History of CS1.6

Having been involved with the Counter-Strike scene for a while, I’ve known, played with, and watched just about everyone who has been anyone. Of course not everyone has been around as long, and a lot of the names have either retired or faded from the public consciousness. So in light of that, I’d like to take you down the memory lane of Australian Counter-Strike from 2002 to 2009 where in my opinion were the strong periods in Counter-Strike. 

This article is slightly outdated as not being published before but still a great read for those interested in the Australian 1.6 community.

Pantheon
Winners of CPL Pacific (kalgo, grim_chicken, BiggD [aka. Dimitri], outbreak, RasE)

Tournaments didn’t exist in the format we have them today, and national events were even more uncommon. Most of them were based around BYOC LAN parties, like MPU or QGL. Prizes were minimal at best; many offered bragging rights for the winners. But there was fierce competition. SGL, for example, had two divisions of 16 teams battling for nothing but pride. And Pantheon fought the hardest of them all.

Pantheon was the first truly dominant team, unstoppable in state competitions and a tour de force online. But like all Counter-Strike teams, kalgo and co. had a powerful opposing force in Victorian goliath 12m. In the end, Pantheon travelled interstate to take the CPL Pacific event, the first major tournament down under, as well as establishing the Pantheon website which became the central hub for the Counter-Strike community and electronic sports in Australia.

iCHOR
Winners of WCG.AU 2002 (kalgo, VenoM, Corefighter, seanske, 7.62)

Dominant online but a little weak on LAN, iCHOR squeaked into the WCG.au 2002 finals through a last chance qualifier. It ended up being a blessing for the Sydney team who went on to defeat function zer0 13-7 in the finals “on the boat”. 

But the victory was soured by the loss of Corefighter who was unable to play in the finals. His replacement, Haz, coped admirably, and a favourable draw with only one internationally known team bode well for the rest of the tournament. That luck was reciprocated in good results: Australia dominated the South African (a team featuring Deathsbane, who would later join Australia’s elite in function zer0) and Bulgarian representatives before securing qualification to the top 16 via a draw with Mousesports.

But the well of luck ran dry past the group stages. iCHOR put in a sub-par performance against Belgium and dropped to the lower bracket. A horrifying run of bad form threatened to derail the next match against Portgual, but a spirited comeback from the Sydneysiders secured the win in overtime. Heart wouldn’t do it against their next opponents, Team 3D, and the Australians were sent packing. 

Shortly after their return the team died, although not before their campaign was filmed and broadcast for a documentary on ABC television. While there’s no footage online from that, you can view a piece covering the national finals over on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy7XNP6-r1s.

23 
Winners of WCG.au 2004 (Sastrooper, Diablo, Wizzamabob, Mole, HBB)

When you play with double the ping of your enemies, you’re guaranteed to be underestimated. It’s the fortune and curse of any team residing in Western Australia; online practice is infinitely harder, but you fly under the radar at LAN. And to this day, no team has flown under the radar harder than 23 did at Redfern. 

It’s also not too much to venture that no tournament has been dominated so hard by a single player. From the group stages to the grand final, Diablo completely and utterly dominated. He won just about every clutch and hit just about every shot with his AWP. On top of that, Diablo displayed the value of movement in Counter-Strike, something that had been neglected.

I was playing for naughty Kommandos at the tournament, and we came up against 23 in the semi-final. On the last round of the second semi-finals map (de_inferno), 23 were up 15-14. Dark Force called a B strat and we took the site losing only one player. 4v3, final round holding B on inferno – you’d think we had it in the bag. 

Well, not really. With a sensitivity of 5 and an AWP, Diablo charged into snake, no-scoped two players and retook the entire site by himself. Imagine someone playing that well for the entire tournament.

Besides featuring illegible players, that WCG would also be remembered for “doing a Kurandus”. Before then, most people had fallen from the rafters at one point or another in a match. But probably not on LAN. Or in a grand final. Where your teammate is defusing and desperately needs your cover. And there are plane tickets to San Francisco riding on that round. But that’s how life is sometimes; Diablo has since faded out of the spotlight, but doing a Kurandus has lived on. 

Unlike the national finals, the Western Australian’s representation overseas was totally forgettable. Already undermined through the forced replacement of Diablo, 23 announced that they were using the trip as a holiday and practiced accordingly. But then the omens kept getting darker: 23’s group was cut short to three teams where only one would qualify, and they drew MIBR on de_aztec for what would be the deciding match. Unfortunately, they drew MIBR first, along with de_aztec and the pleasure of starting as Terrorists. 

After losing 13-0 to the Brazilians, 23 then lost to Kuwait which was milked as the most embarrassing result of all time. But the West Australians had already made their point: after all, it was a holiday, and no matter how much people complained – they still won the right to go there in the first place. Put it this way: if Australia couldn’t beat Diablo, what chance would you have running out the double doors on Aztec against cogu? Probably none.

Function zer0
Winners of: CPL.AU 2002, ESWC.AU 2003, WCG.AU 2003, ESWC.au 2005, ACON.au 2005, ASUS.pES 2005, ESWC.au 2006 (various lineups)

The most dominant team in Australia, function zer0 have been overseas more times than people can dream about. Even when the team wasn’t overly successful they still earned a podium finish: f-zer0 played in every major grand final from 2002 to 2006. 

Overseas, however, was a different proposition. They started off brightly, beating 3D on de_cbble in the CPL thanks to the use of a smoke over a wall which covered the entrance to the B bombsite without any risk to the players. The Queenslanders then made some good inroads at ESWC, beating 2004 winners The Titans in group stages and drawing with 4K, but that was the extent of their achievements. From that point on f-zer0 continued with a mix of poor performances and even worse luck, drawing teams like SK-Gaming or Complexity and often getting outplayed. 

Despite all that, f-zer0 was the best team Australia has put forward to date. They set a standard for the rest of the teams in Australia and they introduced a solid period of stability that saw roster changes only when absolutely necessary. But above all, f-zer0 were consistent. Only time will tell, but for now, function zer0 is, without a doubt, the best team Australia has ever had.

Sequential Gaming 
Winners of: AINC Gamerthon 2007, WCG.au 2007, ACNC 2007 
AINC Gamerthon 2007 - Boomser , Apoc , Pupajon , Soren , Rize 
WCG.au 2007 - Apoc , Pupajon , Soren , Rize , Messi 
ACNC 2007 - Apoc , Pupajon , Soren , Rize , Diggity 

When SQL took out the first Anything Interactive National Cup, nobody expected them to dominate as hard as they did. Since 2002 to 2006, 2004 was the only year where three states took home the top prize (23, You Got Served and XR). But f-zer0 resumed their reign on the country the year after. And Stensgaming had recently been formed only a few months prior with some of the strongest players around, including Spitty from Singapore and Turkish representative Rumil Talarom. But at AINC, SQL destroyed them – and everyone else.

The group stages were a precursor to how SQL would play in Melbourne. Despite the upsets and intense matches happening around them, SQL breezed through the tournament bracket. After winning their first match 16-11, SQL kept winning their games by larger and larger margins until they dominated XCN in the grand finals 16-4. It was the footprint that SQL left on the event: nobody was going to beat them on the first day, the second, or any time soon. And for a while, no-one did.

The World Cyber Games event later that year was a case in point, although one wouldn’t have noticed from watching the qualifiers. It took a last chance competition for SQL to actually attend the finals following their loss to Monks at the second Sydney qualifier. But once they got to Luna Park, it was time to win. It was like the team had installed a secret button; Press Here To Win. And they used it time and time again.

Their final victory came at The Bunker, in dire circumstances: the prize pool had been limited to keyboards and mice for the winners, so it became a struggle for SQL to be motivated for the event. It showed, for a time, with Immunity and SQL trading maps in the finals. But the third map looked as if it was a certain win for the Victorians. They went 9-0 up in a flash, completely shutting down SQL at all the chokepoints on de_inferno, and there seemed no hope of a comeback. 

Until SQL flicked the switch. And like a lightbulb, the team simply lit up – and everyone watching Immunity felt the momentum completely drain away from the back-end of The Bunker. Out of nowhere, SQL began taking rounds, and it was as if the first eight rounds had never happened.

Sadly, their magical powers down under didn’t translate to any rabbits out of the hat at Seattle. Their first and only trip overseas, WCG 2007 offered up the usual rubbish luck that Australians have come to expect: emulate and NoA, the two teams who would later battle it out in the grand final, and highly-rated underdog k23 from Kazakhstan were all thrown in SQL’s group. Nevertheless, SQL managed to finish 4th in the group; still a long way from qualifying, but a respectable finish all the same.



iM
Major Event(s) Won -
AINC GameAthon 2008 - Benor Gazr Destiny Yaman Steel
WCG.AU 2008 - Benor Gazr Destiny Yaman Steel 
Kode5.AU 2009 - Benor Gazr Destiny Ferg Kram 

International Events Attended 
WCG.Germany - 8th/9th

Bio 

I have always said ill choose expirence over skill , but obviously that didn't mean much to the team immunity players in 08. Gazr and Benor quickly started to crawl up the community ladder really quick by joining high profile clans within Australia like immunity with coke , edision and jac whom went on to win gameathon with the two new rising stars . Soon a new immunity lineup was announced nothing like the lineup we saw winning ESWC 2007 in Perth but instead a very young and skillful team who weren't exactly the most feared team there. The team proved to everybody in the community with a little be of dedication and practice a team can be made from the ground up and be a dominate team in the Australian community . immunity went on to win WCG.AU 2008 against a strong encore team and were given tickets to Germany to compete against the worlds best with all of them bar Yaman being their first time . Destiny and the team had some problems and saw him replaced for an experience international player Ferg from Perth who at that time was a bit inactive but was given a chance to keen up for Germany , but with this mix of experience , young blood , dedication and a boot camp in Sweden saw the team become extremely well bonded in a short period of time. The team went on to give one of Australia's best results for Counter-strike 1.6 coming 2nd in there group just losing to the Norway team on nuke , The team got out of groups and faced Game play in single eliminations taking out the first and losing the last two games . The result obviously gave hope that Australians teams can match it against some of the worlds best and maybe with a few more trips with this lineup could see an even better result . Shortly after the team had some roster changes which was unexpected with the great result they achieved over seas , but the team was still confident with the pick up of their old team mate destiny and the old iM veteran Kram . The team had a much harder fight at kode5.au struggling against most teams in the best of 3 single elimination with all games going 2-1 to Immunity but the experience paid off for the team and they never backed down even with a 13-9 scoreline against them in the finals to bring it back and win 16-14 over Encore once again . The last map was a easy victory for the team and saw them once against travel overseas to not make any impact unlike the last trip.

iM(first)
Major Event(s) Won -
Pes.Nationals 2006 - Coke Jac Kram Sokjin edison 
ESWC.AU 2006 - Coke Jac Kram Sokjin edison 

International Events Attend 
ESWC.Paris 2006 - Didn't not make out of groups

Bio - This team shot out of the blocks with a lineup unheard of from Melbourne , The team started out as team v300 who were seen coming to events like pes.nationals as the dark horse team that gave any team a run for their money . The v300 squad was picked up by immunity after having a 2nd place finishing to f-zer0 at a pes.nationals in 2005 , The team had a lineup changed and recruit Singaporean player jac and Australian local player kram to their lineup . The team went to win the following pes.nationals against team Style in the grand final which then sparked a team that would become extremely strong in the scene. They then went on to becoming the Australia's best team by easily winning ESWC.AU in Perth but were put up against some strong teams in the global finals . The team didn't make much of an impact internationally but were very fear in there own country , The team went on to win everything they played with ease for a year until they had to replace certain players in their lineup for the WCG Rule set and were never as strong. 

Teams that were up there

nK - Lineup - Kon , Boomser , battlelord , Denz , Force
Known for being able to challenge f-zer0 in their own state but when it came to nationals their best result was a 3rd placing 

YGS Lineup - Diggity , Wsted , Mte , Jaydon , Rase
The team won ihs 2005 against team f-ze0 which gave them their first lost in along time , every one expected big things from them but with lineup changes and an influx of new lineups being made in this time the team went on to finish 3rd at ESWC

Sublime/Progamer Lineup - Apoc Boomser Tegs ShuanR Midway
The team with allot of sponsorship backing (same sponsor as f-zer0) they were able to finish 2nd to f-zer0 at eswc 2005 and were sent to CPL World Tour stop in Singapore but made no impact in the international scene nor the Australian scene since ESWC

Style Lineup - Davio , Kurandus , Boomser , Snake , Messi
The team EG.Style merged with f-zer0 disbanded lineup and were immediately sent to WCG.Pan Asia Championship where they went undefeated to the grand final against wNv losing 16-12 . The team was spoken highly of and was expected to win WCG.AU 2006 with ease but were stepped out of the competition in the finals against nR , The team ceased straight after

v300 Lineup - kram c0ke dchoi 592 and sokjin
The team finished 2nd at Pes.Nationals and then was picked up by the organization team Immunity who then went to win the next Pes.nats . The team then went on to have two players replaced and was seen as being one of the strongest teams Australia had seen in along time .

XR Lineup - (dont have the infomation)
The team won CA.leet Competition against f-zer0 in 2004 . Coupled with YGS it was their only loses in Australia for along time.The team also went to place 2nd at Acon5 but were unable to play the grand final against f-zer0 due to citizenship rules giving f-zer0 a free uncontested matchup for a overseas trip. 

What we can see - 

* F-zer0 Were the most dominate team in Australia for the longest period of time
* All teams that won two nationals in a row had at least three players from the last event won 
* Somus , Boomser , Messi , Apoc were in serval grand finals at Australian nationals but with the sheer dedication and never give up attitude they were able to find a title by sticking with it 
* Lineup changes are imminent , the longest lasting winning lineup was 4 players for 2 years which was f-zer0 . 
* Giving rookies a chance can work out big , Players like Destiny , Soren , Pupajon , Benor , Gazr , Skz were all players that weren't highly thought after players till their team won nationals and have all been multi title winners 
* The dark horses can win , 23 would probably be the only team that wasn't predicted to come top4 and were able to win nationals and represent Australia 
* International players help ! , Daiblo , Deathsbane , jac and Ferg ,were all players from overseas teams that helped there team win nationals
* Every Successful team bar F-zer0 have changed their rosters after an Australian Nationals and could be a reason to why f-zer0 were the best for the longest time period

I hope you all enjoyed the Article it was one that myself (Boomser) Held onto for a very long time and never posted. A lot of information and rewriting was done by Dippa who helped with the article for posting ages ago.