2019 StarLadder Berlin Major - Mousesports Team Preview

This is the culmination of a five month rebuild for Mousesports. After bombing out in the Katowice qualifiers, Mousesports completely overhauled their roster, bringing in a new In Game Leader and two young star players in frozen and woxic.

Now, with their new roster set, practiced, and on the way up in the scene, it’s time to redeem themselves with a deep run at the StarSeries Berlin Major. They have perhaps the furthest to go out of any of the real contenders, depending on how you feel about NRG.

Last Six Months Stats (on LAN)

Record: 37/13

Team K/D: 1.18

Map Pool:

Mirage – Played 10 times, 90.0% win rate
Inferno – Played 12 times, 75.0% win rate
Nuke – Played 4 times, 75.0% win rate
Train – Played 11 times, 72.7% win rate
Dust2 – Played 6 times, 66.7% win rate
Vertigo – Played 3 times, 66.7% win rate
Overpass – Played 4 times, 50% win rate

Player Ratings:

Woxic – Rating 1.23, K/D 1.31
ropz – Rating 1.21, K/D 1.35
frozen – Rating 1.18, K/D 1.22
chrisJ – Rating 1.13, K/D 1.14
karrigan – Rating 1.03, K/D 0.95

In the preface, I mentioned NRG, which I think make for a good sister team for Mousesports. Both teams have a roster composed of incredible fraggers, complimented by a top tier IGL. We could argue over which team’s core is better, because I don’t really know that answer to that question. Ethan, Brehze, CeRq and Tarik versus frozen, Ropz, and woxic is a tough discussion to have, and depends a lot on your opinions on Ethan and Brehze. Personally, I think it’s too close to call.

My point is, this team is stacked. While woxic and frozen are both very young, and about to take the biggest stage in CS for the first time, I have no doubt that they’ll put on a tour de force at the StarSeries Berlin Major.

Players

Woxic

It’s finally time for woxic to shine. He was the bright spot on an otherwise disappointing HellRaisers team for a long time, and he is ready to take on Tier one. He’s had nothing but excellent performances so far on Mouz, blowing the European Minor away with a 1.21 Rating over 11 maps.

There’s an argument to be made for him as the best player on this team. That’s certainly what the numbers reflect. Personally I think Ropz’s ceiling is higher, due to his more refined and well rounded skill set, but your opinions may differ, and I would understand. Mousesports have a wealth of young talent now, and it makes them hard to bet against.

Ropz

There will always be a soft spot in my heart for Ropz. He was my favorite of the crop of young players from last year, a group including Brollan, Twistzz, and sergej. While Ropz landed in one of the best situations possible for him, this new group might actually be a better fit. He’s always been a passive, mid round sort of guy, which means he should, in theory at least, play well off of woxic and frozen.

Not to mention he’s now paired with Karrigan, one of the best IGLs of the last two years. While Chrisj is certainly a respectable IGL at this point, he’s no Karrigan. Playing with the Finn could unlock Ropz’s potential and bring him to an even higher level than we saw him playing at with Chrisj and Oskar in the last year and a half. Ropz could be a serious dark horse EVP candidate at the StarSeries Berlin Major.

Frozen

Frozen is the most enigmatic player on this roster. He’s the youngest player on the roster, and arguably the most important. Ropz is a very reliable player, and woxic is red hot over the last three months, leaving Frozen as the biggest unknown.

When Frozen has a good game, Mousesports look almost unbeatable. He’s the dynamic rifler that Karrigan needs to make his system work, and that Ropz needs to create space.

Chrisj

Chrisj is one of the most undervalued players in pro CS. He’s exceedingly versatile, a good leader, a dedicated worker, all the wonderful glowing things that an analyst can say about a player.

While he won’t necessarily wow you during the StarSeries Berlin Major, he will certainly contribute in major ways to winning Counter Strike, which is what you want from a player that’s paired with Karrigan and Ropz.

Karrigan

Karrigan was a huge pick up for this squad. While I still like the old Mousesports roster, when you have an opportunity to pair Karrigan with this group, you do it every time.

Assuming everything breaks right for this roster, they should be a force of nature. Karrigan’s fast and free flowing system should complement the rest of the players perfectly, bringing out their strengths and minimizing their weaknesses.

Not to mention that Karrigan is capable of fragging, at least in theory. While not a prolific fragging IGL in the same way that Tarik or FalleN is, he can certainly hold his own at a high level.

Map Pool

While their map pool still isn’t super well defined, what I’ve seen so far inspires confidence. They don’t shy away from any map in the pool, and they’re willing to take the fight to their opponent whether they’re on Mirage or Vertigo.

The top end of their map pool is impressive. A 90% win rate on Mirage, 75% on Inferno both with a respectable amount of plays. Showing mastery of a map is important for new teams, as it gives them a chance in pick bans against teams like Liquid.

What makes me nervous for Mouz is their Vertigo. While they have a positive win rate, and they’re willing to play it, the map is still too new. Combine that with their lackluster Overpass, and they’ll have a hard time pulling out 2-1 victories over good teams. The decider in competitive series will be tough for them to pull through on.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Firepower

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times. These guys are all really good at killing people. There will only be a few teams at the StarSeries Berlin Major that can go toe to toe with Mousesports if we are talking about just clicking on people’s heads. Top to bottom, their roster is excellent.

Inexperience

Mousesports manage to be one of the youngest teams in attendance while also having Karrigan and Chrisj on their roster, which is impressive. While Ropz doesn’t count here, due to his almost excessive amount of high level play, frozen and woxic have not had the benefit of playing true tier one Counter Strike before. The StarSeries Berlin Major will be their first tournament of this magnitude, which is always a challenge.

TL;DR

Mousesports will definitely be one of the most fun teams to watch at the StarSeries Berlin Major. Whether they win or not, their combination of fresh young talent, experienced veterans, and top tier In Game Leading will make them must watch CS.

Luckily for them, it looks like they might win a lot. Despite their starting distance from the Grand Finals, I like them as a (semi) dark horse candidate for playoffs.