Image: Rogue (screengrab)
Rogue’s metamorphosis after last season’s performances is going, without a shadow of a doubt, in the right direction.
Kevin “Prano” Pranowitz’s and Murice “AceeZ” Erkelenz’s surprising departures from the team saw Rogue bring up a mix of young blood and experience. Signed were longtime GAMMA Gaming player Tom “Deapek” Pieksma and former G2 Esports world champion Juhani “Kantoraketti” Toivonen in an attempt to elevate the team’s results.
After a brilliant start in Stage 1 where Rogue won five of their first six games, they hit a roadblock and lost three in a row to miss out on the Charlotte Major.
Evidently dissatisfied with their roster, Rogue parted ways with Jan “ripz” Hucke and joined the battle to sign the (very young) man of the moment: William “Spoit” Löfstedt.
Spoit’s signing was quite possibly the most anticipated one since TSM signed Jason “Beaulo” Doty back in Jun. 2019. With a huge community behind him due to his videos and streams on YouTube and Twitch, Spoit built a name for himself in the Siege scene from a very young age like Beaulo.
“Everything just clicked,” said Spoit on why he chose Rogue out of the “three offers” that he had on the table. He also mentioned that he was impressed by “the way they welcomed me” and the “potential” in the Rogue squad after trialing “back and forth” with the three teams.
Rogue’s first appearance with Spoit was at the GWB Closed Qualifier, a tournament the team effectively used as practice for Stage 2. While they beat Heroic and Victus, Rogue fell by 1-3 in the final game against eventual Gamers8 semi-finalists WYLDE.
“Rogue back then was completely different to now, the way we play, the way we communicate, all that kind of stuff,” said Spoit of his debut tournament.
Spoit’s prowess was first properly shown in his second game in the EUL.
“We were really happy about the win, we just took it like any other game, that’s basically it, there’s not much to say, we just played the default Siege and ended up being the better team that day,” he recalled.
The Swede ended the stage at the top of the individual standings with a SiegeGG Rating of 1.30, while having the best K-D (+42) and the second-best entry record (+14).
Part of the rookie’s success is due to how Rogue has adapted to his arrival.
“I decided to take over the main entry role, so Cryn could play this kind of flex role, and then we have Kanto in second entry with me,” explained Spoit.
The change has been something both Pascal “Cryn” Alouane and Rogue have desired, said Spoit, as Cryn “wasn’t supposed to be the one playing entry” and instead prefers “playing that kind of lurking-flex role”.
After having lost just two games in the first seven, Rogue only needed one point to secure a Berlin Major spot. With their remaining games against PWNZ and Natus Vincere, it seemed very unlikely that the team would miss out on another international event.
“We weren’t really stressing too much, it would be wrong to say that we didn’t care really, we obviously cared, but those games were not as important as of course the bigger games,” said Spoit of the team atmosphere approaching those matches.
Rogue didn’t make it easy for themselves, though and struggled against PWNZ. But despite a loss, they got a point through overtime -- and that was enough to clinch a spot at the Major.
“The NAVI game was just have fun, save a bit of strats for the Berlin Major, don’t show a new map. I think it was the fourth time for us playing Clubhouse in the EUL that stage, so we just, like, we run attack and play default and play together and do the fundamentals,” he said of his team’s final match after securing qualification.
Now, Spoit and company will have the chance to showcase how good their roster can be on the international stage. While he and Deapek are new to the international scene, the team has some great international experience in Kantoraketti and Leon “LeonGids” Giddens.
Rogue have been drawn in Group A, the so-called ‘Group of Death’. The squad will play twice against Ninjas in Pyjamas, XSET, and DWG KIA each.
“It’s gonna be a really hard group, it’s four teams that are close in skill,” noted Spoit.
Spoit also revealed Rogue’s desire for revenge against Ninjas in Pyjamas, who gate-kept them from what would have been the team's first Major international final.
“For some of them it’s gonna be a rematch from the Sweden Major where they lost against DWG KIA (sic), that’s gonna be fun for them,” he finished.
Catch Rogue on the international stage again at the Berlin Major, which will run from Aug. 15 to 21, and read up on everything you need to know about the event.