With the second Counter-Strike major of the year just around the corner, the stage is set for a world-class event to display the biggest and brightest stars in the scene. In this article, Adam Cooledge previews ESL One Cologne.
With a refreshed Fnatic back with their beloved Olofmeister, Navi hungry for a win after being denied twice consecutively and Luminosity’s roster now playing under SK Gaming), this major is set to show some amazing matchups – as well as an opportunity for teams such as G2 to climb the rankings.
This event – taking place from July 5th to 10th at Germany’s Lanxess Arena – is set to become another great spectacle in the eSports world. Although the UK players in teams such as LDLC in the form of ALEX, shinobi and dephh in compLexity failed to qualify, the third major of the year is still to come, offering another chance for the UK to appear in a major event.
Perhaps we won’t have to wait too long for a major event to be held in the UK. The brilliant audience at the ESL Pro League Season 3 showed support for multiple teams and created an enthusiastic atmosphere, which shows how well the UK receives international stars.
Hopefully this will soon be recognised the UK eSports scene in general can be celebrated in all its glory.
The groups
The 16 participants have been split into four groups. Each team will play the other members of their group in a best-of-three style match-up.
The highest scoring teams from each group will then move onto the single elimination semi, then quarter-final match-ups until only two teams remain. The announced groups are as follows:
Group A
- Virtus.pro
- mousesports
- Liquid
- EnVyUs
Group B
- SK Gaming
- G2
- Fnatic
- FaZe
Group C
- Gambit
- Dignitas
- CLG
- Astralis
Group D
- OpTic
- NiP
- Natus Vincere
- FlipSid3
What to watch
Group B attracted a lot of attention when announced, as it holds two prospective champions and other high ranking contenders. This means we could have a repeat from the last major, where the old Luminosity roster (now playing under SK Gaming), are eliminated in the first round or the old greats Fnatic fall at the first obstacle at their comeback major.
Unfortunately, the more likely outcome will be the loss of two rather up and coming teams: FaZe and G2. Throughout past tournaments and events, Navi going up against Luminosity has proven to make for incredibly close and entertaining matches. If this match-up happens again at this event (Navi vs SK this time round), its will undoubtedly make highlight reels.
Predictions
At first, group A seems to be quite cut and dry when it comes to predictions; EnVyUs and Virtus.pro seem to be the outright strongest teams in the group. However, with mousesports on relatively good form recently, they cannot be removed from the equation completely, so still hold a decent chance against an inconsistent Virtus.pro and off-form EnVyUs.
Liquid holds a lessor position, however, using an ex-player as a stand-in, and their worsening recent form means they’re much less likely to hold up against some the best teams in the world – in the form of Virtus.pro and EnVyUs.
Group B, although offering some entertaining matches, will most likely return a result for SK and Fnatic. Although both other members, FaZe and G2, would have been contenders for at least semi-finals in other groups, the sheer skill of their opponents seems unsurpassable.
With half of group C being Danish, this makes for an interesting group. On paper, Astralis should have the upper hand against their fellow countrymen in Dignitas when it comes to skill. However, both these teams are well-versed in how their rivals play, making their match-ups unpredictable at best.
As a prediction, we cannot see Gambit or CLG being able to do enough to take a top spot away from either of the Danies.
Group D holds a major-winning contender in the form Navi, as well as a fresh and invigorated NiP. Both these teams are head and shoulders above their opponents in Optic and Flipsid3. Although this means the top two will be almost certain, it will be a hard-fought battle between both European sides.
ESL has a hard act to follow after the class that MLG showed us in Columbus, during their first time hosting a major for Counter-Strike.
This, coupled with major after major showing growth in audience and prestige, as well as Turner Productions hosting their weekly Eleague televised events, means is an impressive time for professional Counter-Strike.
