The Zen Esports Network League is a new Australian based esports venture looking to increase the profile of both Australian and New Zealand teams via their partnership with the ESL. The CS:GO Zen League is currently underway with eight teams from Australia and Southeast Asia battling for a share of a $50,000 AUS prize pool.
Initial Round Robin completed
Three weeks into the league, the Indonesians of Recca Esports sit atop the Asia Group standings with a 5-1 map score, while at 4-2, Dark Sided lead the way in the Australia Group. Each group of four teams have finished their initial round robin, playing each other team within the same region in a best-of-two affair, with this now being repeated over the next three weeks.
In the Asia Group, Recca Esports have been the most dominant team since the start, with four of their wins coming at a 16-8 or better scoreline (16-5, 16-3 against MVP.PK, 16-2 over JYP and 16-8 over The MongolZ). The only blemish on Recca’s record thus far has come at the hands of The MongolZ (16-19), who are currently tied for third with MVP.PK. That game, on Cache, went to overtime, with The MongolZ superstar Machinegun putting on a show with 36 kills.
In the Australia Group, Dark Sided have risen to the top of the standings with a 4-2 record, with Tainted Minds and Chiefs eSports Club right behind on 3-3.
Dark Sided have remained fairly consistent throughout the first three weeks, dropping both maps to Tainted Minds while picking up 2-0 sweeps of both Chiefs and Team Immunity (although DS were pushed to overtime against Chiefs on Inferno).
Tainted Minds are incredibly difficult to judge as they lost 2-0 to bottom side Immunity, but they also secured a 2-0 victory over first place team Dark Sided. Even within their map pool, Tainted Minds do not show an abundance of consistency. While winning both games on Cache, TM are 1-1 on Overpass, with those matches being a 16-6 romp over Dark Sided and a 5-16 implosion against Team Immunity.
Battle for first in Australia Group
The first match of next week pits Dark Sided against Tainted Minds in a battle for first place in the Australia Group. Tainted Minds will have a significant advantage if one of the maps is Cache, while Dark Sided will look to get Mirage as they sport a 2-0 record on it.
The other match-up for Australia sees Team Immunity and Chiefs eSports Club battle it out for key points going into the final weeks. While Chiefs have already taken down Team Immunity 2-0, this week’s matches could be a very different story. Not only did the first clash happen all the way back in Week One, but one of the maps was the newest map in the pool; Inferno. That Inferno match-up went into double overtime, meaning one single round could have given Team Immunity both the map victory and the momentum heading into the second map (which was a competitive 16-10 affair on Train).
Recca a class above so far
In the Asia Group, Recca Esports will battle MVP.PK while JYP Gaming take on The MongolZ in a critical game for second place.
Recca Esports are the heavy favourites coming up against MVP.PK as they breezed past them in their Week One showdowns 16-5 (on Mirage) and 16-3 (on Cobblestone). The only doubt comes from Recca’s only other loss being to another bottom team in The MongolZ, meaning there is upset potential.
Assuming Recca Esports are able to secure a 2-0 victory over MVP.PK, the MongolZ vs. JYP Gaming match will go a long way to determining who will finish in second place. This match is also critical as if either team is able to achieve a 2-0 victory, they will then hold the tiebreaker over the other (as they split 1-1 in the opening week). Looking back on their Week One match-up, The MongolZ were able to secure a convincing victory on Train 16-7, while JYP took a more closely contested clash 16-13 on Inferno.
Although JYP have the better overall record thus far (3-3 as opposed to 2-4), The MongolZ have the X factor in this clash; superstar Machinegun. The Mongolian player has a similar impact to FaZe Clan’s Niko; the ability to single handedly carry a team to victory. If The MongolZ are to pull off the slight upset, it will be through the efforts of Machinegun as the primary driving force.
All in all then it’s been a good start to the Zen League and this attempt to build up local talent in Australia and New Zealand is likely to be followed in a number of other countries, not least the United Kingdom.
