The review of StarLadder Berlin Major 2019
Ihor MatusPreviously, we told how the teams had performed at The New Challengers Stage and The New Legends Stage. You can remember how the teams have played at the previous stages in the relevant materials. Today, we will analyze the final stage of the tournament, The New Champions Stage.
The teams, which have disappointed
ENCE
After ENCE had advanced from The New Legends Stage with a statistics 3-0, having crushed all their opponents, many expected the roster to make it to the grand final, especially considering the bracket for the Finns. Initially, they were expected to prevail over Renegades and have a good fight with Vitality, however, everything went not in accordance to the plan and allu with his teammates finished their participation in the tournament, having placed 5th-8th. It’s worth to remind that they were close to a failure at The New Legends Stage of the previous Major and, having a score 0-2, advanced to the playoffs with the result 3-2, after which became one of the finalists and held the 2nd place. This time, their easy advancement to the top eight played a dirty trick with the Finns, on the outcome of which they were eliminated with a score 0-2 by the Australians (5-16 on Mirage and 12-16 on Nuke). Considering their performance at the previous stage of the championship, we can confidently state that their performance at The New Champions Stage was pretty disappointing for fans of the Finnish team.
Aleksib was benched after the end of the Major and was put on a transfer. There are rumors that he will move to FaZe Clan. His spot in ENCE will be taken by another famous Finnish esportsman, Miikka ‘suNny’ Kemppi, who is famous for his performance in mousesports.
Team Vitality
The French team has come to StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 as one of the main favorites to win. Vitality faced problems from the very beginning. The team hardly made it to The New Challengers Stage with a score 3-2. Despite the relatively weak line-up of participants of the initial stage, the French didn’t show the performance they were expected. They became more focused at The New Legends Stage and defeated North, FaZe, and mousesports, having lost a match only to ENCE.
Vitality had to play with AVANGAR in the quarterfinal. There, the French came to the match as the obvious favorite, however, they had a bad surprise in the form of the thoroughly prepared Kazakhs. As a result, the match was over with a score 2-1 in the favor of AVANGAR and Vitality placed 5th-8th at the tournament for a reason, having earned a money prize in the sum of $35,000.
The head of Vitality announced that benched NBK- right after the end of the championship. This decision was undoubtedly made due to unsatisfactory results. At the moment, it is unknown who will become a replacement of NBK- but, according to the management’s statement, this roster has come to an end and should be changed. The team earned good achievements with Nathan Schmitt but will have to move forward without him.
Team Liquid
Team Liquid had achieved victory in six tournaments in a row before the start of StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 and earned $1,000,000 due to the victory in Intel Grand Slam Season 2. This fact and the first place, which is held in the HLTV rate by the Americans, made nitr0 and his teammates the main favorites to win the event. Viewers felt that something was wrong when Liquid lost a match to NRG Esports at The New Legends Stage. Later, they were not able to oppose to the players from AVANGAR, having lost in overtime. A point was made in Liquid’s performance at the Major by their match against principled opponents int hef ace of Astralis. Team Liquid can be very strong but the Danish team is still their weak spot. Twistzz with his teammates won only 8 rounds on the first map of the quarterfinal and 13 on the second one. This was not enough to prevail over Astralis and advance to the semi-final, on the outcome of which Liquid placed 5th-8th at the second Major, having earned $35,000 as a reward. Team Liquid has become one of the teams, which played way worse on the outcome of the tournament than they had been expected.
The participants, who have surprised us
Renegades
The Australians had shown a nice gaming level at the previous Major and in such a way, guaranteed themselves an invitation to The New Legends Stage at this competition. The majority of viewers thought that Renegades will finish their participation at the previous stage because the team had not been able to show something significant during the whole season, losing over and over again. Despite this, jks with his teammates managed to beat DreamEaters, FaZe Clan, and G2 Esports, made a comeback from a score 0-2 and made it to The New Champions Stage.
In the quarterfinal, they had to fight with ENCE, one of the strongest teams of The New Legends Stage. Beating the Finns was a difficult goal, however, RNG managed to do the task and achieved a pretty easy victory over their opponents. Renegades advanced to the semi-final where they had to play with AVANGAR who also surprised with their victory over the favorite of the match in the quarterfinal. The match was equal. The teams finished the battle on the first map with a score 22-12, after which RNG relaxed and won only 6 rounds on the second map. The Australian team exceeded the expectations and performed even better than at the previous Major tournament, which became a surprise for both us and all other viewers. As a result, Renegades have finished the participation on the 3rd-4th place and earned a $70,000 money reward and also become an owner of an invite to The New Legends Stage of the next Major.
AVANGAR
The performance of the team AVANGAR has become the most unexpected in a good way in the history of the Major tournament. Their way was pretty tough from the very beginning. The team got in The New Challengers Stage due to their results at the previous Major. AVANGAR was on the brink of elimination from the tournament at the first stage but they achieved victory in an equal battle with Syman with a score 2-1. At The New Legends Stage, they were warmed-up and the game was way easier even in matches with the representatives of the tier-1 stage. The Kazakhs lost a match to ENCE but won battles against Renegades, Team Vitality, and G2 Esports. They surprised everyone again at The New Champions Stage, having beaten Vitality in the quarterfinal. The triumph over Renegades in the semi-final didn’t surprise a lot and the grand final was naturally lost in an unequal struggle with Astralis. The Kazakh roster won 6 rounds on the first map and 5 rounds on the second one.
AVANGAR has become the vice-champion of StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 and earned a money prize in the sum of $150,000 for their efforts. Considering the team’s results during the season, we can confidently state that AVANGAR has surprised us and, probably, the rest of the viewers most of all.
NRG Esports
Not everyone can call NRG Esports a weak team, however, not just anyone could predict advancement from The New Challengers Stage with a score 3-1, advancement from The New Legends Stage with a score 3-0 and the victory over Natus Vincere. We were sure about the victory of the Americans in our reasoning about the quarterfinal with NRG but they made both us and fans of NRG nervous. Their opponents played well but it was not enough to achieve victory in the match.
NRG lost only on three maps at the tournament. One of them was at The New Challengers Stage and it was lost in the first match against DreamEaters. The rest two were in the difficult semi-final match against Astralis. NRG managed to show a nice show and gladdened viewers with beautiful highlights at the tournament. The team placed 3rd-4th and earned a money prize in the sum of $70,000. stanislaw who had joined the team on June 11 really helped the team to reach a new level. Now, it will be way more interesting to follow NRG at the upcoming championships than before.
The teams, which have performed in accordance with their level
Natus Vincere
There were no weak teams in the playoffs of StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 and the loss of NAVI in the quarterfinal was not a surprise for us. Their opponents from NRG Esports were in a brilliant gaming shape and the triumph of the Americans was expected. Despite good individual performers play on the roster of Natus Vincere, the strategic and tactical part leaves much more to be desired. This is the weak spot, which was hit in the quarterfinal by NRG Esports. Plus, the players might have a lack of motivation and low morale because they were just shot in some moments. Wrong decisions and a bad shooting made a point in their participation, on the outcome of which Natus Vincere placed 5th-8th at the championship and earned $35,000 and there are no doubts about future replacements on the roster.
Astralis
After Astralis had defeated its main opponent in the face of Team Liquid, everyone knew that no one would become a problem between the Danes and their victory at StarLadder Berlin Major 2019. There is a tendency in the last year and a half: it doesn’t matter how Astralis was playing during a season, they will definitely win the Major.
Astralis played with a score 3-1 at The New Legends Stage. They were not able to oppose the players from NRG Esports but beat DreamEaters, G2 Esports, and CR4ZY. In the playoffs, the team started its struggle from the most difficult opponent in the face of Team Liquid and prevailed in the most principled match with a score 2-0. It’s worth to remind that the Americans didn’t show the resistance they were expected. They won 8 rounds on the first map and 13 on the second one. The Danes faced NRG in the semi-final and won a rematch. The grand final was the easiest one for Astralis in the history of their participation in Major tournaments. The Danes won easily with a score 16-6 and 16-5 in the match with AVANGAR.
Astralis took their third Major trophy in a row and protected the title of the world champion for the second time. The world rate will be updated soon and gla1ve and the company will place second and continue competing with Team Liquid for the title of the best team in the world.