WePlay Academy League Season 4 fields the strongest rosters to date

WePlay Academy League Season 4 promises hot CS:GO action between the hottest Academy teams on the scene. The first steps of the next CS: GO behemoths could be taken here, as developmental squads comete for a USD 100,000 prize pot. This is a massive slight increase to last season’s prize pool, which stood at USD 88,000 for the LAN final.

One week down the line, we are already witnessing some quality CS:GO played on stage.

WePlay Academy CS:GO is finally back

The academy teams are back at it. NAVI Junior, Young Ninjas, mouz NXT, BIG, OMEN Academy, Astralis Talent, Fnatic Rising, OG Academy, 00Prospects, Apeks Rebels, Young Gods, FURIA Academy, Spirit Academy, Eternal Fire Academy and Outlaws (yeah its a long list) are here to play. Split into two groups, all teams fight to evade elimination in the opening rounds, and before the bracket kicks in.

The two group toppers will head straight into the playoffs, the last-placed team of each group will go home. The other 10 teams will participate in a play-in stage. One thing is for sure: opportunities are plenty for teams to make amends for minor slips ups, maybe even a major one. Some tournaments don’t offer second chances, but if the objective of having developmental teams is to give them enough game time, that is certainly being achieved here.

Based on where they finish at the end of the group stages, teams will be seeded for the play-in stage that will be held over four days from June 9-12. It’s quite simple. The team that finishes sixth will need four wins to make the playoffs; fifth will need three, fourth will need two and so on. From here on, two teams will advance and will contest a best-of-three double-elimination playoffs.

While this can be seen as a massive filtration process, if a team can come through these unscathed, they would’ve taken potentially the next step towards their development to be the next competitive CS: GO outfit. The playoffs will be held from June 24, with the final set for June 26.

Mouz NXT back for a 4-peat?

Last season’s league phase had BIG Academy topping one group with a 5-3 record, while MOUZ NXT topped the other pool. Astralis Talent competed through the Play-Ins and defeated Young Ninjas 2-0 to seal a spot in the LAN finals, where they lost to MOUZ NXT, who emerged champions. It marked a 3-peat for MOUZ NXT, who have won each season of WePlay Academy League to date.

Why not make it four?

After one week of matches, MOUZ NXT are already comfortably at the top of the standings with a 5-1 record.

Best young talent lineup to date

Across the academy teams, plenty of talent the likes of: Peppzor, ztr, Marix, Oxygen, shaiK, prosus, k1to, Fessor are making an Academy showcase, bringing the competition up to B-tier and deep into Playoffs we will see some A-tier level play. These are some strong rosters, and several are easily within the top100 CS:GO teams globally.

Russian players allowed, but no Outlaws

One marked change this season is the Russian presence under a neutral tag. The organisers have been wary of inducting teams/players from there owing to the political conflict involving Russia and Ukraine. This time around, players from the Russian Federation have been allowed to participate. The decision is based on the fact that none of the members of the roosters are subject to personal international and state sanctions lists for their activities. Playing under a neutral tag has been a common practice at major sporting events for years now.

Earlier, VP Prodigy, under the Outlaws tag became participants in WePlay Academy League Season 4. However, days before the event commenced, Outlaws were force withdrawn from the competition.