1SHOT are a rapidly rising team within the North American scene, currently sat as the gatekeeper of the elite teams. They have recently made a roster change, releasing their previous flex player Ned for DoT to provide a more complete hero pool for their team.

1SHOT’s ranking in the GosuGamers system has been vastly skewed by their frequent and messy fights against the best teams in the continent. They currently sit at 26th in North America despite being a clear top ten team. This is a symptom of being good enough for an invite to most top tournaments, but not good enough to take fixtures regularly from the best. A recent example of this was their performance in the Beat Invitational, where 1SHOT were able to beat Splyce but fell to both Gale Force Esports and Cloud9.

They have made deep runs in less stacked tournaments, like the GosuGamers Weekly NA #15 where they finished fourth, and deserve their place as the gatekeepers to the castle. They are often able to make the games tight against the top teams, and only seem to require a small boost to send them upwards. 1SHOT hopes that this recent change will round out their roster and allow them to continue improving into a tournament-winning team.

Captain PsychoWaffle lays out the team’s reasoning for the change:

Ned was a good player but moving forward DoT was a better fit for the team for both his hero pool and hitscan abilities. We have reached our initial goal of being a top 8 team in North America, but ultimately our end goal is to be number one.

1SHOT face Liquid later today in the ESL Atlantic Showdown Qualifiers. The teams don’t have a vast history facing each other in tournaments, with only a match at the beginning of June and a recent clash in the Beyond the Summit cup. In both matches, however, Liquid came out on top in straight maps. For 1SHOT, a victory in the ESL Qualifier would be excellent proof that they can keep improving and avoid the plateau.

The roster for 1SHOT is now:

  • Jacob “PsychoWaffle” Oyer (Support/Captain)
  • Randal “Roolf” Stark (Support)
  • Dylan "DoT" Matychuk (Flex)
  • Brandon “ultimawep” W. (DPS)
  • Nick “exi” D. (DPS)
  • Eric “Krawnnic” Beaugh (Tank)