The year 2021 is coming to an end. This year gave us lots of emotions and new cool teams on the pro scene. Today, the CS.MONEY Blog is going to elaborate on the clubs that can make serious progress in 2022.
Young & green Entropiq
The spring of this year saw ex-Winstrike, who had been searching for an organization for a long time, finally get signed by Entropiq, a company with Czech roots. With support from big sponsors like McDonald’s, PUMA, and Fine Gusto, the Czechs were able to provide the guys from Russia with a stable salary and all conditions necessary for further development.
Almost immediately, the roster began to live up to the expectations with their good performance in tier-2 tournaments and even victories in some events. Since the organization was founded, the lineup has already won over $ 270,000 of prize money — which is further testimony to the team’s progress. Inches away from the playoffs, Entropiq found their main problem: a lack of experience in big tournaments. Already in the next LAN competition, V4 Future Festival, they reached the final, losing to Gambit 2–3. Entropiq has plenty of motivation, experienced coach Dmitriy “hooch” Bogdanov, strong AWPer Aleksey “El1an” Gusev, and constant practice with the best teams on the planet. For instance, hooch stated in one of the streams that the team often manages to practice with NAVI.
CS.MONEY’s prediction: in 2022, Entropiq will be a solid middle-level team on the tier-1 scene and enter the top 15 of the world.
British fnatic
This year has been one of the worst in the history of fnatic. The team’s underwhelming performance forced the management to resort to reshuffles: first, they kicked Robin “flusha” Rönnquist, and a lineup overhaul soon followed, with Swedes Jesper “JW” Wecksel, Maikil “Golden” Selim, and Jack “Jackinho” Ström Mattsson all leaving the squad. They were replaced by promising Brits: Owen “smooya” Butterfield, Alex “ALEX” McMeekin, and William “mezii” Merriman.
The results of the current fnatic lineup inspire hope for better results. After multiple substitutions, 2 Swedes and 3 Brits started their ascent to glory with online wins at REPUBLEAGUE TIPOS Season 2 and DreamHack Open November. After finishing 7th–8th at IEM Winter, the team took a break. And who knows — perhaps next year, we’ll see them with all guns blazing in Europe.
CS.MONEY’s prediction: fnatic will continue to progress and secure a place in the top 10 of the HLTV world rankings.
Serious Copenhagen Flames
Copenhagen Flames is a club that knows how to nurture young talent. In 2021, the entire squad — not one or two of the members — showed performance that’s nothing short of excellent. Since August, the Danes are not only among the top-30, but they also demonstrate an incredible will to win in important tournaments. For example, they performed with flying colors at the PGL Major Stockholm, passing the Challenger stage 3–0 and only missing the playoffs by an unfortunate act of fate.
The team has an obvious chance to succeed: headliner Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjid, experienced shooter Fredrik “roeJ” Jørgensen, nerves of steel, and tons of motivation. However, possible problems around the organization could pose a challenge. In particular, the owners declared their desire to sell the roster due to a lack of finances to increase the salaries to the level of a tier-1 team.
CS.MONEY’s prediction: the Copenhagen Flames lineup will represent another organization and is likely to show decent play in several tier-1 tournaments next year.
Renewed Astralis
Astralis joins the list of teams who’ve had a rough time in 2021. A lack of wins at the beginning of the year and internal disagreements led first to the departure of Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz to NIP, and then to the disbandment of the golden lineup. That the organization is suffering losses even after selling players isn’t exactly a good sign either. Nevertheless, the arrival of motivated Benjamin “blameF” Bremer and Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke may provide the team with a boost it so desperately needs.
The results of the last BLAST Premier Fall Final instill hope. The team that had not yet “consolidated” was able to take 3rd–4th place, which certainly shows some potential. The excellent shooters blameF and k0nfig will probably be able to compensate for the instability of their younger teammate Philip “Lucky” Ewald.
CS.MONEY’s prediction: Astralis will compete with the world’s best teams and be among the top 7 teams in the world.
Прогрессирующие Extra Salt
At the tier-2 level as well as in their native North American region, Extra Salt has long been something of a grand. Despite an unfortunate failure to qualify for the PGL Major Stockholm, the club has been relentlessly training and earning prize money in smaller competitions. The organization was formed at the end of 2020, and the amount of prize money won has already exceeded $230,000.
The potential is definitely there for the Salts. Big teams have been trying to get sniper Joshua “oSee” Ohm for a long time, but if he stays with Extra Salt, the squad can make a confident step forward. We’re talking about a stable and non-scandalous organization that practices in Europe and is motivated to finally step into the tier-1 scene.
CS.MONEY’s prediction: the Extra Salt lineup will make it to the Major and start steadily performing on the tier-1 scene.
These were the teams that the CS.MONEY Blog thinks can hit their big time in 2022. Did you like the article? Then check out the most popular PGL Major stickers and the post about how to get back into CS:GO.
