What seemed at face to be just a way for tarik to escape his chains soon proved to be a significant improvement for OpTic’s CS:GO lineup.

OpTic beat hefty competitors during the group stage at ESL One New York, only to fall two rounds short of making the playoffs in their match against Virtus.Pro.

Although OpTic’s actual placement in the tournament isn’t the kind of thing that will go down in history, their sharp form left favorable impressions.

Results

Qualifiers

2-0 OpTic vs RNG
2-1 OpTic vs Immortals
2-1 OpTic vs Cloud9

To say the least, their qualification came as quite a surprise.

OpTic’s victory against Immortals already showed that they were in form to take on top level NA talent. Beating Cloud9 the game after also made the prior feat a more convincing demonstration of their skill.

After all, Cloud9 had been bringing ever stronger results to the table with Stewie2k solidifying himself as one of NA’s most consistent players.

As a result, OpTic already had many eyes on them by the time they showed up in the Big Apple—tarik’s home turf.

Tournament Performance: ESL One New York

They won two out of five games in the Swiss group. Although it wasn’t enough to take them to the playoffs, the style in which they beat their opponents demonstrated the roster’s potential—much of which is potentially still untapped.

The games that OpTic won against Astralis and G2, two reputable European teams with plenty success to their name, showed that they can compete in terms of mechanical skill.

OpTic completely ran over G2. Normally that would be a huge compliment to OpTic’s strengths, but this time it seemed to be the result of fewer mistakes as opposed to better play. In fact, G2 looked entirely lost in their match against OpTic.

The same can be said for Astralis. And although OpTic’s game against the Danish stars seemed just as convincing as their game against G2, Astralis’ form was slumping throughout the event.

Although they didn’t make the playoffs, their run into the 5th round of the Swiss group system effectively acts as a quarter final position.

Implications for OpTic

NAF was able to prove his worth over the weight of recent criticism. His lack of fragging power fell under the focus of heavy scrutiny after daps stopped starting for the team.

The roster seems to have done really well considering their recent changes. For a team that has still been trying to establish itself domestically, seeing how they fared at the online qualifiers was already a positive surprise. Watching how well they performed on LAN drove the weight of their potential home.

And although it’s strange that the team felt the need to change roles after the event, their players are diverse enough to work around the adjustment without it turning into too much of a setback.