On October 13th at 20:00 EEST, the match of Group C in ESL Challenger League Season 46: Europe between SAW and Looking4Org will kick off. Prior to this, the Portuguese team dealt with Pompa, while the French faced off against EYEBALLERS.
Individual Form
Looking4Org is one of the most stable teams in Tier 2. The French consistently perform well in CCT playoff tournaments and often compete for slots in major tournaments. However, they have struggled to find a permanent organization to support them. Perhaps Counter-Strike 2 is their chance to secure stability.
Looking4Org began their journey in the new game with their participation in ESL Challenger Jonköping: European Closed Qualifier CS2 2023. In CS2, the team has already played 11 matches and defeated teams such as BIG, Apeks, and Bad News Eagles. They only lost to The Witchers and Spirit.
SAW made roster changes a few months ago but has not lost their quality and continues to perform at their usual level. With the addition of players like João "story" Vieira and Michel "ewjerkz" Magalhães, the average age of the roster has decreased to 25.6 years. In CS2, SAW played against not only Pompa but also FTW at Aveiro TechDays Cup 2023. However, the Portuguese team lost that match.
Map Pool
Both teams have banned Mirage as their perma-ban map. However, the Portuguese team is willing to play this map if needed, so Looking4Org will ban Mirage. This expands SAW's possibilities in the map veto. Most likely, they will remove Overpass, which is a strong map for the French but not favored by the Portuguese.
Expect Vertigo from SAW and Nuke from Looking4Org as their map picks. The third map will likely be either Inferno or Ancient, both of which suit both teams.
Prediction
The match is expected to be close, and two maps might not be enough to determine the winner. Looking4Org has a significant advantage in form and Counter-Strike skill. They have competed against strong and experienced opponents and won nine out of eleven matches. SAW's main advantage lies in the map veto, as the Portuguese team also does not play Mirage but can afford to remove another map that is unfavorable for them.
It's worth noting that ESL Challenger League Season 46: Europe is taking place from October 5th to December 10th, with a prize pool of $100,000. Additionally, the event's finalists will secure slots in ESL Pro League Season 19.
Header image: ESL Copyright | Helena Kristiansson
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