One of the oldest organisations to represent the North American region in Counter-Strike, complexity was one of the first orgs that boasted credible results at a Major as a North American stack in what was to later form the core of Cloud9, consisting of players like Spencer ‘Hiko’ Martin, Jordan ‘n0thing’ Gilbert and Sean ‘seang@res’ Gares.
Talking about the present or the more recent past, complexity surprised everyone with a Quarter-Final finish at the FACEIT Major in London, coming all the way from the Americas Minor. The nifty run saw them go 3-1 in the Challengers Stage. But, it was their 3-0 run in the New Legends Stage that had everyone talking.
Their calculated yet partly inebriated brand of Counter-Strike saw them lap up dominant wins over Fnatic, BIG and G2 before falling to mibr in the Quarter-Finals. Reclaiming their status as Returning Legends would have been a joy to behold for the organization that was almost lost in anonymity within the North American region, boasting near-Tier 2 lineups in recent times.
Wary of the responsibility to prove that the performance was not a one-time thing, complexity moved to make changes in order to bring in fresh ideas. In what was surely a tough decision, Jaccob ‘yay’ Whiteaker and Bradley ‘ANDROID’ Fodor were let go. The decision was met with shock, with many considering ANDROID to be one of the best performers in recent times for complexity.
Ricardo ‘Rickeh’ Mulholland was acquired by complexity and while they were rumoured to be targeting mibr star Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik, the closing deadline saw them pick up Jordan ‘n0thing’ Gilbert, who agreed to represent complexity till the end of the Katowice Major.
Now, complexity’s results with the new lineup have not been satisfactory at all, losing convincingly to the top teams while blowing away advantages in maps that saw them lose by a close margin. Seeded 16th by the teams and perhaps rightly so, complexity have not attended many events with the new lineup and have disappointed in the ones that they have.
But, like the FACEIT Major, it is all about preparation. According to the player’s tweets, complexity had an eight-day bootcamp in Germany and they are likely to have designed certain specific strategies after witnessing the Major Qualifiers and focusing on the teams they are likely to draw.
Almost everyone knew and perhaps they themselves were semi-aware they would face Astralis in the first round matchup. complexity has previously shown a new playstyle is hard for teams to grasp early and that can lead them to upset results in a Best of 1.
The New Challenger Stage at Katowice already showed how effective strange playstyles have been.
complexity are laced with a mastermind in Peter ‘stanislaw’ Jarguz and an explosive awper in the form of Shahzeb ‘Shahzam’ Khan. Shahzam has come a long way from his raw fiery nature that saw him struggle when he joined Cloud 9. Now, and perhaps, thanks to his time under sg@ares in Misfits, Shahzam has become calmer and more precise with the Big Green Gun.
Rickeh might be a new recruit. But, his time at Rogue is enough evidence that he can work in a non-Australian roster as well. Rory ‘dephh’ Jackson has shown immense maturity and adaptability. Joining the roster, with a reputation of being an out-and-out awper, dephh has sacrificed the Primary AWPing duties to Shahzam.
But, it is his prowess with rifles that has been amazing to witness. To shift focus and master rifles when you have been a permanent awper for all of the teams you have played previously takes special skill and will power.
Then there’s n0thing. If there’s one thing you have learnt from the Old Guys Club, their results and perhaps n0thing’s performance after joining complexity, it is that the veteran has not lost his touch at all.
He might still be a bit rusty in terms of going up against the best of the best. But, that is where the importance of the events complexity attended since the formulation of this lineup comes to light.
Some may think it is a hush-hush thing. But, maybe it has been a well-planned journey for the roster. The plan being to make the lineup comfortable playing with each other in a competitive environment on a LAN in front of the crowd against the best teams from the get-go and building team chemistry.
We believe complexity actually wanted Tarik and did not have any other player in mind. When Tarik decided to take a break and evaluate his options, that left complexity with nowhere to go. Instead of taking a gamble on someone else, they went for the more practical option of bringing in someone temporarily. n0thing was perhaps, the best candidate in their eyes.
Like complexity, n0thing doesn’t have much to lose but potentially a lot to prove on the stage. Jordan can still show the world he is one of the best players when he puts effort into the game while complexity can show they deserve their spot at IEM Katowice 2019.
complexity already know it is a gamble that has a far-off chance of success. But, it is one they have opted for. At the moment, they are not even playing the odds. They are merely hoping for a miraculous flop on the river.
