CrossFire has always been known for its fast-paced and aim-heavy gameplay. As a matter of fact, almost every high-level team that came to the top four in premier tournaments has been known for their brutal spraydowns (think of Pengfei “Even” Zhang from AG), next-level pickoff capabilities (Christian “REVENGE” Amores of Pacific.Macta comes to mind) or otherworldly clutch talents (remember Jupiter “ELGEE” Gaboy from MSI and his 1v4?)

But then, the 2016 CrossFire Stars Grand Finals has shown that teams who can execute cleanly, compose strategies and aim less reliably can win convincingly over their star-studded, aim-loaded opponents.

The main examples that come to mind are ruLegends, KOWAI and Pacific.Wara (to a lesser extent): With their respective use of tactical prowess and in-game sense, they were able to outlast opponents who were arguably better in the shooting department.

ruLegends and AG: One Giant Slaying Another


In one of my previous articles for the CrossFire Stars portfolio, I mentioned that ruLegends are a team to look out in the near future. They already showed their talent in the CrossFire Global Invitational earlier this year, despite losing out realy in the tournament.

Sure enough, they quickly showed their prowess on Port against Chinese powerhouse AG (who happened to be one of the tournament favorites) by making double fakes, creating double executes and utilizing lurks on their Black List side of the map. Once on the defensive side of the map, the Chinese only won one round as the Russians used good rotations as well as mass pushes in order to create opportunities and deny AG use of their attacking abilities.

ruLegends will go on to get fourth place, but not before showing everyone that innovative strategy and well-placed tactics can indeed be a good addition to the arsenal of top CrossFire teams out there.

KOWAI: Born to Play


The Latin American side were not expected to do anything of significance in this tournament. In fact, no one expected them to reach the top three of this year’s CrossFire Stars Grand Finals.




Yet, in ways that defy logic, they did reach the top three. They won every opponent that they could face, including ruLegends, who were the masters of strat-calling in this year’s CF Grand Finals. They only lost to eventual champions VG.Panda in their semi-final match.

In the above picture, ARCADOX used his superior positioning iun order to take down the Japanese players one by one, turning a disadvantageous situation into a winnable one for his team. This is a prime example of use of map architecture in order to gain advantage against their opponents.

Overall, they proved to be one of the most promising teams that competed in this year’s Grand Finals. ruLegends and KOWAI seem to be leading a new generation of teams which emphasize strategy and tactics rather than raw aim and flashy plays.


Pacific.Wara: Handicapped, yet on Track


For those who said that Wara’s losses were rather unexpected, it should have been known that they are not the best team in the Philippines in terms of aiming ability. They are renowned for counter-strating, which refers to the art of creating specific strategies against certain teams on selected maps.

In addition, this team is known for trading frags and using small edges in their gameplay rather than fighting in extended aim duels, which actually happened in the picture: Wara, instead of fighting bitterly for a site and risk a spraydown, decided to allow the plant and rely on their numbers advantage instead. They successfully did the retake, thus getting a 1-0 advantage in their Group C decider match against Japan’s 1nsanes at this year’s CrossFire Stars Grand Finals.

Yes, they may have not won the battle, but they may have another chance to win the war and join the ranks of KOWAI and ruLegends in the quest for innovation and technique in the game.

Other Thoughts and Wrap-Up

Alas, even current champions VG.Panda are considered in the Chinese scene to be the “strategists” and “thinkers” in the game, preferring to beat other teams out by smart map picks and “cheese” strategies rather than aim and power plays.

Is this the beginning of a new paradigm for the CrossFire international scene?
It is too early to say, but exciting times sure lie ahead!