Every CPL raises more questions then it answers. Can NoA ever be consistent? Is coL this good? And why is no one talking about EYE? Can the Americans truly claim bragging rights?

Questions are easy, answers are not.

NoA has proven one thing, they are not consistent. Nollelva and last Summer CPL proved this team may never be. Watching this team all weekend, the answer lies with two guys; Shaguar and Method.

Win or lose the championship game Sunday, it will not change the facts that surround this team. The former eoL members of Element, Naikon and XqetR had seemed extremely consistent and solid members, both the North American members of this team hold the true keys. Honestly the pair of them hold more talent then the other three members but with it comes a double edged sword.

One side of that sword is the talent; obviously some of the best AWP and rifle work of any players in the World. But the other side of that sword is the hot and cold play by which they live. Just look at pre-CPL LG LAN. From ice cold group play, including a loss to coL, mibr and GamerCo, to rallying on bracket play day to win the whole thing.

Anyone who watched the matches on that Sunday during bracket play saw how effective Method was, the same has been true at this CPL Winter for Shaguar. His play with an AWP has been critical. Even at this CPL, Method and Shaguar dictated the tempo for the rest of the team. The single match lost by NoA so far in this event, featured both sub-.500 FPR’s, the only time that either did that all tournament. But neither has been anywhere near this effective during the low period of this team’s past 6 months.

Could the lack of CAL-I action both Shaguar and Method normally find between CPL’s be the cause of their ineffectiveness? It seems plausible considering both could have become complacent with the 2nd place finish they had at last Winter CPL and without CAL-I matches to force practice they were left unprepared for the following 6 months of match play. If NoA is to be a dominate team on the World scene, they’ll need to solve those inconsistency problems.

The question also must be raised about this team if they can’t find consistency. Can they survive another down period like they had these last 6 months? With the reputations of Element leaving teams and the lack of interest Naikon showed at some points; I’m not sure they could survive a down period of similar length and ineffectiveness.