With the recent evolution of the CS:GO roster for NIP, and Maikelele taking a back seat, there has been a chance for us to see what different players can offer to the team. It is and will continue to be highly interesting to see how a single player can affect how the whole team dynamic functions, with each offering their own unique attributes.

First we saw Marcus ’Delpan’ Larsson stepping in for the StarSeries matches. Whilst he is clearly a talented AWP player, he was also seen to bring another level of game sense to the team that impressed me.
A round in particular that stood out to me was the CT side pistol round, on Nuke, against Virtus Pro. In this round Delpan was positioned in Ramp Room, watching into Radio, whilst Friberg was holding the lower site of B. Armed with only himself, his pistol and a smoke, Delpan got a large chunk of vital information that Virtus Pro were in fact pushing through into ramp room, and heading straight for him. Some may choose to stay and deal some damage here, however they will likely be taken down the in process. Instead, the play that unfolded was a retreat down ramp into the B site, smoking off the right doorway as he passed. This left the T side only one entrance to the site, and they entered through it one by one. However waiting for them on the other side of the doorway was Friberg with his USP-S and he effectively shut them down.

This smart play slowed any terrorist momentum to a halt and won the round for the Ninjas. This is one example of the sorts of plays that Marcus can bring to a team, and how they can benefit. However it can be argued that these qualities better lie in a support rifleman, whilst the AWP player is better suited to the aggressive frag securing plays.

Secondly we got to see Aleksi ’Allu’ Jalli of 3DMAX stand in against Titan on Dust 2. Aleksi, is another highly talented AWP player who tonight proved his ability to slug it out against one of the worlds best in KennyS.

In the game he showed a level of versatility in his play that improves any team, from the ability to challenge both sides of mid, to rotations holding short A, Long A and anywhere his team needed him. Multiple times in the game Allu had the confidence in his ability to challenge KennyS at mid and won the battle. Although he ended the game at an even 14-5-14, those 14 kills were important in shutting down the Titan side as arguably their most influential player in KennyS ended the game bottom of the scoreboard with 10-0-18. Any time his death comes early in the round Titan are severely handicapped for the remainder. This also stopped him from gaining any rhythm in the game which can end incredibly badly for the opposing team.

The most impressive and complimentary point about Aleksi is that he effectively wraps the game sense of Delpan and the raw talent of Maikelele into one highly dangerous bundle. Bringing both of these to the team was an incredible boost and a stellar stand in performance.

Whilst we can not know who, or what is in store for the roster in the future on a permanent basis, we do know that we can get excited for the upcoming matches with the stand ins. Offering us a unique insight to how a team performs given different attributes, the situation can certainly be beneficial for those of you watching wondering what you can do to improve your game or team.

Written by Robert Gooderson