Three EMEA F/A rosters to look out for

In the last two weeks, we have seen the announcements of three promising new rosters in EMEA: OneTrickPonies, F/A Baguette, and former roster of VN Esporting. Made up of players who have experience on the international stage, it will be interesting to see how they fare in 2024.

The first of these rosters is OneTrickPonies. The most experienced player of the three is Tomzy, who was a part of the HMBLE roster that won the Snapdragon Pro Series EU&MENA Season 4 in 2023 and made it to the LCQ, where they missed out on Worlds after being swept by SK Gaming. The Brit's experience in Monthly Finals should be a massive help to them as he made all 6 Monthly Finals last year. The second player on the roster is Salty, a member of last year's underdog team, F/A MrDoSa. Though MDS were never able to surpass the initial stages of Monthly Finals, 2023 was a year in which they announced themselves to the world and proved they had what it takes to beat top teams. Completing the roster is Mewtu, an exciting new talent hailing from Germany who showed at the end of 2023 what he is made of in the ESL Open Cups and Queso Cup, and it will be interesting to see how he does in the BSC. And finally, Shoto, who has managed multiple teams in the past, will make up the staff of the roster as manager.

OTP is a roster which has great promise, but also there are signs of inconsistency or unreliability. It will have to be seen whether they can maintain form and stick through ups and downs throughout the year, but if they can, they have a great chance of making those top spots.

It has been a while since a French roster has ruled EMEA, stretching back to CODEMAGIC days. But now, there is a new hope in the form of F/A Baguette - made up of OPE, GuGu, and Mric. OPE, who made the podium at Worlds with SK in 2023 announced early that he would be teaming up with GuGu for 2024, a shock to many. However, the duo has been successful in the past, first with Mood Gaming in 2021, making 3 Monthly Finals, and then another the following year, under the name OGS. Since then, whilst OPE has been gaining invaluable experience at the top of EMEA, GuGu has been relatively inactive in the competitive scene, struggling to maintain a consistent roster. They will hope he can replicate his 2021-2022 form in the bid to make LCQ and even Worlds spots. The last player, Mric, had his breakthrough year with F/A MrDoSa in 2023 alongside OTP's Salty and will hope that he can use the knowledge he gained from their 2 Monthly Finals to push his team further.

There were doubts over this roster which continue to exist about whether they are strong enough to compete at the top. However, they have done so at least on an individual scale in the past, and together, they can push for bigger achievements.

Following the departure of Nob? to F/A Ogurchiki, it was always going to be hard for VN to find a player who could replace his mechanics and ensure that they could continue to compete with the best. Rama and Mebius will be together for the second year in a row, having proven in 2023 that they do not fear anyone, both in the game and in their talk. They have at least filled a Nob-sized hole in the team with rookie Buzko, who first teamed up with them for SPS Season 4. Buzko has shown that he is able to perform at a very high level, but whether he can sustain this is another question. It seems orgs are attracted to this roster however, as just a few days after Rama's announcement that they had parted ways with VN, he announced that they had signed, though the org remains unknown.

One of VN's biggest issues last year was their consistency, as after 2 promising Monthly Finals, they failed to qualify for the next two. With fewer Monthly Finals this year, they cannot afford slip-ups to this extent if they are to achieve their goals.

Written by m4d0o3e (@m4d0o3e)

06.02.2023