Early game start this weekend

Good morning!

Well, we imagine. We like to think that you wake up for work, school or a day of pugging to the sound of our email entering your inbox.

Perhaps that’s wishful thinking.

Whatever time you’re waking up, there’s Counter-Strike probably starting soon, as both ESL Challenger and Impact start today. Around 10:30am CEST, which for us gamers, is very early.

There’s some intriguing teams there; everyone at Challenger has something to prove. 00NATION need to prove they made the right move in signing half of GODSENT six months after signing a whole new roster, for example.

FURIA need to prove that losing to 9z was either an off-day, or that 9z are actually good. Outsiders just made a move and looked shaky at Roobet. MIBR can prove that they’re more than plucky upstarts, while Sprout can prove… something, we’re sure.

That leaves Rare Atom and HUMMER, who are the two underdogs here; but HUMMER looked solid enough at the EPL Conference, while Rare Atom are the best team in Asia.

Yes, we know. But it’s the old Vici Gaming team, with Kaze and JamYoung. It’s got to be better than watching TYLOO.

While Challenger has an eclectic mix of tier 2 teams, ESL Impact collects eight of the best teams in the world in the female scene. Nigma Galaxy are considered the favourites, but CLG Red and FURIA fe aren’t too far off.

FURIA’s team, incidentally, play a very free-flowing style, not too dissimilar to the main team. They’re super fun to watch, so if you’re looking for an entry point, go with them.