The Chiefs eSports Club have an interesting history in the CS:GO landscape. Since their first dive into the game, the organisation has announced the signing of four 5-man line-ups and had 23 different players represent them at LAN. The Chiefs seem to finally have found some consistency with their current squad, who, as of this article’s publication, are finding some great online form, but the organisation’s CS history has been erratic and precarious.

The Young Guns – nova, ofnu, zewsy, Lightstep, dizzy/ap0c

The Chiefs announced the signing of Qlimax Crew early in 2015. This side had recently been rising through the ranks of the Oceanic CS scene and were battling for a top ranked spot the region, behind Vox Eminor and Immunity, after winning events such as the VoxPlay Ghost Cup and the Trident Spring Comp.

Now under the Chiefs banner, the team hit their stride in March of 2015, despite losing Kyran “dizzy” Crombie in the very early stages of the squad’s lifespan. With him, though, the Chiefs picked up a win against Vox Eminor in the group stage at the PeetyG Invitational LAN, before ultimately falling to Team Immunity in the grand final. This event marks the end of dizzy’s time with the lineup, with Mike “ap0c” Aliferis, now of Winterfox fame, stepping in.

The first season of the FACEIT Oceania League saw Chiefs take 2nd place, out of 6, with a dominant 16-5 win over Vox Eminor on Mirage and a close 26-24 overtime loss to Immunity on the same map. The team also saw success in the first Oceanic ESEA season, taking out Streamline in the grand final to secure first place. The real test for this lineup, however, would come at the CGPL Season 3 LAN Finals. With no Vox Eminor in attendance and rumours floating around Immunity making a change, the time was nigh for Chiefs to step up and take out their first offline win. A hiccup in the group stage against Streamline, however, would make it tough, as the best-of-two system that was in place meant the victor of a 1-1 split was determined by round differential. This meant Chiefs were forced to face rivals Immunity in the semi-finals, a match that was tipped to be the decider for first place. Going down 2-1 was crushing enough for the side to discontinue, leaving Chiefs without a roster for the coming months.

The Failed Gamble – Sico, BlackouT, wizard, rbz, HaZ/DANZ

Consisting of Sico, BlackouT, wizard, rbz and DANZ, the Dire Wolves roster of early 2015 proved to be a tough online opponent with qualifications for the CGPL Season 3 Finals, despite not being able to attend, and ACL Sydney 2015. After falling out with their organisation, Chiefs picked the roster up, however with HaZ in the place of DANZ.

 

wizard, DANZ, BlackouT, sibe and rbz at ACL Sydney

A premonition of the uncertainty to come, just days after the roster announcement, DANZ comes into the side to replace HaZ. This move proves to not be a detriment, with Chiefs qualifying for ACL Melbourne 2015 in their first tournament under the new banner. The event lineup was extremely promising for the team, as well. With no Renegades or Immunity to speak of, and the scene just having undergone a big shuffle, the form and somewhat-stability of Chiefs were factors that could have allowed the team to claim top spot. Despite this, though, the side bombed out of their group, which consisted of Animal Squad, Vox Eminor and SYF Gaming. Another disappointing LAN finish for the core, with ACL Sydney being the other, and just 2 weeks after the event, less than 2 months from their signing, the team was dropped by Chiefs.

The Established Victors – PeetyG, zewsy, tucks, Lightstep, CHRiSOAOW

After winning ACL Melbourne 2015, and performing well online, Skyfire, consisting of PeetyG, zewsy, tucks, Lightstep and CHRiSOAOW, were establishing themselves as the best team in Australia, besides Immunity and Renegades (a title which would see a lot of use in the scene for the coming years). The lineup left Skyfire at the conclusion of ACL Melbourne and Chiefs, now without a roster, swooped at the opportunity to sign. This 5-man core would go on and prove to be the most successful lineup to play under the Chiefs banner.

Swift qualifications for The Crown Invitational and Stage 3 of the FACEIT Oceania League would provide this team with the opportunity to do damage. At the Crown event, the first to feature international teams playing in Australia, Chiefs took down SYF Gaming but fell to Immunity and Renegades in 2 close BO3 series, missing the chance to play against Cloud 9 and Virtus.pro. This would, however, further cement the team as the 3rd best in the region.

The Chiefs showed potential at the Crown Invitational

The team’s online league campaigns, however, didn’t go as smoothly, with a 4th place finish in the Counter Pit League and dead last in the FACEIT League. CyberGamer was the only place where they seemed to find success, qualifying for the LAN Finals at PAX AUS 2015. This event is one surrounded in controversy. Whether it be in extremely loud venue, where the team’s could hardly hear the game, or the laptops which were used by the players that produced horrible performance, this event will forever be held in infamy. Now whether these conditions hindered Chiefs more or less than their opponents is up for debate, but a thrilling best-of-three against Immunity, with a triple overtime final map, would see the roster pick up their second LAN win.

A month after this victory, PeetyG announced his retirement from CS:GO and zewsy dropped back to a substitute role for the team. This change would lead to the organisation’s most fluctuating and unsettled period in its CS history.

The History of Chiefs Esports Club in CSGO continues soon with Part Two coming soon.

Photo credit: ESL Australia and Peanut Gallery.