ESL One Katowice: The Challengers

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The first major tournament of the year for CS:GO will kick off next week on March 12 in Katowice, Poland. The event is organized by long time Counter-Strike event hosts, the Electronic Sports League. With years of experience hosting CS:GO tournaments, ESL knows the passion fans have for the game, we will no doubt be treated to an amazing show.

ESL One Katowice will see 16 teams face off in hopes of winning a share of the whopping $250,000 cash prize. Eight of these teams were specifically invited to participate in the event due to their placement within the top 8 of the last major, Dreamhack Winter. These teams have been referred to by ESL as the Legends. The remaining eight teams were made to earn a spot at the offline qualifier which was held mid-February. ESL has branded these teams the Challengers; those seeking to overcome the Legends. In this article we get to know more about these teams by looking at their history and their recent match results and ultimately, the calculated predictions we can make going into Katowice.

Table of Contents:

Counter Logic Gaming (GosuGamers World Ranking #11)



Counter Logic Gaming qualifying for ESL One Katowice

Counter Logic Gaming is an organization that has plenty of experience in the world of esports, with a lineup of players participating in tournaments both regionally and internationally for the popular MOBA game League of Legends since October, 2012. It was in mid-January when the organization announced they were broadening their horizons by investing in a North American CS:GO team.

The new CLG lineup has stayed together since their formation, becoming, at press time, the number two team on GosuGamers' CS:GO rankings for the North America region. Players FNS, ReltuC and Hazed already having experience playing together, the team managed to win their first match representing team CLG on January 16 against Mythic on season 18 of ESEA. Although they lost their next game against Cloud9 on season 6 of CEVO, they managed to go on to win against Team SKDC, The Stream Team and Paradox. Team CLG were building up a reputation in the NA scene.

It was at the MLG X Games in Aspen, Colorado where CLG really had to show form, going up against the feared European teams for the first time. European teams have historically acted as kryptonite for North American teams making up for nine out of ten of GosuGamers' global CS:GO rankings. CLG managed to shock the world in their first match by overcoming the world's number one team at the time, LDLC (now Team EnVyUs), 16:14. CLG's next game was a loss to Team Liquid (#3 on GosuGamers' NA rankings) and subsequently went on to lose 1:0 against the current world number one, Fnatic. Thus, CLG began the tournament with an amazing win against the top team at the time, but could not carry that success into their next games, however they definitely gained valuable experience and one could argue they did quite well for their first encounter with European teams.

After CLG's last match at the MLG X Games, later that week they would compete again at Clutchcon. They would make it to the playoffs by beating HellsGamers and Paradox in the group stages, although sustaining a loss to Fnatic. But in round one of the playoffs North American team eLevate would knock CLG out of the competition in a best-of-three series.

The North American up-and-comers would again face international teams on February 14 at the LAN qualifier for ESL One Katowice. This would be team CLG's first time competing in Europe together and was a chance to show European teams what North America had to offer besides Cloud9 and they did not disappoint. CLG managed to beat Polish team Gamers2 by 16:14 in round one and also overcome Titan in the second round with the same score, which secured them a spot at the main event.

Overall, Team Counter Logic Gaming has won 21 out of their 27 games in February, with a win rate of 78%. Team CLG have a 10-win streak at this time of writing, including a win against Cloud9 and Team Liquid. The North Americans could go far at Katowice, having already proven their ability to go toe-to-toe against the world's best.

LGB eSports (Gosugamers World Ranking #14)



LGB eSports overcoming FlipSid3 at the LAN qualifiers

Let the Games Begin (LGB) officially recruited their first roster to compete in CS:GO tournaments on November 19 2013, which consisted of well-known Swedish players Krimz, Dennis, Olofmeister, Skytten and Eksem. With this roster, LGB would lose their first three matches in a small tournament called ESWC 2013, but went on to achieve a four-win streak in the StarLadder StarSeries, managing to win ten out of 15 games, beating the likes of Clan-Mystik and MouseSports. LGB also managed to draw against the dominating team at the time, Na'Vi, which was a great achievement because the LGB team had only recently formed.

It was in early 2014, when LGB replaced Skytten and Eksem with Twist and Cype, that the team's potential grew as they would participate in their first major tournament, EMS One Katowice 2014. LGB managed to beat Na'Vi and CompLexity in the group stages and win against Fnatic in round one of the playoffs. But LGB they were finally overcome by Virtus.Pro in a 2:1 scoreline.

LGB would reach the playoff stages once again in April, 2014 at the Copenhagen Games, just one month after Katowice and with the same lineup. The Swedes managed to beat oXone in round one and Team Property in round two, both games with a satisfying 2:0 scoreline. But, yet again, LGB would lose to Virtus.Pro, with a 0:2 score, in the quater-finals.

On May 6, 2014 Team LGB's lineup would move to Team Global and for eight months LGB had no CS:GO roster. It was on December 30, 2014 when LGB picked up up Norwegian players Ensa, Rubino, Rain, Zeves and Jkaem, the first of who woudl be replaced by Polly in January. The new team's only two games together before the ESL One Katowice LAN qualifier, on February 14, would be against HellRaisers and No Problem! in the 2015 FACEiT league.

The Norwegians would conquer the Katowice online qualifiers in order to move on to the next stage, the offline qualifier event, by winning three out of their four games. LGB traveled to Katowice, Poland, to participate in the LAN qualifier for ESL's One Katowice and won both of their games in the upper bracket, against Copenhagen Wolves and FlipSid3 Tactics, earning LGB a spot at the main event.

Since the LAN event in Katowice, Team LGB have competed in the FACEiT league, beating Team Solomid. But the Norweigans have lost every other game since February 15, including matches against Na'Vi, EnVyUs, Fnatic, Titan and NiP. This is not a good sign going into the main event in Katowice where LGB seek to beat these teams. LGB will need to bring their A-game if they want a chance to share in the prize pool at Katowice, but the teams' lack of playing experience could hinder them. Team LGB won ten of their 14 games in February, with a winrate of 42%.

Cloud9 (GosuGamers World Ranking #5)



Cloud9 qualifies for ESL One Katowice by beating mouz

Cloud9 is a North American esports organization that has had a team competing in League of Legends tournaments since March, 2013. It was in 2014 on February 10 when Cloud9 recruited a European Dota 2 team and, on August 1, their first CS:GO lineup. Cloud9 bought the contracts of the whole CompLexity lineup, which was the number one team in North America at that time.

Cloud9's original lineup consisted of N0thing, Shroud, Semphis, Sgares and Hiko. The team would continue to hold the number one title in the NA scene, going on a three-win streak against Area 51, SKDC and Manajuma in season 17 of ESEA, with only one loss to Netcode. Cloud9 would go on to win against teams Homless and Reliable in season five of CEVO. These matches would all take place within two weeks of the team's move from CompLexity to Cloud9, it was clear the move didn't faze them and they were still comfortable playing as a team.

Their first tournament as Cloud9 would be the major ESL One Cologne 2014, featuring a $250,000 prize pool, where the North Americans would slip through the group stages, beating Titan and Team Dignitas. But their success would be short-lived as they would get knocked out of the playoffs by Ninjas in Pyjamas in round one. Although C9 did manage to win the first map 8:16 on Cache, they would be overcome with 16:14 scorelines on both Dust2 and Cobblestone.

Between August 26 and October 25, Cloud9 would go on two separate four-win streaks in the (North American) FACEiT and CEVO leagues. The team was a dominating power over North American teams. IBUYPOWER was the second top NA team at the time, who Cloud9 would beat in four out their six matches. But iBUYPOWER would win season five of Cevo, beating Cloud9 1:4 in a best-of-seven. Cloud9 were made to settle for second place when they beat Netcode in the lower bracket.

It was at the FACEiT league LAN event where Cloud9 would meet with European teams for the first time since ESL One Cologne. The team had high hopes but it wasn't meant to be; C9 would lose against both LDLC and Virtus.Pro in the group stages, rendering them unable to qualify for the playoff stage.

Cloud9's next tournament was ESWC, with a $50,000 prize pool, where Cloud9 would do well in the group stages and actually earn the same amount of points as LDLC and Virtus.Pro at the top of Group B. However, in a very unfortunate situation, although all three teams had twelve points only two could qualify to go the playoffs. Cloud9 were once again disappointed.

Finally Cloud9 managed to reach the playoff stages of an event since ESL One Cologne. In Caseking of the Hill Cloud9 would beat Planetkey Dynamics and Epsilon at the group stages, qualifying alongside NiP, Virtus.Pro and Mousesports. At the playoffs Cloud9 would win against Mousesports in the semi-finals, beating them 2:0 on maps Dust2 and Inferno. Virtus.Pro would with meet C9 in the finals after winning 2:0 against NiP. Virtus.Pro would once again defeat Cloud9, with a 2:0 scoreline on Overpass and Cache.

Up next, in early December, was the LAN event for season 17 of ESEA where Cloud9 would win against Mousesports in round one, but lose to Virtus.Pro in round two, dropping to the lower bracket where they would get knocked out in surprising fashion, 2:0, by North American team Denial.

At this time Cloud9 had lost their last four games against Virtus.Pro, the Polish were a formidable for the North American team. It was after the ESEA LAN event, on December 30, 2014, that Cloud9 would experience a roster change, removing Spencer "Hiko" Martin in favor of well-known North American AWPer, Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan who was gaining a reputation as a strong AWPer while playing for Denial. Hiko was considered to be one of the best rifle fraggers, not only on the Cloud9 team but throughout the North American CS:GO scene, thus this move was a surprise to many. However, many people had thoughts there was a need for a dedicated AWPer on the team.

Cloud9 would play their first game with newly-recruited Shahzam against Torqued in season six of CEVO, a match which C9 would lose with a close 14:16 score on Dust2. Cloud9 would then return to form, going on a massive six-win streak, which included games on season 18 of ESEA, beating the likes of Team Liquid, SKDC, Area 51 and eLevate. With Shahzam, Cloud9 would hold the title of number NA team.

The North Americans would go on to participate in the MLG X Games, where they would lose their first match with a 4:16 scoreline against Brazilian underdogs Team KaBuM on Mirage. This was a shock to the CS:GO community, with bets held 80% in favor of the North Americans on the CSGOLounge betting site. Cloud9 would then shock again, this time being in their favor as they would steal the win in their matchup against legendary Swedish team Ninjas in Pyjamas, starting on the preferred CT-side on Nuke, resulting in a 16:7 score to the NA team. Cloud9 vs. NiP was a game 79% in favor of the Swedes on CSGOLounge. Cloud9 then lost against Team Dignitas, meaning the North Americans had only won two of their three games in the group stages; not enough to qualify for the playoffs. This would be Cloud9's second time missing the playoffs of an event since ESWC in October.

Cloud9 then played in Clutchcon on January 30, winning every match they played in the group stages against fellow North Americans teams, Team Liquid, Karma and Canadian team SKDC. At the Clutchcon playoffs Cloud9 would beat Mythic in the quarter-finals, then eLevate in the semi-finals, but lose to Swedish powerhouse Fnatic in the finals, the first time Cloud9 played against a European team at Clutchcon.

Although suffering disappointment at the MLG X Games and Clutchcon, Cloud9 continued to hold the title of number one NA team, winning seven out of eight games played against NA teams online in the CEVO and ESEA leagues, only losing to Mythic.

On February 15 Cloud9 played in the LAN qualifier for ESL One Katowice, which was held in Poland. The NA team showed up that day, winning both games in the Upper bracket, against Poland's own INShock and Germany's Mousesports, qualifying Cloud9 to a spot at the main event.

Since the Katowice qualifiers Cloud9 haven't competed against any European teams, however, competing against NA and Canadian teams Cloud9 have managed to win 12 out of 17 matches. In the month of February, Cloud9 won 19 of their 28 games, a winrate of 68%. The North American greats reign on their home soil and have shocked internationally, but Cloud9 has yet to win an international tournament, with the closest they've gotten to a win being against Fnatic in the finals of Clutchcon. One could make the argument that Cloud9 only made it to the finals of Clutchcon because they exclusively played against NA teams, who C9 know how to beat.

If Cloud9 want to go far at Katowice they really need to step up their game. Consistency has been a problem in the past, with the team managing to win against Ninjas in Pyjamas at the MLG X Games, but going on to lose against Team Dignitas. C9 will have to find some way to carry on their reign from the NA scene to the international scene.

VOX EMINOR (GosuGamers World Ranking #29)



VOX EMINOR beating Team Dignitas to qualify for Katowice

Vox Eminor is the only Australian CS:GO team to gain traction internationally, with ESL One Katowice being the third major tournament they will attend. The Australian team has never changed its lineup since it began in late 2013.

The Oceanic team has been competing internationally on November 22, 2013, when they dominated against Indonesian team, nxl, in the MSI Beat It! tournament which was held in China. In the same tournament, the Australian side would continue to 2:0 Falood Jacksons and inchk1ng, going on a three-win streak, before falling to VeryGames, winning against Legends, then losing to Fnatic and SK Gaming. Vox Eminor would earn fourth place in their first international tournament.

The Aussies' next major tournament was EMS One Katowice 2014 where they would progress to the group stages of the main event but lose against Team LDLC and 3DMAX. At ELS One Cologne 2014, Vox Eminor would again reach the group stages and again lose both games needed to progress further, which were against Team Dignitas and Titan.

Vox Eminor managed to qualify for ESL One Katowice in the LAN qualifier event that occurred on February 14 and 15 by beating both 3DMAX and Team Dignitas, never leaving the Upper bracket.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is seeing massive growth worldwide and particularly in Australia, which led to FACEiT opening up game-servers in the Oceanic region and the launch of a $5,000 Oceanic League.

Going into their third major tournament, fans worldwide are rooting for Vox Eminor to show the world what the Oceanic region has to offer. With their wins against Team Dignitas and 3DMAX recently, teams Vox Eminor have previously lost to. This could be a big year for the Aussies.

FlipSid3 Tactics (GosuGamers World Ranking #23)



Markeloff and co. after a win against PiTER

FlipSid3 Tactics is a Ukrainian Counter-Strike team of the CIS region in Europe that took over dAT team. Flipsid3 Tactics' first appearance with the new team was at the second online European qualifier for ESL One Katowice, which would see the teams who would progress to the LAN qualifier on February 14-15. The Ukrainians would beat every team they played against, which included teams nEophyte eSports, Orbit and LGB eSports.

Next, Flipsid3 participated in the LAN qualifiers for Katowice and beat number three ranked team in the North American region, according to GosuGamers' CS:GO rankings, Team Liquid, but the CIS side then lost in round two of the Upper bracket to LGB eSports. FlipSid3 Tactics would prevail however, knocking newly-formed Russian team Piter out of the tournament and earning FlipSid3 a spot at the main event in Katowice on March 12.

Since the Katowice LAN qualifier, FlipSid3 Tactics have participated in the StarLadder StarSeries and GameShow leagues, losing against Virtus.Pro but winning against Danish Team Solomid. The Ukrainians suffered another loss to Team EnVyUs and CPH Wolves, beating fellow Ukrainian team HellRaisers, then losing to Ninjas in Pyjamas. The Ukrainians won against German team Caseking Gaming then had 2 consecutive games against CPH Wolves in which they lost their first game on Inferno and won the second on Mirage. Flipsid3 then beat Reason Gaming, lost to Team EnVyUs again, then won against Mousesports.

Since the formation of the current lineup, Flipsid3 Tactics have only won one out of three games against Copenhagen Wolves and none against top-tier teams Team Solomid, Virtus.Pro, Hellraisers, nV or LGB. The only top-tier teams Flipsid3 have managed to beat have been CPH Wolves and Team Liquid. The problem could be that the current Flipsid3 lineup has only been playing together since February and simply need more practice time. Whatever the case, it is unlikely we'll witness a top eight finish at Katowice. Unlikely, but still possible, the Ukrainians could shock us but it will take a lot to overcome the top-tier teams they've recently been losing to. FlipSid3 Tactics had a winrate of 50% in the month of February, winning five out of their ten played games.

Titan (GosuGamers World Ranking #7)



Titan defeating Copenhagen Wolves 16-4 to secure a spot at the main event

Many people will question Titan's position as Challenger rather than Legend for ESL One Katowice, Titan being the world's long-standing top-ten team. However, the Legends are those who reached top eight at the last major, DreamHack Winter, which Titan unfortunately did not manage to do.

French esports organization Titan has one of the world's most popular and skilled Counter-Strike teams. The current lineup has been playing together since December 23; the date 1.6 legend RpK joined the team, replacing ioRek after a disappointing DreamHack Winter performance. Players apEX and Maniac have been with the French team since September 2nd, while long-standing members kennyS and in-game leader Ex6TenZ are founding members who were on the original Titan lineup on January 6, 2014, alongside SmithZz, ScreaM and NBK.

Titan's first appearance with this lineup was in a match against Natuse Vincere, also known as Na'Vi, on January 14 in season 18 of the ESEA EU league. The Frenchman beat the Ukranian team 16:8 on Nuke, CT-side being their specialty on said map. Titan then, surprisingly, lost to Mousesports, but the French side would go on to beat ESC Gaming, Fnatic, Epsilon and Virtus.Pro, FlipSid3 Tactics, Na'Vi and x6tence in a seven-win streak. Titan's win streak carried into the StarLadder StarSeries which was the league in which Titan overcame Na'Vi and x6tence, but only to fall to the Ukrainian dAT team, who would overcome the French side, ending the streak.

In the groupstages of the winter ASUS ROG 2015 tournament on January 30 Titan lost their first game against 3DMAX but then beat both Mousesports and 3DMAX in their second matchup, qualifying titan for the playoffs. In round one of the playoffs, the semi-finals, Titan overcome German team PENTA Sports 2:0, winning on Cache and Inferno. The French team would fail, however, to bring home the first place title as they would fall to Swedish legends Ninjas in Pyjamas 0:2 on Dust2 and Cache.

Titan's next tournament was IOS Pantamera on February 7 where the French side managed to win over Fnatic, NiP, LGB, nV and Virtus.Pro, resulting as top of the group during the groupstage, sealing their spot at the finals. Titan met with Fnatic in the finals but the Swedish team stepped up when it mattered the most and overcame Titan 2:0 on maps Cache and Inferno.

The LAN qualifier for ESL One Katowice was Titan's next tournament. This event occurred on February 14-15 and would see if Titan would be able to earn a spot at the upcoming major tournament. Titan won against Piter in round one of the upper bracket but shockingly lost to North American Team CLG in the second round, knocking the French team to the lower bracket. Team CLG's ability to overcome Titan was so unexpected that bets on CSGOLounge were 69% in favor of Titan winning the match. Fortunately for Titan, they managed to overcome Copenhagen Wolves in the lower bracket, having won two out of three games Titan qualified for participation at the main event on March 12.

Since the Katowice offline qualifier, Titan has participated in matches in the ESEA, FACEiT and StartLadder StarSeries leagues. Titan have lost a game against NiP, but also won their most recent against the Swedes in a best-of-three match. Titan lost against Swedes Team Property but won against fellow Frenchmen Team EnVyUs. Titan have also recently managed to beat Fnatic, LGB, Na'Vi and CPH wolves, but also lost to Fnatic, Virtus.Pro, Team Solomid, PENTA Sports and shockingly, Gamers2.

It is only recently that Titan have come to be known as an inconsistent team; winning against teams at the highest level, Fnatic and NiP, among others, but also surprising many by losing to the likes of Team Penta and Gamers2. There have also been claims that Titan rely on their AWPer, who's commonly known as the best in the world with said rifle, KennyS and there have been multiple games where he has gone above and beyond by achieving 50+ kills in a game in order to seal the victory. Other times, when KennyS hasn't done so good, Titan have experienced losses. Titan is a top-tier team, long-standing in the high end of the world's top ten CS:GO team; they definitely have the ability to go far at Katowice, making it in the top five. But can Titan conquer their inconsistency troubles? Titan won 13 of their 23 games in the month of February, a winrate of 57%. You can read more on Titan here.

KeydStars (previously KaBuM - GosuGamers World Ranking #193)



KaBuM beating Dignitas for their first major tournament

Up until February 25 the complete lineup of KeydStars represented CS:GO organization Team KaBuM. You can see the GosuGamers article here. In order to talk about the Keydstars team in detail we need to look at the history of Team KaBuM.

The Brazilian lineup was originally made up of Lucas "Lucas" Teles, Henrique "hen1" Teles, Lincoln "fnx" Lau, Fernando "fer" Alvarenga and Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo. Fer and FalleN would be the only players who would survive as part of the Brazilian team, but more on that later. The team formed in 2014 on September 19 with the mentioned lineup. This roster would become the only team to have ever internationally represented Brazil for professional Counter-Strike.

As Team KaBuM the lineup attended ESWC and the MLG X Games. At ESWC in October last year the Brazilians would only manage a win against the lesser known French team Platinum, losing to NiP, CPH Wolves and Hellraisers. At the MLG X Games in January KaBuM would win their first match in the groupstages with a 16:4 scoreline against top-tier North American team Cloud9 on Mirage. This was a shock to the CS:GO community Team KaBuM being the underdogs. Bets were held 80% in favor of the North Americans on the CSGOLounge betting site. This win for KaBuM was massive and word quickly spread about the team, their popularity grew tremendously due to this win. However, again the Brazilians would fail to progress to the playoffs, losing against Team Dignitas and NiP in the group stages.

It was on January 30 when KaBuM underwent a major roster change, opting to make three player changes to the lineup by replacing the founding members Lucas, Hen1 and Fnx with Steel, Zqk and Boltz.

Team KaBuM's first appearance as the newly formed team was at Clutchcon on January 31, just a day after the lineup change was made. So, with no time to practice with their new roster, KaBuM went into Clutchcon. They lost their first match against NA team Denial in a close 13:16 game on Inferno. Then the Brazilians out-of-nowhere manage to clutch a win against number six team in the NA region, eLevate in a 22:19 game that was forced into overtime. Next, KaBuM came out with another win against NA team SOURCEry, qualifying the Brazilians for the Clutchcon playoffs, of which their first match in the quarter-finals would be against global number ones, according to GosuGamers CS:GO ranking, Fnatic. KaBuM, surprising to many, managed to win the first map 16:3 on Mirage, but the following two games were in favor of Fnatic: 16:5 on Cache then 16:0 on Overpass.

Analyzing KaBuM's performance at Clutchcon you can only see great improvement. With the recent roster change happening a day before the event, the Braziliam team managed, for the first time, to make it to the playoff stages of a tournament. And not only that, but beat North America's team eLevate and win one map out of three against Fnatic. These are massive achievements for any CS:GO team.

On February 15 Team KaBuM would attend the LAN qualifier for upcoming major, ESL One Katowice. The Brazilian side lost their first game in the Upper bracket against German team Mousesports 10:16 on Mirage, but won their following two games against INShock and Team Dignitas. KaBuM beat INShock 16:11 on Dust2 and Team Dignitas a dominating 16:3 on Inferno.

It was on February 25 that the lineup from released from KaBuME! esports and taken up by fellow Brazilian esports organization, KeydStars. Going into the first major in Katowice next week we could see some unexpected surprises in favor of team KeydStars, having already shocked the competitive scene with a recent win against Cloud9, eLevate and Team Dignitas. The Brazilian team are definitely the team to watch at Katowice.

3DMAX (GosuGamers World Ranking #25)



3DMAX grabbing the last qualifying spot at ESL One Katowice 2015

3DMAX began as a predominantly German CS:GO team in 2013 on June 1st and has since had popular players Strux1, Zonixx, Stavros, Guardian, Pimp and MSL, among others, on the 3DMAX lineup. 3DMAX is now an all Finnish team, the current team roster is as follows:

Taneli "disturbed" Veikkola

Joona "natu" Leppänen

Mikko "xartE" Välimaa

Tom "stronde" Glad

Jesse "KHRN" Grandell

Up until late February, Aleksi "allu" Jalli had been playing in place of Xarte since early January. Finnish CS:GO player Allu is known as one of the top five AWPers in the world, he left the 3DMAX lineup on February 24 when his contract was bought out by legendary Swedish team Ninjas in Pyjamas, who Allu had been trialing for as their fifth player. Xarte, who had previously played for 3DMAX between September 9 and January 2nd, was picked up by 3DMAX to fill the vacant position.

The only game the new lineup has played together since last weeks roster change has been against Copenhagen Wolves in the Championship Series qualifier. 3DMAX lost the game 2:0, suffering a loss on both played maps Inferno, 16:12 and Nuke, 21:18 in a game that was forced to overtime.

With their new lineup, 3DMAX's performance at Katowice on March 12 is very unpredictable. Before the roster change 3DMAX has managed to beat the likes of Titan, ESC Gaming, Wizards and Mousesports, but the Finish team has been plagued with inconsistency, mostly suffering losses. In February 3DMAX had a winrate of 67%, winning four out of six games. 3DMAX is very unpredictable at Katowice but judging by their recent history they will most likely struggle in the upcoming major, however, 3DMAX's recent history hasn't included Xarte. It is possible Xarte could make a positive impact on the team. We will see at Katowice.

All match data was gathered from GosuGamers.net

Betting statistics were collected from CSGOLounge.com

Headline image by Helena Kristiansson and ESL.