Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago Preview
Gathering many of the top international 16 teams under one roof, Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago takes place between November 6th – 11th. The event has a prize pool reward of $250.000 and actively engages esports bettors and spectators in the thrilling world of CS:GO.
IEM XIII Chicago participants
Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago is attended by 16 teams from all over the world:
- Astralis
- BIG
- FaZe Clan
- Fnatic
- Team Liquid
- MIBR
- mousesports
- Natus Vincere
- NRG Esports
- Renegades
- Team LDLC.com
- AVANGAR
- North
- eUnited
- MVP PK
- Luminosity Gaming
IEM XIII Chicago event format
Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago is divided into 2 stages – the Group Stage and the Playoffs Stage. In the first case, the Group Stage’s participants will be separated into 2 groups of 8, for both groups to compete in a double elimination bracket format.
With all of the teams starting in the Upper Bracket, the top 3 teams from the initial groups will meet in the Playoffs Stage. While the 2nd and 3rd place teams advance to the Quarterfinals, the team on the 1st place will go directly to the Semifinals.
In the second case, the Playoffs Stage hosts 3 types of matches: 2 Quarterfinals, 2 Semifinals and the Grand Final. Except for the Grand Final (Bo5) and the first round of Group Stage encounters (Bo1), the other matches are Bo3 series.
The groups
Group A
- Astralis
- MVP PK
- North
- NRG Esports
- MIBR
- Renegades
- Team LDLC.com
- FaZe Clan
The teams with the highest qualification chances in this group are Astralis, FaZe Clan and MIBR.
Group B
- Natus Vincere
- eUnited
- Fnatic
- BIG
- mousesports
- AVANGAR
- Luminosity Gaming
- Team Liquid
The teams with the highest qualification chances in this group are Natus Vincere, Team Liquid and mousesports.
Prize pool distribution
Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago offers a $250.000 prize pool, which will be divided among the 16 participants in the following way:
- 1st place: $100K
- 2nd place: $42K
- 3rd – 4th place: $20K
- 5th – 6th place: $10K
- 7th – 8th place: $6K
- 9th – 12th place: $5K
- 13th – 16th place: $4K
Team Analysis
Below you will find a short analysis of the major participants at Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago.
Astralis
For the time being, Astralis can still be considered the strongest team in the world, keeping in mind the last set of defeats in the Blast Pro Series: Copenhagen 2018, where they were bested by Natus Vincere and Ninjas in Pyjamas in the Round-Robin.
Considering their overall evolution, Astralis should have no struggle winning Group A at Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago, ranking a top 4 at the minimum. It is still to be determined if Astralis’ strength at FACEIT Major: London 2018 will be reflected in this tournament as well. However, the Danish team still imposes a threat for the rest of the competitors.
Natus Vincere
Taking its last victory at Blast Pro Series: Copenhagen 2018 into account, the Na’Vi team is still ranked as number 2 in CS:GO. Recently, the Ukrainians have experienced significant improvements, and having s1mple as a top performer only boosted their recent results.
All in all, Na’Vi is one of the top competitors worldwide and taking part in Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago is expected to bring them the 1st – 2nd place in Group B and 1st – 4th overall.
Team Liquid
Having a constant top performance at each and every CS:GO event organized lately, Team Liquid is an opponent to keep an eye on. Some examples of their recent achievements include scoring 2nd place at ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2018 and at ESL One: New York 2018, while at FACEIT Major: London 2018 and EPICENTER 2018 they were finished on the 3rd – 4th position.
At Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago, TACO and his teammates will mainly confront with Natus Vincere and mousesports in Group B and there are no doubts that one of these 3 teams will win the group. In the end, Team Liquid could get a place in the top 4 or top 6, depending on other performances.
FaZe Clan
Contrary to the previous months, when its performance was a bit far from the top, FaZe Clan seems to have finally begun its recovery. From registering average results such as the 5th – 8th place and even 7th – 8th place in 4 consecutive tournaments, they won against Team Liquid in the Semifinals and Natus Vincere in the Grand Final of EPICENTER 2018.
At the most recent CS:GO event – Blast Pro Series: Copenhagen 2018 – FaZe Clan only managed to score the 4th position out of 6, having some difficulties in competing with the world’s best teams. Taking into consideration that the team met only highly-ranked rivals and the matches were Bo1s, the 4th place doesn’t necessarily say much about the team’s potential.
Though still confronting with some consistency issues, FaZe Clan managed to get back in shape and should be perceived as one of the top competing teams at Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago.
mousesports
On the one hand, when looking back at its recent achievements such as winning ESL One: New York 2018, by outperforming Team Liquid in the Grand Final, mousesports can be considered a worthy opponent at Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago.
On the other hand, a series of struggles can also be predicted, when facing other top performing teams. The reason behind this consists in the recent roster change mousesports underwent, by benching Snax and bringing STYKO back. Moreover, at StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6, the German team finished on the 9th – 11th place.
The only thing to be certain of is that nothing is certain about mousesports’ performance at Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago. As a personal opinion, I expect the team to score a top 3 result in Group B, followed by a 5th – 6th place overall.
MIBR
If we look beyond the tragic result at Blast Pro Series: Copenhagen 2018, tournament in which MIBR registered a 0 W – 5 L score by losing against every single rival in the Round-Robin, the team has not lost it all. When analyzing factors such as specific map scores and the Bo1 characteristics, this unfortunate result can be treated as an isolated incident.
As a prediction for Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago, MIBR can be expected to achieve a 2nd or 3rd place in Group A and a 5th – 6th overall.
Other teams to keep an eye on
As each tournament brings its surprises, there are other teams like NRG Esports in Group A and BIG in Group B, who can alter the initial expectations. If their key performers will bring their full potential in, it is possible for teams such as MIBR and mouseports to be dethroned.
To conclude, even though the 6 teams I focused on can be considered the favorites, each competition is unique and, up to a certain point, unpredictable. Therefore, it is up to you to objectively evaluate the teams on the fly, by looking beyond their previous performance and discovering their current level of skill.
Betting predictions
Here are the betting predictions for the first round of matches in the Group Stage of Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago.
Astralis vs. MVP PK
Betting prediction: Astralis to win.
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North vs. NRG Esports
Betting prediction: NRG Esports to win.
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MIBR vs. Renegades
Betting prediction: MIBR to win.
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Team LDLC.com vs. FaZe Clan
Betting prediction: FaZe Clan to win.
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Natus Vincere vs. eUnited
Betting prediction: Natus Vincere to win.
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Fnatic vs. BIG
Betting prediction: BIG to win.
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mousesports vs. AVANGAR
Betting prediction: mousesports to win.
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Luminosity Gaming vs. Team Liquid
Betting prediction: Team Liquid to win.
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