Kenneth “Koosta” Suen is the name on Counter-Strike fan’s lips today after the AWP player and his team, Enemy Esports, claimed victory in the first ever North American CS:GO Minor Championship.
The team finished the tournament with an outstanding record of six map victories and no losses. Perhaps even more surprising: No team was able to make it to 10 rounds in any of the maps played. The first-place finish grants Enemy a spot in the offline qualifier for the MLG Columbus Major. where they’ll compete amongst the likes of Cloud9, Team Liquid, Ex-Titan and more for a spot in the $250,000 tournament.
Enemy took down EZG Esports and Leader-1 Esports in the group stage before dispatching Winterfox in the semifinals to set up a meeting with Splyce in the grand final. Splyce bested E League Road to Vegas champions OpTic Gaming to earn their spot in the final.
The maps for the series were Cache, Inferno, and Mirage, but only two were needed. Enemy came out on top, 16-7 and 16-9, to secure the win and $30,000. Koosta finished the series with a total of 67 kills and only 24 deaths. In fact, if Koosta had been able to pick up just one more frag, he would have posted a 2.0 K/D, almost unheard of in top-tier competition. As it stands, he had to settle for a meager 1.99 (174 kills, 75 deaths). Averaging 29 kills per map and more than one kill per round.
Koosta was clearly the MVP, though teammate Michael “Uber” Stapells was also a standout, finishing the tournament with a 1.6 K/D.
The MLG Columbus qualifier kicks off on Feb. 26. Though Enemy may not be favorites to claim a spot in the major, their performance this weekend in the Ohio Minor tournament will likely turn some heads in the more established teams heading to the qualifier.
Photo via Major League Gaming
