The 13th iteration of CS:GO Majors will be kicking off in the capital city of England, London on the 5th of September. Hosted by FACEIT for the first time, the PUG and league service providers hope to give the fans a memorable experience. The prize pool has not increased from US$1m that has graced Majors for the past two years, but all 24 teams will receive sticker revenue.

In terms of setting, the Twickenham Stadium, and the SSE Arena in Wembley, will play host to the crown jewel of Counter-Strike. Twickenham will host the New Challengers and New Legends Stage, while SSE Arena will showcase the top 8 teams in the world.

The FACEIT Major will be the first Major to include Dust 2 in the map-pool since ELEAGUE Atlanta 2017. This comes at the expense of Cobblestone, as Souvenir Dragon Lore AWPs, one of the most sought-after weapons, will no longer drop for viewers. This Major will miss some big and ever-present names such as seized, markeloff and TaZ, all of whom have played in the previous 12 Majors.

The top half of 16 teams from the New Challengers Stage will go through to the New Legends Stage, wherein, the top half will advance to the playoffs – the New Champions Stage. The Buchholz system will help reseed the teams after two group stage games, with the sum of the opponents’ games won taken into consideration.

We begin the series focusing on the Minor Challengers – the top 2 from the four regional Minors.

Rogue – 2nd place Americas Minor

A team with familiar names and faces, Rogue have qualified for their first CS:GO Major, both the team and organisation. The team beat compLexity to secure a berth, but lost in the grand final to coL. The org has secured backing from Imagine Dragons’ management group and look to make strides on the big stage.

Hiko has been a mainstay of the NA scene for the past five years, having nine majors under his belt. Danish AWPer cadiaN brings three majors worth of experience, but this is his first since DreamHack Winter 2014, nearly 4 years since. Australian veteran Rickeh brings double AWP potential, but between he, SicK and Vice, they only have 2 majors worth of experience combined, with this being Vice’s first Major.

Behind Liquid, Cloud9, and NRG, Rogue have been the best of the rest in North America. Notable LAN results include 2nd at DreamHack Open Austin 2018, where they fell to Space Soldiers in the final, and 1st at the Copenhagen Games 2018 B Tournament. Rogue will meet their Turkish opponents once again to begin the Major.

cadiaN has been the highest rated player on Rogue for the past three months. Along with Rickeh and Hiko, the trio have a chip on their shoulders, with cadiaN trying to get the last laugh on the Danish scene that discarded him. He’ll be looking to win against gla1ve’s Astralis, while Rickeh has the chance to meet his old mates at Renegades. Hiko, meanwhile, will just be hoping to advance to the top 16 for an opportunity to beat Liquid. With those goals in mind, Rogue look like a team that presents a threat to the competition.

compLexity – 1st place Americas Minor

Possibly the underdog package of the Major, compLexity took down NRG in the upper bracket semi-finals, beginning the top 10 team’s descent. This was a sizable upset, as the community tipped NRG to beat their North American rivals at the Minor. coL secured their first major berth with a victory over eUnited. This marks the first time that Jason Lake’s org has made the Major since Katowice 2014.

ShahZaM and stanislaw joined from OpTic and their experience as AWPer and IGL respectively, has pushed the team to new heights. The team were not seen to be the favourites at this Minor as NRG, Não Tem Como, and Rogue hogged the spotlight. However, eUnited ruined both NRG and NTC’s chances, paving a relatively easy road for Rogue and coL to qualify.

dephh will be the first British player to play at a CS:GO Major alongside BIG’s smooya. The home soil factor will not be in effect as none of their teammates are British, but it’s still a boon for FACEIT and British CS. ANDROID and yay have been the rocks for coL, having played for the past year.

A noticeable problem with the team is that there is no star player. With stanislaw’s leadership, their game is fluid, but it doesn’t have a huge spike to deal damage. A huge curve-ball has been thrown at coL in the way of Astralis as their first opponent. coL will find it difficult to progress from the New Challengers Stage, with the Buchholz system that enables reseeding.

TYLOO – 2nd place Asia Minor

Once again, it’s TYLOO making the Major off the back of the Asia Minor, along with Australian rivals Renegades. The team saw a flawless run to the final, but Renegades took them down to deny the trophy. The team won easily against Tainted Minds and 5POWER, but can expect stronger opposition at the Major Challengers Stage.

This will be TyLoo’s first Major after missing out last time at ELEAGUE due to internal problems. The team look poised to carry the Chinese flag (despite having two Indonesian members) after Flash Gaming took their mantle last time. As the 2nd seed from the Asia Minor, it is likely they face some of the stronger teams (Astralis, Space Soldiers) in the first round.

Following their IEM Sydney success, TYLOO stalwart Mo has been recovering from a Segway-induced accident. His form will be crucial to TyLoo as his support role allows BnTeT, xccurate, and DD to excel. BnTeT as the IGL has been playing a puggy style but has deployed some great executes which have surprised western teams. At IEM Shanghai, the team reached the final, but fell to NRG. In the city of Hong Kong, TYLOO fell at the first hurdle to Kinguin, casting doubt on their top 10 status.

No East Asian player has won a match at a CS:GO Major and TYLOO hope to change that. They have a decent chance of becoming the first ones, if they can meet one of the underdogs such as Team Spirit, Vega Squadron and coL. Having never played in a Major before, they will be hard-pressed to progress from groups. They have been boosted, however, with Gambit as their first team to overcome. Whatever they achieve, they are still the undisputed kings of Asian CS. However, there is a distinct feeling they want to achieve much more than that.

Renegades – 1st place Asia Minor

Renegades triumphed over TYLOO, but it was a relatively difficult start to the Major cycle as they were upset by Japanese team, SCARZ Absolute. The team beat regional rivals Tainted Minds (featuring former Renegades player yam) to secure a Major spot. The result was never in question as TYLOO and Renegades have dominated the Asian scene for the past two years.

Norwegian player jkaem has seen his career revived by ‘The Boys’. Last seen at a Major in late 2016, the 24 year-old has been floundering in the qualifier stages, be it Minors and Offline qualifiers. That comes to an end this year, after frustration with Dignitas. His form will be key, getting a 1.31 rating in the Minor across 14 maps.

USTILO, the long-tenured support has been under fire for his under-performance in big events, has been able to go positive at ESL One Cologne and Pro League finals. However, the truth is his last premier event with positive KD is IEM Oakland 2017. USTILO’s impact is the kills he gets from trading.

On the leadership front, all is unsettled as AZR recently took the reins from American sniper Nifty. Nifty’s stats did not improve, as he failed to get over 23 kills on any map. It will be a dilemma going forward, whether the Renegades will take on a new AWPer or stay with Nifty. Not something to concern them, who will just be trying to fight out of the New Challengers Stage, an objective they missed last Major. BIG is the team that faces the Renegades for first blood.

Team Spirit – 2nd place CIS Minor

A team that western analysts hardly focus on, Team Spirit has been flying under the radar. The CIS team, cut from the same mold as Flipsid3, Vega Squadron, QB.Fire, and AVANGAR, has come to take on the big boys. In reality, the core has already reached this stage when it was the Offline qualifier at ELEAGUE Atlanta 2017.

AWPer DavCost is the only player with Major experience, participating in three with Flipsid3. The rest of the team will be getting their first stickers however, a huge milestone for the team and their careers. somedieyoung has possibly one of the most ominous nicknames in the game, but he was brought in this year to bring some energy to the squad.

S0tF1k has been serving as the IGL to enable Dima and COLDYY1 to do the dirty work. COLDYY1, the Ukrainian rifler has been the de facto star player with an online rating of 1.23 across 7 events, and offline has been great, as he has positive stats in all but one event. His form is crucial to Spirit’s chances at the New Challengers Stage.

Vega, QBF and AVANGAR made impressions at the last Major cycle. But can Spirit do the same? There isn’t enough data for Spirit against top 30 teams. The only relevant games to take away are the two grand finals Spirit participated in. The first was against HellRaisers – the CIS Minor. The team lost 1-2, and the other was the GG.BET Majestic against ENCE, where Spirit again lost, 0-2. The team is the wildcard, but odds do not favour Team Spirit in London. Luckily, Vega have been shown as Spirit’s first enemy, a boost to their chances.

HellRaisers – 1st place CIS Minor

ANGE1’s team endured a miserable Major cycle last time for Boston. But HellRaisers are firmly back on the right track, having won the CIS Minor. The competition wasn’t particularly strong but HR battled AVANGAR, and Spirit, to take the crown. They enjoy a better seed and this team has potential to go far.

21 year old Jordanian, ISSAA, has become a rising star and along with his Turkish AWPer teammate, woxic, they form the backbone of the firepower that resides within HR. The duo will tour on the first Major together, while Ukrainians, ANGE1 and bondik, have each competed in six majors. Hungarian support DeadFox will be participating at his second Major.

All in all, this is a very balanced team, similar to OpTic and TYLOO on this list. The concern for HR is DeadFox’s inconsistency as support. His tenure has been shaky; DeadFox went through a particularly tough period in February, only getting positive statistics in 2 maps out of 15. His form has stabilised since then, but it will still weigh heavily on their minds.

HellRaisers seem to be a team on the rise, but the team lost to North at DreamHack Open Tours 2018. This hints at a lack of mental fortitude, especially in these high-pressure tournaments. The Danish team face HR once again to start their Major. Ukrainian coach Johnta will be instrumental to keeping the team’s heads in the game. Overall, if they can get through the first two matches unscathed, HR will be in a great position to progress.

OpTic Gaming – 2nd place Europe Minor

3 New 2 Old is the concept behind this Danish team, as OpTic returns to the Major with a Danish roster this time around. The European mix team barely missed the Boston Major but this time was a great success under the leadership of Snappi. The team make it 3 as the 3rd Danish team in the New Challengers Stage, joining Astralis and North.

K0nfig and cajunb are ex-North mercenaries who have been in the playoffs of a major. cajunb, especially, has looked refreshed since returning to a rifling role. K0nfig is the resident drama-stirrer in the Danish scene; his incredible aim and gamesense will be important to break teams wide open. This will be Snappi, JUGi, and gade’s first major.

Snappi and JUGi, the dynamic duo from Heroic, has brought great communication, calls and AWP presence to the team. gade began with a shaky start but has gradually gotten better with each LAN event, culminating with a 1.17 rating overall at the Minor. This OpTic team appears to be very balanced in firepower, with no one particularly lagging behind the others. However, Ghost Gaming upset OpTic at ZOTAC Cup Masters, a huge blunder for the team.

This team were the first European squad to secure a Major berth, beating ENCE in the playoffs. However, the team looked complacent against NiP in the grand final. They can’t act like that in the New Challengers Stage, especially with their lower seed. Subsequently this lead to Liquid as their first match-up. Yet, this team has the firepower and tactics to make it to the top 16. The Achilles heel for OpTic is their inexperience on the big stage. Will they be able to overcome it? Time will tell.

Ninjas in Pyjamas – 1st place Europe Minor

After two long years, the Ninjas are back in business. Suffering major problems with previous lineups, the NiP brand, f0rest and GeT_RiGhT return to the big stage. The Europe Minor victory was a huge shot in the arm after recent results, claiming their first tournament win in seven months. NiP won against OpTic in the grand finals after beating ENCE to secure their Major spot.

The team will potentially face the likes of Astralis, BIG, Liquid, and North. Not the most forgiving opposition considering NiP has not been at a Major for some time, and this season is particularly stacked as many upsets occurred at Boston. The high seed potentially gives them an advantage in the first round but they must avoid being upset but lower tier teams. Virtus.pro will greet NiP first in the battle of the 2014 Major winners.

Lekr0 became the in-game leader after playing under pronax and Golden, both tactical IGLs. The calls were shaky at first at the Europe Minor, but everything worked out as the team flourished. Consistency is quite clearly a recurring problem for NiP as their players flip-flopped in ratings at the Minor. It is a stretch to call NiP a top tier team as their performances against tier 1 teams have been mediocre.

Nevertheless, the Ninjas look to achieve something special, and while their fans have been disappointed for the last two years, they still haven’t given up all hope. REZ will definitely be one to watch out for, as this is his first Major and he’ll be highly motivated to make a big splash. With the firepower they have in f0rest, dennis, Lekr0, and REZ, the team has a great chance to make the top 16. But at the same time, the NiP inconsistency (not magic) is a factor to be on the lookout.

The eight Minor teams have been presented. Now, the next part of the team review will focus on the fallen Legends from Boston; the FACEIT Major Challengers.