Getting To Know Isurus
Isurus, formerly known as Isurus Gaming, have been on a recent climb to success since their run back in 2020. The team has been around since 2011 and has only received a small amount of viewership from the competitive Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) community.
They’re the FIReLEAGUE regional champs and were even the runner up team at the global finals. Isurus is based in Argentina, and they’ve grown exponentially over the past ten years. The South American team has been around the block but mostly competes at a B-Tier level.
They attempted to make their debut in the S-Tier scene, but it didn’t go so well. Isurus lacked points in the ESL Pro League, but they still continued to dominate amateur events. It’s safe to say that they definitely deserve a lot more respect than they currently have.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Between 2012 and 2014, Isurus made the most of their situation by playing in every possible offline event. Back in the day, they competed against teams such as the Lemondogs, RTN Gaming, SemXorah, and ProGaming.
They were quite successful in Argentina, which meant a ton of championships, mostly in the C-Tier division. Nearing the end of 2014, the players of Isurus left the organisation for both Team MOB and PEX Gaming.
Without investors and contracted players, Isurus was at a loss which is what led to the disband in 2015. Three years away from the competitive scene gave the owners of Isurus time to develop different skills. Eventually, they came back to the career they originally loved and opened up Isurus for another season.
COMEBACK SEASON
In 2017, Isurus came back where they left off, which was dominating the C-Tier bracket. After competing for nine months, they won a total of seven events beating out teams such as FURIA Esports, Hafnet E-Sports, and INTZ eSports.
Their earnings peaked at twenty-thousand dollars, which was huge for a team that was off for three years. A year later, they made their debut in the B-Tier scene by placing first in the ESL Brazil Premier League.
In 2019 their earnings hit a slight decrease, but that didn’t stop them from going all out. Isurus won another B-Tier event that year and even made their S-Tier debut across three different tournaments. Overall it was a struggle, but Isurus still placed higher than Complexity Gaming, Cloud9, and Team Envy.
FIRELEAGUE CHAMPS
This year was a great comeback for Isurus as they took the lead at the FIReLEAGUE events. Their earnings hit an all-time high of nearly seventy thousand dollars after amazing back to back placements.
Isurus made their way to the FIReLEAGUE regional finals along with 9z Team, Infinity Esports, and Furious Gaming. Isurus went undefeated and turned Furious Gaming to ashes in the grand finals.
After going home with twenty-five thousand dollars, Isurus moved on to the FIReLEAGUE grand finals against BOOM Esports and Furious Gaming. After BOOM Esports beat Furious Gaming to a pulp, they went up against Isurus. Along with Fernando "fer" Alvarenga, BOOM Esports won both maps putting Isurus in second-place.
Click to enlargeMEET TOM1
Tomas "tom1" Rivero signed with Isurus back in February of this year after being released from Furious Gaming. A team that was constantly being dominated by BOOM Esports, River Plate Gaming, and Isurus themselves.
Tom1 is mostly known for his abilities as an entry fragger and acted as an IGL with his previous teams. He’s been competing since the age of sixteen as an active member in the competitive CS:GO community.
Players based in Argentina are pretty limited, which is why players are often swapped between three main teams. Even though tom1 didn’t have the best time with Furious Gaming, he simply could’ve been held back by his team.
WHO IS NIKOMONSTER?
Nicolas "NikoM" Miozzi will act as the final piece of the puzzle for Isurus as a rifler with a lurking ability. NikoM even played for Isurus back in 2017 when they made their comeback roster. He won six events with the team before moving to Team oNe and eventually x6tence.
For a long time now, NikoM has been a consistent player within Argentina. At the age of 23, he’s already won twelve different events and was partially responsible for the rise of Isurus years ago. Isurus is currently at a great point, but they can definitely use the help of both tom1 and NikoM to break out of the B-Tier scene.
THE BRAINS OF THE TEAM
Finally, there’s Rodrigo "pino" Manarino, the latest analyst for Isurus. With fourteen years of experience, pino has dedicated a major portion of his life to competitive Counter-Strike. He started coaching in 2017 and has successfully earned over nine titles.
Pino was recently moved to the position of analyst due to his portfolio. Instead of coaching the team, he’ll be responsible for developing strategies for his players. It looks like Isurus has the best possible staff for a successful season this year.
Images via Isurus
