SSG Team Preview

After heart break in Fall, where SSG went from being one of the world’s best to losing to Complexity in the major tiebreaker, SSG were forced to change things up heading into Winter. But their hand was forced by a frustrated Spyical, who after spending his career thus far playing for SSG, departed the team in the hopes of better performances over at FaZe.

With a vast number of other roster changes leaving a variety of players on the market, SSG seemingly had access to some top quality veterans. Yet despite the pressure of returning to the highest level, SSG instead chose to invest in the unproven rookie, Daniel, who even with the high expectations placed prior to his coming of age, was a huge risk for such a prolific team.

Daniel did not disappoint. From the get go, he was as cold as can be, producing a great display of mechanics and clutch ability, including 3 zero second goals, to elevate SSG to 2nd in regional event 1. Unfortunately for the team, they struggled to sustain that level for the rest of the split. In the 2nd event, they looked shaky from the get go, having to reverse sweep Oxygen to even get themselves into top 4, where they were dominated by FaZe.

Yet SSG still sat comfortably near the top, and still seemed all but set for LA. That was, until the final event, where shock losses to an out of form Complexity and Oxygen sent them home in 9th-12th, and much like in Fall, seemingly blowing after their chances of easily slotting into the major.

Thankfully for SSG, the results fell their way, and they ended the split in 5th place. Their ceiling is certainly one of the highest, with Daniel’s raw mechanical prowess, paired with Arsenal’s physicality off the ball and Retals’ passing setting SSG up as a potential powerhouse.

But they’re going to need to do more than they did at the end of Winter. Retals is certainly not a stranger to LAN, having won Dreamhack and attended worlds, with Arsenal having placed top 4 in season 8. Daniel, on the other hand, is fresh as they come, and for a 15 year old phenom, with the pressure of a huge fan base and organization, and 5000 chanting fans surrounding him, could easily succumb to the heat of the moment.

Likely, SSG’s performance will entirely come down to whether we see LANiel, or whether he struggles to rise. Arsenal and Retals are proven to be strong in the atmosphere of a live crowd, and will be consistent under the pressure, but Daniel is once again the wild card.

Should be able to get into playoffs with a win over Pioneers in groups, but Dignitas and Sandrock will be tough asks, even if SSG are in form. The difference between 2nd and 3rd, however, could be the difference between playing EG or G2, and if SSG wants to make top 8, they’ll need to find their feet early on.