Titans may be cautious when attacking, but their defending is definitely aggressive. While the B player is in a traditional spotting position, the rest of the A players are in a moderately aggressive setup. Three players are focused on mid, with one in a do-or-die position in the corner and another watching the nest stairs from opposite the diggity box. On top of that, the carpet player is crouched watching the line showing his intention to fight.

The Singaporeans’ style of taking the fight to wNv was a factor throughout the match, shown again in this double carpet push in the first gun round.

Titans initially threw two smokes down middle (which had no effect on wNv’s setup) but the proximity of extreMe to wNv prevented them from taking carpet; as soon as wNv flashed carpet, extreMe rushed out and killed one on the carpet steps. Virgo pushed through the grate into carpet to kill extreMe but got killed almost instantly by syck.

After losing the round, wNv bought up again and tried working B instead. They managed to creep up banana but the instant they threw a grenade rAndy flashed over the wall and pushed from close range.

Keep in mind there are two smokes at the entrance here which didn’t show up on the HLTV (although you can see them on the overview a couple of screenshots back).

With the support of StrykerX, rAndy retreated into the site, using the SpawN position of looking at the floor to avoid flashes over the roof.

Titans then continued to play with a series of aggressive picks and setups: pre-nading under the sniper nest, boosting on the roof in mid and having the archway player take an early pick and three aggressive banana. On the odd occasion that they played 4 A, Titans played passively at B, but otherwise they continued to use the same flash pick setup even on a save round.

Another point worthy of note was their defensive nature on their 4 A: not one player was in an aggressive position on the map, a possible tell that might come up again this weekend.

When Titans do exercise their defensive strats, they also tend to group up, like in this pistol strat against WemadeFOX (formerly eStro).

With one player dedicated towards the carpet and shadow side of mid, the intent is clear: if WemadeFOX try to plant, Titans will gren the bomb boxes and make it impossible to retrieve the bomb, trapping the Koreans in the big pit and hopefully locking them out of the round.

Should they go jungle side, the three different angles from library, archway and mini-pit should be capable of stopping any rush. And even if WemadeFOX rushed B, Titans were close enough to the site to be able to retake quickly.

It’s a defensive, but cleverly organised tactic. For teams facing off against stronger opposition, this strat is perfect. It allows a team to counter the bomb plant by nading the site and prevents any player from being isolated at A.

That’s the idea anyway – but for Titans, things failed horribly.

The first mistake here was Techduck, who spotted such a narrow line in the archway that allowed solo to walk up middle and take a shot at extreMe in the library, as well as throwing a smoke to block off any covering fire.

Once that smoke was thrown, bail dropped a flash into the centre of A, flashing syck. With the mini-pit and library defenders cut off from supporting StrykerX, WemadeFOX were able to swarm the site, plant, and setup without resistance. Titans threw two grenades into the site, but they weren’t enough to break the hold, and WemadeFOX simply jumped around boxes using burstfire.

The match didn’t last much longer, after WemadeFOX won the first half 12-3. Titans kept their policy of playing two at B (highlighted by the aggressive smokes and grenades thrown at middle, less of which is thrown when they play 4 A) which won them the first gun round, but WemadeFOX recovered instantly to take the match 16-4.

So if you’re playing Titans this weekend, what should you expect? I suggest the following:

1. When defending, Titans will not sit back and let you execute your strat on any map. If you have a slow progression, they will push forward and try to catch you out when you are flashing.
2. Titans play cautiously when attacking, and like to run strats that execute very quickly to prevent 1. happening to them.
3. On de_nuke, it is highly likely that Titans will defend outside passively in favour of a strong topsite hold and keeping two at ramps (usually for pushing).
4. Each individual has a tendency to peek and try and make the shot. They are not defensive in nature, so don’t expect to be able to hide if they know where you are.

I hope that sheds some light on the Titans, the first truly international team to compete in an Australian qualifier. Make sure you tune in on HLTV from this Saturday, or stop by at iBisQ in Melbourne and see the action live!