When I looked back at ZywOo’s start in ESEA League: Main, it was obvious from the start he was going to be a top player. When I looked back at NertZ, it was obvious he could play even in a team that struggled, and he quickly recovered.
But things were less clear when I decided to look back into the Paris Major’s protagonist (for me, at least), CYPHER.
CYPHER spent a long time in the ESEA league system, working his way up from UK Open (where in fairness, he was impressive even in his first year, averaging just over 90 ADR) to Advanced, where he seemed to sort of just settle in. If you looked at just his 18 seasons played in ESEA League, you wouldn’t get the impression that he was a player who would go on to rip FaZe apart at the Major.
Big players, though, rise to big occasions.
Back in Season 29 we saw the first glimpse of a player who could rise through the divisions, as he put up some very solid numbers in Open. His 417-289 K-D, 94+ ADR and 4 aces (more than anyone else in the league) showed that he was a bit too good as an aggressive player to be in Open, and as such moved into Intermediate in season 31, and stuck with the same team to Main not long after.
However, he found himself back in Open a few seasons later with Into the Breach, then Into the Win, and had to grind his way back up with them. Again, this doesn’t scream “is going to make karrigan and his boys look silly at the biggest tournament of the year within a few years”.
CYPHER never gave up, though, and did push his way into Advanced by Season 39, where he… struggled, actually. He had a negative K/D for the season, 75 ADR and a shade over 10 RWS. That’s by no means terrible, but it’s a far cry from the bulldozer he had been in previous seasons.
He played in Advanced for four seasons, where he did improve and become a solid player at that level, as you would expect from someone as good as him. He didn’t play at all in S40, and his S41 was similarly underwhelming, but in Season 42 he picked up a 1.24 K/D ratio and over 87 ADR, and over 92 ADR in the next season. It was clear he was improving, slowly but surely, over the seasons, but nobody was quite ready for his explosion in Paris.
His final game in Season 43 saw him go 12-18 against EYEBALLERS with flusha and JW. Six months later, he was beating fnatic (without flusha and JW) to qualify for playoffs in Paris.
He continued his impressive form from Advanced into the RMR, where he also had over 90 ADR, and though he dipped at the main stage he was the best player in a headline-grabbing 16-12 win over FaZe, as I might have mentioned once or twice.
He had very few games in that Advanced season that came close to the output he had in that FaZe game, which made it all the more impressive.
CYPHER himself has made reference to his poor set-up at home being a reason he struggled to really shine playing at home in online games, and after Paris he was able to get himself something a little bit better, but it’s still an incredible glow up.
It took him 18 seasons, but CYPHER went from a decent ESEA League Open player, to Advanced for a few seasons, to somehow making playoffs at the Major over FaZe and fnatic. His growth was slow and gradual over the years, until it was astronomical over a few months.
If you’re looking for a moral to this story, it’s that no matter your set-up, no matter how long you’ve been grinding, no matter the setbacks, or occasional bad seasons, you are not defined by them, and if you lock in, grind and improve, you too can one day smash ropz on LAN.
Never, ever give up.
Your own climb starts now, registration for ESEA League Season 57 is open, and the next legacy is waiting to be written. If you’ve enjoyed this guest post about CS history, catch me on Twitter at @aizyesque
