MLG Columbus Major Qualifier Group A Preview

The first Counter Strike major is arriving quick and fast. With that, we need to decided which eight teams will accompany the eight “Legends” from Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca in MLG Columbus. In this preview, I will be giving a run down on the teams in group A and also providing predictions on what I think the results will be.

Group A- G2 Esports

G2 is going into this tournament after a solid performance at the ESL Expo Barcelona tournament. In Barcelona, they were able to finish in 4th position by beating all of the minor teams that they faced and got a notable map win against Astralis on dust 2. They also were able to outlast their french counterparts Envy, as they struggled to a 5th place. They were eventually taken down by fnatic on the final day but a 4th place finish for G2 is nothing to look over. I feel that they are significantly the best team in this group and could argue that they are one of the strongest teams at this tournament. Along with the rise of Ex6Tenz fragging and Smith’s awping, I feel G2 will have no problem qualifying for the major.

Flipsid3 Tactics

The Ukrainian/Russian team is going to have there work cut out for them if they want to book a spot in MLG Columbus. Flipsid3 was last seen on LAN at the Acer Predator Masters event two weekends ago and were able to put up a good result finishing 2nd. They were able to get impressive bo3 wins against CSGL and Hellraisers but fell short to Mousesports in the final. But that being said, They havent really been able to perform to that level in the games they’ve played online or other matches they have played on LAN like being losing to CLG 2-0 at Game Show. But with their experience on LAN and in big tournaments, I feel Flipsid3 may be able to show the younger teams in this group that they still have it.

Selfless (Formerly Enemy)

One of the more interesting teams at the tournament, Selfless with need to bring their A game if they want to qualify. With the news that their star awper koosta signed for  Liquid last week, this team was left scrambling trying to find a new 5th. Luckily for them, Liquid will be loaning koosta to Selfless as he is ineligible to play for Liquid at this tournament. I feel that Selfless’s faith in this group ultimately lies in koosta and how hes able to perform. If he’s able to give the performance he gave at the MLG Americas Minor Championships which led Selfless to win the tournament, then Selfless stand a chance in this group. If not however, I cant see them being able to beat the other teams in the group and being to upset them. Under the circumstances which surround this team, I cant comfortably say that they can defy the odds and finish top two in this group

Tempo Storm

In the last week, Tempo Storm have been able to take the NA scene by storm (ha ha get it) by beating America’s top teams on more than one occasion. They showed up out of nowhere at the IEM Katowice NA Qualifier by beating Liquid, CLG and Cloud 9 all in bo3’s to take North Americas spot at Katowice. And last weekend they proved that that was not a fluke by beating Optic and Cloud 9 again for a berth at the Dreamhack Masters Malmo. Now going into there first ever international LAN, they’ll be able to truly show that they are not only onliners but also true players on the international stage. They’ll need to rely on their main awper Hen1 and the experienced boltz if the wanna defy the odds and become the 2nd Brazilian team to qualify to a major. I feel that if they can play like they did online recently, then their definitely able to accomplish this goal.

Predictions:

First Round

G2 vs Tempo– G2   

Flipsid3 vs Selfless- Flipsid3

Winners match

G2 vs Flipsid3- G2

Losers match

Selfless vs Tempo- Tempo

Decider match

Flipsid3 vs Tempo- Tempo

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. My preview on Group B will be out Tomorrow.