DreamHack Malmö was as interesting as it was entertaining, seeing some teams disappoint and others exceed all expectations.

Winners

Several teams came away with positive things to brag about from Sweden.

G2 Esports

Where else to start but with the literal winners. A close shave against SK in the quarter-finals saw them escape from five match points, but the Frenchmen looked good against NiP and even better in the Grand Finals against North. It was the first success for G2 since they beat North in the finals of ESL Pro League. Strong performances from entry fragger Dan “apEX” Madesclaire and tournament MVP Kenny “kennyS” Schrub. G2 face a tough group with FaZe Clan and Na’Vi in ELEAGUE Premier, a good test of whether this was simply G2 hitting good form or if the player break has turned them into top contenders.

North

North made one of the oddest roster changes of the break with the removal of Emil “Magisk” Reif for Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså. Not only does valde look to be more than a suitable replacement for Magisk, Philip “aizy” Aistrup is playing much better than with the former roster. The star of the show, however, is Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke, who posted a 1.32 rating in Malmö, the highest event and .10 higher than G2’s best player in kennyS. North will need a repeat performance in their ELEAGUE group, which takes place a week after G2.

Gambit Esports and Ninjas in Pyjamas

Both Gambit and NiP entered the tournament without much pressure to perform, despite four of the five players on Gambit winning the major a month prior. For Gambit new signing Bektiyar “fitch” Bahytov was stellar, although Dauren “AdreN” Kystaubayev looked to be held back by his new IGL role. No one would’ve expected the side to beat Astralis in 2-0 fashion, with many expecting FaZe to take them out in the decider match of Group C.

On the subject of Group C, it was the Swedes of NiP who took first seed with wins over Astralis and Gambit themselves. A thrilling 2-1 victory over Na’Vi saw them into the semi-finals before dropping to G2, but the Richard “Xizt” Landström led team looked closer to the team that won DreamHack Malmö 2016 than they have for all of 2017. Perhaps some credit can be given to Björn “THREAT” Pers and the new coaching rules introduced by DreamHack.

Coaching rule change

Allowing coaches to talk during all freeze-time is the logical compromise between Valve’s ruleset and allowing the coach free reign. G2’s Kenny “kennyS” Schrub attributed a tactical change and eventual win on the final map of the event to coach Edouard “SmithZz” Dubourdeaux, and THREAT seems to consistently positive effect on NiP. I would like to see this DH ruleset be implemented for all events, including the majors.

Losers

Not everyone can be a winner and the pain was certainly felt among the top teams in Counter-Strike.

SK Gaming, FaZe Clan and Astralis

The three teams listed above were the top three going into the PGL major and, despite disappointments for all and roster changes for FaZe, to see none of them reach the semi-final stage is somewhat shocking. SK should expect to win ESG Tour Mykonos, with Gambit being their strongest competition, but for Astralis and FaZe the tests of ELEAGUE and ESL One New York could prove challenging. It is too early to consider roster changes for any of the three sides, but if things continue down a similar path there could be trouble brewing.

Virtus.pro

3/4th in Krakow remains the only result to be proud of in the past 6 months for the Poles, this time crashing out to Renegades, a side who have already made a roster change since placing third in Group B. An ever increasing number of people will be calling for changes in the now historic VP lineup, myself included, as it looks like they will fail to bounce back another time. They will face EnVyUs, Liquid and BIG in their group in Mykonos, and I fully expect them to fall out in last yet again.

Team EnVyUs and Mousesports

EnVy and mouz came to Malmö looking to establish themselves as challengers to the top ten in the world. For Mousesports this emphatically did not happen, falling to Gambit and FaZe without putting up too much of a fight in their two BO1s. EnVy, on the other hand, can feel hard done by with the altered format DreamHack used for the group stage. With the elimination match being a best of one, EnVy left the event with two close 16-13 losses, by far the strongest of the 0-2 teams. The second French side will now have Mykonos to prove they were unlucky in Sweden.

Who were your winners and losers? Let us know in the comments below!

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