

Offline placings in the past three months 5th-6th Copenhagen Games Copenhagen Games 1st-4th Copenhagen Games BYOC Qualifier Copenhagen Games BYOC Qualifier 5th-8th Play2Live Cryptomasters Play2Live Cryptomasters

As mentioned before, Valiance are the biggest underdog of DreamHack Masters Marseille as a team that has very, very little experience against top-tier teams, especially in an offline environment.

Online, they have proven successful against teams around the top 30 mark and even some above that, as we saw in the impressive win over Heroic that qualified them for this event, but the competition in France will be another level above, as they're about to face three top-ten teams.

ICYMI: Valiance - A second chance for Serbian CS

After Play2Live Cryptomasters and Copenhagen Games, where the Balkan team weren't able to make it to the top four, Valiance's confidence against teams of such stature is likely diminished, but there's absolutely no pressure; they can only surprise.

Group C



Offline placings in the past three months 1st WESG World Finals WESG World Finals 1st IEM Katowice IEM Katowice 15th-16th StarSeries i-League Season 4 StarSeries i-League Season 4 5th-8th ELEAGUE Major ELEAGUE Major



fnatic find themselves among the favourites, something that seemed unthinkable to many just a month ago, when they were one of the worst-performing teams at StarSeries, having been sent packing after just three matches. But a lot can change in a month, and the Swedes not only broke their title duck after winning IEM Katowice but also followed that up with a first-place finish at the WESG Finals, which had a hefty $1.5 million prize fund.

However, it has not been all sweetness and light for fnatic, whose online form has been erratic of late. The Swedish team are second in ECS, but in the Pro League it has been a completely different story as they sit closer to the foot of the table, with an 8-12 record.

fnatic are looking to build on their IEM and WESG successes

Golden has admitted to being puzzled by his team’s shaky online displays, but he hopes the recent LAN successes alone will be enough to fire the players to another memorable run. And even if they can’t quite figure out what has been going wrong, they can still rely on the firepower provided by in-form trio KRIMZ, flusha and Lekr0.

The Swedes will be fancying their chances heading into the tournament. Their group, as Golden put, is not the hardest and they can hope to secure a high seed for the playoffs. After that, it will all come down to luck of the draw, but fnatic have no reason to believe that they cannot at least make it to the semi-finals.



Offline placings in the past three months 2nd StarSeries i-League Season 4 StarSeries i-League Season 4 3rd-4th ELEAGUE Major ELEAGUE Major



The Ukrainian team will greatly welcome a return to offline action after a tumultuous period in which their future looked to be in doubt as star duo s1mple and flamie were courted by the core of the SK squad.

It has been almost two months since Na`Vi’s last appearance on LAN, at StarSeries, where they looked on course to win the title but fell to mousesports in the final despite s1mple putting on a world-class display. Since then, they have only competed online, bouncing back from their failed qualification campaign for ECS by securing a spot at the ESL Pro League Finals.

Will s1mple inspire Na`Vi to another deep run?

Natus Vincere are a volatile and hard to predict side, but it would be a mistake to overlook them. A win in their opening match against Renegades - a team they have historically never had problems beating - should put them up against fnatic, who they have not faced since the ELEAGUE Major. And even if they cannot repeat their performance from Atlanta, the Ukrainians should have more than enough tricks up their sleeve to progress from the lower bracket and seal passage to the playoffs.



Offline placings in the past three months 9th-12th IEM Katowice IEM Katowice 5th-8th StarSeries i-League Season 4 StarSeries i-League Season 4

Renegades secured the final spot at DreamHack Masters Marseille after topping the North American qualifier following close victories over Luminosity and OpTic. For the Australians, it will be their first event since IEM Katowice, where they went out after two close matches against Astralis and Cloud9 in the groups.

As far as online play is concerned, Renegades have been doing fairly well in both the Pro League and ECS and currently stand in the middle of the pack, with qualification for the offline finals still very much possible in both leagues.

Renegades face a tough opening match against Na`Vi

Surprisingly, however, Renegades come into the French event after being defeated by Rogue and Bravado in the ESL One Belo Horizonte qualifier, leaving Nifty’s charges itching to get back on track ahead of IEM Sydney - which will be far more important than DreamHack for the team as it will be one of the rare occasions where they will get to play in front of their own fans.

Renegades should provide some honest resistant for fnatic and Natus Vincere, the group’s heavy favourites, but qualification for the playoffs should be just too much to ask. Beating TYLOO in an eventual elimination match will be the silver lining to what many expect to be a group stage exit for the Australians.



Offline placings in the past three months 1st XINHUA Electronic Sports Conference XINHUA Electronic Sports Conference 3rd-4th CS:GO Asia Summit CS:GO Asia Summit 1st StarLadder ImbaTV Invitational Chongqing StarLadder ImbaTV Invitational Chongqing 13th-16th IEM Katowice IEM Katowice 12th-14th StarSeries i-League Season 4 StarSeries i-League Season 4



TYLOO will attend the event boosted by their recent success at the StarLadder Chongqing Invitational, a medium-sized event with $150,000 at stake. It was a much-needed victory for the Chinese team, who, however, were then eliminated in the first round of CS:GO Asia Summit by Grayhound.

Consistency has long been an issue for TYLOO, so it was refreshing to see a different player, xccurate, step up for the team in Chongqing. The 20-year-old Indonesian had looked out of sync at his first two events with the team, StarSeries and IEM Katowice, where he also could not get the most out of compatriot BnTeT, the squad’s main carrier.

Can xccurate lead TyLoo to some upsets in Marseille?

An opening match against fnatic, one of the most in-form teams at the moment, will be very tricky for the Chinese side, despite the fact that they beat Golden’s side at StarSeries two months ago. The Swedes have greatly improved since then, so TYLOO look destined for a best-of-one elimination match, which could pit them against Renegades, one of their fiercest rivals.

Group D



Offline placings in the past three months 3rd-4th IEM Katowice IEM Katowice 5th-8th StarSeries i-League Season 4 StarSeries i-League Season 4 12th-14th ELEAGUE Major (4/5) ELEAGUE Major (4/5)



Astralis long-awaited return to LAN, after a month and a half of just online play, is finally here. The Danish team’s last offline appearance came at IEM Katowice, where they reached the semi-finals after topping their group but then were no match for FaZe.

Since the Polish event, Astralis have been performing really well online and have already booked spots at the offline finals of both ECS and the Pro League. The Danes appear to be a well-oiled machine at the moment, with every player bar gla1ve boasting a rating higher than 1.15 since Katowice.

Golden and NBK have praised Astralis' recent form

Astralis have looked particularly strong on Mirage and Inferno of late, while Cobblestone, Nuke and Cache are maps they tend to avoid. By banning the first one against Space Soldiers, they will automatically put the Turkish team on the back foot.

Following back-to-back playoff appearances at their first two events with Magisk, Astralis will be setting their sights on the final. If they can take their recent online form into a LAN environment, gla1ve’s men will be a team to fear, with realistic chances of winning their first title since last year’s IEM Katowice.



Offline placings in the past three months 3rd-4th IEM Katowice IEM Katowice 3rd StarSeries i-League Season 4 StarSeries i-League Season 4 1st cs_summit 2 cs_summit 2 12th-14th ELEAGUE Major (4/5) ELEAGUE Major (4/5)



Liquid travel to Marseille fresh off a roster change that saw them replace Lucas "⁠steel⁠" Lopes with another Brazilian, two-time Major champion TACO, who decided to leave SK after the team’s horrific run at the WESG World Finals.

Many will be curious to see how TACO will perform, now that he has been freed from the shackles that often limited his impact when he was in SK. He has the potential to be an improvement on steel, who at times seemed to be lost in his role, and he adds an extra layer of confidence to the team as he is hungry for success and determined to prove that he can be more than just a sidekick to coldzera.

TACO will make his debut for Liquid

But one cannot expect Liquid to be in tip-top shape just yet: communication issues still persist, and the delay in his transfer from SK saw TACO begin to practice with the team only a few days ahead of the French event.

Liquid will use this event as a test, but they will still be eyeing a playoff spot, especially after being paired with underperforming Gambit in the first round of the group stage. With NAF in the form of his life, the North Americans can advance from the group on skill alone, even if their team chemistry has not yet set in.



Offline placings in the past three months 2nd WESG World Finals WESG World Finals 2nd Play2Live Cryptomasters Play2Live Cryptomasters 9th-11th ELEAGUE Major ELEAGUE Major



Space Soldiers enter this event brimming with confidence after a sensational month that saw them qualify for four international events and finish in second place at the WESG World Finals.

In China, the Turkish side came close to winning the title and walking away with the $800,000 prize, but fnatic’s greater experience made the difference in the end. Still, MAJ3R’s men had plenty of positives to take from their Asian run, which came to confirm the team’s fantastic start to 2018.

Space Soldiers have been in stunning form of late

As usual, XANTARES has been the driving force behind the team, boasting a sensational 1.28 rating over the last three months on LAN. But it is worrying that, during this period, ngiN continued to struggle for form as he averaged a 0.97 rating, with his closest teammate being MAJ3R with 1.11. The 24-year-old will need to step up for Marseille; otherwise, the team may lack the firepower to advance from a tough group.

Space Soldiers’ map pool has looked very solid of late: they boast an 87% win rate on Cobblestone after 23 games, while Inferno, Cache and Train have also looked like strong picks. The same cannot be said about Mirage, however, as they have won just half of the 16 games they have played on it in the last three months.

The Turkish team are no strangers to causing upsets in best-of-one matches, so their chances cannot be written off, even if they have been placed in a group featuring two former Major champions. This will be the first of a series of international events for Space Soldiers, and they will be out to prove that they are ready to go from a solid tier-two team to a top contender.



Offline placings in the past three months 5th-6th Bets.net Masters Bets.net Masters 9th-12th IEM Katowice IEM Katowice 12th-14th StarSeries i-League Season 4 StarSeries i-League Season 4 9th-11th ELEAGUE Major (4/5) ELEAGUE Major (4/5)



Gambit have been a far cry from the side that claimed the title at PGL Major Krakow, and the recent roster changes, with seized coming in for Bektiyar "⁠fitch⁠" Bahytov, have done little to alter the narrative.

Following early exits at StarSeries and IEM Katowice, the Kazakhstani team unsurprisingly decided to let their main star, Hobbit, play the role that suits him best and let seized take the in-game leadership reins. The 23-year-old had previously led Na`Vi, so many saw this as a natural step, but the Russian’s first event in his new role did not go as planned as the team finished 5th-6th after losing to GODSENT and Fragsters - two teams ranked below them.

Gambit were certainly relieved to have been invited to Marseille as their online form has been nothing short of disappointing. They are currently next to last in ECS, with a 4-10 record, and recently failed to qualify for IEM Sydney and ESL One Belo Horizonte. This makes the DreamHack event all the more important for them, but their chances do not look too good; even a potential match-up against Space Soldiers could be a tall order for them after twice losing to the Turkish team this month.