_{(Banner image: Ubisoft / Kiril Bashkirov)}

Team Empire has had a bad start in Sweden after a shocking defeat against Group D underdogs DWG KIA and Spacestation Gaming, which was the only American team to win a match on day 1. But when did Empire get off to a good start in 2021?

Looking back on Mexico Major, the Russians’ first two games were a 5-7 loss to Team Liquid and an 8-6 win to Invictus Gaming. With the team underperforming and kept alive thanks to Danila “dan” Dontsov’s impressive performances, viewers did not predict that the Russians would be fine in Mexico.

But it turned around and Empire continued to defeat NA’s and EU favorites Spacestation Gaming and BDS Esport, just before they went after Team One in the grand final.

If we go far back to the beginning of the season, Team Empire’s first stage was one to forget as the Russians finished in eighth place. Today, they are Europe’s second best team in the table. So if anyone can recover from a bad start, this is Team Empire.

“Russians start (working) when they know they will be fired from the tournament,” Danil “JoyStiCK” Gabov said at an Ubisoft-organized press conference.

Empire’s first results were shocking to say the least, as they fell to underdogs DWG KIA (3-7). The Russians had the last ban in the map ban phase and they had to choose between two of their weakest maps after DWG KIA banned Kafe, Club and Coastline: Oregon and Villa. Empire’s map pool is known to be short, especially after the consulate has been removed from it. With the introduction of Bank, the alternatives decrease.

“We’re fighting in our map pool, Oregon is not our best map, so maybe it was our fault and we had to play another map,” said JoyStiCK.

In fact, Team Empire’s second match of the day was played in Villa, with the Russians again having the final suspension. The map ban phase was exactly the same as the one seen in their match against the Koreans, with the only difference being that Empire chose the Italian map over Oregon.

Team Empire could easily have taken that game. But two impressive connections during the very first two rounds of the game ultimately decided the result. Alec Fultz turned off Empire’s efforts in round one when tackling a 1v4 situation, while Nathanial “Rampy” Duvall produced what could be the best game of the year in the following round: a 1v5 with Thunderbird, as he received an HP boost just before he was hit by a pair of Russian bullets that extended his life long enough to stop Empire from planting and winning the round.

“It was unlucky, we were a little hyped about this match and you know, over watching, and that’s why we lost the two rounds,” said JoyStiCK.

But the Russian player thinks it is not over yet. “If you are close to going home, the Russians start thinking, the Russians start playing, the Russians start doing everything to win,” he added.

To stay alive in the tournament, Team Empire must get a positive result today against FURIA Esport, which will be followed by their second match against DWG KIA.

“Brazilian teams are aggressive and we know it, we have to be more patient, if you wait for them it can work,” JoyStiCK concluded.

Team Empire’s first match of the day will be against DWG KIA at 12:00 UTC.