Featuring a French Derby and a Major runner-up, DreamHack Masters Malmo Group D has a very exciting lineup of four powerhouse teams.

The Teams

Immortals (HLTV Ranking #4)

Despite internal team drama, the Immortals have decided to stick together after a runner-up finish at the PGL Major. The team that wowed the world with two high powered AWPers (HEN1 and kNg) and solid fragging from Boltz and steel should keep their high-flying performance going into DreamHack Masters Malmo.

While the team is notable for being either hot or cold, the team has been on an upwards trend since the Major qualifier and added Vito “kNg” Giuseppe has been the best addition to Immortals in quite some time.

G2 Esports (HLTV Ranking #5)

The “French super-team” has had a rough go of it after winning two events in the spring with awful showings at ESL One Cologne and the PGL Major. Now, the team is looking to rebound as other top teams (SK Gaming and FaZe Clan) did not particularly impress at the Major and a Top 4 placing at DreamHack would go a long way to proclaiming Kenny “kennyS” Schrub’s team as a world contender again.

Team EnVyUs (HLTV Ranking #14)

Fresh off of winning DreamHack Atlanta, Team EnVyUs seems to have improved since their disastrous outing at the European Minor. The Vincent “Happy” Schopenhauer led team has made some considerable strides to close the performance gap with their French brethren G2 Esports and a first round “French derby” should prove extremely exciting and AWP heavy.

Fnatic (HLTV Ranking #15)

A team that was destined to continually place Top 8 but nothing more was not in Fnatic’s long-term strategy as the three time Major winning organization bid goodbye to longtime players Olof “Olofmeister” Kajbjer and Dennis “dennis” Edman. Cutting Olofmeister for Fnatic Academy IGL Makil “Golden” Selim is a risky decision, but the addition of Jonas “lekr0” Olofsson is a promising one.

Opening Matches

Immortals vs. Fnatic

Fresh off team changes, it is hard to imagine Fnatic taking a map off the 2nd place team at the most recent major. Immortals has had some in-team drama, but the team is sticking together and has looked solid online.

Even if the map comes down to a favorite for Fnatic such as Inferno, I do not think it will matter much because the tactics will have all changed considering Golden is IGLing as opposed to the “IGL by convention” that Fnatic rolled with before. Look for Immortals to take the opening map but fall in the group decider against G2 Esports.

G2 Esports vs Team EnVyUs

G2 has not done a ton to inspire this pick, but I believe the team is a more dangerous one than EnVyUs on LAN. Yes, Envy has defeated G2 on LAN in the past, but there is no denying the insane amount of talent on the G2 Esports roster. The French derby (more than likely on Cobblestone) should be a fun one to watch, but should go to G2 Esports in overtime.

Group Predictions

1st G2 Esports

2nd Immortals

3rd Team EnVyUs

4th Fnatic

Immortals may have placed second at the PGL Major, but their run was against less than top tier competition and G2 Esports plays an extremely similar AWP heavy style with a deeper map pool. Still, Immortals should beat Team EnVyUs for the group decider and Fnatic’s recent roster shuffle will negatively affect their performance.

What teams do you see escaping Group D? Comment your favorites below!

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