What to expect from Complexity v. MOUZ

As ESL Pro League Season 19 enters its final weekend, we have the absolute pleasure of still writing about the event due to Complexity's impressive performances! A win over Virtus.pro in the quarterfinals earlier this week sets up a semifinal appearance for the American squad, their best result since BLAST Premier Fall Final 2023. But, to equal their result at IEM Sydney, Complexity must take down MOUZ.

Complexity back in the saddle

Without a doubt, this is Complexity's best showing of 2024. Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski continues to be a titan in the server, but crucially, it's the supporting staff that have come to play this time around. Håkon "hallzerk" Fjærli continues his strong 2024 form while Michael "Grim" Wince has finally blossomed into the second star Complexity need. The trajectory of this squad points nowhere but up.

• EliGE is the third highest-rated player of the event at 1.36 with an insane 62% opening duel winrate

• hallzerk gets fairly aggressive compared to most AWPers with 17% of the team's opening duel attempts

• Grim's 82 ADR and 1.23 rating is his best LAN performance since BLAST Spring Groups 2023

MOUZ on fire

With granddaddy FaZe knocked out of the tournament in quarterfinals, the red carpet has been rolled out for MOUZ to take their second EPL victory in a row. A terrible first map turned into complete domination on the last two against G2 in their previous match, a strong result to post coming into a match against an, on paper, weaker opponent.

• xertioN is the second-best entry fragger of the event with a 1.36 opening rating

• While not his MVP performance from last season, torzsi still has a 1.16 rating this event, matching hallzerk

• Jimpphat continues to be a strong point with a 1.25 rating

Previous Matchups

These two teams have faced off thrice before, all going the way of MOUZ. While two of those came all the way back in 2023, the most recent one was surely the most hurtful: the 2-0 pool of the Elimination Stage of the Copenhagen Major, the loss that precipitated Complexity's 2-3 finish with MOUZ completely decimating Complexity 32-3 over two maps.

Likely Vetoes

Both permabans are very rough for the opposing team. MOUZ have found significant success on Mirage while Complexity have always turned to Anubis as a safe map following their Sydney domination on the map. Both of these maps being out of the running means each team will need to reach further into their stratbook on maps they don't find as much comfort on. This series will reward whoever can cook up the most in the two days since their quarterfinal game.

• Complexity ban Mirage

• MOUZ ban Anubis

• Complexity pick Vertigo (Complexity have been dominant on Vertigo thus far, even though MOUZ are likewise very good on the map)

• MOUZ pick Nuke (Strong map, especially compared to Complexity)

• Decider Ancient (Comfortable for both teams despite MOUZ's tremendous record on it against Complexity)

Extras

There's no beef between these two squads or anything, but I would like to say that from my perspective, this could be one of the most exciting series in this tournament. Johnny "JT" Theodosiou and Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek have both called amazing strats. Both teams will be off kilter due to the maps. hallzerk and Ádám "torzsi" Torzsás have been nearly identical statistically, and EliGE and Dorian "xertioN" Berman are the two best raw entry fraggers of the event by a mile (discounting Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut due to his hybrid nature). Grim's resurgence as a second star must match up with Jimi "Jimpphat" Salo's continued excellence, but if both teams come into this semifinal the same way they came into the rest of the tournament, this could be a spectacular affair.