Kettering is set to become a battlefield for the best the UK scene has to offer, but this time round, our beloved grassroots tournament is playing host to a bunch of unfamiliar faces.
European teams are making their way to the Kettering conference centre in their masses to compete for the VRS points that they so desperately desire to bolster their rankings.
UKCSGO Spoke to some members of the UK Scene to gauge who they think will be the best of the new faces that will be doing battle at EPIC.LAN 45. Here is what the UK scene has to say about the teams from abroad.
Bezos Boi’s Byfield
Alex “Byfield” Byfield made an important point when asked for his opinion: There’s more to having better teams at LAN than just playing against them; we can also stand behind them and learn.
Having the ability to not only play the better teams but also watch them in person and see how they communicate and play the game is priceless for younger players coming through.
As Byfield says, the benefit of having players come from abroad is immeasurable for UK players. The potential for improvement for anyone at the event is unparalleled.
Getting to stand behind some of these teams that, as cores have made it to big event playoffs. Iberian Soul made it to the Cologne playoffs in 2022, and to see how they operate will be enormous for people who want to take their communication to the next level.
Byfield also touches on how great it is in general for teams to be coming from abroad, how it breathes new life into an already thriving tournament.
Alliance, FUT, Preasy and The Last Resort are great to have at EPIC.LAN! It’s such a breath of fresh air having european teams compete at British LANs.
Any new competition is good competition. Having new UK players come up and play at LAN is always a highlight, but also having talent come from abroad with new and unique playstyles will allow people to be challenged in the server in ways they haven’t been before. Allowing people to elevate themselves to a new level.
But for Byfield aside from himself and his teammates on Bezos Bois, he says he will be cheering for Owen “smooya” Butterfield and his Spanish compañeros on Iberian Soul.
I will be cheering for Iberian Soul though 😉
Ethan “Fl0wZ” Rogerson
For the former owner of K10, Alliance is his favourite to go deep at EPIC.LAN 45. He mentions that their time together as a roster will come in as a massive benefit to the team, and he’s right. The benefit of a deep map pool at an event like EPIC.LAN cannot be understated; it completely removes the worry of being beaten on a map by a worse team that has only practised that map.
Though Fl0wZ does mention that the French team FUT could upset the Swedish powerhouse. It’s worth mentioning, however, that Fl0wZ was asked prior to Iberian Soul signing up for EPIC.LAN.
It should be Alliance really. They’ve been together the longest and do ALRIGHT in European events. Maybe FUT could upset them? But i doubt it.
Fl0wZÂ also gives his opinion on who the worst European team coming to LAN is, and he did not hold back.
Its got to be wildlotus. b0RUP has been washed since 2021, birdfromsky has no hands, vegi…. keoz is alright i guess. This just doesn’t make sense my head and I dont see them beating Alliance or FUT in a BO3.
Wildlotus have since been signed to The Last Resort, an organisation with deep roots in UK Counter-Strike. It’s going to take a lot for The Last Resort to impress Fl0wZ; however, he may raise a valid point. The working parts of teams like Alliance are tighter and more robust, not to mention FUT, Alliance and even Iberian Soul, to an extent, with honorary Spaniard smooya, have a sense of national cohesion, something this international roster doesn’t have.
Within Counter-Strike, international teams have succeeded even if national teams were known to be the best in the past. Even right now, the UK’s best William “mezii” Merriman plays on Vitality, an international roster. But TLR doesn’t have the stability that a high-tier international team like Vitality has. With three roster moves in four months, could this instability and lack of national identity be TLR’s downfall?
Ben “Schmodda” Hodder
When chatting to UKCSGO, Schmodda raised an important point about the environment. He believes that AaB will flourish under the lights of the Kettering conference centre, and that’s what will propel them to do well at EPIC.LAN 45
I think it’ll be AaB, I think with the pedigree of players they have, they won’t be shaken by the environment of EPIC.LAN compared to other events.
This is an important point to consider when talking about the European teams coming to Kettering. Many of them are used to playing from their bedroom or from a studio. They might have played in LAN halls or cafes a long time ago, but as professionals for a long time, those days will be behind them.
However, Schmodda believed AaB has what it takes to push past this change of environment and put on a strong display in the KCC.
He also raises a valid point about resources that other teams might not have.
As well, the organisation itseld has a lot of teams in higher levels of competition which inherently means more recourses will be available to them from the org.
AaB will be able to support their Counter-Strike players in ways that UK teams typically won’t receive due to considerably higher volumes of cash flow at the top level. A small, little difference to comfort or the quality of rental PC available to them could go a long way to helping them make that deep run in this event.
Controversially, however, Schmodda still maintains that UK CS will reign supreme.
I do believe they wont win, I think a UK team will get that prize.
Leyna “Affinity” McQuillin
EPIC.LAN’s very own stage host and UKCSGO alumni gave some thoughts on the Counter-Strike she’ll be talking about throughout this weekend.
Affinity is of the impression that TLR will thrive under the new environment
I think its going to be super exciting to see. But in my mind it’s got to be The Last Resort. It’s a new and unique environment for them to play in.
Perhaps controversially, Affinity believes that the change in environment isn’t going to hinder the best of Europe but rather it’s going to help them excel and propel them to the top of the Kettering event.
This is a return to their roots for many European players, where they may have begun their journey in places like a LAN hall or cafe. Could that unlock a new level for them, or at least the level required to take home the coveted EPIC.LAN trophy?
However, Affinity also believes that the competition will be fierce this time around, stating:
Theres a real chance we could see upsets against any one of these European teams, however.
The long days and many matches could hinder the European titans coming into Kettering. Combine this with an improving grassroots scene, and there could be some surprise results during the weekend.
Xander “One Wing” Derham
One Wing is one of the voices you’ll be hearing over the course of the weekend on the main EPIC.LAN stream. Debuting at the last LAN as a caster, One Wing returns to EPIC.LAN giving his opinion on the European teams at the event.
One Wing echoes Fl0wZ’s sentiment that Alliance are going to be the one to watch; however, he wasn’t sold on them immediately.
Didn’t expect much from them when I heard they’d be attending EPIC.LAN, but their results as of recent have caught my attention.
He’s right too, yesterday morning, the 17th of July, Alliance won a best of five grand final 3-0, dropping only 14 rounds against ENERGYULTRA, to win European Pro League Season 26. In this run to the finals, they took down solid teams like CPH Wolves and even The Last Resort, then playing under WildLotus.
One Wing goes on to highlight some of the individuals on Alliance, too
Watching them play, eraa looks like a player who is able to dictate games when on form, whilst the recent addition of poiii has settled in very well and looks to be a real talent. Even despite their loss to NXT prior to poiiis arrival, I think theyre in with a good shot.
Alliance has star power that’s for sure, in the European Pro League final they played earlier, Alex “poiii” Nyholm Sundgren dropped a 1.52 HLTV rating, and Sean “eraa” Knutsson also dropped a 1.51. Granted, it was a 3-0 stomp, so high ratings are to be expected, but the ability for multiple individuals to play really well is something that can’t be underestimated.
One Wing also talks about a team he doesn’t have too much faith in: FUT
I really dont know how to feel about FUT. Jackz has always been a rock wherever he has played, unspectacular, but has never let his team down. The rest of the roster, bar maybe Nivera, leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion. misutaaa had all the hype in the world, but if anything has regressed since he signed for Vitality, whilst drac and devoduvek have struggled to catch the attention of the wider world.
Unfortunately, due to an emergency, Nabil “Nivera” Benriltom will not be attending EPIC.LAN 45 and SIXER has replaced him.
Despite a decent 1.19 rating in the last three months for Etienne “drac” Salaün, the team is yet to do anything of note. Losses to teams like ESC and Forze reload, the French squad seems to be struggling against Tier-2 and 3 opponents consistently.
Alessandro “Sh1n” Scaglia
Sh1n mirrors what his commentary duo in One Wing had to say about Alliance. He believes they’re gonna be one of the strongest teams at the event, but unlike his co-caster, he thinks the experience of the older players will power them through.
Having players like twist will be going to help a lot with experience/leadership.
That being said, it was tough for him to stay away from the Swedish stars as he mentions that poiii, the new signing, is looking fierce.
The new guy they signed, poiii, stats wise looks very solid and I think he’ll have a good event.
Sh1n, however, goes on to contradict One Wing when talking about the French FUT.
Personally I’m so excited to see what FUT do just because of the amount of experience they have on their team.
Between multiple Tier-1 titles for Kévin “misutaaa” Rabier, as well as a wealth of experience in top teams from Audric “Jackz” Jug, there’s plenty of knowledge to go around in this Strong French roster.
