As the year comes to an end, we’re also seeing online leagues reaching their Finals. FACEIT’s ECS will be the first LAN tournament played. We will be seeing 8 teams fighting for the lion’s share of the prize pool.

And just as always, those eight teams have their own storylines ongoing, and we will be looking at the three most meaningful ones.

Cloud9’s first tournament with a definitive lineup

2018 wasn’t the year that Cloud9 hoped for. After lifting ELEAGUE Major Boston 2018’s trophy, Cloud9 dropped in free fall. After London 2018, the NA squad finally saw a light in the end of the tunnel, one that they have yet to reach.

Coming to ECS Season VI Finals, Cloud9 hope to get closer to that light. Now, with a fully signed lineup, C9 has a roster capable of doing deep runs at least on paper. After all, this Cloud9 roster have three members looking for redemption:

Golden wants to prove that he is capable to fight amongst the best IGLs in the world. K1oshima has promised that 2019 will be his year. Flusha wants a new chance in a new team after years on FNATIC.

However, at least on ECS, Cloud9 will have a hard time as their group for the opening stage is really stacked. Astralis and Mousesports are definitely the favorites to make through. Can Cloud9 shock Mousesports and steal their spot in the playoffs?

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MiBR streak of bad results in LAN tournaments needs to end

It’s undeniably that MiBR has been too disappointing of late. With a 6th place finish at BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen and a 9 – 12th place at IEM Chicago 2018, MiBR definitely needs to change something.

Coming to ECS Season VI, MiBR isn’t looking brightly but they understand that they need to show something here. The first step is to look at themselves to see what is happening – is there internal problems ongoing? Is there something behind fer and Stewie underperformances?

Just like Cloud9 though, MiBR won’t have an easy time at ECS Season VI. On group A, they will have to fight against Mousesports and Cloud9 to get a second spot along Astralis. If they can’t reach the playoffs here, it will be understandable, but at the same time, it will set them as a team in the bottom of the top 10.

CadiaN needs to show that his opportunity in North was a well-deserved one

After North announced that ‘cadiaN’ was replacing MSL post Major, much was expected from him. Indeed, one of the most common comments to made was that the Dane finally got a chance to prove himself in home soil.

Now, one month and two LAN tournaments after signing cadiaN and Gade, North stands in the same place where they were with MSL. The trial period is coming to an end. If cadiaN can’t bring a meaningful result here, just like MiBR, North will be set in the bottom of top 10 if not top 15.

To start things off, North will be facing Liquid. The current second-best team in the world and a team that North hasn’t lost to since June of 2017. After it, North group is pretty open as NiP and NRG are beatable but hard opponents nonetheless.

NRG looking to surprise once again

If there’s one team from the North American stealing the highlights, it’s NRG. The squad won cs_summit 3, managed to hit the playoffs of IEM Chicago 2018 and ESL One New York and has a bunch of positive results.

In the ECS circuit, NRG also finished first in the region and is coming to the Finals confident. The team was placed in Group B where the two spots are open for grabs and they know that a playoff spot is definitely possible.

ECS Season VI will be one of the last events for NRG this year. All things considered, they can replicate their overall results here with a highly probable top four finish.

ECS Season VI will be starting this weekend!

Starting Thursday, ECS also means that we just reached the final lap of 2018. Astralis and Liquid will be looking to consolidate their places as top teams, while North, MiBR and NRG looks to turn the tides to their side and finish 2018 in a positive note.

Will you be watching ECS Season VI Finals? Which team storyline are you most excited to follow? Let us know bellow!