Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca is at our doorstep and is shaping up to be the best and most competitive major we’ve seen in Global Offensive history. 16 of the strongest teams in the world will battle it out across 4 groups for a share in $250k. And, finally, we can say that these teams are the strongest. The qualification process for the 8 ‘Challenger’ spots was the toughest and most well-formatted a major has seen. These 8 teams are joined by the ‘Legends’: 8 teams from the previous major, ESL One Cologne 2015, who managed to make it to the quarter-finals. I’ll be previewing these 4 groups and the matchups to come, and giving some predictions on who will come out on top.
Counter-Strike Global Offensive: Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca Preview
GROUP A – Fnatic, Luminosity Gaming, Cloud 9, Vexed Gaming
3-time major winners Fnatic seem to never go away. Despite being the best team in the world for well past a year now, the Swedish powerhouse doesn’t seem to
go away and are favourites to claim first place again. Conversely, the Cloud 9 hype train has quickly died down after their back-to-back-to-back string of grand final placements in international tournaments. Their form, of late, has been lacklustre, most notably seen in their 2-1 loss to the Australian Team Immunity at the Crown Invitational and recent online league thumpings by Conquest, CLG and Liquid. Luminosity has been in terrible form as well, and the Brazilians have failed to translate their quarter-final placements in the last 2 majors to other events and leagues. Finally, Vexed have, again, qualified for a major off the back of a tight battle with the Ukranian-based HellRaisers.
KEY MATCHUP – Luminosity Gaming vs Cloud 9
The second match of the whole tournament, the Brazilians and North Americans will battle it out for a placement in the upper bracket with, almost certainly, Fnatic. Both teams have been in terrible form and look to improve themselves and bolster their morale with a finals berth. However, I see Cloud 9 as the strongest team of the 2, sending Luminosity to the lower bracket with the Polish side Vexed.
GOING HOME EARLY – Luminosity Gaming
Despite holding the title of ‘Legend’ of the back of their impressive run to the quarter-finals at ESL One Cologne, Luminosity has been in the slump of their lives. Barely scraping past tier 2 and 3 NA teams in online leagues, the Brazilians, like Cloud 9, seem to be slowing down their hype train that started at MLG Aspen in January this year. Their lower bracket match with Vexed will be close, but I see the Polish side coming out on top due to fragging and form alone.
GROUP B – Team SoloMid, G2 eSports, Mousesports, Flipsid3 Tactics
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From the analysis and comments I’m reading and hearing, this group is seen by many to be the easiest to pick 2 teams from or the most boring to watch. That’s far from the case, as 3 of the 4 teams are very much on the same level, making it possibly the most difficult to pick. G2, the international team of superstar fraggers, have been very quiet lately in the lack of matches they’ve played. And in the ones they have, the team has looked quite shaky: a stark contrast to their seemingly arrogant and aggressive playstyle we’ve seen in the past. The acquisition of jkaem for ScreaM has, thus far, been a success and the Norwegian’s been able to shine far more than under iterations of Copenhagen Wolves and LGB eSports in the past. Mousesports and Flipsid3 have also floated a little under the radar, with both in decent online form. Team SoloMid, on the other hand, have been in the form of the team’s life, and should be considered favourites to win the whole thing.
KEY MATCHUP – G2 eSports vs Flipsid3 Tactics
While many would pick the Mouz vs G2 game as the one to watch, I see Mousesports being too strong and moving to the upper bracket match with TSM. This leaves G2 and F3 to battle it out for tournament life in what should be a thrilling match, with the aggressive firepower of the Swedes, Norwegians and Portuguese going up against the tactical rigidity of the B1ad3-led Ukranian-Russian side. If the predictions go my way, the winner of this match will play against Mousesports to secure the second seed of the group.
GOING HOME EARLY – Flipsid3 Tactics
The CIS team are probably the weakest in the group and it will show in their matches. Their fragging ability, in bondik, WorldEdit and DavCost, can’t stand up to the likes of nex, NiKo and chrisJ on Mousesports, or jkaem, Maikelele and rain on G2. If Flipsid3 have any chance of making it out of groups or even winning a match, WorldEdit will need to step up his awping and general fragging, as he has been lacklustre in the team’s recent showings.
GROUP C – Virtus.Pro, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Titan, Team Liquid
This group is brutal. With no clear favourites for the first and second seeds, anything is possible. Virtus.Pro, while looking pretty strong at events like the ESL ESEA Dubai Invitational and the PGL Season 1 Finals, haven’t had the greatest results in their online leagues of late. The same form has been seen from NiP and Titan, with both achieving very inconsistent results in the ESL ESEA Pro League and other various matches. Ironically, the most consistent team out of the group is the American Team Liquid, who have dropped only 2 maps in the past month and completely dominated all teams in the NA region. adreN’s Liquid, however, have never been able to transfer that form to LAN tournaments.
KEY MATCHUP – Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Titan
This game is what will determine who will go through to the Quarter Finals. Virtus.Pro should be able to go 2-0 and secure that first seed, and the Swedes and French will be left to battle it out for second. While both have been shaky, I see Titan coming out on top with their superior firepower in shox and ScreaM and Ex6TenZ’s brilliance in calling and reading.
GOING HOME EARLY – Team Liquid
One of the 3 North American teams in Cluj-Napoca, Team Liquid are easily the least experienced, with Dreamhack being their first major. They have probably the highest fragging ability of the NA teams, if not all teams, at the event, but I don’t see adreN’s calling or their teamwork getting them past the experience of VP, NiP and Titan.
GROUP D – EnVyUs, Natus Vincere, Counter Logic Gaming, Team Dignitas
This group is easily the toughest for the two challenger teams: Dignitas and CLG. EnVyUs and NaVi are both currently ranked Top 5 in the world and they will both be extremely hard to take down. EnVyUs are a safe bet on at least making it to the Semi-Finals so they should secure the first seed. Of the 3 remaining teams, NaVi, historically, should be the favourites to take the second seed, but with their current internal issues and the recent slump in form, they are a team to watch possibly go out in groups against all odds. CLG have also recently seen a form decrease, evident in their many losses to teams like Liquid, compLexity and 3sUP in online leagues, who they’ve managed to dispatch off with ease in the past. Conversely, Dignitas have been very strong lately in their online and offline matches and it looked like the replacement of Nico with schneider was the team’s ticket to the upper echelon of international Counter-Strike. However, with schneider’s step-down from the team and his ringer coming in the form of tenzki, Dignitas is very much unknown at the moment and the change will likely see their demise.
KEY MATCHUP – Natus Vincere vs Counter Logic Gaming
CLG had the task of facing NaVi at the previous major, ESL One Cologne, to make it out of groups, and the match was one of the closest and best at the event, with NaVi taking the win 16-14 on Cobblestone. Both teams have hit a slump lately, with the Ukrainians having to change roles with seized replacing Zeus as the In-Game Leader, and CLG losing their spot at the CEVO Offline Finals to Conquest. The match between these two will likely determine who makes it to the quarter-finals, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go either way. But NaVi should prove too strong and send the Americans home once again.
GOING HOME EARLY – Team Dignitas
Although they looked to be the surprise of the tournament, the Danish team’s recent roster change is likely to see them go 0-2 and leave the event fruitless. schneider was a huge part of the team’s recent success and, hopefully, tenzki can replicate that. However, whether it be CLG or NaVi they face in the lower bracket, both opposition will be too strong.
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