The disappointment in the ERLs #2: Zero Tenacity

This year in the EMEA Circuit, many teams succeeded, but others were left disappointed by performances well below expectations. After revisiting NNO Prime's season, in our second episode, we will explore the 2024 season of Zero Tenacity, an Ultraliga powerhouse that once again failed to reach European relevancy.

In 2023, Zero Tenacity decided to invest heavily in Korean players, introducing Seo "SlowQ" Ye-bit, Oh "Noah" Hyeon-taek, Jeong "kabbie" Sang-hyeon, and Yoon "Ice" Sang-hoon throughout the year, alongside a full Korean staff. This allowed them to win the Spring Split, but they failed to maintain their success in Summer and even failed to qualify for EMEA Masters.

Still aiming for Ultraliga dominance, Zero Tenacity decided to rely on Polish EMEA stars for 2024, moving quickly in the transfer market to secure several big names from Poland who had left the Ultraliga. The Polish core would thus be formed around Dawid "Melonik" Ślęczka, Franciszek "HARPOON" Gryszkiewicz, and Robert "Erdote" Nowak. They would be accompanied by Emre "Kofte" Akça, the 2023 Spring EMEA Masters winner with Istanbul Wild Cats, and veteran Dániel "bluerzor" Subicz, who also won the EMEA Masters in 2022 with Team Heretics (and who is a former teammate of Erdote). Half of the roster was formed in early October, and the last piece, Kofte, was secured at the end of October, which is very early for the ERLs.

Contrary to 2023, Z10 won both domestic titles in the Ultraliga, although not without difficulty (they finished second in the Spring Regular Season). Z10 achieved their minimum goal with two playoff wins, both by 3-0 victories in the finals. However, it was not Z10's ambition to dominate only in the Ultraliga with such players.

Still, resistance was strong in the Ultraliga, particularly from a very strong Orbit Anonymo in the Spring Split, who even managed to defeat Z10 3-2 in the first BO5 between the two teams. Once OAE was significantly weakened due to financial struggles, it was Back2TheGame, a full Polish roster, who also beat Z10 3-2 in the initial BO5 of the playoffs. Twice this season, Z10 managed to claw its way back to the finals by winning 3-2 in the Loser's Finals, and then demolishing the finals 3-0.

These two playoff runs, where Z10 started slowly and ended very strongly, would haunt them in the two EMEA Masters the team participated in. Unlike domestic playoffs, which allow days to pass between matches, EMEA Masters require teams to be ready as soon as the first match starts, something Z10 failed to do twice.

The Spring EMEA Masters were indeed a total disaster. Drawn into the group of death, many expected Z10 to be in the fight for the top two places in Group A. However, they were humbled and exited the group stage with a 0-6 record. Z10 simply wasn't as organized, consistent, or creative as the other three teams they faced. With the exception of the HARPOON/Erdote bot lane, which managed to stay competitive with every bot lane except HRTS' (and even gained an edge on multiple occasions), the topside of Z10 was frequently outclassed. Z10 played one close game against Beşiktaş Esports, with HARPOON once again carrying his team, but after their defeat in that game, Dimitrije "Hebihime" Malesevic, the owner of Z10, played in the last match of the EMEA Masters. With a 0-6 humiliating exit, Z10's Spring ended in massive disappointment. Although not making it out of such a difficult group wouldn’t have been a failure on its own, doing so in such a manner made Z10 look far below every other ERL team.

Z10 didn’t let this EMEA Masters performance disrupt their roster and solidly qualified for Summer with their sights set on the top 16 qualification. The Swiss format allowed for more mistakes (as you wouldn't be 0-3 with just one bad day) but also meant that Z10 would have to face tough competition early and often to qualify.

The first game against SK Gaming Prime was nonetheless a strong reality check: every player from Z10 was largely outclassed by SKP’s, and Z10 failed to create any significant plays on the map. Zero Tenacity repeated its poor performance in game 2, securing the same number of kills (3) and showing no signs of potential. Melonik was by far the most affected player; the top lane felt completely isolated from the team. Meanwhile, Bluerzor struggled to synchronize with anyone, resulting in a true disaster.

The Ultraliga champions still managed to outclass mCon Esports, an opponent that was largely below their level on paper, yet the game was too close for comfort. HARPOON once again was the main carry, while Kofte seemed like he was ready for an early vacation. Despite the win, Z10 showed a significant lack of basic team cohesion, which cost them the game against Phantasma, a team that overcame individual differences through efficient team play. Stéphane "Manaty" Dimier and Nikos "HungryPanda" Nikolaidis were able to dominate the map over Bluerzor and Erdote, while the three main carries were once again isolated from one another, with Melonik being completely stomped by Erkmen "NuQ" Erdoğdu in the top lane.

The last round could have been a huge stomp, as Z10 were drawn against BK ROG Esports. However, it wasn't as one-sided as expected, with Z10 even managing to win a game against the LFL #5 seed thanks to a well-played poke composition that involved every player in its execution, countering Paweł "Czekolad" Szczepanik's Azir. It was too little too late, as once Czekolad returned to a lane-priority pick and BKR's bot side focused on skirmishing, BKR punished Z10's significant early-game mistakes. In the end, Z10 was eliminated with a 1-4 record, which was far from satisfactory. Zero Tenacity simply was not a well-functioning team of five players; their team play was inconsistent, and their system was virtually non-existent. This caused all the players to perform significantly worse than expected. As anticipated in such a malfunctioning team, Bluerzor's season was catastrophic, but so were Melonik's and Kofte's.

On paper, the roster was good, experienced, and had everything needed to succeed domestically while being among the strong teams in Europe. However, the absence of true team cohesion once the enemy team could respond to Z10's plays is either a sign of a significant issue in roster building or an inability to work effectively in scrims.

Without internal data, it's hard to definitively say whether Z10 couldn't scrim efficiently. However, the incompatibility can be seen in the combination of three players whose cooperation would seem challenging: Melonik, Kofte, and Erdote. These three players thrived with a lane-focused gameplay. Adding Bluerzor, a jungler who has leaned towards aggression and invading, and HARPOON, a player who has always been the primary carry of his team, creates a natural tension. This tension should not necessarily spell the end of a roster's ambitions, but it indicates that significant work is needed to develop team chemistry.

Perhaps the relative weakness of the Ultraliga outside its top three did not challenge Z10 enough, but this argument loses weight as Orbit Anonymo and B2TG showed promising performances on the European stage. It is clear that Z10 could not overcome its structural difficulties, likely due to a roster that was assembled too quickly, and it is also evident that the lack of competitiveness in the Ultraliga cannot be seen as the sole or main reason for their struggles.