Dreamhack Montreal starts off in a few hours with some of the top NA teams in action. The event which will be held at the Place Bonaventure in Montreal will feature a prize pool of $100,000. There are eight teams in attendance at the event and the team coming first will receive a prize money of $50,000.

The eight teams are divided into two groups of four teams each. Each group will start the matches with Best of One matches between the teams. The winners match is also a Best of One match and will see one team directly qualify to the Playoffs. All the elimination matches will be Best of three matches and will give ample opportunities to the teams to prove their worth.

With the North American scene constantly changing, partly due to roster changes this tournament will provide a decent judgement to their performance.There are four North American teams participating in this tournament. We have several strong teams such as North, Cloud9, CLG in attendance. But we also have some Tier 2 teams such as LG, Kinguin and Complexity who can potentially cause an upset. We will take a look at the three teams most likely to win Dreamhack Montreal 2017.

Cloud9

Cloud9 were eliminated in the Group stage at PGL Krakow 2017. The North American team has shown a tendency to be on the opposite ends of the spectrum depending on the map. In their past few matches during August 2017, we have seen the Cloud9 roster performing admirably well on Train. Train is by far their most played map during this period, it is also one of their most successful map. However Cloud9 have not shown similar performances on other maps. They were recently demolished on Inferno by Immortals, depsite Immortals having a stand-in.

Cloud9´s roster has some heavy hitters, but the team seems to lack a good gameplan on the maps that they are not comfortable with. One can see their playstyle differing massively between Train and other maps such as Inferno. Skadoodle is a player who can reach a very high level of performance, but he has not been consistent in reaching such levels repeatedly. Cloud9 has a easy route through the group stage and should be able to make it to the playoffs With Immortals being the other strong team in their group, Cloud9 will most probably be second in Group B.

Going further into the tournament however, there is a very good chance for Cloud9 to be eliminated at any stage of the playoffs. Their lack of a good map pool along with a very staggered performance by individuals on the roster means that they are very unreliable. Playoffs being a Best of three against much better caliber teams, Cloud9 will find it difficult to reach the finals of the tournament.

North Gaming

North Gaming come into Dreamhack Montreal following their loss in the finals of Dreamhack Malmo 2017. The North side look extremely strong with amazing performances by CajunB, K0nfig and Aizy. These three players are extremely flamboyant and aggressive playmakers who play spoilsport on their opponents performances. Each player is individually capable of turning the round on it’s head and potentially win the round singlehandedly. Their consistency in securing multiple frags in a single round is what makes them lethal.

However the Danish roster is not all about firepower. With a seasoned In Game Leader such as MSL at the helm, they have developed strategies and counter-strats to their opponents. While not much is expected of MSL especially in the presence of other stars in the team, he has proven wily with some off angle positions which enables him to have a huge impact.

However another factor that must be taken into consideration for this team is their travelling schedule. With the Dreamhack Malmo finals taking place jsut a few days ago, this team has travelled a lot in very few days. Going from Poland to Canada definitely affects the players and jetlag is a real issue for the team. At least the initial matches might be slightly risky simply cause the players might not have adjusted to the new venue, time yet.

North recently made a roster change with Valde replacing Magisk on the team. Magisk is a young player with a lot of potential, but that is exactly what North has in excess. With the addition of valde, there is a potential perfect mix of team play and skill on the team. Valde is more of a team player which lends itself perfectly to what North used to lack.

If North can make it to the semifinals and if they find the same kind of form that we have seen of them in the past few weeks, they are one of the strongest contenders to win Dreamhack Montreal 2017. The Danish roster is probably the better Danish roster right now and that is not a feat to be balked at.

Immortals

Immortals will be attending the tournament without KngV. KngV has been a strong addition to the team and has repeatedly proven his worth on the roster. However the replacement in Zakk also has had a very good chemistry with the Brazilian players. His familiarity with the team definitely reduces the disadvantage that the team might face due to the sudden roster change.

Cobblestone, Train, Inferno, Mirage are all strong maps for the Immortals side. They are extremely well known for their INferno and Cobblestone executes. Their understanding of their opponent provides them with a very good T side. However as we just saw in the ESL Pro League matches, their CT sides are also extremely good. The team plays off one another, so there is always the trade kill which theoretically maintains the balance of the round. This proves to be extremely useful especially on the T side, where it can lead to a huge advantage. Knowing when to save their weapons, the Immortals side shows a lot of restraint in not trying to push and get those kills.

Immortals are the World #6 team and they are there for a reason. Their performances and the strong, yet off map pool gives them a strong advantage against most of the teams. Their first match is against LG, which is a much weaker team right now. Immortals should be able to cruise through the group stage handily defeating LG and Cloud9 on their way to the playoffs. This team has the potential to reach the finals and depending on their performance even win the tournament. They are in direct contention with North who are definitely the tournament favorites.

These are the strongest contenders for the title at Dreamhack Montreal 2017. The rest of the teams are undoubtedly in the next tier of teams for these matches. North is the tournament favorite, however jet lag might play a serious spoilsport in their plans. Immortals are not very far off with Cloud9 being a distant third in the race to the title at Dreamhack Malmo 2017.