IEM Chicago Tournament Take Aways – Buy/Sell after IEM Chicago
Now that the dust has settled after IEM Chicago’s exciting conclusion, I want to take a look at the fallout. I’m going to go through some of the standout teams, good and bad, and what we’ve learned from the tournament. I’ll be treating the teams like stocks and telling you guys who you should be buying and selling.
Buys – Teams to Bet On
Astralis
To nobody’s great surprise, Astralis won IEM Chicago, thereby claiming their sixth title in five months. They kept their Nuke winning streak alive, a record they’ve held on LAN since December 2017. Their lowest map win rate is 66.7% on Mirage, and they have a 73% win rate on CT side Nuke, which is unbelievable.
Before this tournament, I didn’t think it would be possible for their stock to rise any further, and yet here we are. Not only did they take this tournament in dominating fashion, they had two massive comebacks over Fnatic and Team Liquid. That Fnatic best-of-three was exactly the kind of game old Astralis would have lost.
Instead, they buckled down and won 6 rounds in a row on T Side Inferno, after losing a crucial 2v1 no less.
There are only a handful of CS teams in all of CS:GO history that could have won that game. The 87-0 NiP, 2015 Fnatic, 2017 SK Gaming. This performance enshrines Astralis into that prestigious tier of teams.
Astralis show no sign of slowing down, which is why you should be buying. They’re a safe bet to win pretty much every tournament they attend. This does, however, mean that you should never, ever bet against Astralis. They’ve shown that no game is unwinnable.
Liquid
Liquid’s showing at this tournament was par for the course. They’re the perfect bridesmaid team and continue to finish in a strong second place after getting demolished by Astralis. If they didn’t have a statistical standout, there wouldn’t be much to say about them. But they did, and there is, so here we are.
Twistzzz posted a 1.19 rating over 16 maps at IEM Chicago, and he absolutely caught fire after the first two maps of the event. He decimated Mousesports 66-45 with 85.9 ADR over three maps. Then he carried Liquid over LDLC with a 30 bomb in an elimination game, pulling out a 16-14 victory over the surging French.
As good as that was, his defining performance of the event came against FaZe in the semi-final. He went 23-3 in a 16-1 victory over FaZe, with 127 ADR and a 100% KAST over 17 rounds.
This is the statline of a superstar, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, Twistzzz was unable to get much going against Astralis in the grand final, going negative in the last two games of the best-of-three. While it seems Liquid still haven’t gotten over the hump, I wouldn’t say they’ve hit their ceiling yet. You should be buying Liquid and looking for them to take their first tournament with this core soon.
Fnatic
Fnatic had a great showing this tournament. They were the second highest rated team over the event and won a best-of-three against Liquid, a best-of-one against BIG, and almost made the grand finals. Unfortunately, they ran into Astralis and lost a close best-of-three.
Brollan is the standout player of the event from Fnatic, posting a 1.11 KDR over nine maps. His defining performance came against Liquid, where he went 27-13 to pull Fnatic over the finish line in map three, earning them a semi-finals berth.
Fnatic showed enough at this event that I can trust them to be a contender for the next couple of months. I would be buying as much Fnatic stock as I can, and betting on them whenever the odds are good, especially as an upset team. They’ve already shown they can take series off of the top five in the world, and we should trust that trend to continue.
Sells – Teams to Bet Against
MIBR
This one hurts me. I’ve been a fan of this core for a long time, but I think it’s finally time to sell. MIBR have been trying to break into the top five for a long time now, and I just don’t see it happening. I used to adore watching this core on Train, especially because it’s one of my favorite maps.
Now, watching MIBR’s CT side collapse to NRG is just heartbreaking. Their coordination is gone. No one seems to know what their role is. It’s a sad state of affairs. Their best showing with this lineup is a second place finish at Blast Pro Series Istanbul, where they took a map off Astralis.
I’m not sure if this team can get any better. I would be selling all my MIBR stock until they make a roster change. I’d love to see them go back to an all Brazilian lineup, focus more on letting Coldzera do his thing, and figure out how to get Fallen back to all-star status with the AWP.
There’s still potential to be a top-five team in the Coldzera-Fallen-Fer core, and I hope that they make it happen.
Natus Vincere
I’ve never really been sold on this team. S1mple has amazingly good aim, yes. But this team isn’t deep enough or consistent enough to be one of the world’s best. That might be a hot take, but you can’t go out in last place without taking a game off BIG, and still expect to be talked about in the same breath as Astralis and Liquid.
Natus Vincere is a highly volatile team. In my mind, that makes them a stock not worth holding. I wouldn’t blame you for holding on, but I’m out.
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