TF2 LAN Preview: Leviathan Gaming

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(ESEAnews) - Samuel "oPlaiD" Lingle steps in (again) to give us a peek at the newly re-branded LG.

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THE TEAM

Dante “Shade” F
Andrew “Dave__AC” Cook
Grant “b4nny” Vincent
Tyrone “enoryt” Wang
Matt “clckwrk” D
Paul “cyzer” S

THE JOURNEY

As an ESEA finalist each of the past four seasons, with two championships to their name, the team now known as Leviathan Gaming might be the most storied in the American TF2 scene. No team has been more consistent in staying at the top, and while they’ve changed their lineup a few times, they’ve managed to keep their core mostly the same.

While teams like Check Six in Season 8 and Mixup last season have contested their dominance, those challenges have thus far been fleeting in the face of LG’s drive to remain at the top.

Could season 11 finally be the changing of the guard?

Leviathan Gaming enters the Seasons 11 LAN as the 4th seed after a season that had to be disappointing for them. LG lost 4-5 to Classic Mixup in their two meetings, and also dropped an early match to Srsly br0 on koth_viaduct when both teams were missing their star scouts, Yz50 and clkwrk. While LG did drop two matches to Mihaly’s Flow, there was a silver lining: they were the only team to hand Flow a loss this season.

The results may not be up to LG’s standard, posting losing records against all of the teams above them save a 1-1 mark against br0, but the number of close matches and their win against Flow shows that they have the ability to perform.

THE OUTLOOK

LG has always been a team that brings their best to LAN, so they’ll need to step it up like usual if they want to win their third championship in five seasons, and maintain their streak of competing in finals.

The core of the roster remains the same as it always has - b4nny at Demoman and Tyrone at pocket soldier, backed by solid scout play.

B4nny continues to be the best player in the league, combining incredible DM skill with the smartest play in the entire league.

LG’s scouts are as solid as ever, though after last season’s LAN final and Flow’s play this year, it’s no longer a sure bet to call them the best duo in the league. CyZeR and clkwrk are both capable of controlling games and both playing a style that meshes well with the rest of their team.

Tyrone has had an interesting career at pocket soldier, often criticized more than he deserves due to DM skill below the level of other top pockets, but this season has been his worst performance since he was an invite rookie. LG needs him to return his Season 10 form, when his steady improvement since entering the league finally saw him quell all doubts about his status as a top level player.

The last two players were offseason pickups, though one isn’t new to the LG roster. Shade was a member of past LG championship teams at medic, and his play at the position and especially dodging is much better than what LG had last season with CB. Dave_AC replaces the departing Mackey on roamer, ending an era of some of the most... controversial play in TF2. Dave’s game is similar in some ways to Mackey in that he serves as a distraction and has little fragging ability of his own, but he does it in a different way, gobbling up healthpacks across the map like some kind of perverse pacman. Mackey seemed to have more of a knack for making a big play or getting a big medic pick when needed, but Dave’s contributions are more consistent. Still, his play leaves something to be desired compared to what the other LAN teams are getting from their roamers. While Check Six showed it could work with Dave_AC, it’s not clear he’s the right fit for LG.

They’ll start out the LAN against Mihaly’s Flow, the superteam that’s dominated the regular season, but LG has to have some confidence going into that match considering they are the only ones who have dented an otherwise perfect season for Flow.

The thing that’s kept LG at the top is their drive to improve and their love of TF2. Players like Tyrone, b4nny, and CyZeR all put in the time to get better and don’t have a big enough ego to get in the way of doing just that. This season, though, especially for Tyrone, it seems that hunger is gone. Will they get it back to win their third championship?