Gaming
Esports
The teams to watch at ESL One Cologne 2018
ESL One Cologne is back in the Lanxess Arena, promising an exciting few days of CS:GO glory. Who'll take home the trophy? Keep your eyes on these top teams.
Cologne has served as the backdrop for plenty of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive drama over the last half decade, with this year’s ESL One event marking the fifth visit for one of the most prestigious stops on the CS:GO calendar. Returning to the Lanxess Arena, 16 teams are competing for the US$300,000 prize pool – with some even aiming for an Intel Grand Slam scoop – before they break away for the mid-year break.
SK Gaming walked away with the Cologne trophy last year, edging out Cloud9 3-0 to a first-place finish, and now that line-up, minus Epitácio ‘TACO’ de Melo and with the addition of Jacky ‘Stewie2K’ Yip, look poised to take on the field as MIBR at this year’s event. FaZe Clan, fresh from their ESL One Belo Horizonte win, look in form and have already impressed in their first game in the group stage – but can they go all the way? Ahead of the second day of play, we take a look at the teams poised to make an impact at this year’s ESL One Cologne.
MIBR
The former SK Gaming team have had what’s been a chaotic 2018. Through organisational issues with SK to shake-ups with the loss of TACO, the Brazilian team haven’t had the chance to really focus and shine. Gabriel ‘FalleN’ Toledo dropped his IGL status for a period to settle himself as a player, and while it’s taken some time for the USA's Stewie2K to settle into the roster, the new-look MIBR finally look like they’re ready to compete.
Ever since the official MIBR announcement was made last month, the team finally look confident and seem poised for Cologne. Plus, FalleN’s picked back up the IGL role. Of course, one thing will remain consistent: Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David has put in incredible performances throughout a tumultuous 2018, and you can bet he’ll be relied on again heading into this year’s event in Cologne. MIBR might not end up winning the whole thing – they only just got past Renegades in their first game at Cologne – but they’ll be an interesting team to watch and to see how they do in their first Major outing dressed in black.
FaZe Clan
FaZe Clan have looked on top of their game recently, dominating at ESL One New York, upsetting Astralis at IEM Sydney, taking first place over mousesports at ESL One Belo Horizonte, and they’re in spitting distance of achieving the Intel Grand Slam. With three IGS tournaments already in their grasp, they just need one more win to take home the US$1,000,000 prize that goes with becoming the first team to nab four Grand Slam wins within eight tournaments.
FaZe look confident to say the least, but they still don’t have a permanent solution to the inactive Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer Gustafsson. Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen and Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovács have provided top performances all year, but they have been shaken by Astralis in recent months – who could put a dent into their Grand Slam plans. With Jørgen ‘cromen’ Robertsen still acting as a stand-in for his third tournament with FaZe, it’s well worth keeping an eye out to see if they can go all the way with a substitute player, and if they can walk away with the win – and the Grand Slam.
Astralis
Astralis head into Cologne as one of favourites, and for good reason: they topped the ECS Season 5 Finals in London and took first place at DreamHack Masters Marseille, proving that they’re one of the finest squads in the world. Since the addition of Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif, they’ve looked in fine form on LAN, but they’ve also decided to skip events, ensuring they’re in fresh form for Cologne. A win here would also tie them up with FaZe in terms of IGS wins; and if they take the title over FaZe in the grand final, they’ll also walk away with a US$100,000 Grand Slam killer bonus, giving them even more incentive to perform.
They’ve already comfortably trounced ENCE and beaten Cloud9 in the group stages of competition at Cologne and punched their ticket to the playoffs, and we can’t imagine Astralis heading home early. Keep your eye on the Danes; they’ll be sure to go far.
