CS:GO
After a grueling five days of CS:GO we finally have all of the Legend Stage teams confirmed and all matchups have been decided. The question on everybody’s minds right now, however, is who will grab the spots for the last ever Champions Stage in CS:GO’s history and who will give the big brainers in the community and receive the illustrious diamond Pick'Em coin?
Heroic
Heroic have been one of the most consistent teams so far this year. They have reached the Finals or qualified in all of the events that they have participated in so far, except for ESL Pro League, where they fell to NAVI in the Quarter-final. Their results against the top-tier teams have been consistently great and even though they have repeatedly fallen at the final hurdle so far this year, I’d say that they are the one team who have the ability and should at least reach the Semi-finals. There is still a lust for revenge after their defeat against Outsiders in Rio, which might help them in their quest for the desirable trophy.
What are the reasons behind Heroic going through? Well, they have been the most consistent team in terms of results. They already have a lot of experience from the IEM Rio Major and this time I believe that they can overcome the “final curse”!
cadiaN with his team, rallying his troopsCredit: BLAST/Michal Konkol
Natus Vincere
This new iteration of NAVI has been consistent so far throughout the year, getting to at least Semi-finals in every single event that they have participated in, as well as qualifying for the Major with a score of 3-0. The only question mark that is on my mind would be Andrii “npl” Kukharskyi. It is his first-ever Major cycle and while it went well in the qualifier, the Legends Stage is just a whole different beast. They have the firepower, experience and consistency to make up for npl’s inexperience however and he also has a great support net behind him in the shape of experienced players and a highly experienced coach in B1ad3, who knows how to make the best out of every situation that the team is in.
Will Denis "electroNic" Sharipov be able to lead his men to yet another Major victory and will npl be able to continue the good form that he had in the RMR? Those are the questions that need to be answered. If these two cogs start to turn with Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev showing up and Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy being the reliable player that we all know he can be, then Natus Vincere will be a threat, as always.
npl at the BLAST.tv Paris Major RMRCredit: BLAST/Michal Konkol
Vitality
Vitality have had a quite inconsistent year in terms of placings, very much up and down. They recently managed to win IEM Rio, where they came pretty much straight from the RMR in Copenhagen to Brazil and got their hands on that trophy after a 2-0 win over Heroic in the Grand-final. They have had some sort of mental block when it comes to the Legends Stage since Antwerp, but there is no better time to overcome that block than on home soil. And that is another point to make. This is a French organization consisting of France’s two biggest players at the moment in Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Dan "apEX" Madesclaire. Will they be able to cope with the pressure that comes with that and the expectations that the French crowd and viewers will have on them?
Spinx at the BLAST.tv Paris Major RMRCredit: BLAST/Michal Konkol
G2
G2 managed to reach everyone’s expectations in the Challengers Stage, qualifying for the Legends Stage after three wins against TheMongolz, Complexity and Apeks. They did have a shaky start against TheMongolz where they were down with 6-11 before they managed to turn the ship around and take the first win against the Mongolians. Nikola “NiKo” Kovač was a bit colder in the BO1s than we are used to seeing him, but he came in way hotter in the BO3 against Apeks and that just shows how good of a team G2 is at the moment. If the main superstar is not shining then you have the likes of Nemanja “huNter” Kovač and Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov to pick up the slack and help him and the team to grab the win.
NiKo has not won a CS:GO Major yet. If this G2 continues to roll hot as they have done this year and the team continues to come out swinging, then they will definitely be one of the contenders for the title.
NiKo at PGL Major AntwerpCredit: PGL/JoaoFerreira
FaZe
FaZe started shakily against Monte. Being down 14-10, they managed to come back to 16-14 with a lot of resilience, experience and headshots thus taking the initial win in the Challenger Stage. The next game in the Challengers Stage was against paiN, where the win was a little bit more convincing this time around and ended with a 16-12 in the international team’s favor. Stepping into the BO3s they faced off against ENCE, yet another international team who has been playing well recently. Despite many people holding FaZe as the favorites heading into the match, it was ENCE who managed to go 3-0 after a 2-1 win.
FaZe have been looking shaky, as mentioned before, and a tough first match is waiting ahead of them in the shape of Heroic. However, they do have all the right puzzle pieces to go through - experience, firepower, chemistry and the mental willpower to go through to the Champions Stage.
Twistzz at the BLAST.tv Paris Major Last Chance QualifierCredit: BLAST/Michal Konkol
FURIA
FURIA are South America’s big hope and maybe America's last hope, especially after seeing Team Liquid struggling in the Challengers Stage and making it by with the skin of their teeth after a close series against paiN. The Brazilians have been struggling so far this year after last year's semi-final exit at the IEM Rio Major on home soil. They had some good results last year with some third placings and had an even better 2021. But so far this year, they have not reached the same level and got the achievements they have the past two years.
Nevertheless, FURIA is not a team that you should count out. They have a lot of experience and the best rifler in South America, possibly the world, in Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato. I think that if they do badly here, then this might be the last that we see of this specific FURIA lineup.
yuurih and his team at PGL Major AntwerpCredit: PGL
9INE
9INE are a bit of a dark horse here. Despite going 3-0 in the very stacked RMR B group, they have not been equally convincing after that. Losses at IEM Rio to Heroic and Ninjas in Pyjamas and a 2-1 victory over a struggling MOUZ are a far cry from the performances that we saw in Copenhagen. After Rio, they competed in the online tournament, Brazy Party, where they got some good results. Wins against the likes of Sprout, Imperial, Into the Breach and 2-1 losses against Cloud9 and Astralis are not the worst that they could have hoped for.
Now they have had some time to boot camp, recuperate and recover, as well as fix the mistakes that they have made after the RMR. I think that 9INE will be scary, but it is the very first Legends Stage and Major for the whole team except for Aleksander "hades" Miskiewicz and the inexperience might prove to be a hindrance for the Poles.
9INE after qualifying for the BLAST.tv Paris Major Legends StageCredit: BLAST/Michal Konkol
ENCE
ENCE have played exceptionally well recently since adding Guy "NertZ" Iluz. They have been getting better with each game and they played with real flair at the RMR in the BO3s, showing excellent resilience as they came back from 0-2 to 3-2 and made it to the Challengers Stage. At the Challengers Stage, they managed to get two swift wins against NiP and OG in the BO1s and then won 2-1 over FaZe in the 2-0 game, qualifying for the Legends Stage.
NertZ at the BLAST.tv Paris Major Challengers StageCredit: BLAST/Michal Konkol
I’d say that the sky's the limit for this ENCE roster. It is looking very promising so far and Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer has done a great job with leading his team to where they find themselves currently, one of the favorites for the Major Playoffs.
Feature Image Credit: BLAST