First Look at ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2018
ELEAGUE is back once more, with another $1,000,000 up for grabs. 8 invited teams will have to fight in an iconic arena located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. These teams will be split into 2 groups of 4, where they will compete for a trophy from the 21st until the 29th of July, 9 days packed with action!
Group A
Astralis, Cloud9, Liquid, and MIBR are all part of the group A. The only two North American teams to be invited to this tournament are placed into this group. It is kind of ironic that 6 teams from Europe got an invite for ELEAGUE, but only 2 North American organizations received an invite, even though ELEAGUE is played in North America.
This will be an interesting group to watch because all of the teams that are in it are in bad form as of late. Astralis fell short in Cologne, where they finished 3rd. Furthermore, Cloud9 cannot even find permanent players for the team. However, they signed “Golden,” and he will have his debut in the famous Turner Studios arena.
Cloud9 will also stick with “STYKO,” but still, only as a stand-in. They are in terrible form lately; in their last 3 tournaments, they were not able to get a top 5 finish. Furthermore, MIBR also made a transfer not even a week ago. They replaced “boltz” with former Cloud9 superstar “tarik”, who will also debut for MIBR in Atlanta.
The former SK team is getting stomped by everyone. Team BIG sent them packing in ESL One Cologne 2018. However, they showed a lot in that tournament, and their chemistry is improving significantly, but another addition to their roster could have some negative effects on newly-found chemistry.
The last team in group A is the second North American team in the tournament, Team Liquid. They are blending in with the rest of the teams in group A, as they were one of the first teams that got eliminated in Cologne. They did not win a single map in the tournament.
Group B
This group consists of FaZe, Natus Vincere, Mousesports, and Swedish legends team Fnatic. This group is based purely on European teams, and contrarily to the group A, most of the teams competing in this group are playing on a stable level.
Firstly, we have “S1mple” and his Natus Vincere. They are coming off from an ESL One Cologne 2018, where they managed to beat their competition and lift the trophy. The Ukranian team really found their rhythm, mostly because of “electronic,” as “s1mple” does not have to carry the entire team on his back.
However, they will have a tough competition, as FaZe will fire on all cylinders because “olofmeister” is finally back from his 3-month-long absence. FaZe did not show a lot in their last tournament, but they should never be underestimated.
Let’s not forget that they are a superstar team, after all.
Alongside these two teams, Mousesports will look to make up for their last tournament, where they played really badly. The last team in group B, Fnatic, will have a tough job fighting with the rest of their group. The addition of “draken” is proving to be a very good move for Swedish organization, but he will have to be at his best if Fnatic wants to have a chance in this tournament.
Roster Changes
Out of 8 teams competing, 4 of them have made some type of player switch lately. Starting off with Cloud9, they lost “stewie2k” and “tarik.” However, they brought in “Golden” on a permanent basis, but they are still keeping former Mousesports support player “STYKO” as a stand-in. I think that this is going to be his last chance to prove his worth to the American organization.
Alongside Cloud9, the Brazilians are not so Brazilian anymore, as they acquired another player who is not Brazilian. They replaced “boltz” with former Cloud9 member “tarik.” He will join his former teammate “stewie2k” on the MIBR roster.
Furthermore, after a long period of inactivity, FaZe’s “olofmeister” said that he is finally ready to return to a starting line-up. However, FaZe looked good with “cromen” on their team, mostly because he was that balance between a superstar player and a support role. He is not going to make a flashy move and pay for it.
In the end, we have German Mousesports, who replaced “STYKO” with “Snax.” Going through a group was always enough for Mousesports, as no one saw them as contenders. But now, after they managed to bring in a superstar-caliber player, a lot of the teams will struggle against them, and if they do not show respect, they might get overrun by the pure talent the German squad has.
Last Year’s Winner
This time last year, we all thought that FaZe was invincible. They played 8 maps throughout the entire tournament, and they did not drop a single one.
A lot has changed since then.
They’ve had to shuffle a lot ever since “olofmeister” announced his leave of absence. They did not want to permanently replace their superstar player, so they played with stand-ins instead. Firstly, “Xizt,” who played 5 events with FaZe. There were not any special results, except for IEM Sydney 2018, where they managed to win the entire thing.
Not so long after, “Xizt” signed with Fnatic, and FaZe was left in no-man’s land once again. “Olofmeister” was not announcing his return just yet, so faZe had to look for an alternative.
They found one in “cromen,” a Norwegian player who decided to step in as a support player for FaZe, and he was great for them. He did all the dirty work for the team and always put himself in front of the others so that his teammates could trade kills based on his information. He’s basically a world-class support player. After 3 tournaments, where FaZe showed great team play, he had to go. They even managed to grab a trophy with “cromen” on their line-up.
But now “olofmeister” is back.
How could this affect team FaZe?
Firstly, “olofmeister” has not played a single competitive match in 3 months. He just recently started playing ESEA, and that could really affect his overall skill. Do not get me wrong; he is a world-class CS:GO player, but being absent for so long and having no regular training can really take a toll on a player, especially players like him, who are always expected to deliver a promising result.
I do not see him as a support player, at least not any time soon, but he should take one for the team, as he will not be fit for the competition. Also, this is not the first time that he has had some personal issues and has had to step down from the active roster. It could probably happen again if something does not go according to plan.
FAVORITES
Let’s talk about favorites of ELEAGUE 2018. Astralis got placed in a relatively easy group where a lot of the teams are still finding their form, and some are still finding players. They will not have a lot of competition, at least not in the group stage of the tournament, and I can see them on top of their group.
On the other hand, group B is filled with experience, talent, and skill. After Astralis, all of the bookies favor FaZe, but in my personal opinion, they will struggle. I do not think “olofmeister” will be as ready as “cromen” was.
The other favorite in this group is Natus Vincere. They are coming off from an ESL One Cologne 2018 title, and they are in great shape. However, they are basing their play around “s1mple” and “electronic.” What happens if one of the two I mentioned does not perform well enough? The entire team will struggle.
To be honest, there are no clear favorites in this tournament, and all of the teams are able to play perfect Counter-Strike, but I think team cohesion and chemistry could decide the winner of this event.
Dark Horse
My dark horse in this event is Team Liquid. They have a roster that has been together for a while now. They are a balanced team, everyone in their team is able to step up, and they do not base their game around one or two players.
This is a team game, after all, and I think Liquid has a lot to show, especially to their nation, as they will have full support in the stands. Their first opponent is already known; that is going to be team MIBR. I do not think Liquid could have asked for a better first match.
MIBR just signed “tarik.” He has been with them for only a couple of days, and Liquid should take advantage of that. I really think that their team play could lead them to a trophy in Atlanta.
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