The Chinese dragon: TYLOO

One of the very few Asian teams, which made a splash in CS:GO, TYLOO returned to the Major with a different lineup than the one which they have used in the past. In the landscape, where the Steam games are not the king and CS:GO is falling behind the likes of the MOBA games, mobiles and the other FPS disciplines like PUBG and VALORANT, this is the chance for the Chinese scene to remind everyone about their glory days.

The road to the Major was not the smoothest for TYLOO, but a lack of competition in the region guided them through the slump and allowed them to have a chance at IEM Fall Asia. Not dropping a single map to either Checkmate or Vici Gaming gave TYLOO the championship and the sufficient amount of points to finish first in the rankings to qualify for PGL Major Stockholm 2021.

Masters of different maps, TYLOO’s rampant offence catches teams off guard and allows their defence to smother the opponents trying to come back. One constant about this lineup and the first one, which broke into the scene in 2016 is still Mirage, where the Chinese squad does its best work. 80% winrate against the teams, which play the map nearly all the time is nothing to be ashamed of and even in Stockholm, TYLOO have already posted a victory on it against Sharks Esports.

Despite not having the likes of “BnTeT” and “xccurate” anymore, this team is all about their heart and soul in “somebody”. A great anchor player on the defence, the Chinese superstar is a menace on TYLOO’s attack, lurking around the map and giving his team advantages in terms of information and firepower. Having playmakers like that gives TYLOO a shot against any team, which was already shown with their near-upset of Heroic in the opening round in Stockholm. “somebody” himself is going to be the key for their game against Team Spirit - a team, which takes pride in its setups, but sometimes comes terribly unprepared against the curve balls which are thrown at them - exactly what “somebody” needs.

This is not the same TYLOO, which won championships in Counter-Strike 1.6, not the same which upset the favourites in 2016 or made top-16 at the Major few years later. This one wants to put Asia back on track despite being a 324:1 long shot to hoist the trophy.