Mousesports shocked the world as they became the Season 10 champions of the ESL Pro League Finals in Odense. The underdog roster wasn’t anticipated to enter the finals after four of the 5 top teams made it into the playoffs race. Mousesports managed to enter the finals after some strong victories, taking down the likes of Evil Geniuses and Astralis to get there. They then met Fnatic in the Grand Finals and took the series 3-0. Thus, the international roster walks away with $250,000, a seed into IEM Katowice 2020, and a win in the Intel Grand Slam Season 3. With this impressive accomplishment set, let’s take a look into their journey over the week.
Mousesports’ run
The international squad opened the tournament with a win for once. Normally mousesports face a defeat early in the bracket, although, this time around they won their first game against ATK. Moving on, they faced Team Liquid, which handed them their only series loss of the tournament. From there, it was strong showings in the lower bracket. Odense graced an advancing mousesports to the ESL Pro League Playoffs.
In the quarter-finals, mousesports faced off against Evil Geniuses, a team they freshly beat at the CS:GO Asia Championships. What was an enjoyable series between EG and mouse quickly turned into a shocking tournament moment as Evil Geniuses succumbed to mouseports, losing 16-0 on Nuke.
Following their stomp of EG, their next series was against home town favourite and world number one, Astralis. What seemed like the end of the road for mouse became another shocking victory for the then presented underdogs. Train was super close, going into extended overtime with mouse picking the win 22-19. Form there, Astralis bounced back on Overpass to take a comfortable 16-9 win. The deciding map on Dust II was the definition of close, going all 30 rounds. What seemed like an Astralis win after a dominant win was met with another calm and collected mousesports T-side Dust II. The impressive turnaround saw mouse taking the game 16-14 and silencing the entirety of Denmark in the process.
Then came Championship Sunday. Their opponents this time, the resurgent Fnatic, who were looking for yet another Intel Grand Slam point. After silencing the crowd yesterday, the mousesports roster had earned the respect of the local fans, with Mouse’s Danes in Finn “Karrigan” Anderson coach Allan “Rejin” Petersen.
The hometown advantage seemed to spring to life as mousesports once again faced off against a top three team. This time, the result wasn’t as much of a shock. Mousesports clean swept the series 3-0, with Inferno and Mirage ending 16-11, and Train finishing 16-10.
The achievement
Mousesports has achieved an amazing turnaround considering where they were just over a month ago. The roster saw exits just before the playoffs in the largest tournaments on the calendar. The results were so bad that Karrigan mentioned on Twitter they would adapt and change roles and positions within the team. Fast forward several weeks, the team has won back-to-back events.
Their first trophy lift came at the CS:GO Asia Championships. What was a tournament that left a lot to be desired, mousesports clearly gained some much-needed confidence. Moving on, this boost translated into results for the mouse line up. Their ability to win a bo3 series against 3 of the top 5 teams is incredible, highlighting their sudden growth.
As for Karrigan, this further highlights his in-game leading ability. Karrigan is seen as a 6-month fit who will elevate a team in the 6-month golden period. After that, the team stagnates and can drop off. Considering Karrigan’s presence on the team dates 8 months, this turnaround shows he’s a better fit on mouse than he was on FaZe or Astralis. Furthermore, Karrigan’s leadership helped the team to beat an on-form Astralis. The last time mousesports were able to win an ESL event was back in ESL One New York in 2018, where they reverse swept Team Liquid in the grand final.
It is safe to say that mousesports are on form, and there are still more events to go. As mentioned in our previous article, mouz is a team to monitor as they fight for a comeback in 2020. Their victory at the ESL Pro League Finals certainly has them on track.
They will appear at the CS-Summit 5 next week, and the EPICENTER 2019 event the week later. There’s no question that the world will be watching and wondering what this reformed roster can do, and they most certainly won’t be an underdog for most people moving forward.
Make sure to follow Dart Frog on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for all the latest CS:GO news and analysis.
Featured image courtesy of ESL
