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Rickeh to CLG and why context matters for future Australian moves

Fostering domestic Australian esports growth is essential.
Expert
7th March, 2017
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Originally leaked by Dekay, former Renegades/Immunity Australian pro Ricky ‘Rickeh’ Mulholland will be filing the open fifth spot on CLG, created by the departure of Yassine ‘Subroza’ Taofik mid last month.

While this move seems jarring and promising for the Australian scene, before anyone jumps the gun, consider the historical context surrounding the move, and the state of all parties involved that helped make it happen.

The top-end roster strength of the Australian scene
What many international fans mightn’t realise, is that Australia has more online leagues being played out simultaneously than any other region in the world. At the time of writing, there is the CyberGamer Pro League Season 10 (CGPL 10), AU ESEA Premier, the ESL ANZ Championship (ANZ League), and the ZEN Esports League (ZEN). Four online leagues with Rank-S games, and Intradark (rank-s equivalent) matches to go alongside them. This tally doesn’t include the myriad APAC/Asian online qualifiers for international events either.

There is a lot of Australian Counter-Strike being played, and even if it’s online, at least there is a large sample size to work with.

As a result, not only is there a very clear indication of who the best teams in the region are, but also unofficial, yet obvious times to make big roster moves. With every online league ending in LAN qualification for the top side(s), and the average span of this online play lasting for over seven weeks, top teams are incentivised to stick together for this period in order to retain their spot at the LAN and also to perform well when they get there.

Changing one player in a team like Legacy, Immunity, or Avant Garde would mean fielding a new roster in three different competitions, with three different sets of teams looking to tear the new roster apart and wreck any chances of qualifying for a LAN.

This means that for one of OCE’s most decorated hybrid stars like Rickeh, spots on teams worth his time are almost impossible to come by. The only clear Australian option for him would’ve been a move to Winterfox, but given that they just picked up ‘Raz’, this move seems unlikely.

Needless to say, a return back home would not have been as an active player for a top side.

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CLG in dire straits
Counter Logic Gaming are, by every definition, a failed top NA side. They boast two seasoned NA journeymen in ‘FNS’ and ‘Cutler’, and the theoretically mouldable skill ceilings of both ‘koosta’ and ‘nahtE’. However, CLG has failed at every possible corner, in every possible way.

To put it into perspective, CLG.red have attended more LAN events than CLG since ELEAGUE Season 1 finished.

With this in mind, when ‘Subroza’ departed on his own terms – at least according to public information – this left a team on the verge of irrelevancy without a fifth and in need of an experienced hand. While the NA scene is filled to the brim with experienced onliners and former seasoned LAN circuit contenders, if any team in the region has had its share of these players and reached little, to no success, it’s CLG.

A player on CLG generally goes one of three ways: dips below expected performance and is then kicked/leaves for a rival NA org, maintains their level of play to a mediocre standard and stays with CLG, or goes above and beyond expectations and is farmed out by one of the top NA teams.

This is the case for most teams who don’t have the financial buying power to contend for titles by buying superstars, but have enough money to be held responsible for missing pick ups of their scenes ‘next big thing’. Unfortunately for CLG, their chances on the ‘next big things’ have largely failed, and suggests why they publicly stated their desire for a more experienced and seasoned player to join their ranks.

A cube for a square hole
On all fronts, it makes perfect sense why Rickeh was picked up. Back home, his chances of finding a decent team were almost non-existent, unless something unforeseen occurred, like a top player not being able to play at Australia’s biggest LAN in history due to a VAC ban from two years ago… but even then it’s unlikely. This leaves him situated in America, and without a team.

CLG are desperately in need of a more experienced hand that can be acquired relatively cheaply and without much risk.

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Not only has Rickeh been around CS:GO since the beginning, but his tenure dates right back into the Melbourne 1.6 scene – competing in local LANs. Already being in America massively decreases his barrier to join an NA side, and also the obvious implications of an Australian player joining an American team is a large incentive on its own for cross-culture pollination.

This context should be taken into account before the community starts making brash predictions about the future of more Australian players integrating into NA sides. Although this is for sure a big step in the right direction, it is still yet to be seen just how effective Rickeh can actually play in CLG, and also just how unique the circumstances around the move were.

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