IEM is returning to Sydney for the third edition of IEM Sydney. The fan favorite event will be featuring 16 teams and a prize pool of $250.000, and it’s definitely the highlight of April.

Just like in past years, Sydney will also see major progresses in various teams’ storylines. FaZe certainly want to defend their title. Renegades will be looking to impress the home crowd with their recent form. Liquid is looking for redemption.

So, which teams will viewers be eagerly following in IEM Sydney? Let’s take a look below.

FaZe Clan is going up, can they keep up?

The last two weeks have been really positive for FaZe Clan. The team won BLAST Pro Series Miami and qualified for ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals. Both results came as a surprise, given FaZe state coming into April.

More specifically, FaZe lack of results and disappointments reached the point where fans were questioning the whole team structure. Still, not everything is perfect and FaZe true test will be at Sydney.

After all, FaZe biggest problem hasn’t been fixed yet. NiKo, one of the teams main fraggers is now also the in-game leader. Other than the two aforementioned results, FaZe was really in a dire situation and the leadership was clearly a problem.

Still, there’s also one clear reason behind FaZe tournament win and qualification for EPL S9. ‘Rain’, who was in a slump for a long time finally returned to his old form in the last week.

While their leadership might be lacking, FaZe form is going to remain this good as long as ‘rain’ maintain his performance. Having NiKo, GuardiaN and Rain fragging and playing to the best is going to give headaches to any opponent.

So, going into Sydney, FaZe and Rain himself will be proving if their forms are back. If they can keep up as they did this past two weeks, FaZe has every chance to successfully defend their title.

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Liquid fails to impress in Miami but is looking for revenge in Sydney

Team Liquid fans were hopefully that bringing ‘Stewie2K’ would help Liquid to no crumble into grand-finals. After all, the best North American team reached multiple finals last year but always failed when it mattered the most.

Going for Miami, Liquid had a clearly chance to change this once Astralis failed to book a grand final spot. Liquid was set to face NiKo & Co’s FaZe Clan, and they were clearly the favorites. However, history repeated itself and Liquid was dominated.

Heading to Sydney, Liquid doesn’t have to worry about Astralis once again. Yet, the pressure to finally win a premier title is extremely high and they need to defeat that before anything else.

Should Liquid fail, the whole team structure will be questioned once again. After all, they have exchanged coaches already, but maybe the problem lies with their in-game leader, nitr0.

The pressure is on for Liquid. IEM Sydney will either see a team that finally managed to deal with that after one year of missed opportunities, or a crumbling team that will be looking for changes if results can’t come in.

Mousesports’ new roster first premier event

During the post-Major shuffle, Mousesports went through meaningful roster changes. Replacing Oskar, suNny and STYKO enters Woxic, Karrigan and frozen. Mouz’ results have been impressive so far, and it’s time to convert those to a LAN environment.

And that’s why many fans are excited to finally see Mousesports in action live. Frozen is one of the best up and coming European players, and he has ropz to learn from as another young player who achieved success early.

Woxic is also a great addition. After all, he was one of the essential pieces that helped HellRaisers breakthrough last year along ISSAA. Moreover, having Karrigan and ChrisJ as two tactical minds can add a whole new dynamic.

There’s a lot to hype in this Mousesports squad. Even this being their first offline tournament, they should at least get a top 8 finish with such a promising roster. After all, other than Frozen the squad has a lot of experience.

Renegades’ best roster ever is playing in front of their home crowd

There are no doubts that this Renegades is the best iteration of their CSGO squad hands down. They have the right mix of firepower, teamwork and tactics and its working wonders for them.

Going for Sydney, it’s time to showcase all that for the first time in their home territory. Ultimately, IEM Sydney trophy has been lifted by SK and FaZe before, and an Aussie team never had a chance to compete for it like Renegades can do now.

With all that in mind, there should be an extra push for them to play in a peak level. How far their can reach is unknown though, but Renegades is definitely coming to Sydney with their heads up and confident as one of the favorites.

FNATIC battle to the top keeps going on

Last time we saw FNATIC in an offline tournament, the Swedes managed to book a second-place finish in StarSeries Season VII. Yet after that FNATIC was beaten by G2 in EPL and their results were put in doubt. What FNATIC is truly capable of?

Sydney will be the place to see if StarSeries was a bluff or if it was a sign of what the Swedes can achieve. Xizt, who has been criticized a lot by fans, will also be doing a trial by fire as his leadership has been questionable so far.

Yet, FNATIC can also turn this situation in a big triumph. Should they repeat their form from Shanghai and manage to beat the likes of NRG and NiP, they can definitely reach playoffs here. From there on, it will be all up to KRIMZ and Xizt squad.

IEM Sydney will be concluding April and starting May in a high note

IEM Sydney has been an event very hyped by fans and teams alike. After all, the crowd is lively and teams can feel the prestige of a premier IEM tournament.

So, which teams will you be looking forward to watch? Let us know below!