It came as a surprise then when MOUZ announced that they would promote xertioN from MOUZ NXT to replace Bymas, a move that even caught the young Lithuanian off-guard as he referred to it as “unexpected” on Twitter and said he was told of the change upon entering TeamSpeak for practice. Why then, did MOUZ pull the trigger on the change after starting to improve on their results and after the off-season ended? What does xertioN bring to the team that Bymas didn’t, and how do they plan to utilize him in their new lineup? Those are questions that only MOUZ will be able to answer in their upcoming games.
It wasn’t that long ago when the 18-year-old academy player joined the main roster. XertioN won four academy league seasons with MOUZ NXT, with their streak ending in the fifth season after a group stage exit. He will now take on a bigger challenge, joining former teammates Jon “JDC” de Castro and Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás in the main squad. Averaging a 1.13 career rating, xertioN has turned some heads since his addition to MOUZ’s academy squad, even earning himself three Bold Prediction picks as Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut, Helvijs “broky” Saukants, and Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken named him as a future breakout player.
He has limited experience facing the best teams in the world, though, and his rating drops to a 1.00 for the 18 maps he played against top 20 ranked teams. “I’m so excited to share with you all the next step in my career, I will from now on be playing on the MOUZ main team,” xertioN said on Twitter. “It’s been a long-time goal of mine since joining the NXT project and I will give my absolute best to help my awesome new teammates and MOUZ reach new heights and goals!” To make space for the newcomer, Bymas was removed from MOUZ’s active lineup, with his exact status or future plans not disclosed in the announcement.
Heroic got Outclassed by NiP at BLAST Fall Groups
Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated Heroic in a three-map series, starting out on Inferno 16-14 after almost dropping a 14-8 lead before Heroic fought back on their map pick of Mirage. The decider was Overpass, where Ninjas in Pyjamas put together an impressive offensive side, setting up a 16-7 win and a spot at BLAST Fall Final. Lackluster terrorist sides were a regular occurrence for Ninjas in Pyjamas up to this point in the tournament, but they showed up when needed most. They won 11 rounds on the deciding map’s offensive side, looking like a completely different team compared to their earlier Overpass showings.
Ninjas in Pyjamas recently had lost Overpass to the North Americans of Evil Geniuses and Liquid after struggling on the offensive side of the map. This time around they put together an impressive offensive half, building on the momentum from a pistol round win to lead 11-4 at the half. A good start by Heroic was a necessity if the Danes were to have any chance of coming back into the game, with Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard delivering an ace in the pistol round. They won just the three rounds, however, with Ninjas in Pyjamas getting success as soon as their economy allowed it. A five-round stretch followed, giving the Swedes a comfortable win on the deciding map and a spot at the Fall Finals.
Heroic will now have to go through the notoriously ruthless Showdown to earn a spot at the BLAST Fall Final, which will take place on their home soil. The ESL Pro League Season 16 is going to be an extremely important tournament for Heroic if they wish to demonstrate that losing against both TL and NiP in a disappointing fashion was just a fluke.
MOUZ vs Heroic Match Information
- Date: Wednesday, September 14
- Time: 6:30am ET
- MOUZ vs Heroic Live Stream: ESL_CSGO – Twitch
MOUZ vs Heroic Prediction
According to the CSGO bets, MOUZ are considered the underdogs heading into this match, but I would disagree. In fact, if we just take a look at the most recent encounter between these two teams, it ended up in a dominating 2-0 victory for MOUZ. Now that they made an unexpected, yet promising roster change, they should be able to repeat the feat.
Sadly for Heroic, their recent performances against top teams has left a lot to wish for. Sure, there is a possible scenario where Heroic suddenly starts playing like they used to do months before, but I don’t expect that to happen now. Group C is turning out to be an interesting one, so don’t forget to bet on esports at BetUS Sportsbook & Casino. We’ve plenty of CSGO odds for you to consider.
