amazingxkcd Profile Blog Joined September 2010 GRAND OLD AMERICA 15736 Posts Last Edited: 2017-08-10 08:58:04 #1

Contents

The teams



Cloud9



Counter Logic Gaming



Team Liquid



Conclusion

The Teams

With the next major to begin this week, many teams are gearing up for it, having had ferocious bootcamps and intense practices. DreamHack Cluj is set to be one of the most unpredictable majors yet, with previously unstoppable teams like Fnatic and Na`Vi having a lot to prove and teams like Team SoloMid and EnVyUs looking hot. However, in the midst of the European scene’s rapid changes, the North American teams have been left out of the headlines.



In the past, North American teams have consistently struggled to make anything out of the majors. They were notorious for failing to move beyond the groups, with only a couple of exceptions in the past. Recently, NA teams have found little success against European teams, indicating even less of a possibility of moving beyond groups this time.



Fortunately for NA fans, all is not lost for the NA teams. For the first time in CS:GO history, three NA teams are set to go to the major: Cloud9, Counter Logic Gaming, and Team Liquid. While the odds are not in their favor, these teams do have some factors working for them going into Cluj.



Cloud9

The clear favorites to find major success, Cloud9 went from disappointment to stardom a few months after it overhauled its roster and picked up Tyler “Skadoodle” Latham and Ryan “fREAKAZOiD” Abadir. However, after their summer hot streak of top two placings at tournaments, many consider Cloud9 to have fallen sharply from grace. At the most recent major, the team could not make it out of group stages with a 13-16 loss to Kinguin on Dust 2, one of Cloud9’s best maps. At the ESL ESEA Dubai Invitational, Cloud9 could not take a single map off their opponents, including their loss to a struggling Ninjas in Pyjamas. Since then, activity has been quiet from the team. The latest LAN results were from defeating ROCCAT and Team Dignitas in two best-of-three matches, but neither win seriously shows us what kind of form Cloud9 are in right now. Recently, they lost in a best-of-three to Team Immunity at Australia’s Crown Invitational, which was widely regarded as an upset.



One reason for their drop in rankings is the team’s reliance on countering their opponent’s strategies. Led by Sean “seang@res” Gares, Cloud9 bases their gameplay heavily on their opponents’. Cloud9 is lost when facing unpredictable teams with looser play styles. Also, more structured teams have caught on to Cloud9’s style, and they have adjusted their tactics enough to throw Cloud9 off since their rise to stardom.



Skadoodle must perform on October 28th if Cloud9 have any chance of winning. He is known for his consistency and formidable CT-side AWPing abilities. His AWP is integral to the success of Cloud9, as we saw on their match against mousesports on Overpass in the last major. Cloud9 was down early on until the team saved enough money to put an AWP in Skadoodle’s hands, after which the team was able to come back and beat mousesports 16-10 fairly easily.



If Skadoodle doesn’t perform, Cloud9 will have little chance of success at Cluj. Similarly, Cloud9 need to develop better tactics before Cluj begins, as countering their opponents’ strategies doesn’t work as well as it used to. This major is critical for Cloud9, as this team needs to prove that it can truly be called a top ten team in the world.



Counter Logic Gaming

While Counter Logic Gaming have shown great potential, that’s all they have shown. These guys have proven that they can give the top teams a fair fight, as they have won against Fnatic in the past and played closely against other top teams, but they have yet to even come close to grabbing a title at an event with such teams.



In the past, CLG have struggled to grind out the last couple of rounds in games against top teams. At the last major, CLG lost to Natus Vincere in a close 16-14, and to NiP 16-13. Shortly after, they participated in the WinOut tournament, in which they only lost maps to Luminosity Gaming. They won the tournament, beating Luminosity in a best-of-seven series 4-2, but they got smashed on Train and Mirage. CLG also beat CSGOLounge and Flipsid3 at the Cluj qualifier 2-1 and 2-0 respectively. Surprisingly, one of the maps they won on was Train, which indicates that they have been actively preparing for the major. Hopefully Steve "reltuC" Cutler , the team’s in-game leader, can come up with some tricks.



CLG also have amazing talent on their team, but most of the players have consistency problems. Tarik “tarik” Celik is explosive and can carry the team almost single handedly at times, but he can have off games. James “hazed” Cobb is also a very capable fragger and Josh “jdm64” Marzano is a great AWPer, but those two are also inconsistent. The most consistent player on the team is Stephen “reltuC” Cutler, and he has to perform if his team is to succeed. While every player on CLG has to succeed if they come up against a top four team, CLG need at least one of their inconsistent stars and reltuC to be on point to make it past the groups.



CLG have a big chance of moving to the top eight this major, especially since they have come so close in the past. The individuals just need to show up.



Team Liquid

Last but not least, Team Liquid need to prove themselves at this major just as much as Cloud9 and CLG. Out of these three teams, Team Liquid are the least predictable . This lineup has never attended a major, and Eric “adreN” Hoag has never been able to lead his teams to much success against European teams. However, ever since the team acquired Spencer “Hiko” Martin, the team has had significantly better results than earlier in the year.



While not coming up with any titles, Liquid beat Renegades in two consecutive best-of-three matches at the Cluj qualifier, one of which being a fairly one-sided 2-1 and the other being even more so, ending in 2-0. These wins show that Liquid have improved since the last time these teams faced, when Liquid lost 0-2 to in a best-of-three at Gfinity Spring Masters in May. At the PGL Season 1 Finals, Liquid faced some of the best teams in the world and lost in two best-of-three matches to Virtus.pro and Fnatic. Surprisingly, Liquid managed to take a map from Fnatic and almost took one from Virtus.pro.



Nick “nitr0” Cannella and Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski are very explosive players, but the consistent player on the team is Hiko. In order to have any chance at moving beyond the group stage, Liquid needs Hiko to continue to perform. Also, the team is dependent on set executions called by adreN. However, in the past the team had been known for its jumbled site takes and reliance on aim to get frags. Hopefully for Liquid, the experience Hiko brings from past majors can keep this young team calm and allows communication to stay fluid and clear.



These players also need to perform at this major, as the Liquid lineups have been almost non-existent in CS:GO. If everyone on the team has a good day, including the inconsistent players, this team certainly can scrape by the groups.



Conclusion

Each of these teams has a chance to go to the top eight at Cluj. They need to prove that the Americans’ inability to succeed in majors is a problem of the past. While most fans are betting on Cloud9 to move on, CLG and Team Liquid are just as capable of achieving success.



Based on recent trends, it seems that CLG and Team Liquid are both capable of moving past the group stages, but Cloud9’s slump has proven that for once they may not be NA’s best. Unfortunately for the Americans, it’s still a large possibility that no NA teams will move on beyond the groups.



It all depends on who shows up the most prepared and who shows up most prepared to adapt, as this major is going to be the least predictable one yet.





Writer:

Editor: Nagisama

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With the next major to begin this week, many teams are gearing up for it, having had ferocious bootcamps and intense practices. DreamHack Cluj is set to be one of the most unpredictable majors yet, with previously unstoppable teams likeFnatic andNa`Vi having a lot to prove and teams likeTeam SoloMid andEnVyUs looking hot. However, in the midst of the European scene’s rapid changes, the North American teams have been left out of the headlines.In the past, North American teams have consistently struggled to make anything out of the majors. They were notorious for failing to move beyond the groups, with only a couple of exceptions in the past. Recently, NA teams have found little success against European teams, indicating even less of a possibility of moving beyond groups this time.Fortunately for NA fans, all is not lost for the NA teams. For the first time in CS:GO history, three NA teams are set to go to the major:Cloud9,Counter Logic Gaming, andTeam Liquid. While the odds are not in their favor, these teams do have some factors working for them going into Cluj.The clear favorites to find major success, Cloud9 went from disappointment to stardom a few months after it overhauled its roster and picked upTyler “Skadoodle” Latham andRyan “fREAKAZOiD” Abadir. However, after their summer hot streak of top two placings at tournaments, many consider Cloud9 to have fallen sharply from grace. At the most recent major, the team could not make it out of group stages with a 13-16 loss toKinguin on Dust 2, one of Cloud9’s best maps. At the ESL ESEA Dubai Invitational, Cloud9 could not take a single map off their opponents, including their loss to a strugglingNinjas in Pyjamas. Since then, activity has been quiet from the team. The latest LAN results were from defeatingROCCAT andTeam Dignitas in two best-of-three matches, but neither win seriously shows us what kind of form Cloud9 are in right now. Recently, they lost in a best-of-three toTeam Immunity at Australia’s Crown Invitational, which was widely regarded as an upset.One reason for their drop in rankings is the team’s reliance on countering their opponent’s strategies. Led bySean “seang@res” Gares, Cloud9 bases their gameplay heavily on their opponents’. Cloud9 is lost when facing unpredictable teams with looser play styles. Also, more structured teams have caught on to Cloud9’s style, and they have adjusted their tactics enough to throw Cloud9 off since their rise to stardom.Skadoodle must perform on October 28th if Cloud9 have any chance of winning. He is known for his consistency and formidable CT-side AWPing abilities. His AWP is integral to the success of Cloud9, as we saw on their match againstmousesports on Overpass in the last major. Cloud9 was down early on until the team saved enough money to put an AWP in Skadoodle’s hands, after which the team was able to come back and beat mousesports 16-10 fairly easily.If Skadoodle doesn’t perform, Cloud9 will have little chance of success at Cluj. Similarly, Cloud9 need to develop better tactics before Cluj begins, as countering their opponents’ strategies doesn’t work as well as it used to. This major is critical for Cloud9, as this team needs to prove that it can truly be called a top ten team in the world.While Counter Logic Gaming have shown great potential, that’s all they have shown. These guys have proven that they can give the top teams a fair fight, as they have won against Fnatic in the past and played closely against other top teams, but they have yet to even come close to grabbing a title at an event with such teams.In the past, CLG have struggled to grind out the last couple of rounds in games against top teams. At the last major, CLG lost to Natus Vincere in a close 16-14, and to NiP 16-13. Shortly after, they participated in the WinOut tournament, in which they only lost maps toLuminosity Gaming. They won the tournament, beating Luminosity in a best-of-seven series 4-2, but they got smashed on Train and Mirage. CLG also beatCSGOLounge andFlipsid3 at the Cluj qualifier 2-1 and 2-0 respectively. Surprisingly, one of the maps they won on was Train, which indicates that they have been actively preparing for the major. HopefullySteve "reltuC" Cutler , the team’s in-game leader, can come up with some tricks.CLG also have amazing talent on their team, but most of the players have consistency problems.Tarik “tarik” Celik is explosive and can carry the team almost single handedly at times, but he can have off games.James “hazed” Cobb is also a very capable fragger andJosh “jdm64” Marzano is a great AWPer, but those two are also inconsistent. The most consistent player on the team is Stephen “reltuC” Cutler, and he has to perform if his team is to succeed. While every player on CLG has to succeed if they come up against a top four team, CLG need at least one of their inconsistent stars and reltuC to be on point to make it past the groups.CLG have a big chance of moving to the top eight this major, especially since they have come so close in the past. The individuals just need to show up.Last but not least, Team Liquid need to prove themselves at this major just as much as Cloud9 and CLG. Out of these three teams, Team Liquid are the least predictable . This lineup has never attended a major, andEric “adreN” Hoag has never been able to lead his teams to much success against European teams. However, ever since the team acquiredSpencer “Hiko” Martin, the team has had significantly better results than earlier in the year.While not coming up with any titles, Liquid beatRenegades in two consecutive best-of-three matches at the Cluj qualifier, one of which being a fairly one-sided 2-1 and the other being even more so, ending in 2-0. These wins show that Liquid have improved since the last time these teams faced, when Liquid lost 0-2 to in a best-of-three at Gfinity Spring Masters in May. At the PGL Season 1 Finals, Liquid faced some of the best teams in the world and lost in two best-of-three matches toVirtus.pro and Fnatic. Surprisingly, Liquid managed to take a map from Fnatic and almost took one from Virtus.pro.Nick “nitr0” Cannella andJonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski are very explosive players, but the consistent player on the team is Hiko. In order to have any chance at moving beyond the group stage, Liquid needs Hiko to continue to perform. Also, the team is dependent on set executions called by adreN. However, in the past the team had been known for its jumbled site takes and reliance on aim to get frags. Hopefully for Liquid, the experience Hiko brings from past majors can keep this young team calm and allows communication to stay fluid and clear.These players also need to perform at this major, as the Liquid lineups have been almost non-existent in CS:GO. If everyone on the team has a good day, including the inconsistent players, this team certainly can scrape by the groups.Each of these teams has a chance to go to the top eight at Cluj. They need to prove that the Americans’ inability to succeed in majors is a problem of the past. While most fans are betting on Cloud9 to move on, CLG and Team Liquid are just as capable of achieving success.Based on recent trends, it seems that CLG and Team Liquid are both capable of moving past the group stages, but Cloud9’s slump has proven that for once they may not be NA’s best. Unfortunately for the Americans, it’s still a large possibility that no NA teams will move on beyond the groups.It all depends on who shows up the most prepared and who shows up most prepared to adapt, as this major is going to be the least predictable one yet.Writer: d1ng Editor: NagisamaGraphics: DearDave CSS: FO-nTTaX The world is burning and you rather be on this terrible website discussing video games and your shallow feelings