ESL One New York is the first Major post the FaceIT London Major. This tournament will see a prize pool of $250,000 and have Eight teams in attendance. The tournament venue is the Barclay’s Center which has a seating capacity of 19,000.

The teams are divided into two groups of four teams each. Each group follows a double elimination format. All the matches will be Best of Three matches ensuring that the best teams move forward. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Playoffs.

Group A

Natus Vincere

The Grand Finalists of the latest Major, Natus Vincere should not be overly disappointed with their result. After all, it was not a typical day for them with S1mple underperforming on the roster. He was always near the bottom of the scoreboard which does not truly relay the strengths of this roster. Natus Vincere is a team which comprises a wholesome strategy, detailed tactics and exceptional skill. On the day of the finals, they were missing the skill.

Regardless of their performance at the Major, Na’Vi will come into this tournament expecting nothing but a win. The CIS team won three big tournaments just before the FaceIT London Major. They were able to win the Starladder Season 5, CS: GO Asia Championships and the ESL One Cologne.

Na’Vi is made up of three different parts on the roster. The first part is the duo comprising Zeus and Kane. The duo came as a package from Gambit after leading them to a successful Major campaign. Zeus has a very unique way of utilizing players according to their skill-set. He demonstrated his leadership skills in Gambit and once again on Na’Vi. His ability to recognize the limits of a player and go beyond is what makes him a truly great leader in Counter-Strike. He is not always looking for very tactical aspects of the game but has a steady mix of surprising as well as predictable plays. However, on this team, he relies a lot on Electronic and S1mple to get them through. When one of them [ especially S1mple] fails, it becomes a liability for the roster.

The Superstar duo – S1mple and Electronic

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The second part of Na’Vi is S1mple and Electronic. The two are amongst the best players in the world and it is not without reason why Na’Vi can be a force at any given time. S1mple is definitely the best player in the world, despite not being on the best team. His individual skill ceiling is very high and it requires quite a huge situational advantage to get ahead of him. He is known to be extremely good in clutch situations as well as holding down certain sections of the map on his own. He can cause mayhem amongst the enemy plans simply because he can shut down their plans from one end. Over the years, he has managed to calm down his personal attitude and become more of a team player. With this change in temperament, S1mple remains a very strong and positive influence on the team. However, we all saw how much of a reliance Na’Vi has on S1mple’s performance. If S1mple does not have a great day, then Na’Vi falters resulting in a subpar performance.

The other players on the team might not be as flashy and flamboyant as S1mple and Electronic. But Flamie and Edward form the core of the team’s performance. If Flamie and Edward step up on an individual level, we don’t need God-tier S1mple to be present all along.

Overall Na’Vi looks really strong for the upcoming tournament. It would be a big surprise if Na’Vi is not able to win the entire tournament.

Mousesports

The mousesports roster has seen one single big change in the months leading to the Major. They snapped up Snax as soon as he was available from Virtus Pro. With aspirations of becoming a top-tier team, this roster change seemed to break the roster. Previously, Mousesports were almost always qualifying and making it ot the Top 4 of big tournaments. But ever since Snax’s arrival on this team, they have been unable to make an impact.

Bored. Ask me anything — Tomáš Šťastný (@CSGOoskar) September 24, 2018

Mousesports Oskar recently was quoted in a tweet saying the team as facing communication problems. With communication being a key for an ‘International roster’ like Mousesports, they are obviously faltering in their performance.

Mousesports finished in the 15-16th position which ensures that they are not a legend for the next Major. Tinkering with a successful team definitely has caused several problems for the Mousesports organisation. For this roster, there is hope when you look at them on paper. However, they need to spend lots of time to establish their synergy and coordination with each other. In their current form and especially from what we saw at the Major, Mousesports does not look like a strong team. But given the nature of their Group A, they have a realistic chance of making it out of the Group stage. They will compete with Fnatic and Gambit as they seek to establish their presence as the second best team in the Group.

Fnatic

Fnatic is one of the all-time great teams in Counter-Strike Global Offensive. Once known as the unbeatable side, the team has seen a decline ever since they decided to let go of Pronax from the roster. Fnatic has always qualified for the Playoffs at a CS:GO, Major, until FaceiT London Major. This was the first time in CS: GO history that Fnatic did not qualify for the Playoffs. The players looked extremely dejected with their individual performances which resulted in Flusha no longer being a part of the roster.

The Fnatic team, however, didn’t seem to have much of a problem with Flusha. Instead, it is one of the players who is still a member of their active roster, Draken who has been inconsistent with the AWP and extremely volatile in his performances. His online persona obviously does not compare with his individual performance. We do see glimpses of good performance from the team, but they lack the synergy and coordination which is a staple amongst top teams right now. Fnatic can no longer rely on their aim and performance to tide them through these tough times. It is time for them to have a decent map pool, including maps where they can potentially compete against the very best. The lack of a decent map pool, a well-performing team as well as lack of synergy all contribute to the team’s lack of success.

We don’t expect Fnatic to put up a strong performance at ESL One New York. Indeed, it would not be surprising to see them out in the Group stage itself. Since the tournament has a double-elimination format, it will be between Fnatic and Mousesports to decide which team proceeds to the playoffs.



Gambit Esports

Gambit is yet another team that has had a colourful past but is no longer a top contender. The Gambit Gaming organisation won PGL Krakow 2017 and immediately slipped into oblivion. One of the biggest factors for the team’s lack of performance was the departure of Zeus [ their In-Game leader].

The rest of the roster includes talent, but without adequate guidance, they often wither away against better positioning and tactics. This tournament will be Gambit’s last tournament with Hobbit. Releasing hobbit from the roster obviously speaks for something that is not going well within the team. While the organisation has since tried to cheer up the player into performing well at ESL One New York, we don’t expect anything out of the ordinary. And for this team, the ordinary has become elimination in the Group Stages.

Theoretically, Gambit does have a chance at making the playoffs, especially if they can manage to defeat Fnatic and Mousesports. But their performance in the previous few months does not bode well for Gambit fans. A lot depends on B1ade and how he can rally his players into having the tactical advantage on this roster.

Dosia will still make the aggressive plays for the team, but without the aim and adequate backup it does end up looking stupid. Gambit needs to practice their trade frags in order to ensure a somewhat even playing ground. It is then that B1ade can really shine as an In-Game Leader.

Final Thoughts

Group A is filled with a star-studded team such as Na’Vi. However, the competition between the remaining three teams is going to be intense. Watching the tactical mastermind such as B1ade compete with new rosters who are aching to show their firepower is always going to be interesting. A lot of fans will be watching Grup A with keen intent. It has several teams who can easily become the best team in the world, and ESL One New York will give an indication of their current form.

ESL One New York commences on the 26th of September 2018. The tournament is a part of the Intel Grand Slam.

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