IGL valde to draw upon while designing and leading an entirely different team to any that he has played for in the past, but Counter-Strike is ever-evolving and the scene is almost unrecognizable to the one he flourished in with ENCE in the first half of 2019. After dominating the summer months, Team Liquid failed to win the StarLadder Berlin Major that they were heavily favored for and have appeared to be going through an identity crisis ever since. Despite this, the eye test suggests they\u2019re still a top five team in the world. Read more: Thorin\u2019s Take: No Company for Young Men – The kings of 2018, Astralis, had a quieter 2019 in most people\u2019s books. Of course, by Astralis\u2019 standards that means they still won both of the 2019 Majors, bringing their total to four, and have reclaimed their status as the world\u2019s best team with wins at IEM Beijing and ECS Season 8, second at ESL One New York, and 3rd \u2013 4th at DreamHack Masters Malm\u00f6 2019 and the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals. Evil Geniuses, Mousesports, and Fnatic have all taken victories at premier international tournaments, FaZe Clan won BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen, and Natus Vincere, G2, and Vitality all look like they could catch fire at any moment. The Counter-Strike scene is arguably the most competitive it has ever been, and OG will have a mountain to climb if they want to become a top five team. \u201cThe top is filled with great teams at the moment,\u201d Aleksib said when asked about the current competition. \u201cWe will see who has it in them to hold their status and who will drop off eventually. We have started everything from scratch in OG and are taking one step at a time to become a better team. [I\u2019m] Looking forward to get back to playing tournaments and learn new things along the way.\u201d Since his departure from ENCE, the Finnish team has struggled to find its groove. However, after a number of early exits at big tournaments, they did manage to secure a second-place finish at the 2019 CS:GO Asia Championships. While most pundits and fans have berated ENCE for their decision to cut Aleksib, the man himself remains magnanimous and believes that his former teammates shouldn\u2019t be judged too soon. \u201cThe first couple tournaments shouldn\u2019t count for too much since they barely practiced,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will see what they are capable of doing with time.\u201d Aleksib\u2019s time with ENCE saw him rise to prominence and become recognized as an elite in-game leader who could get the best from his players. However, his task at OG will be the true test of his ability to work with a diverse group of players in an all-new environment. 2020 will be the young Finn\u2019s chance to show the world that he\u2019s here to stay, that he truly is one of the best in-game leaders in Counter-Strike, that all the praise from analysts and pundits is warranted, and that OG aren\u2019t simply here to take part.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Aleksib on OG move, ENCE\u2019s struggles, and building a roster with NBK StarLadderAleksi \u2018Aleksib\u2019 Virolainen had an incredible season. The Finnish in-game leader helped ENCE to heights that few thought they were capable of before being unceremoniously, and unexpectedly, benched. It was one of the most controversial moments of 2019 for CS:GO. Now part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37273\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}