It's safe to say that the summer of 2023 brought many changes to top CS:GO lineups. Additionally, the main tournament of the summer, Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023, has concluded. It's now time to summarize all the roster changes and pick the top five that proved themselves at IEM Cologne 2023.
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023 became a litmus test for tier-1 teams, as this prestigious LAN tournament is where everyone gives their best. This very event showed us approximately how long teams need to recover after shuffles.
Let's start with the championship standings to give more context to our following words. As we see, teams that didn't make any changes or made minimal ones are at the top of the list, like G2 or Team Vitality. On the other hand, teams that made significant changes, like NAVI, are at the bottom.
1. Astralis
First, let's discuss the Danish organization, Astralis. The changes in their lineup didn't generate as much hype as NAVI, which is quite strange. After all, the team immediately lost its captain, Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander, as well as a young player who previously came from the Astralis Talent academy, Alexander "Altekz" Givskov.
As a result of these changes, the team acquired:
Even referring to statistics – the team's average rating was 6.08, which is a pretty good result for a new team.
The head coach of Astralis, Peter "casle" Toftbo Ardenskjold, shared his perspective on the team's situation after the arrival of the two new players:
[You have two new players. How challenging is it for them to perform in front of such a large arena, the cathedral of Counter-Strike, or does it only add to the energy?]I think the team is in a mood where it feels like just an extra boost of energy. I believe they handled the crowd and other elements quite well. Moreover, Dev1ce, with his vast experience, provided support, so we could lean on him a bit, and we just did it as a team, I think.
The American organization underwent significant changes in their roster. They picked up a new captain in the form of Denis “electroNic” Sharipov and also acquired a new anchor, Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy. In their very first tournament, they secured a 5-8th place.
We also asked buster for his take on the performance at IEM Cologne 2023:
[Are you satisfied with your performance at IEM Cologne 2023, considering you didn't specifically prepare for it?]I'm glad we made it to the playoffs, but of course, I'm not satisfied with my individual gameplay. I could've played much better. If we had trained together for even one day, it would have been a lot easier for me. Because I hadn't played for an entire month, barely even touched a computer. It turned out that I had to play the tournament, and on different roles, in a different structure — everything was new. It was tough.
However, I believe you can notice that gradually, with each game, I was gaining momentum and feeling a bit better.
It's worth noting that Cloud9 played with this new roster for no more than 1.5 weeks, and after the start of IEM Cologne, they even played with a substitute, which speaks volumes about the quality replacements of Perfecto and electroNic.
Despite these changes, Cloud9 advanced to the playoffs and throughout the tournament, they showed good results. For instance, victories over teams such as 9INE, Monte, and GamerLegion.
The team's average rating stood at a solid 6.
Here's how the renowned English-speaking analyst, Alexander "kassad" Trifunovic, reacted to the new lineup:
Cloud9 made the best roster shuffle, and with the return of Ax1le, they also have a great chance. They are one of the best teams now, considering the changes.
3. Team Vitality
The French organization Team Vitality made only one change this summer, and it was not out of necessity but due to the legendary Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen's desire to take a short break from competitive play.
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To fill his spot, the team acquired the young Israeli, Shahar "flameZ" Shushan.
For a team of this caliber, roster changes always pose challenges in terms of adaptation. However, despite this, Team Vitality reached the semifinals of IEM Cologne 2023, defeating OG, MOUZ, and Cloud9 along the way.
The team's average rating for the 12 maps they played stood at 6.16, which is a pretty decent result, especially as no one drastically underperformed or overachieved during the championship.
4. Natus Vincere
And now we finally come to our beloved NAVI, who, in our opinion, made the boldest changes. Specifically, the team acquired three new players:
Moreover, they switched their in-game communication to English entirely. It's worth noting that this is already the second tournament for the new lineup of the "Born to Win", but regardless, such changes are a major adjustment for the roster.
This sentiment is echoed by many analysts, who believe it may take up to six months for the team to fully realize their potential.
Natus Vincere has shown that the team has immense potential. They have the skill and determination to improve, as evidenced by their gameplay which looks much more structured and clearer compared to their first tournament.
Given the short break between tournaments, there's a high chance we will see a completely revitalized team in terms of gameplay at Gamers8 2023.
The renowned English-speaking analyst Aleksandr "kassad" Trifunovic assessed the team's performance in the tournament:
[NAVI underwent the most radical changes. Did the team become faster with AleksiB in-game? And what do you think about their performance in Cologne?]"The most intriguing part, quite simply because of s1mple and the fact that NAVI transitioned to an international lineup. They've added talented players. Overall, their gameplay wasn't what I initially expected, but this is just the beginning, right? It's a pity there isn't more time, as this is my event of the year. I would have loved to see NAVI in the playoffs. Obviously, we always want to see s1mple on stage, so that's what we'll miss this year. On the whole, I'd give them a satisfactory grade, but we still need at least a couple of months to form a proper judgment about their level and potential."
He also commented on the AleksiB and b1ad3 partnership:
[Can Aleksib function in B1ad3's system? Up until now, he has operated within his own system.]"I'm confident this is his last shot as an IGL. I believe he can do it. I've always believed so. He's the kind of IGL who prefers a bit more micromanagement than relying on intuition. But that's okay; it can work. B1ad3 is definitely one of the best coaches and always has been. If they align their visions, they'll collaborate effectively. Here's the thing, though: we don't know, as we don't have insights into what happens during their practices."
In this tournament, the team placed 7th-8th, defeating only OG and FaZe Clan along the way. But looking at the stats, we see that the team's average rating stood at 5.8.
Such a rating is deemed acceptable for a team that has just made such substantial changes to its lineup.
5. GamerLegion
Following their phenomenal performance at the recent major, many expect great results from GamerLegion. It's no wonder, given that the team secured 2nd place at the BLAST.tv Major Paris 2023.
After the major concluded, the team lost two of its strong players:
- Kamil "siuhy" Szkarażek (captain)
- Ivan “iM” Mikhail
And in their places came:
In the tournament, the team achieved 7-8th place, managing to defeat only Fnatic and TheMongolz but stumbled against Cloud9, failing to progress to the playoffs.
Notably, the team lost its star player iM this summer, but even so, they had an impressive tournament run, nearly making it to the playoffs, only to lose the crucial match.
We can't fail to share kassad's words on GamerLegion's new lineup:
"I must say, I've been pleasantly surprised by GamerLegion. After the first game, I didn't think they would pull through, but they showcased some solid Counter-Strike. They narrowly missed out."
The team's average rating for the championship was 5.8.
IEM Cologne 2023 was the primary tournament this summer. Up next, we anticipate Gamers8, which will conclude the summer of 2023. Let's recall that Gamers8 kicks off on August 14th and will run until August 20th.
IEM Cologne 2023 took place from July 26th to August 6th in Cologne, Germany. 24 teams competed for a prize pool of $1,000,000. From this amount, G2 earned $400,000 and received an invitation to IEM Katowice 2024. Detailed match statistics, final bracket, and more can be found on the tournament's page.
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