The Story Of: Team Wolf

After the deep dive into one of India’s current top teams, Marcos Gaming, now take a trip down memory lane. Part 2 of our Feature Series goes into the history of the only Indian team to ever play at a CS:GO major, Team Wolf.

To kick off the story of Team Wolf, we must go all the way back to ESWC. Before Valve Sponsored Majors became a thing with the DreamHack Winter 2013 in CS:GO, the biggest events of the calendar year used to be considered as the Majors of 1.6. And ESWC or the Esports World Championships used to be the cream of the crop. The events switched over to CS:GO in 2012 where NIP, still on their indominable streak swept up the title.

In 2013 however finally showed that NIP was beatable, with Virtus.Pro, previously Astana Dragons, ending the streak at a cool 87 maps in a row. Still NIP continued to be one of the best teams in the world till the now shox-powered Very.Games managed to sneak a couple of titles by the Swedes. ESWC 2013 took place in November 2013, before the first ever CSGO Major, and saw apEX and KQLY’s Clan Mystik take the win.

But in attendance was the Indian Invited team, ATE Gaming. The team was dominant in the Indian scene in 1.6 and participated in various international events like the World Cyber Games and ESWC. At ESWC 2013, the team took brutal losses to Fnatic, Astana Dragons and Alternate Attax, closing the event with just 12 rounds across the three maps.

That event however was just the spark that ignited Team Wolf. After the LGB roster featuring Olof, Krimz and Dennis disbanded, that Legends spot at the major was left open. When Valve’s rulings on invites at the time being minimal, and ESL looking to expand in the Indian gaming scene, the tournament organizer announced the ESL One Cologne Indian Qualifier that would give one team a direct invite into the most prestigious event on the calendar. The team would also get a bootcamp to prepare for the event alongside a coach, hired by ESL, all on the TO’s dime.

ATE Gaming’s core of RiTz, astaRR, Ace (previously known as iBRA) and MithilF brought in RiX to replace kriSSh and went into the qualifier under the new banner of Team Wolf. After their history of dominance, they were considered one of the favorites for the event alongside kriSSh’s team Virtual Impact.

After a quick run through the Bracket, the two favorites clashed in the finals. Wolf coming from the Upper Bracket, received a 1-map advantage. With a close 16-10 win on Inferno and a nail-biting 16-11 on Dust2, Team Wolf emerged victorious, punching their tickets to Cologne.

The cogs were slowly turning on India’s first Major bout, and thanks to a reference from Peter of HLTV, the former Serbian pro Kassad was brought in to coach for the team. While still pretty fresh off his playing career, Kassad had previously coached GamePub in the StarSeries Season VIII. Of course since then, Kassad has become one of the best coaches in the world, leading teams like Renegades to Major top 4 placements.

With barely a day to spare, Kassad flew down to Mumbai in the hopes of parting some of his knowledge to Team Wolf. After his initial shock at the conditions of the bootcamp and the absence of proper scrims, the Serbian did his best to get the team up to scruff. They spent a week in the Mumbai bootcamp before moving to Cologne to test their mettle against the top teams. From his “Talk to Thorin” with veteran journalist Duncan “Thorin” Shields, he recalled that they were just able to cover the basics of the game, not anything in great tactical depth.

Thursday, I got the message from Peter from HLTV. He told me he had recommended me for the position. They asked me to come Tuesday from Serbia. There was trouble about visas but I managed to make it. The level of CS was super low. The people were super friendly and respected me a lot, but the conditions were ridiculous.

I was in Mumbai, all alone, and it was super weird for me. I get there, they welcome me and everything. We start practicing in this almost wooden shed of an Internet Cafe. They brought their own PCs and Monitors.

They didn't have any practice groups, they were getting scrims in steam chats, teams would just play till 16 then leave. It was hard to practice and develop there. We were there for a week then we moved to Cologne for a week. We didn't do anything crazy, just practiced the basics.
Kassad on the Team Wolf Bootcamp in Talk to Thorin

Team Wolf were now making their journey to the biggest stage of their life. Going into ESL One Cologne, they were able to secure sponsorships from GameGod, the online games store and MTS a technology company, to help support the team’s foray into international waters.

Now at Cologne, Wolf were put into Group A alongside shox’s Epsilon Gaming, HellRaisers (HR) featuring the former Astana Dragons-VP core, and of course the ever-deadly Ninjas In Pyjamas (NIP). Right off the bat, Wolf found themselves up against NIP, with the randomized veto taking them to Dust2.

Wolf were the clear underdogs, but they still kept up in some regards. astaRR was the player with the most First Kills and overall the team was neck and neck in terms of openings with NIP, but the Swedish side’s immense experience and Friberg’s monster performance with 29 kills on the map gave NIP a 16-7 win.

Now down in the lower bracket of the group, they faced off against HellRaisers. HR themselves had taken a brutal beating from shox on Inferno, sending them down to the Elimination game with just 1 round won. But with legends like Dosia on their squad, the team wasn’t dwelling on that result while facing Team Wolf. The team came in strong, taking 11 rounds in the first half and continued that dominance quickly taking the win 16-4 and eliminating Wolf from the Major.

The result was a bitter pill to swallow, even if it was expected. But Team Wolf still gained valuable experience over the event. They made connections that lasted a lifetime and through Kassad, a very valuable opportunity came knocking at their door. One that could have changed the course of CS forever.

Following the Cologne Major, Wolf returned to India and continued playing together for a few months competing in the ESEA league and ESWC qualifiers, before going their separate ways. But before 2014 came to an end, the Indian scene was presented with a unique opportunity. RiTz, the IGL of Wolf had managed to create quite a strong bond with Kassad in their time working together. And after the Major, the two discussed potential International talents that would be willing to move to India to help bolster their firepower and make the country a staple internationally.

If you know Kassad’s history you know exactly what name might have come up in the discussion. The now-legendary NiKo was at the time just a youngster trying to break into the CS scene from Bosnia in an era before FACEIT made international squads viable. The three of them, RiTz Kassad and NiKo even sat together on a Skype call with NiKo being ready to move to India and play in the team as a way to play in the various Asian events of the era.

Understanding the financial situation of the country, NiKo even lowered his initial salary demand of $5000 down to $3000, a figure that would be a minor fraction of his salary today. But unfortunately, with the state of Indian Esports at the time, no org was willing to cough up that amount of money for a gamble on Bosnian youth. Thus, NiKo bided his time back at home, till Mousesports eventually came knocking at his door. And the Indian scene slowly faded as Valve introduced the Minor system that removed any direct qualifications in future majors.

ESL One Cologne 2014 may not have been an incredible result, but seeing those players compete at the biggest stage in the world of CS and carrying the Indian Flag up that summit is a memory every Indian fan will cherish forever. With Indian CS seeing a resurgence in 2023 and 2024, and True Rippers’ recent showmatch at BLAST Premier World Finals, the country is slowly building it’s way back to glory. Through all that, it is essential to remember how important that first success was to sparking the CS dream in thousands of Indians.

And with rite2ace still active in the scene and all set to sign up with a new organisation on his Counter-Strike return, maybe the Team Wolf legacy can live on in BLAST’s upcoming The Draft and other upcoming Indian events as well.