SyndereN to coach Alliance

After failing to qualify for the upcoming Valve major in Manila as a player, Troels “syndereN” Nielsen coaching Alliance heading into the event, the player announced yesterday.

SyndereN returned to professional gaming at the end of 2015, playing with a brand new roster under the name Steak Gaming. Shortly after their formation, however, the team disbanded. He’s since gone on to join No Diggity towards the end of February this year, playing alongside Max “qojqva” Bröcker, Maurice “KheZu” Gutmann, Adrian “Era” Kryeziu and Yazied “YapzOr” Jaradat.

That roster had a very hot start, showing impressive form in several online qualifiers against established teams. But the team has struggled recently. After failing to qualify for the Epicenter group stage, they fell short in the qualifiers for the Manila Major, losing to eventual finalists Ad Finem and Empire. This lull between the Manila major and the International 6 qualifiers is probably why Nielsen decided to undertake his current assignment.

Alliance have fallen into their own slump recently. After taking two trophies within the span of a month at the beginning of the year, the team has since failed to place within the top four of three straight tournaments. That means that Manila will serve as a proving ground for the legendary Swedish roster that won the International 3 in 2013.

Nielsen’s tenure as an analytical commentator and panel member is significant. He’s casted at most of Valve’s International events, he has also been a stable fixture at several ESL One stops, as well as the Frankfurt and Shanghai major. Now we’ll get to see if his coaching is as exemplary as his casting.