Team Queso Team Preview

The true surprise package of the Winter split, and a real dark horse heading into LA. Comprised of 15 year old French phenom Vatira, one of the most aggressive and exciting rising players in the world, 16 year old Joyo, who has he ability for some insane finishes as was seen with last weekend’s musty double tap against Dignitas, and 17 year old Rise, whose team play as of late has helped guide them to the top. They may be new to the scene, with Vatira in his rookie season, but after a solid Fall split where they finished tied for 9th, Queso have had a break out Winter split.

Regionally in Europe, the cheese has quickly become a force to be reckoned with. In the first event of Winter they maintained a perfect record with two dominant wins over Dignitas, a near perfect sweep of BDS, and icy game 7 victory against Williams Resolve to take the regional win. Since then, their performance has been maintained at the highest level, with a 2nd place finish in regional event 2 where they only lost to BDS and an incredible win in event 3, where they came back from 0-2 down in groups against Vitality to make playoffs, win back to back game 5s, and produce a titanic Championship Sunday performance to win their second event for the split.

Sitting 252 points clear of Dignitas in second, Queso had a dominant Winter split and go into the major as Europe’s #1 seed. And with Europe being the reigning major champions, on paper, Queso should technically be the favourites.

Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. When the most experienced player on your lineup is a 17 year old, and no one on the team has an ounce of LAN experience, it does hold worrying signs. As players have mentioned in the past, LAN is a whole different beast, and it could take Queso some time to adapt, which could put them in immediate trouble.

Additionally, the team is also not without its flaws. Their lack of clean rotations possessed by the other top teams leaves them vulnerable to slip ups, and as new players to RLCS, their consistency will be an ever-present worry.

However, that being said, Queso shouldn’t be written off just yet. They’re arguably the most mechanically gifted lineup in the world, and they’re the team in the hottest run of form currently. If they can successfully transition their online, regional based performances to the LA LAN environment, then I can see them making a very deep run, although I do think an overall win is highly unlikely