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DreamHack Austin 2017 - Comprehensive tournament guide & group stage predictions

DreamHack Austin 2017

Location: Austin Convention Center, Austin, Texas, United States of America

Prize pool & distribution:

Total: $100,000

1st place - $50,000
2nd place - $20,000
3rd & 4th places - $10,000
5th & 6th places - $3,000
7th & 8th places - $2,000

Participants:

Invited
 

United States Cloud9Denmark Heroic
France G2 EsportsBrazil Immortals
Kazakhstan Gambit EsportsUnited States Team Liquid


Qualified
 

Europe HellRaisersBrazil Luminosity Gaming


The eight participants have been split into two equal groups:
 

Group AGroup B
Kazakhstan Gambit EsportsFrance G2 Esports
Denmark HeroicUnited States Cloud9
Europe HellRaisersBrazil Immortals
Brazil Luminosity GamingUnited States Team Liquid


The group stage matches will see best-of-one, single elimination matches, where the top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals of the tournament. The remaining teams will battle it out in elimination and decider matches that will feature a single-elimination, best-of-three format. After all deciders are concluded, a total of four teams will meet in the play-offs, that much like the deciders will see single-elimination, best-of-three matches.

Schedule for the event (all times expressed in CEST):

Friday, April 28th - Group Stage
(M1) 18:00 - Europe HellRaisers vs. Brazil Luminosity Gaming
(M2) 19:30 - Brazil Immortals vs. United States Team Liquid
(M3) 21:00 - Kazakhstan Gambit Esports vs. Denmark Heroic
(M4) 22:30 - France G2 Esports vs. United States Cloud9
(M5) *00:00 - Winner of M1 vs. Winner of M3
(M6) *01:30 - Winner of M2 vs. Winner of M4

Saturday, April 29th - Decider matches
(M7) 17:00 - Loser of M1 vs. Loser of M3
(M8) 20:00 - Loser of M2 vs. Loser of M4
(M9) 23:00 - Loser of M5 vs. Winner of M7
(M10) *02:00 - Loser of M6 vs. Winner of M8

Sunday, April 30th - Play-offs
(M11) 17:00 - Semi-final #1
(M12) 20:00 - Semi-final #2
(M13) *00:00 - Grand final

*Times expressed past midnight take place during next day

Group Stage predictions

As the initial match-ups are known, we present the predictions for outcomes:

Group A

Europe HellRaisers vs. Brazil Luminosity Gaming

On paper this is a definite win for HellRaisers. The European representative is no pushover and will see a victory through. Having said this, the map choice will definitely have an impact on the outcome, as a restricted map pool is something the team has struggled with in the past. In addition to this, the teams are not well-acquainted with each other's play styles, giving Luminosity Gaming a potential advantage. The general feeling for this match-up is a victory for HellRaisers with Luminosity keeping it to single digits.

Kazakhstan Gambit Esports vs. Denmark Heroic

Gambit Esports have just come off a strong placement at cs_summit, firing on all cylinders. The team has proven they are capable and should have this match-up in the bag. The outcome of the best-of-one will heavily depend on the map pick, having said that if it's Cobblestone or Nuke we can definitely expect a W from the CIS mix. Heroic will attempt their best at selecting Cache for the series, as they have an overwhelmingly positive record on that map. Double digits for both teams, however Gambit should come out on top of this match-up.

Group B

Brazil Immortals vs. United States Team Liquid

Probably the most equal match-up of the entire tournament. The inclination is to say that the outcome will heavily rely on performances of the star players from each team. For Immortals it's their AWPer Henrique "hen1" Teles and rifler Lincoln "fnx" Lau, whilst Team Liquid will be looking at a similar setup in rifler Jonathan "EliGe" Jablonowski and AWPer Josh "jdm64" Marzano. Whichever duo shows up sharper will take away the series. Immortals will be looking to select Inferno as the map of choice, and given it realises the match should be with them. As for the locals, Cobble would be a decent choice to take the fight to the Brazilians. Overall an extremely close match-up that will see double digits.

France G2 Esports vs. United States Cloud9

G2 Esports all the way. The team did not come together to secure anything less than first place in tier two events and this is their chance to demonstrate the roster's incredible capabilities. Cloud9 have shown weak results in recent times at LAN settings, which this tournament happens to be. A victory for G2 with the Americans looking at a single digit.

Images courtesy of DreamHack

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