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It seems as though FaZe are back on top. Well, for one tournament at least. In Copenhagen FaZe took a surprising lead early in the tournament and held it till the end, dominating the field and putting away their Grand Finals opponent NiP away in just two maps. Here are a couple of takeaways from each team that CS:GO bettors should be savvy to.
FaZe Might Be Clicking
This was FaZe’s second LAN with this lineup, and it was coldzera’s best performance with the team. He put up a 1.22 Rating over 7 maps, and while those still aren’t prime coldzera numbers, it’s a big step up from his performance this year.
While coldzera turning on the jets was exciting, and a crucial factor in the team’s success, NiKo’s performance was maybe more exciting. He was the third highest Rated player at the event, behind s1mple and EliGE, posting a 1.33 over 7 maps.
When coldzera and NiKo are both playing this well, it seems silly that they could ever drop a map. I haven’t even mentioned broky and rain rounding out the top 10 with 1.14 Ratings.
I still worry that this team isn’t sustainable. While their improvement has eased my concerns to an extent, they are still playing essentially sans In Game Leader. If the history of CS:GO has taught me anything, it’s that teams like this never last. (Unless of course we’re talking about olofmeister’s Fnatic.)
This team is looking like the juggernaut we all knew they could be after picking up coldzera. Whether that continues or not remains to be seen, but things are definitely looking up.
Liquid Continue to Flounder
Liquid did the hard thing in Copenhagen. They beat FaZe 16-5 on Inferno, which was the international squad’s only loss of the tournament. Unfortunately for the NA dream team, they failed to do the easy thing, dropping maps to Na’Vi and NiP.
While all of their losses were close enough, things are starting to look dire for Liquid. They haven’t even made a Grand Final appearance since before the Berlin Major, and it feels like time has to run out on this team eventually. The problem is, I don’t really know what’s wrong.
EliGE was the second best player in attendance, with Twistzz and NAF both sitting pretty in the top 10. There’s no clear cut statistical indication as to why they’re losing so much.
NiP Are… Weird
I’ve long been confused by this team. Their very existence perplexes me. I don’t know what they’re doing with their team, their roster moves make little since, f0rest is inexplicably great years after peaking as one of the best players to touch the game.
To continue in their longstanding tradition of vexing me utterly, they clinched a Grand Finals berth without a player in the top 10. F0rest was the Ratings leader on this team with a (comparatively) measly 1.07. That’s not what you’d expect to see from the best player on a team in the Grand Finals.
Granted, the format at BLAST events are anything but comprehensive, so it’s probably best not to read too far into it. Still though, wins over Astralis and Liquid are impressive.
Na’Vi Got Screwed
Now, I’m not a big hater of BLAST events, at least not usually. I think the bite sized entertainment they provide can be fun, and the little events help tide the scene over. But boy does their format get exposed when these things happen. Due to not playing overtime, Na’Vi missed the playoffs by 1 point. They tied Astralis and Cloud9, which meant that NiP had enough points to sneak past them into the Grand Finals.
While Na’Vi lost their map against FaZe, I feel like they could have put some pressure on the mix. S1mple and electronic are both continuing to play well under the dutiful leadership of Boombl4, as one would expect.
Unfortunately, their long term prospects don’t look great. Their gamble on GuardiaN is looking worse by the day, and another roster move wouldn’t shock me. It seems like the CIS legend might be officially washed up, which is bad news for everyone involved.
Astralis Are Still Kicking
Perhaps the strangest thing about this tournament was device’s lackluster showing. He’s typically Johnny on the spot, and a 1.19 is pretty low for him.
Aside from his underperformance, and their embarrassing early loss to FaZe, there isn’t much to talk about with Astralis. They beat Liquid soundly, and after the first two rounds they looked about as good as you’d expect.
All we can really hope for is sportsbooks putting too much emphasis on this performance, which might bring their odds down a little. But I doubt it.
Cloud9 Is an Abject Failure
This lineup has been together for too long to be this bad. They didn’t hit double digits in the majority of their games, and went winless in all five. Cloud9’s roster made up the five worst performing players at the tournament, which is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.
Look, I appreciate that they’re trying to give this roster some time, but maybe they should consider cutting their losses and starting from scratch. This team has been cursed ever since the Boston Major, and Jack and co. have failed to put a competent team out since.
Daps’ Rating was a 0.67. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a Rating that low, honestly. You’d be hard pressed to find someone doing that bad over a 1 map sample size, much less a whole tournament.
In Conclusion
This tournament was not terribly important. CS:GO bettors didn’t learn much, the format was exposed more so than usual, and we didn’t even get to see Astralis versus Liquid in the Final, like I’m sure we all wanted.
There are, however, some more fun tournaments coming up. Be sure to stay tuned for more CS:GO betting content.
