The review of IEM Sydney 2019
Ihor MatusThe teams, which have performed worse than expected
Renegades
The Australians surprised unpleasantly both all viewers and their Australian fans. Seemingly, Renegades were on their homeland and had to be motivated to win more than anyone else but they were eliminated from the tournament after the second round of the lower and finished their participation in the event on the 9th-12th place. They beat MVP PK in the first match and lost a match to Ninjas in Pyjamas in the second round. Having stepped down to the lower bracket, they had to play against mousesports. There, AZR and his teammates were not able to do something and left the championship. Due to their efforts, Renegades received a monetary reward in the sum of $5,000.
FaZe Clan
FaZe Clan came to the tournament as one of the main favorites. They had achieved victory at the previous championship and everyone expected the Europeans to perform well, however, AdreN with his teammates didn’t move too far. FaZe repeated Renegades’ way. They also prevailed in the first match against an outsider but lost the next two matches. It’s worth to notice that NiKo and AdreN had issues with receiving an Australian visa. Due to this, the first match was played with two stand-ins: USTILO and the team’s coach, YNk, were performing for FaZe instead of the above-mentioned players. FaZe Clan played the second and third matches with their coach who replaced NiKo who was not able to take part in the matches after all. In such a way, visa issues might destroy all plans of the European team and those viewers who bet on FaZe Clan’s victory at the tournament. After FaZe Clan placed 9th-12th and earned a monetary reward in the sum of $5,000, it became known that replacements will be made on the roster.
The teams, which have performed in accordance with expectations
Team Liquid
There were almost no doubts that Team Liquid would become the champions of the tournament. The majority of viewers were sure of the result. The CS:GO roster is part of one of the most successful esports organizations in the world and the team enters the top 2 best squads in the shooting discipline. Team Liquid was “stepping on their opponents” on their way to the final and didn’t lose a map. They beat B.O.O.T, BIG, and Ninjas in Pyjamas in Group A and advanced right to a semi-final of the playoff stage. They defeated MIBR without efforts and faced issues in the final for the first time at the tournament and they were pretty serious. Fnatic won two maps against the Americans, and NAF with his teammates was close to failing but achieved victory in the match as a result, due to which became the championship of the event for a reason. Team Liquid earned a money reward in the sum of $100,000 for their efforts and the brilliant performance.
NRG Esports
NRG Esports has been part of the top ten CS:GO rosters for a long time and has a status of one of the best North American teams. At the group stage, daps and his teammates beat Vici Gaming, FaZe Clan, and mousesports dry. Due to such a result, NRG made it to a semi-final where fought Fnatic. The team was not ready for a match against the angry Swedes and lost the match with a score 1-2, making some kind of pressure on the opponents. As a result, NRG Esports held the 3rd-4th place, which is a good result and earned a prize in the sum of $20,000 for their efforts.
mousesports
The European team performed at the championship pretty well. In the first match, they lost a battle to BIG with a score 14-16. After that, ropz with his teammates worked on their mistakes. Having stepped down to the lower bracket, mousesports beat B.O.O.T and Renegades with a score 2-0. They faced BIG in the final of the lower bracket and won a rematch with a score 2-0. It was remarkable that they lost two rounds to the Germans on the first map and four rounds on the second one. Mousesports met the players from MIBR, having advanced to a quarterfinal. There, FalleN with his teammates defeated mousesports without problems, on the outcome of which the last ones finished their participation in the tournament, placing 5th-6th. The team received $10,000 for their efforts.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
The Swedes did a good job and managed to get to a quarterfinal of IEM Sydney 2019. GeT_RiGhT and the team were put in Group A where prevailed over such opponents as eUnited and Renegades. They were not able to achieve victory over the main favorite of the tournament, Team Liquid, in the final of the group. Because of this, the Swedish team didn’t miss the quarterfinal stage and had to fight its countrymen, the team Fnatic. The match between NiP and Fnatic was the most exciting one with the participation of Ninjas in Pyjamas and one of the most interesting at the tournament, in general. The last two maps were over with a score 25-23 and 22-20. Despite NiP held the 5th-6th place and earned only $10,000, viewers remembered the Swedes’ performance very well. The fact that they were not able to advance to a semi-final was not surprising and their participation in the playoffs was not surprising too, this means that their performance was just as expected.
Grayhound Gaming
Grayhound Gaming had good support of the public, however, this didn’t help them to place higher than 7th-8th in the standings. At the group stage, they were defeated in a match against MIBR but managed to achieve victory over Heroic and FaZe Clan with a score 2-1. In the decider match, they lost to the team, which became the finalist of the tournament, Fnatic. Grayhound received a monetary reward in the sum of $6,000 for their trying.
MVP PK
The team from South Korea surprised viewers with their performance a bit. MVP PK lost the first match against Renegades but didn’t get confused and gave a good fight to two teams. In one of the first elimination matches, which was hosted against eUnited, the South Korean esportsmen defeated their opponents with a score 2-0 and they lost the next match against BIG but they created a struggle and won one map. MVP PK held the 9th-12th place and received $6,000.
Chiefs Esports Club
Chiefs Esports Club played the first match with FaZe Clan where the last ones lost with two stand-ins. Despite this factor, the Australians from Chiefs didn’t win more than five rounds, due to which moved to the lower bracket where they had to face Vici Gaming. There, they defeated the Chinese with a score 2-1, however, it was an impossible objective for them to beat Fnatic in the next match. Chiefs Esports Club held the 9th-12th place and received a monetary prize in the sum of $6,000. This tournament was one of the few chances to show themselves because the team can’t make it to LAN finals of any large championships.
B.O.O.T, eUnited, Vici Gaming, and Heroic
These teams were eliminated from the competition first. They lost the first match of the upper and lower brackets at the group stage. As a result, B.O.O.T, eUnited, Vici Gaming, and Heroic held the 13th-16th place and their reward for participation in the tournament amounted $4,000. Considering the level of their opponents, this result is not a surprise. The only team, which stand out on this list, is eUnited. The team is famous for being able to perform better than it is expected sometimes and to defeat a team, in the match with which it is an outsider. The Americans didn’t defeat MVP PK at IEM Sydney 2019, which surprised us in a bad way. In all the rest, the result was pretty predictable.
BIG
Generally, there was nothing special in BIG’s performance and the team stopped in one step from getting to the playoffs, however, the European team managed to surprise with that they had beaten the representatives of mousesports in the first match of the group stage with a score 16-14. They predictably lost to Liquid in the second match and went to the lower bracket where beat MVP PK with a score 2-1. In the final of the lower bracket of the group stage, BIG faced mousesports again, however, as it was said earlier, they won 6 rounds and didn’t cope with the power of mousesports in this match, as a result, stopped on the 7th-8th place. BIG earned a monetary prize in the sum of $6,000 for their efforts.
The teams, which have exceeded expectations
MIBR
The Brazilian team has not been able to find what it lacked to improve the results for a long time. Apparently, FalleN and his teammates have found the key to success, even if it is not overwhelming. MIBR got in Group B and played with Grayhound Gaming in the first match where prevailed over the Australians. They faced Fnatic in the next match where the last ones were not able to show something in this battle. MIBR met NRG Esports in the final of the upper bracket of the group stage. This match was over with a score 2-0 in the favor of NRG and MIBR advanced to a quarterfinal where they had to beat mousesports with a score 2-0. The Brazilians made it to a semi-final after all but they were met by the main favorites, Team Liquid. The tournament was predictably over with Liquid’s victory and MIBR finished its participation on the 3rd-4th place, for which they earned a money prize in the sum of $20,000. It is possible that this tournament can be a boost for the improvement of results of the Brazilians. We will find out soon if it’s true or not.
Fnatic
Fnatic can confidently be called the main sensation of the tournament. The team has been playing with an unstable success for a long time and no one knew what to think about their second place at StarLadder & i-League StarSeries Season 7. The Swedes placed second at the following championship and now, we can see that their gaming has started gaining momentum and Fnatic will be able to enter the top five CS:GO rosters soon. By the way, they hold the 6th place now. The silver at IEM Sydney 2019 allowed JW and his teammates to get 4 places higher. Before that, they were closing the top ten CS: GO teams.
Their way to Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2019 was controversial. It can’t be called very easy or very difficult. It was interesting to watch every match with Fnatic and every Fnatic fan can be sincerely felt for because fans of the Swedish team had enough reasons to get nervous during the whole tournament. Fnatic beat Heroic with a score 16-7 in the first match of the group stage. They had a tough loss in the next match with MIBR with a score 0-2 and they managed to win 13 rounds on two maps totally. Having moved to the lower bracket, Fnatic was close to a loss when was playing against Chiefs Esports Club, which, seemingly, were not able to compete with the Swedish team in terms of the playing skills. As a result, Fnatic achieved victory over the Australians with a score 2-1. The same story repeated in the final of the lower bracket where Grayhound Gaming was playing against Fnatic. The remarkable thing is that the second map was brought to overtime but was won by the Australians as a result. Despite this, Fnatic defeated Grayhound and advanced to the playoffs. The first match of the final stage was very hot and the longest one among all bo3 series. In the Swedish derby between Ninjas in Pyjamas and Fnatic, the second map lasted 48 rounds and finished with a score 25-23 in the favor of NiP, the third one lasted 42 rounds and was over with a score 22-20 in the favor of Fnatic. Having advanced to a semi-final, Fnatic had a high moral and it definitely helped them to deal with NRG Esports. The match finished with a score 2-1 and Fnatic became the second grand-finalist of the tournament. The last match was interesting and intense. All five maps were played in a bo5 series. The game was over on the first map Cache with a score 16-10 in the favor of Fnatic, the second one Overpass finished with a score 16-14 in the favor of Liquid. The third place to fight was Mirage where Liquid also prevailed but with a score 16-8. On Dust 2, Fnatic showed what they had prepared and won the Americans with a score 16-6. The final map was Inferno where both teams had a significant experience. Unfortunately for the Swedes and their fans, the map came to the end with a result 16-9 in the favor of Liquid.
As a result, Fnatic has become the silver medalist and earned a money reward in the sum of $42,000 and JW with his team has received a status of the Swedish team for some time.