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Endpoint and ALASKA to embark on CCT journeys in new VRS era

14 Jan

Endpoint and ALASKA (ex-Verdant) will start their seasons by testing their might in the CCT European Series #16 Play-Ins. The tournament represents a new era for CCT tournaments, with Valve tournament regulations taking effect at the start of 2025. As such, Endpoint and ALASKA will find themselves playing against familiar CCT foes as well as less familiar squads who historically have not regularly taken part in CCT events.

A changing competition.

In Counter-Strike, the letters ‘CCT’ have become synonymous with tier two or below due to the relative weakness of teams that have typically participated in the events. However, the new Valve regulations mean that the events are sure to be more central to the hopes of high-level teams in the new Counter-Strike landscape.

The regulations mean that any team building a new roster, which does not feature the core of an existing team has to start from the very bottom of the Counter-Strike ladder, relying on performances in lower-tier events or “Wildcard” invites to attend events and climb up the Valve rankings. Therefore, CCT events will be a necessary stepping stone for many teams who find themselves without ranking points. One such team is the legendary organisation, Ninjas in Pyjamas.

NiP may have imagined 6 months ago that they would start 2025 at Counter-Strike’s top table by joining the 32 teams present at BLAST Bounty 2025 Season 1, but it was not to be. Weak results in 2024 meant that the roster missed both majors and failed to appreciably climb the Valve rankings.

The organisation, therefore, decided to remove all but young Ukrainian AWPer Artem “r1nkle” Moroz from their active roster and start fresh with a new team that, according to HLTV and independent reporter Guillaume “neL” Rathier, will be full of tier one talent. They will start their journey against AMKAL in a repeat of what has been described as “The worst professional match in Counter-Strike.” With both teams featuring different rosters since that infamous match, it is unlikely to be a repeat of that fateful day. NiP’s new roster especially may be a daunting opponent for the Russians, featuring in the same group as Endpoint.

An unchanging Endpoint.

Endpoint seem to be heading into the first event of their season without a roster change. Having lost Nikita “HeavyGod” Martynenko and Henrich “sl3nd” Hevesi in 2024, the roster have struggled to replace the firepower they lost in those moves. Endpoint have traditionally flown the British flag in European competitions; their 2024 saw that flag fly at half-mast in what were largely funereal performances.

Endpoint found a brief respite in retaining their Intel Monsters Reloaded title, however, that success did not lead to a shift in momentum as the team suffered yet more early exits in their final events of 2024. With the organisation not opting for a roster move and still searching for a head coach, Endpoint’s players must find solutions to compensate for their frailties within the server.

They will begin their year with an unlikely fixture against BIG EQUIPA, BIG’s female project. The international roster earned their invite for CCT with strong showings in the ‘fe’ scene including ESL Impact season 6 which saw them take victories against NiP Impact in the LAN finals.

ALASKA face tough start.

ALASKA will also continue with the roster they ended with last year. Albeit, that roster only became stable at the tail end of the season as Oliver “leaf” Jackson stood in for Verdant in several tournaments, notably winning European Pro League Season 18 Division 2. The roster are now looking for an organisation having not been re-signed by Verdant after a difficult 2024. They will be looking to build their game which only began to take shape in the final moments of 2024.

ALASKA will start the tournament against a revamped JANO. The Finnish team have moved away from their previous roster, built around the 2018-2019 ENCE lineup, favouring a mix of experience and youth for 2025. However the roster still features the previously tier one talent of the legendary AWPer Aleksi “allu” Jalli and his former ENCE teammate Jani “Aerial” Jussila. ALASKA will have to have a fast start if they want to avoid falling into the 0-1 bracket to play either FLuffy Gangsters or Fire Flux who the roster lost to in their last meeting in November.

Verdant release Counter-Strike roster

 

With VRS taking centre stage in the Counter-Strike world, CCT events will be more important than ever for teams hoping to climb the Counter-Strike ladder. No team can rely on invites based on relationships with the tournament organisers. Instead, every place will be up for grabs in the dogfight that will be Valve rankings in 2025. For Endpoint, for ALASKA, and even for NiP every result will be key as teams attempt to climb rankings and secure invites to more and more prestigious events.

Endpoint and ALASKA may not be going into 2025 in their finest moments, but they cannot afford to give ground when their battlegrounds are becoming more contested than ever. The Counter-Strike world waits for no team.

The post Endpoint and ALASKA to embark on CCT journeys in new VRS era appeared first on UKCSGO.

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