Rasmus ‘\u009cHooXi’\u009d Nielsen’\u0099s G2 arrived in Cologne without a tournament win since IEM Katowice back in February, having recorded a single top-four placement at BLAST Premier Spring Final in the rest of 2023. Even as transfer rumors piled up in the off-season the quintet stuck together and once again hit peak form in a premier event’\u0094 taking home the trophy with statement wins over Astralis, FaZe, Vitality and ENCE. The high quality of opponents G2 faced only stands to further reinforce the significance of this run, which once again raises expectations for the team built around Nikola ‘\u009cNiKo’\u009d Kova\u00c4\u008d.<\/p>\n
As much as G2’\u0099s run was a prime example of team effort, NiKo was the best player in Cologne, topping the rating charts as a rifler and recording a staggering 61% success rate on his numerous opening kill attempts. Russian AWPer Ilya ‘\u009cm0nesy’\u009d Osipov once again proved to be a world-class sniper, dominating in groups and ending as the event’\u0099s second-best player, but NiKo was still the X factor in G2’\u0099s playoff matches. Making life even easier for HooXi, Nemanja ‘\u009chuNter-‘\u009d Kova\u00c4\u008d recorded the second-best big event rating of his career and matched his Katowice performance, showcasing how scary G2 are in their peak.<\/p>\n
Read More: HooXi: “I don’t think many people expected us to win this one”<\/a><\/p>\n While NiKo and G2 were unable to secure a Major title in CS:GO; failing to qualify for IEM Rio 2022 and crashing out of the BLAST Paris Major under HooXi’\u0099s leadership, such outstanding performances at the two most prestigious LANs on the calendar have finally pushed experts and fans to acknowledge the true potential of the quintet. Now, G2 will look to establish themselves as the clear #1 before the transition to CS2, taking on the best teams in the world in the Saudi-based Gamers8 event before returning to Europe for the 18th season of ESL Pro League: will they take the next step, or will inconsistency have the better of them again?<\/p>\n While a second-place finish will not be satisfactory to Danish IGL Marco ‘\u009cSnappi’\u009d Pfeiffer, ENCE are now a real contender and the real surprise package of 2023. Guy ‘\u009cNertZ’\u009d Iluz’\u0099s addition back in February finally gave ENCE an elite-level round closer, and Alvaro ‘\u009cSunPayus’\u009d Garcia evolved into an astonishingly flexible tier-one threat’\u0094 as his domination of Mathieu ‘\u009cZywOo’\u009d Herbaut in the Cologne semi-finals has again proven. Under Snappi’\u0099s leadership, ENCE have secured a top-four finish at all three non-Major big events they attended in 2023, with an unexpected title run at IEM Dallas being their crowning achievement.<\/p>\n If G2 set themselves apart from the rest of the competition because of exceptional individual talent, Snappi’\u0099s decisive and effective calling has been ENCE’\u0099s strongest asset so far. All of their runs this year came with no more than a single player in the event’\u0099s top ten players, with the team’\u0099s four riflers taking turns partnering SunPayus as its driving force. Just in Cologne Pawe\u00c5\u0082 ‘\u009cdycha’\u009d Dycha shone in the team’\u0099s troubled opening match against 9INE, NertZ dominated Heroic with multiple clutches on Mirage, Pavle ‘\u009cMaden’\u009d Bo\u00c5\u00a1kovi\u00c4\u0087 dismantled Vitality on Vertigo and Snappi top-fragged on Anubis, the only map ENCE secured against G2.<\/p>\n However, ENCE’\u0099s biggest strength is also their biggest weakness. As SunPayus failed to replicate his T-side form in the final against G2, ENCE found themselves unable to break through G2’\u0099s defense and recorded a measly nine offensive rounds across Nuke, Mirage and Ancient. Neither Dycha, nor Maden, nor IGL Snappi recorded more than a 40% win rate in their opening duels on the T side, as individual heroics continuously saved ENCE’\u0099s run. The line between flexibility and inconsistency is scarily thin. Nonetheless, the future is still looking bright for ENCE, as even with all these issues pressure molded Snappi into an elite leader.<\/p>\n As visa issues prevented Cloud9 from fielding their new CIS superteam in Cologne, at least during the group stage, all eyes were on the many other teams who had made changes in the summer shuffle. Unexpectedly the most improved quintet were the Danes of Astralis, who recovered from an early competitive loss to G2 to secure their first big even top-four since IEM Cologne 2022. Led by legendary four-times Major winner Nicolai ‘\u009cdevice’\u009d Reedtz, Astralis eliminated NiP, MOUZ, NaVi and Heroic before once again falling to the international G2 superteam in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n The start of Benjamin ‘\u009cblameF’\u009d Bremer’\u0099s return to the IGL role has been nothing short of exceptional, as the Danish superstar’\u0099s solid calling combined with a valuable 1.16 rating. Together with device, whose return to dominance has similarly continued<\/a>, the Danish rifler forms an elite duo capable of challenging any team. Even more impressive was Astralis’\u0099 recruitment: while their individual performances were disappointing, both Johannes ‘\u009cb0RUP’\u009d Borup and Victor ‘\u009cStaehr’\u009d Staehr filled their roles perfectly, the first as a jack-of-all-trades support and hard entry and the second as a proactive CT side rifler.<\/p>\n Read More: Staehr on Buzz: “When he pops off, there’s nothing you can do”<\/a><\/p>\n The new signings and subsequent role changes allowed Christian ‘\u009cBuzz’\u009d Andersen to finally showcase some of his potential, as the youngster dropped 31 kills in Astralis’\u0099 Overpass win over NaVi and followed it up with 49 in 50 rounds against world #1 Heroic. If Staehr can find his footing, matching the performances he was capable of in Sprout, Buzz’\u0099s peaks would make Astralis a scary opponent for even the most established teams. What’\u0099s left to see is if the Danes will be able to replicate this performance across their next events’\u0094 especially as their Cologne run heavily relied on a 5-1 winning record on Ancient.<\/p>\n FaZe were the undisputed best team of 2022, taking the top spot in four premier events, including the Antwerp Major, and securing a plethora of top-four finishes during the year. 2023 has not been kind to Finn ‘\u009ckarrigan’\u009d Andersen’\u0099s squad, who took first place at EPL Season 17 but only recorded two further playoff appearances. The issues were compounded by long-time coach Robert ‘\u009cRobbaN’\u009d Dahlstr\u00c3\u00b6m leaving the team, as the international quintet arrived in Cologne trialing former teammate Filip “\u00e2\u0081\u00a0NEO\u00e2\u0081\u00a0” Kubski for the position. FaZe only took a single win in Germany, overcoming NiP from a map down before falling to NaVi and G2.<\/p>\nENCE establish themselves as contenders<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Maden'\u0099s](\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/76045072ce9c45f4-scaled.jpeg\")
Maden’\u0099s inconsistency in the entry role is a key factor in ENCE’\u0099s ineffective halves (Image Credits: ESL | Viola Schuldner)<\/span><\/div>\nAstralis are the winners of the off-season<\/strong><\/h2>\n
FaZe’\u0099s superteam keeps stumbling<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Losing](\"https:\/\/blix.gg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/e284bd50ff71eb8d-scaled.jpeg\")