After qualifiers across continents, all the teams have been decided for ESL Impact Season 2, and the competition looks fiercer than ever! In my first post I gave you a taste of what ESL Impact is all about and how the league will play out. The skeleton in place, it's time to add the brains, the lungs and the beating heart! In this post I'll be going through all the teams and storylines you'll want to follow this season. Strap in!
The competition heats up in Europe
Kicking things off with Europe, it's no surprise to see Nigma Galaxy top of the list of invited teams. Undisputedly the best team in the scene, NGX come into S2 as the reigning champs, with trophies from both Dallas and Valencia. The star of Nigma Galaxy is AWPer ANa, arguably the best player in the scene. Vilga, IGL of the team and veteran of women's CS was also MVP of ESL Impact Valencia. They have yet to drop a series in any ESL Impact official! 🤠
The Iberian mix of BIG EQUIPA made it to LAN in both Season 1 and Valencia, going all the way to the semi-finals in Dallas. After starting the year as 'equipa', they were one of the first ESL Impact teams to be picked up by a big org - literally BIG in this case! Not getting the results they hoped for at Valencia, they have brought in the fresh talent of Mariam to replace Aidy, with role shifts across the team.
Another org that joined us early on was NAVI, signing Polish squad Totalne Gituwy following a flawless Season 1 group run. The NAVI Javelins unfortunately didn't make Dallas finals, but redeemed themselves with a great showing at Valencia and sit as favourites alongside BIG EQUIPA in their group. Look to Vicu on the AWP and the rifling prowess of Angelka to be their tickets to victory.
The fourth invited team for Europe are the newly signed NIP! It may be a fresh roster, but the players certainly are not new. The GODSENT Fe core of ASTRA, Minnie, and pullox - who were an invited team in Season 1 and played on LAN at Valencia - are joined by the Swedish duo of 7licious and jenkon formerly of Copenhagen Flames Female. Plenty of reasons to be excited for their debut this season! 🥷
Joining BIG EQUIPA and NAVI Javelins in Europe Group B are MostValuablePlayers and Astralis (another exciting new signing!) coming through open qualifiers. If you watched Season 1, you'll be familiar with many of the players in these two teams! MVP are led by Potya who played AWP for gribs, and f6tal formerly of NOFEAR5. The team have had great success in recent cash cups, and are my pick for dark horse of the European groups! 🐎
Astralis are another team to be excited about! Sporting the former Ambush Fe core of kezziwOw, Spike, and Joanana, as well as former GODSENT Fe fragger aurora and French player RachelFR. The latter is one to keep an eye on in her ESL Impact debut, having put up 84 kills across 3 maps in their qualifying victory. Bursting with talent, it's no surprise to see this squad snapped up by Astralis!
Group B is looking pretty deadly now, isn't it? 😱
Qualifying also are NOFEAR5 again, with a changed up roster - Elizabeth and Ksu from Season 1 join the returning Victoria who played for the CIS roster many moons ago. NOFEAR5 narrowly missed out on Season 1 regional playoffs, and with a revamped mix of old and new they could be a silent contender in Group A.
Lastly, Entropiq Queens have remained a consistent presence throughout the year, but this season will be their debut in the league. The Polish squad has been on the cusp of greatness all the year, and finally have their time to shine after qualifying off the back of an incredibly close decider match that saw rifler Ailie put up 39 kills in regulation! 👑
Big changes across North America
And that may be a generous way to put it, I might have to whip out the chart paper to map out the off-season changes in NA! 😁
At the start of 2022, CLG Red were considered by many as the best women's team in the world. After a flawless run in their group in Season 1 they qualified with ease for the finals on their home turf in Dallas. Unfortunately they fell to FURIA in the semi-finals and in Valencia were eliminated in groups. This signalled the biggest change in the line-up since its inception - and a move fully international. The new look team has had impressive results so far in their ESEA Main campaign, and once again come into the NA groups as favourite!
Another welcome is Evil Geniuses, picking up the core of the former Please Send Help roster. The team enjoyed a good run through Season 1, making it to LAN finals in Dallas. Though they were grouped (having FURIA and Nigma Galaxy in your group will do that!), they showed impressive signs and it's no surprise to see them picked up by EG. Long-time fans of the scene may recall new addition milk from her 3 year tenure on Team Dignitas, while empathy comes in as a young prospect from FPL. With the backing of one of NA's biggest orgs, do they have what it takes to challenge the titans? 👿
Please Send Bocks are a shuffle stew – take one part Please Send Help (AWPer Senna), three parts The Little Bocks (IGL Bouchard, riflers Kimmy and smiLey), and one part Slay (vanessa) and you have yourself one talented and experienced roster stewing! Coach Enfohip, who coached the Bocks in S1, continues on as part of this tasty mix, and they're a serious contender in their group 🐔
The final invited team are Valkyries. Rocking a new name but featuring familiar players, this squad features the Slay core of Season 1, with veteran Violet Roses duo Andrea and Kyler, bringing a level of experience to elevate the team. Unproven so far in Impact, Valkyries look to be the dark horse of the NA groups this season.
As for our qualifying teams, the only returning team from Season 1 are Hot Flash, who rock one of the best orgless logo / team name combos of the league! Self described as a sisterhood of players, the team has been around since 2019, with IGL Leah, and riflers Roxi, and Janky playing CS since 1.6!
Saints, Reversal, and ECHO are all new teams to the ESL Impact league, and are a bit of an X factor in the groups. Saints have had presence in the NA cash cups, and AWPer paula has been making waves – you may have seen this fantastic clip on your timeline! They are also supported by Josh "M1cks" Micks as coach, who has previously coached Cloud 9 across scenes.
Reversal are an unknown entity, coming through the second open qualifier as a brand new team looking to prove themselves. ECHO are also relatively new, forming before the ESL Impact Valencia qualifiers and bringing fresh talent into the mix. Both teams could provide potential upsets, but it remains to be seen what they can show in the server.
South America continues to impress
A region that needs no introduction, South America comes in swinging for Season 2!
FURIA Female stand out in Group A as the favourites, coming off back-to-back grand finals appearances at both Dallas and Valencia. The number 2 team in the world, the only change up is the transferring of IGL duties from izaa to OLGA. Will this additional responsibility impact FURIA's star rifler, or take them to the next level?
Two other teams that have impressed this year have been B4 Esports Female and MIBR Female, both direct invites. B4 are the Black Dragons Female squad from Season 1 (BD have a whole new team this season – into that later), who were incredibly impressive, not dropping a series during groups, and narrowly missing out on the semis at the LAN finals. They bring poppins into their roster, who was unable to compete in Season 1 due to being too young! 👶
MIBR Female return after a fantastic showing at Valencia, where they upset CLG Red in the groups, making it to semis where Nigma Galaxy stopped their run. AWPer LyttleZ was the 3rd highest rated player at Valencia, and is one to watch this season! Another team with a roster change, MIBR have swapped out hera for Argentinian player chjna4q.
The new Black Dragons Female roster features the core of Quem sao elas from S1 who came 3rd in a group with both FURIA and MIBR – so we can't go too hard on them for that! They've brought in cAmyy, a veteran of the South American women's scene of over 7 years, and look to be a strong contender in Group A.
Two more returning teams through the qualifiers are w7m esports Female and EndGame Esports. W7m have changed up two players, bringing in bokor who played on the original MIBR Female squad in 2021, and samys, another Brazilian player who has jumped around a few mixes in recent years. EndGame have requalified, though with a mostly new roster! Only AWPer luhflickzz and n4mie remain from S1, and Tata and Vi join them from Redragon Female.
INDEPENDENCE and Illusion are new faces this season. The former also has 2 Redragon players, Dudi and Akela, while Illusion features Cara de Banana and kati who both played in S1 with w7m and QSE respectively.
The opening matches kick off this Thursday and Friday from 19:00 CEST on twitch.tv/ESL_CSGO_GG
