Last night saw the conclusion of this weeks DingIT $2,000 cup, which played host to the newly formed CeX team in their first publicly broadcast online debut. The CeX team formed last week from the amalgamation of the remains of the former CeX squad, and a majority of the former Reason Gaming UK side. This essentially saw the Reason roster take on the two CeX members and transfer over to their organisation.
A promising start for the CeX team saw them advance through to the upper bracket semi-final, where they found themselves up against the Serbian representatives of the skins gambling website CS:GO Saloon. Quite where the idea of a the saloon came from remains a mystery, however the Brits did not allow such matters to throw them off their game. Both of the maps played went in the favour of CeX, in a rather robotic fashion, seeing them take a 2-0 win over their opposition and advancing them to the upper bracket final. HLTV.org’s man of the match fell the way of one of the two non-former Reason players, Jake “Boaster” Howlett.
Waiting for the newly formed team in the upper finals were the eloquently named “DICKHOUSE”, a team comprised solely of Estonian players, none of which stand out as established players. Nevertheless, the CeX side seemingly struggled against their Estonian opposition, losing their map choice of Cache with a crushing 16-5 scoreline. After brushing themselves off, the Brits were quick to bounce back with a one-sided win of their own on DICKHOUSE’s map choice of Mirage, taking a 16-7 win with a dominant CT side. The third map went much closer than the previous two, and even after a shaky start, CeX almost managed to field a comeback in the second half. Unfortunately for them, DICKHOUSE managed to close it out, dropping CeX into the consolidation final.
This saw a singular best of one replay from the upper bracket semi-final, as team CS:GO Saloon had bested their Norwegian opposition in the round prior. The map choice was a rather interesting one, with CS:GO Saloon opting not to rule out Mirage, despite losing to CeX on it the previous evening. This should have given CeX the advantage, however CS:GO Saloon had obviously come prepared, with the will to show their loss may have been a one off. A solid six rounds fell the way of CeX on the terrorist side, which would suggest that the rest of the game should have been plain sailing. However, a transformed set of Serbians emerged the eventual victors after CeX dropped seven consecutive CT rounds. This saw them finish in third place.
What can be said for CeX after their debut performance? Well whilst it may have been a just-for-fun effort to see what the team could pull off in a short space of time, they have managed to show a few things. The team are not bad at throwing things together at short notice, as evidenced by their solid T side performances on almost every map played throughout the tournament. Whether this comes down to a hard regime of practice or a good natural chemistry is unknown, but the team have shown that they have a good foundation to build on. With that being said, however, it is pretty evident that CeX may have rushed into things, and revealed their hand a little too early. Though the team may have been well practiced even before they announced their new roster, to come out and compete in such a tournament with such little time to prepare is a ballsy move. With more time to prepare, they would have (and perhaps even still should have) taken their share of the cash up for grabs, but without a properly structured approach, the team suffered for it.
With a bit more time behind the curtains, the CeX team should start producing some solid performances. However if they are just in it to try and grab at whatever they can without the proper preparation, the team may not make it particularly far.
