Thorin Responds to Backlash from Team Spirit Fans

Duncan “Thorin” Shields does not believe that Team Spirit’s recent CS2 victories indicate the team’s absolute dominance in the esports discipline.

The analyst shared this opinion on YouTube.

“If you look at the comments under the latest podcasts about Spirit, you’ll see some real anger from the fans. And there are two specific groups of fans who are upset.

The first is Spirit’s own fanbase. Their logic is simple: ‘Hey, we’re winning every tournament, making it to every final—isn’t this the beginning of our era?’ And they feel like we’re downplaying Spirit’s achievements. But I think most experts agree with me: Donk does something insane at practically every event and puts up superhuman stats, so with that kind of play, you’re supposed to win every tournament.

But you have to win the real tournaments—the ones where absolutely all the strongest teams compete. And Vitality pulled out of some of those tournaments on its own. For me, they took themselves out of the running when they agreed to play with a substitute.

Anyway, first of all, Spirit fans were very upset. But sorry, guys, that’s exactly why I didn’t get caught up in all the hype surrounding your “era.” Try to picture this in your head: imagine Spirit playing exactly the same way they do now, but set it four months ago, when Vitality was sweeping every single tournament. Would Spirit be winning right now? If you’re a Spirit fan, you’re free to say “yes” and make your case. But I just don’t believe it.

Actually, that’s why I’m really looking forward to the moment when we see the current Spirit face off against the real Vitality again. I want to see that match.”

According to Duncan “Thorin” Shields, after every podcast, Team Spirit fans accuse the analyst of downplaying the team’s achievements. Nevertheless, he believes that in order to be called the top favorite on the pro scene, a roster must win the biggest tournaments by defeating all the strongest teams. The analyst believes that due to a temporary substitution on Vitality, it’s impossible to objectively assess the balance of power between the two rosters, but if Team Spirit had demonstrated its current level of preparation in previous tournaments, it wouldn’t have been able to beat its main rivals.

As a reminder, Duncan “Thorin” Shields previously named the top favorite for the ESL Pro League 24 tournament.