Cloud9 and Luminosity (The NA Hope):
A lot happened, if we want to be honest. I will start by saying that what most surprised me was Cloud9 not getting out of the groups. Yes, I didn’t expect that at all. But then again, it’s Cloud9 they are some what known for choking at majors.
But that cannot be the excuse, atleast I don’t think so. They had an okay group, all they had to do was beating Luminosity and then upset Fnatic or even win 2 times against Luminosity wich they are capable of. That’s the biggest thing for me!
Titan once again failing at a major event:
Again, Titan failed to qualify for the top 8. This time they had the hardest group, for me. But still, they have the skill and the experience to go out of the groups on a major. I think the CEO’s of Titan might start thinking of changes, not that they actually need, but I think ex6 should be moved into the coaching role and bring a fire power. Who? I don’t really know for sure, but I can give you a few names that I think it should be good for the Titan team.
Lets start by saying that fxy0 should return to the active, lets say that he gets an invite from Titan, should he accept? I think yes, he’s a great player and an excelent awper. The second guy that stands out for me is schneider, wich by the way is a free agent now. Yes, he doesn’t speak french but I think Titan can speak english very well and so does schneider. I think it will be an awesome pick up for Titan.
The North America best team:
For me, this major event tells us that NA can actually start doing some damage to some of the top europeans teams. Why? It’s simple, we saw what Luminosity did at this event and better yet, what Liquid did to Virtus.pro on cobblestone! Those two teams for are the best teams in North America, for now. I think that Cloud9 needs swag and CLG needs to change one player in order to do even more damage to the top europeans teams. Yes, CLG played really well if you ask me but they could have won against NaVi if they had just a little bit more of fire power.
Ninjas In Pyjamas:
No, not the end but a new start. I honestly think that they should pick up twist and schneider before anyone. Like fnatic picking up twist and Titan/HR picking up schneider. Those talents cannot be wasted. I think the proper line up for NiP for 2016 should be something like this: Xizt, f0rest, GeT_RiGhT, twist and schneider.
It’s pretty obvious that friberg is done even tho he played really well this tournament but can he keep playing like that in future events? I don’t think so, allu is a great awper and a great player but I think he is taking the awp from f0rest. And I think NiP should have a full swedish line up, so sadly allu has to go. But this is interesting, if this actually happen Titan has to pick up allu, just imagine that team with someone like allu.
The end of Fnatic’s era?
Yes! I honeslty think that the fnatic’s era has come to an end. Simply because pronax cannot keep playing, aswell as JW. That’s my honest opinion, and as you saw this event, they cannot keep playing and winning vs top tier teams. They have to move pronax into a coaching role and get rid of JW. If they do this, they will pick up GeT_RiGhT and f0rest. I’m pretty sure of that, what else who they are gonna pick? Right? Just imagine, these duo’s – Krimz and olof + GeT_RiGhT and f0rest. It’s insane, and then you have someone like flusha who is a monster and an excelent player. I think it should be the obvious pick for fnatic, either way changes will happen.
The great warriors G2 Esports:
Alright so, this has to be the biggest topic that everyone is looking for to read or hear about. For me this was their chance to win a major or atleast reach the finals of one. They almost did you’re right, they were 3 times away from the final, they almost beat EnVyUs wich is the best inferno team at this moment. It’s huge! I think that the new player, jkaem did an awesome job. I think it was the right choice if you ask me, a true warrior. A true beast, that’s what they needed! Also, Maikel return to be the same Maikel as he was when he played for NiP, not with the awp but getting those important rounds for his team, it was really good to see him again at his level. Fox for me was their best player and for sure he did shut up his haters, or atleast some of them. As we saw I think they did a good job giving him the awper role and entry fragger. I checked the stats for this major and it’s obvious that he’s a beast with that awp. But, he was also one of the best entry fraggers of the event, yeah pretty awesome. My only question for them is, can they actually keep doing what they did this event? Can they beat and keep getting those top 4 at the highest level?
I do believe that now G2 Esports will seek and hire a new coach, wich one? I have no idea, but I would love t osee someone like Devilwalk coaching those boys. It would be the perfect coach for them, I can assure you that, so can Rain and dennis focus on their game, instead of giving the tactics and calls. Other than that I think that Gamers2 can reach easily the highest level of Counter Strike, I really do. They have the players, the skill and the organization to do so. They are already top 10 in the world, if not top 5. But only the time will tell, what can happen is either Fnatic/NiP picking up some of their players, wich would be bad for G2 Esports. The lineup is totally fine, they just need to pratice more, bootcamp more and get a great coach who can actually give tactics and calls. A dedicated and experienced coach like DW.
Is this the comeback for NaVi?:
Is this the comeback of a great team or it was just a fluke? Actually, from what I saw they just won the Bo3 against CLG because of their experience. I can tell you that, CLG could have won that series. Wich would be an upset, the thing is GuardiaN was on fire this event, what about when he doesn’t drop a 30+ bomb per map? NaVi will lose, like they lost vs EnVyUs , it’s the fact. So they really need another player that can carry, someone like s1mple for example. If they pick up s1mple and do double awp set up wold be awesome, if it works? I don’t know, but don’t forget that Titan already did that, with kennyS and KQLY. It can work, it should work for someone like GuardiaN and s1mple. So just imagine the fire power if NaVi pick up s1mple. I do think they will pick him, not now but at the end of the year or next year and maybe Dosia. It really depends, for me the roster of NaVi should be something like this: starix annalyst and zeus coaching – Edward, GuardiaN, seized, Dosia and s1mple. That is the best line up possible for NaVi. But we will see what happens, they did a great tournament, its true but only because of GuardiaN and sometimes seized. The time of Zeus and flamie is gone, they had their chance to shine on NaVi, flamie did for a couple of weeks or maps but thats about it.
Viewership, veto process, prize pool:
Lets begin with the viewership for this major event. It wasn’t really what people expected. Why? It’s simple, the location was terrible and it took too many days and started on the week – school & work. I think from now on it’s pretty clear that they will only host majors in big country & city. More crowd, more people interested in and big locals / avenues.
Veto process – I actually loved the veto process for this major, I think it should remain like this, It’s fair and fun to watch. What I didn’t like was 1 group per day and then another day to qualify the remaining teams. It’s a bad management from the people who are behind the scenes. That’s why it didn’t even reached 1 million.
Prize pool – Alright, big topic if you ask me. 7 majors and the same prize pool? ~$250k. That is nothing, that isn’t improvement, that isn’t what people wanna hear or see when a new major is announced. I think you already know that and you will fix it, atleast I hope so. Valve can easily host a major with 1 million $ plus travel support. The stickers and signatures should give more than 60% to the players and organizations. I also think that someone needs to make that step before Valve does. Someone needs to invest their money for the first big major to happen. Then, we will have more. I also think that Valve should start doing a community found to raise money to be added into the prize pool. That’s the main issue, lets see what happens next year. But we just can’t stand here and watch League Of Legends, Dota2 and Heroes Of The Storm having more than $500k. It’s just not right, Valve and ESL / ESEA / CEVO / DreamHack needs to realize that. And we only need 3 majors for year and then a big “Worlds” at the end of each year.
Was this major the best one so far?
In terms of teams, yes. Cluj-Napoca had like almost the best teams in the world, I would only change Vexed for HellRaisers, but that’s me. Other than that, it was the best one, no easy winner and no easy matches. Who would have picked NaVi to be in the finals? I didn’t, you didn’t. Any team from the top 8 could have won the major, this time EnVyUs did but any of them could have take the trophy. So for me, there is no easy top 5 at this moment ~ for me the world’s best team is EnVyUs, they proved that and they are way better than fnatic and TSM. But I’ll give you guys my top 10 ranking at the end of the article! But yes, it was the best major so far, the only thing was the location, it was really bad. Less crowd but the production was perfect! I honestly think that for the next majors they should hire PGL to produce!!
Aizy, shox, jdm64, NiKo & coldzera
Why did I choose those players? Lets start with Aizy.
Aizy – Even tho he got knocked out from the groups he showed a strong performance, I don’t think Dignitas is the type of team for him I think he deserves better. I honestly think that Aizy should create a top danish team with k0nfig and jugi, but only the time will tell. But we did learn that from this major event.
shox – I mean, it’s just like Thoorin said when he wrote the amazing article about “shox’s world”. Its cleary that he cannot stay on that team, he needs to be in EnVyUs (wich is unlikely) but if he cannot be there, he has to create / move into an internacional team. Titan are not even top 10 in the world right now, that ain’t his place, lets be honest. He tried to carry Titan against NiP but he couldn’t do by himself.
jdm64 – Alright, for me this guy was the surprise of the event just like coldzera and jkaem. jdm64 did an awesome major event and he should be proud of himself! I hope he can continue his level, he has the skill to compete with the best teams and players in the world, this major event was the proof.
NiKo – It wasn’t his best event but yet he had the best rating and one of the most impact players in the event. Yet he didn’t got out of the groups, why? Mouz underperformed. To be honest, only NiKo and chrisJ showed up for this event.
coldzera – As I said before, this guy was one of the surprises for the tournament I think we all know that, what a monster! Lets hope he can continue to play like he did this event.
The best players of this major event:
1. GuardiaN
2. jkaem
3. kennyS
4. Snax
5. coldzera
My top 10 rankings after the major:
1. EnVyUs
2. Fnatic
3. TSM
4. Virtus.pro
5. NaVi
6. NiP
7. G2 Esports
8. Luminosity
9. Cloud9
10. CLG
You can easily argue about Titan and Dignitas to be there, but at this moment they are not top10. Cloud9 and CLG are easily better than both of them. And lets see what happens with the new roster of HellRaisers, because they were always top10.
This was my first article and I hope you enjoyed. I will be back soon! ~Awakening
