Review of DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019
Ihor MatusTeams that performed worse than it had been expected
NRG Esports
NRG Esports is one of the strongest teams in the USA. This is what the majority of viewers thinks, however at this championship NRG was not able to cement this title performing very poorly at the championship. The team got to Group B where they lost a battle with FURIA who made an unexpected surprise and not even once. Getting down to the lower bracket, NRG got a difficult win over C9 by the score of 2-1, after that they were having an intense battle with the French from G2 Esports which resulted in a loss for them. We should mentioned that they took only three rounds on Overpass, which made us think that NRG kept on losing ground.
Team Vitality
Vitality is the only team that made it to the playoff but they were not able to satisfy expectations of the viewers. The team has already shown us what the players are capable of and secured their title of the best CS:GO roster in France. At the group stage Team Vitality got to Group А, where they were not able to win over North at the upper bracket and got to the lower one. There they won over Lucid Dream and Ninjas in Pyjamas by the score of 2-0, and after that they made it to the final of the lower bracket. There they were expected by the Danish from North. NBK- with his teammates managed to win a rematch not leaving any map to their opponents.
At the playoff stage Vitality turned out to be a clear favorite against FURIA Esports, however they were not able to defeat Brazilians losing against them by the score of 0-2. The main mistake of the French is their unreadiness for their unpredictable opponent. FURIA didn’t instill confidence in their power which was successfully used by them.
In the end Vitality took the 5-6 place and received $10,000.
Fnatic
Fnatic, is likely to be called the main disappointment of this championship. At the last two LAN tournaments the Swedish performed well and took the second places at StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 7 and Intel Extreme Masters XIV - Sydney. Even though ECS #7 and EPL #9 didn’t result in great success for them but we expected them to achieve more than the 9-12 place at the offline event.
Fnatic got to Group B where at the first battle they got an easy win playing with Cloud9. At the second match against FURIA faced the same destiny as Vitality — the team lost playing with the Brazilians by the score of 0-2 and after that they were sent to the lower bracket. There they were met by the players from Renegades, who won over the Swedish by the score of 2-1. Let’s mark the fact that on the third map which was Inferno Xizt with teammates won only four rounds. At the moment of this material being written, Fnatic held the 7 place in the HLTV rating. Soon the team is likely to lose a couple of positions there.
Participants in the tournament that performed as it had been expected
Cloud9
Cloud9 is a rather weak team and recent reshuffles in the team didn’t help to improve the situation. C9 approached the championship being one of the main outsiders and the team performed as it had been expected by the viewers taking the 13-16 place. Golden and his teammates got to Group B where at the first match he was playing with Fnatic. Was it expected that they lost the Swedish, C9 moved to the lower brachet where they had to play with their countrymen, NRG Esports. Cloud9 managed to win one map but it wasn’t enough to move further. As a result, C9 was the first to leave the championship and got a consolation prize of $3,000.
Isurus Gaming
The Argentinian team managed to get qualified for the tournament through the qualifier in South America. The team made it to the event to gain some experience. At the battle with ENCE they lost a tremendous loss and moving down to the lower bracket, they managed to oppose to Renegades’ pressure, losing against them by the score of 1-2. «What a surprise!!» — said no one who was watching the championship to be absolutely right. This outcome was pretty expected and the last two maps where Isurus participated in and won 5 and 4 rounds proved it. Isurus can fight with Tier-3 teams worse and they have nothing to do on the international arena yet.
TYLOO
After the players Mo and DD and the Ukrainian coach left the roster, TYLOO’s game was worse and the Chinese lost every tournament they participated in. The only exception was ESL Pro League Season 9 Asia where they got a win but here we want to mark that the competition was not so strong in comparison with the other divisions. Despite this TYLOO’s success couldn’t be treated seriously and it means that their failure at DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019 didn’t surprise anyone. TYLOO got to Group A where they played with Ninjas in Pyjamas and didn’t press only three rounds and it led to the players move to the lower bracket. There they played with Windigo Gaming who had prepared for the meeting with the Chinese opponents properly and in the end they won 13 rounds in total on two maps and left the championship finishing their participation on the 13-16 positions in the tournament bracket. Their consolation money prize consisted of $3,000. Now BnTeT and his teammates have to prepare for the performance at ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals to show themselves at any championship.
Lucid Dream
Lucid Dream repeated the destiny of all main outsiders. The team lost the first two matches and in the end they took the 13-16 places getting a reward of $3,000. The players were lucky to make it to the LAN final as Lucid Dream are having difficulties also in regular matches in their divisions which is not the easiest in the CS:GO world.
Windigo Gaming
As this team is one that hasn’t reached the Tier-1 level, Windigo Gaming were fighting at that championship properly. The Bulgarian got to Group A where at the first match they were playing with FaZe Clan. Having lost the battle with the European, the team moved down to the lower bracket where they had to fight with TYLOO. There Windigo Gaming got a rather confident win where on the second map they lost only 4 rounds. After the triumph over the Chinese from Windigo, they made it to the next level where they played at the last match against North. There they won three rounds on the first map and on the second map they opposed strongly and completed Dust 2 by the score of 25-22.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Ninjas in Pyjamas perform not in a very stable way. For example, they can take the first place at Esports Championship Series Season 7 - Europe, and after that they made it to the LAN championship and finished their participation on the 9-12 place. That is what happened with the Swedish while participating at DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019. They got to Group putting some efforts into it and winning over TYLOO, and after that they made it to the semifinal of the upper bracket where they fought with FaZe Clan. After the European defeated NiP by the score of 0-2, the former had to play with Team Vitality, where the French won over GeT_RiGhT and his teammates. NiP’s ambitions are rather big as recently dennis has said that the team was actively working on improvement of their gaming shape, but the Swedish need to improve their gaming shape, however they need to improve stability of their long-distance results.
North
Recently one of the players of North, Markus Kjaerbye told that the team puts enough efforts to improve their gaming shape and teamwork. Also the team extend their armoury of the things they have prepared and strategies. We can’t say whether this information had been relevant before DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019 started, but the team was unable to make it to Six Best and provide themselves with a place at the playoff stage, staying with one way from it. Getting to Group A, at the first match of North with Vitality, they got a win 16-14, after that they lost the battle with Team Liquid, not winning any map. At the match for passing to the playoff which happened against Team Vitality, the former managed to win a rematch with the Danish and finished the performance with North. Valde and his teammates completed their participation in DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019 on the 7-8 position, gettin a money prize of $6,000 as a reward.
Team Liquid
Team Liquid became the winner of the competition. Are you surprised? Neither are we. Now there is a high chance of Liquid moving Astralis away from the top of the world rating and it would be the first time in the history of the esports organization that the CS:GO roster will take the first place. It will be deserved as Twistzz with his teammates are working on their shape really hard. We should mark that Team Liquid always make it to the final of each LAN tournament, but lose battles at the decisive fight as they seem to have a psychological barrier they managed to cope with that tine. The last opponent ENCE was uneasy but Liquids out a lot of efforts and managed to win over the Finish and to win the trophy of the champion. But not literally, as the organizers lost the trophy prize and will send it to the winners as soon as it is found but the first place at the tournament bracket and $100,000 as the main prize were gained by Team Liquid.
ENCE
Recently the Finnish has got to Three Best moving Natus Vincere away from there and secured the title of the third strongest team in the world and the best in Finland. Allu with his teammates passed not the most difficult way during the championship, winning over FURIA at the first round of the group stage by the score of 16-4 and after that defeated G2 Esports and FURIA Esports by the score of 2-1. Having passed to the semifinal, ENCE met with FaZe Clan, where they won over the European by the score of 2-0. We should mark that the victory was hard for the Finnish: the first map completed by the score of 19-16, and the second one — 16-13. At the decisive match against Team Liquid ENCE almost gained the victory. They were close to a loss, but they managed to win the second map completing it by the score of 19-16, and keeping on fighting at the tournament on one more map. On the third battle field they were unable to win three rounds losing by the score of 13-16, but Liquid became the champions of the competition. Maybe next time ENCE will be luckier, but they took the second map at DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019.
Teams that performed better than it had been expected
Renegades
Lately the Australian team performed poorly at the tournaments and nobody expected Renegades to make it to the playoff, especially if we take a look at the participants. Nevertheless, RNG managed to make a little sensation and left the championship not getting to the final stage. At the first match in Group B they were competing with G2 Esports, they lost by the score of 17-19 and moved down to the lower bracket. At the first elimination match they lost one map and won over Isurus Gaming, excluding the first outsider of the tournament after which they got an easy win over Fnatic. We should mark that on the third map they gave the Swedish only four rounds. At the match for getting to the playoff, which was held against G2 Esports, Renegades were three rounds away from the win, they were not able to press their opponents, and in the end they lost. RNG took the 7-8 place and got a money prize of $6,000. This result can’t be called consoling for the Australians, but it is obvious that they performed better than it had been expected.
FaZe Clan
The European team has recently reshuffled the roster. Dauren ‘AdreN’ Kystaubayev left FaZe Clan and his place was taken by NEO, who took the role of the in-game leader taking NiKo’s duties over. The representative of the team worked over their gaming shape and cooperation in the team and it is noticeable. FaZe got to Group A where at the first round they won over Windigo Gaming. Passing to the second round, they got an easy win over the Swedish opponents Ninjas in Pyjamas. At the match where we find out whether FaZe passes to the semifinal, they opposed to the players from Team Liquid. The battle was intense, but it resulted in FaZe’s loss. They made it to the quarterfinal of the final stage. There they faced with the players from G2 Esports who were not prepared for their opponents. It was proved as the French didn’t give up easily and the second map got over by the score of 25-23. At the semifinal FaZe Clan performed against ENCE and approached the match as an outsider and proved what the analytics supposed losing 0-2. Let’s mark that NiKo and his teammates was close to the win: the first map got over by the score of 19-16, and the second one — 16-13.
FaZe Clan took the 3-4 place at DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019 and got the main money prize of $22,000. The debut of the renewed roster at the LAN tournament is sure to be considered successful as FaZe lost against only ENCE, who are among Three Best in the world rating and one of the strongest teams in the world.
G2 Esports
G2 Esports signed AmaNEk on 7 March. During the time when the team was able only to take the first place in their group at ESL Pro League Season 9 - Europe. Nobody knew what we could expect from the French — their gaming shape was unstable and it made the participant one of the most unpredictable. G2 got to Group B where they met with Renegades at the first match. Having won 19-17 over them, G2 Esports made it to the semifinal of the upper bracket where ENCE defeated the French by the score of 2-1. Moving down to the lower bracket, G2 won over NRG Esports, putting eom efforts. At the final battle of the group stage they won over Renegades again, not letting the Australians win a rematch.
At the playoff, G2 Esports fought with well-prepared FaZe Clan, who managed to gain a great gaming shape during the tournament. The battle was hard for both of the teams but in the end FaZe got their victory. G2 as well as the other French team Vitality, got placed on the 5-6 position in the tournament bracket and gained a money reward of $10,000. At that event G2 performed in the same way as Vitality, and it means that this team is likely to get the right to claim to the best team in France pretty soon.
FURIA Esports
The main sensation of DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019 is FURIA Esports. The Brazilian team managed to go so far as nobody had expected it. FURIA got to Group B which was easier than the other one and at the first match they showed that they shouldn’t be ignored when they won over NRG Esports by the score of 16-7. At the next map of the upper bracket KSCERATO and his teammates fought with Fnatic, when they had approached the battle as an outsider. Despite the expectation, the Brazilians won over the Swedish by the score of 2-0, losing each map with 12 rounds. At the final of the upper bracket, FURIA again made a surprise and at the battle with ENCE they managed to win a map from Train, where the Finnish play pretty well. In the end FURIA lost the match but not the championship itself.
Having made it to the final stage, at the quarterfinal the tea faced with Team Vitality winning over the French and not leaving them any chance to win. The Brazilians lost eight rounds on Inferno and Nuke. The meeting with Team Liquid was the last for FURIA Esports, but here the game also was a surprise. On the first map they won 13 wound and were close to the victory, however as they lost there, the second map brought them only four victorious rounds.
In the end FURIA Esports proved that they are one of the strongest teams in Brazil getting the 3-4 place in the tournament bracket of DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019. Their efforts also bought them a money prize of $22,000, and we are waiting for the HLTV rating to be renewed to find out how high the guys from FURIA will get.