The preview of ESL One Cologne 2020 Online

Matches in the European and American divisions will be hosted on August 18-30 and the prize pools of $325,00 and $135,000, respectively, will be distributed between the participants. Besides the prize pool, the number of participants at the event is also different. Sixteen teams will face in Europe and the number of teams in America will amount to eight teams. Besides the financial rewards, there will also be the rating ones. The best rosters will receive an opportunity to make it to ESL One Rio 2020 due to the earned Pro Tour points. The winner of ESL One Cologne 2020 Online Europe will receive the additional 800 points on its score, while the triumphant from America will have to enjoy the reward of 650 points.

ESL One Cologne 2020 Online Europe

It is worth noticing such participants as BIG, Vitality, NAVI, and G2 Esports in the European division. These teams definitely deserve to be called the favorites of the championship. The teams have been playing well recently and all the above-mentioned rosters enter the top five of the best in the world rate.

BIG

BIG demonstrates a perfect gaming shape and has been proving for the past two months that they head the list of the best CS:GO teams by HLTV for a reason. They achieved victory at DreamHack Masters Spring 2020: Europe, cs_summit 6 Online: Europe, and DreamHack Open Summer 2020: Europe and earned a total of more than $100,000. All this tells us about the big possibility of BIG not only to proceed to the playoffs but to the grand final where the Germans will fight for the title of the champion and the main money prize, which has not been revealed yet. Only Natus Vincere and Complexity Gaming might create serious competition for them in Group A, however, we might be surprised in fact.

Natus Vincere

NAVI places fourth on the list of the best CS:GO teams in the world by HLTV. The last tournament where the team was participating was WePlay! Clutch Island. The team held the 1st place there and earned $15,000. The scale of the tournament left much more to be desired, however, NAVI came to it responsibly. Is it worth saying that they should prepare as well as possible for the tournament with the prize pool of $335,000?

Vitality

Vitality is another favorite of the European division. Unlike NAVI and BIG, the French team got in Group B where will fight Heretics in the first match. BLAST Premier Spring 2020 Europe Finals and cs_summit 6 Europe were the last two championships, in which Vitality participated. The team placed second at both tournaments and such a result reflects the past good shape before the long break. The last official match with the participation of Vitality was played at the beginning of June and a month and a half have passed since then. The team could relax, lose their shape but also could prepare and save some surprises for their opponents. Generally, we expect a good performance by the French and their advancement in the playoffs.

G2 Esports

Despite G2 Esports headed the world rate in June and they close the top five now, after all, we are not sure in this European roster’s power. The reason for it is their performance at the last two championships. The team held the 5th-6th place at BLAST Premier Spring 2020 Europe Finals and the team stopped on the 9th place at cs_summit 6 Europe, which is too bad for huNter- and his comrades. What is more, the last official match with the participation of G2 was hosted on July 1, and a month and a half without official matches is unlikely to benefit G2. However, in our view, G2 might deserve to be called one of the favorites of the upcoming ESL One Cologne 2020 Europe.

ESL One Cologne 2020 Online North America

FURIA Esports

Everything is way easier in North America than in Europe. We see FURIA Esports as a possible winner of the championship in Group A. There are a few reasons. First of all, the team places 6th in the world rate, almost entering the top 5, which they have not been able to do since June last year. We consider their gaming shape to be the second and more serious reason. The last championship the team participated in was DreamHack Open Summer 2020 North America. The team placed first, having prevailed in four matches in a row. They defeated Yeah, TeamOne, Chaos, and Team Liquid. They will have a match against Chaos Esports Club at ESL One Cologne 2020 Online North America, so we are sure that FURIA will advance to the playoffs and compete for a victory at the championship.

Evil Geniuses

In our view, Evil Geniuses, the team, which holds the 3rd place in the HLTV rate, is the main favorite in Group B. Unlike Liquid, this roster has not had changes for a long time, so stability is EG’s second name. Their performance provides the same conclusion. The team achieved victory at the last two tournaments, namely BLAST Premier Spring 2020 Americas Finals and cs_summit 6 North America. An interesting fact is that Evil Geniuses now have a series of seven victorious matches in a row. Despite the last match with their participation taking place a month and a half ago, these EG’s results deserve respect. We think that EG is the main favorite in North America, which will have to get to the playoffs and we expect to see it in the final.