IEM Katowice 2020: analysis of the candidates for victory
Yuriy SheremetOne of the first major tournaments in 2020 in the CS: GO discipline will traditionally take place in Katowice. 16 of the strongest teams in the world will meet at IEM Katowice 2020. The last of these was the Renegades team which made it through the qualifying sieve in Oceania. Australians are not considered the top tournament favorites after losing their roster. But the teams competing for the main trophy are worth noting. Among them are mousesports, Astralis and Liquid. But teams such as Evil Geniuses, NaVi and Vitality can also shoot among the contenders. Let's talk about each candidate for the title separately.
Astralis
Danes are a trendsetter of contemporary CS: GO. They rightly occupy a leading position at any event. Astralis can be considered the main contender for the next tournament in Poland. Last year, Katowice hosted a tournament with Major status, in which the Danes emerged as the winner. Taking into account their amazing form at the end of last season, the start in Poland is likely to be a plus sign for the Danes.
mousesports
"Myszy" was the best team at the end of 2019. They won three out of four tournaments, reaching the final in the last one. At the same time, mousesports looked not only like a killing machine, but a true all-round team where everyone knows their role.
Incredible woxic play, ropz perfomance and the awakened talent of Frozen have become the main ingredients of recent successes. Ultimately, the season for the team ended on the second line of the HLTV ranking, arousing optimism for all fans of the European team. If you look back at last year, the "mice" didn't play Major at all. Indeed, in early 2019, they were able to disassemble, collecting the core piece by piece. But at the moment - it is one of the favorites of the upcoming event in Katowice.
Team Liquid
"Liquid" accounts should not be written off in any state. As we know, long breaks do not benefit the team. As with last year's tournament, Liquid can fail. However, their certain form at the end of last year inspires confidence. Their leaders are still fine, considering the roster's 4 out of 5 players hitting the Top 20 at the end of 2019. And everyone has the right to expect a breakthrough from the team at the beginning of the season.
Evil Geniuses, NaVi и Vitality
It all boils down to the fact that the main star of today's CS: GO-ZywOo will be the best player in 2019. And it will be an amazing psychological boost for the French. When he comes to Poland with the status of the best one, he will certainly throw up and throw up to prove to all the critics their mistake. It is the individual skills of the ZywOo that can be both a win-win factor and a Vitality defeat factor.
Evil Geniuses had a crumpled end to the season. However, their roster has all the options to qualify for victory in any tournament. A year ago, the squad was under the wings of another organization, but last year's tournament turned out to be a failure for Brehze i co. But it is fair to believe that the hiatus benefited North Americans and the Bulgarian. And in Poland we will see a world-class game from them.
Another NaVi thing. After returning to the "best sniper" roster and getting another excuse for a staff rotation, "Born to win" last year stopped in the semi-finals, succumbing to the ENCE finals. If the team was among the best at the beginning of last year, now it's a second tier team. To win NaVi, the stars have to come together in an amazing weave. But if the team's top leaders get together and the sniper finally kills, success is sure to come.
The dark horses of the tournament
Teams that, although not clearly contenders for victory, but with great potential are fnatic and Cloud9. And if the Swedes are more or less bright, they spent a good ending last year, then the "cloud" is clearly not one of those that will cause fear and terror. Cloud9 recently signed a contract with the new five players from ATK, which began to make noise at the end of 2019. They have already lost their rivals in several qualifying rounds, including the tournament in Poland. And if they stay in shape until the end of February, promotion to the Play-offs is guaranteed.
Given the results of the last major, it's impossible to write off the accounts. Virtus.pro. the team (under the tag Awangar) was second in Berlin, and overall shows good performance in big tournaments. Three excellent shooters, a cool sniper Jame and an experienced Adrenaline are able to put the leading teams of the planet into battle. With the transition to such a powerful organization, players have new resources, including a media component. If players put aside all prejudices and deal with falling fame, we will definitely see the VP in the playoffs. And there and it is not far to the final, as it happened in Berlin.
Yuriy Sheremet – Expert in mobile gaming and esports among shooters and MOBA games.
At EGamersWorld, Yuriy, as in 2020 when he joined the portal, works with content, albeit with adjustments to his area of responsibility.