Photo Credit: ECS
The fifth season finals of ECS has begun for CS:GO and some of the world’s top teams have come together in London to compete for the top prize of $250,000. The matches will take place this weekend starting with the group stages on Friday, the elimination matches on Saturday, and the semifinals and finals on Sunday.
Group A
Group A contains arguably the stronger teams in the tournament with the current top ranked worldwide team, Astralis, leading the pack. Astralis are currently on a huge series of wins, with an almost perfect performance coming from their previous tournament, ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals. There they took the grand prize, defeating other top teams such as SK Gaming, FaZe, and Liquid with their only game being lost to Liquid. Both the teams from North America in Group A, Cloud 9 and Liquid, are firm contenders in the top 10, while the remaining European team in the group, fnatic also boast a ranking somewhere along with them. While Astralis undoubtedly are the top team in the group, the second best team remains a toss-up between the remaining three teams.
Group B
FaZe is the big name in Group B with their star-studded lineup and previous strong showings. Although they have petered off a bit in regards to recent performances, their team still possess some of the most talented players in the world. The French also have a representative in the tournament with G2, although they have just shifted their roster with shox, SmithZz, and Ex6TenZ returning to the fray while NBK and apEX have been moved to the bench. How they will perform remains to be seen, but all of the players on the team have played together in the past before. The biggest surprise comes in NRG who have surged forward in the rankings after taking 2nd place at StarSeries, defeating the likes of Liquid, North, and Renegades before ultimately falling to Na’Vi. Luminosity rounds out the group with their all Brazilian lineup.