“You had a golden horn boor.” Fatal project of the American CS:GO team

With investments in esports, it is sometimes like betting on horse racing. Everyone tries to bet on their favorite, although these choices are not always successful. Complexity in this game, however, decided to take a risk, giving their money for an extremely inconspicuous steed. It did not pay off at all, and at that time there was an option next to it that seemed much more developmental and certain. However, the organization gave up on it

Complexity missed the opportunity

For 2022, Complexity has prepared a completely new project. The organization burned almost all bridges behind it, parting with every player of the previous line-up. Previously, the brand was based on American-European plywood. This time, however, she planned to find a more uniform team to whom she would offer contracts.

Even at the end of 2021, there were rumors about Complexity’s negotiations with the Copenhagen Flames squad. The Danes had a great performance at PGL Major Stockholm. They gained publicity and showed themselves as a very promising line-up, which is a mix of experience and youth. In addition, the five had been playing together for a long time. The niche organization they represented could not offer them new contracts that met the competition’s standards. So it was certain that the composition of the CPF would change colors sooner or later.

Complexity was first at the negotiating table and it seemed that the subject would be closed very soon. However, the finish of 2021 did not go perfectly for “Flames”. After the excellent Major, the team played in several smaller tournaments, and these did not bring the expected results. This planted a seed of uncertainty in the mind of Jason Lake, the owner of Complexity.

The American lost his conviction about the Danish five. And when it was enough to sign the contracts, Complexity stopped the negotiations. After some time, the authorities of Copenhagen Flames admitted that things took an unexpected turn for them, and the uncertainty about the future of the team translated in part into a poor finish to the season. Five played together for the first months of 2022. Importantly, the team went to the next Major and improved their result – at the PGL Major Antwerp CPF reached the quarter-finals. Doubts have been clearly dispelled. Someone had to sign the players eventually, but it wasn’t Complexity.

Complexity’s Risky Choice – Americans’ Hope

And so, from mid-2022, the CPF players went their separate ways. Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard went to Heroic. Nico “nicodoz” Tamjidi and Fredrik “roeJ” Jørgensen became the foundation of the new fnatic. Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen and Rasmus “Zyphon” Nordfoss waited the longest for new jobs. They left for G2 Esports and Sprout respectively. Complexity had a chance to sign them all as a whole, but took a different direction.

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Lake bet on the American team from ex-Extra Salt. She did not have a distinguished past at all. First, it disappointed in Cloud9, which made the organization end its cooperation quite quickly. Josh “oSee” Ohm excelled in Extra Salt, earning him a transfer to Team Liquid. The rest of the roster has just been signed by Complexity.

Perhaps it was an attempt to give players from their own region a chance – support for North America, which looked less and less on the CS:GO map. However, it was the purchase of a real cat in a poke. If Complexity felt that the Copenhagen Flames team was a dubious option, they clearly put too much faith in the guys from Extra Salt. In fact, they turned out to be a much more dubious choice.

Reckoning

The first year of the new Complexity project has passed. This is the perfect moment to sum up the team’s first results and achievements, but… basically there is nothing to write down here. The team just plays badly.

Complexity missed both 2022 Majors. Didn’t make it to the main stage of any BLAST tournaments. Whether small or big rivalries – it didn’t matter. “Stars” wailed all the way through. A small plus can be added for leaving the group in the 16th season of the ESL Pro League, but the team’s adventure ended in the play-offs. It looks tragic.

How have former Copenhagen Flames players fared during this time? Four of them went to the second Major of 2022 – at IEM Rio two from fnatic reached the quarterfinals, and “jabbi” together with Heroic became the runners-up. Only “HooXi” did not play in Brazil, but he made up for it with a victory at the BLAST Premier World Final. So each of the players achieved quite decent results. Results that Complexity can only dream of.

Another year begins for the organization without changes and there is no breakthrough in terms of successes, because the team has already fallen to the last BLAST Premier Spring ladder, noting two quick defeats at the start. Everything the old way – Complexity keeps the same level, which in this case is absolutely terrible.

Jason Lake’s decision not to sign contracts with Copenhagen Flames players at the end of 2021 may be one of the biggest failures in the history of investment in CS:GO. His organization literally missed the golden team, which could now boldly compete in the top ten of the scene. Meanwhile, Complexity remained mediocre and currently ranks 23rd. It is difficult to believe optimistically in any breakthrough.

Coming full circle and going back indirectly to the introduction of this entire text, it’s clear that Complexity has bet on the wrong horse in this esports race. What is more bizarre, all the signs on earth and in the sky indicated a high risk of this investment. The authorities of the organization were safe in the negotiations with Copenhagen Flames, but there was no breath for Extra Salt. Nothing just went according to plan here.