Are Complexity the only stable roster at the BLAST Premier Fall Final?
The BLAST Premier Fall Final may just be Complexity's best chance to win a trophy with their NA roster. While Complexity's form is nothing to scoff at, recently making the finals of IEM Sydney 2023, there is one underappreciated boon Complexity will have at the Royal Arena in November. While the European scene is in an almost unparalleled state of tumult amidst a shuffle brought on by Counter-Strike 2, Complexity's roster is remarkably stable.
Therefore, Dust2.us felt it would be fitting to explain the madness going on across the pond that just might play into Complexity's hand.
Heroic
Heroic are, for the moment, the team with the most chaotic roster situation heading into the BLAST Premier Fall Final. After benching Casper "cadiaN" Møller at the reported behest of Martin "stavn" Lund, stavn allegedly returned the favor by entertaining an offer from Astralis alongside Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard. This led to Heroic having to also bench this duo alongside cadiaN for a breach of trust, leaving Denmark's best team in tatters.
When combined with the fact that Heroic just signed Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen on a short-term contract, their roster is anything but settled. Should Complexity face Heroic, the Americans can take advantage of the fact that Heroic will be fielding a roster still adapting to the new reality of losing their IGL and two stars.
Astralis
Speaking of Astralis, while the team hasn't had any roster moves since June, the revelation that anyone who isn't named Benjamin "blameF" Bremer or Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz may lose their job next year is likely unsettling. With this roster playing on borrowed time, they may experience a "dead cat bounce", however trouble in paradise could play to Complexity's favor in Copenhagen.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Moving across the Øresund to Sweden, no one really knows what's going on with NIP. With the team recently benching IGL Hampus "hampus" Poser and bringing back Patrick "es3tag" Hansen, along with Björn "THREAT" Pers revealing the team are looking for a new IGL, nothing is certain for the struggling lineup. With a potential new IGL and changes to how NIP will play, the ninjas are unlikely to be at 100% in the Royal Arena.
NAVI
NAVI just lost Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, enough said. Losing the greatest player to ever touch the game is a DEFCON 1 situation for the Ukrainian organization. Even if their reported replacement, Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov, hits the ground running, you simply can't replace s1mple.
Cloud9
In Eastern Europe, the other shocking news story of the day is Dmitry "sh1ro" Sokolov deciding to bench himself on Cloud9. Much like s1mple, losing one of the world's best AWPers ahead of the BLAST Premier Fall Final certainly isn't good. Whoever they find to replace the Russian phenom just may find themselves an underdog against Håkon "hallzerk" Fjærli.
Vitality
With Vitality reportedly set to lose Emil "Magisk" Reif to Saudi organization Falcons, and having to replace GOAT coach Danny "zonic" Sørensen with Rémy "XTQZZZ" Quoniam, things are not ideal at the moment for the French organization. However, their situation is likely the least dire of the tier one teams as they still have three amazing star players firing on all cylinders. Will Vitality be a finals opponent for Complexity as a result?
FaZe
Finally we come to FaZe. As Complexity and FaZe are set to be roommates under GameSquare's roof in Q4 2023, both teams' potential to make it to the Royal Arena seems unlikely. Even if FaZe somehow find a way to have one last hurrah, they are reportedly set to lose Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken to Liquid, which will certainly put a damper on their "last dance".
Overall, one can see that the European region is in a bit of a tizzy at the moment, which NA fans certainly should not complain about, as it may prove to be a vital part of Complexity's success when they head to the Royal Arena on November 22nd.
