Few events in esports have come to the same level of excitement and hype as Cloud9 winning their semifinal match against SK Gaming. This is the first time that we saw Cloud9 reach the finals of a CS GO Major. Being one of all time favorite North American Counter strike teams, they have a lot of fans. The team received support from Boston, in a way that has not been seen in many events until today. The crowd was chanting slogans and cheering for the American boys as they steadily were able to tear through their opponents. The fact that their semifinal opponent was SK Gaming, the undoubtedly best team for long in Counter-Strike only made the win sweeter. Jack Etienne was visibly overjoyed with the success of the team and the amount of support that the team received.

But Cloud9 cannot take a day of rest. Their next match is probably the most important match of their careers till date. It is the Grand final of the CS GO Eleague Boston Major. The tournament which has been seeing Twitch Viewership numbers upwards of 450,000 will definitely see a huge bump in viewership for the finals. Will Cloud9 be able to secure a win in the finals and become the first North American team to ever win a CS GO Major?

Faze Clan – Can they become the best team in the world?

Faze have dropped only one map since the Major started. Their only loss comes to Vega Squadron on Inferno. But they have been dominant in their remaining matches and look unstoppable right now. When the Faze roster was formed, it caught the attention of everyone in esports. Faze have been trying to build together a superstar roster since their entry into CS GO. This current iteration of the roster is probably as good as an International team can get. Guardian and Olofmeister were the latest additions to the team. These two players are world class players who had fallen out of their prime in their respective teams. Bringing them onto Faze

amidst the talented youngsters such as Rain and Niko provided new criteria to the team. They were no longer a team with just skilled individuals, but the level of experience on the Faze roster was exceptionally high.

In their initial days together as a team, we saw Faze relying heavily on Rain and Niko to ensure that the team has good results. The veteran trio in Karrigan, Olofmeister, and Guardian was helpful in providing their input and experience to the team. But as the months passed by we saw how strong the team can become once these players come back into form. Guardian has slowly been hitting those impossible shots that he was famous for. Olofmeister has seen his gameplay revival become a reality.

Map Veto

The Finals is a Best of Three series with the veto forming an important part of how the match will go down. The two teams have some overlapping strong maps and hence we will be subject to the best quality CS GO that we could expect from these teams.

Faze has a fixed veto in all their matches. They veto Cobblestone out first and then Nuke whenever they do get the chance to do so. These are their weakest maps and ones that they would never like to take a chance on. We have consistently seen Faze veto these two maps and whenever the maps have been chosen, they have not looked anywhere near their normal form.

Surprisingly these two maps are also pretty bad for Cloud9. They have been vetoing Nuke with regularity. Most of the times Nuke is coupled with Cobblestone as their second veto. They let Cobblestone through only two times, both times losing out to their enemy. By now, it has to be a mental block for the team on Cobblestone and we really doubt that they would want it to be played. However, having similar vetoes also means that Cloud9 can potentially take a risk by letting one of the maps through and waiting for Faze to veto them out. So while we are fairly certain Cloud9 will veto Nuke, they could use their second veto on maps such as Inferno or Mirage.

Mirage

Mirage is the best map for both the teams. Faze have a whopping 85% win rate on Mirage on LAN in the last three months. It is their comfort pick, a map which Karrigan has always secured an advantage for himself and his team. Karrigan’s ingenuity on Mirage comes from years of practice as well as a comfort level on Mirage as a captain. Probably the only other captain in CS GO who feels exceptionally comfortable on Mirage is Fallen from SK Gaming.

Cloud9 have not had the best of opponents in most of their LAN matches. They have been playing against North American teams on LAN and have been able to establish a dominant performance on Mirage. Their coordination on their CT side has been noteworthy and we have seen the team being able to post huge numbers on their CT side.

Inferno

Inferno is undoubtedly a map that Faze feel extremely comfortable to play. The map has been a home ground for the team and they have unique strategies on the map which helps them secure a big advantage for themselves. They did have a few surprising losses on Inferno. The most notable loss is their loss against Veg Squadron at the start of the major. But that should be attributed more to the lack of preparation and having just come out of the player break.

Cloud9’s Inferno is lackluster at best. They did have a phenomenal performance against SK and when Cloud9 is at their best it’s a good map. But for the most part, Cloud9 has been unable to break through most of the Inferno positions. In their match against SK, they had a very strong Banana defense. Their aggressive positioning on Banana ensured that they have a lot less to worry about as Counter-terrorists. This also helped them secure an advantage in terms of positioning and number of people on a site.

Train

Train is Cloud9’s best map and it has been the same for quite some time. The Cloud9 roster finds itself extremely comfortable on Train. They have a solid A site defense which seems impenetrable right now. The North American team has always considered Train to be their home map, with teams consistently banning Train against Cloud9.

Faze are decent on Train, it’s not really a map that they enjoy. But they have had very good results on Train, their biggest loss is a 10-16 Vega. They have played Cloud9 on Train in the past and have been able to easily defeat Cloud 9 in these matches. This will definitely provide them with a momentum in this match were Train to be one of the maps.

Overpass

Overpass is firmly a map that Faze has a big advantage on. This map sets the tone for the upcoming Map veto, which will be crucial between the two teams. The two teams are so closely matched with similar map pools, almost similar vetoes and a skill vs momentum matchup.

So Overpass comes across as a map that can change not only the veto but the entire series overall. The map, if chosen, will be a definite win for Faze. But if it’s not chosen, it means that Cloud9 will have to waste a veto on this map.

Cache

The two teams don’t really have a big history on Cache. The map is somewhere in the middle for the two teams in terms of the best maps for them. The teams are evenly matched up on this map and hence the outcome of this map will probably define who will win the Grand finals of the Boston Major.

Final thoughts

This map is everything that a Major in North America could ask for. A final between the best team in the world and the best American team is exciting. The two teams on paper are equally matched in terms of map pool. The skill ceiling for Faze is definitely higher, but with Cloud9 on a momentum based run, they stand a chance to become the first North American team to win a CS GO Major.

You can catch the action live on Twitch at 14:00 EST.