In the last few days we witnessed some of the most shocking moments of the CS:GO competitive history. Some of the top players have been caught cheating and it looks like the banhammer wave has just begun. In the middle of all that, we will try to look on the bright side of this upcoming event. Here are a six stories which you should know before the DreamHack Winter comes.
1. A new hope, NiP strikes back
Picture by Kelly Kline and ESL
Ever since their victory at ESL One Cologne, Ninjas in Pyjamas have been struggling both online and offline. Their disappointing results have been coming one after another and it was clear that some change was required. Two weeks ago, Fifflaren announced his retirement which caused the first roster change to NiP’s line-up after two years of being together. Maikelele was brought in as a replacement and the Swedes will try to get back on their feet and try to prove that they are still in shape to be champions.
The road in front of NiP at Dreamhack is not an easy one. They will have to face some of the best teams in the scene, Team LDLC, the Polish ESC Gaming and German Planetkey Dynamics. Although it might look as an easy task for NiP to end up at the top two, upsets are still possible, especially if we look back and see how GeT_RiGhT and co. were performing recently at ESWC where they got eliminated as early as the group stage.
2. LDLC beating the odds?
The only LAN event in the post ESL Cologne period which Team LDLC managed to win was StarLadder StarSeries Season 11. The interesting fact is that Fnatic didn’t participate at this one. LDLC seems to struggle when it comes to capitalization of a perfectly started event. They have been stomping group stages and playoffs both, but they seem to get some kind of blockade in the semi and grand finals. One would recall the FACEIT semi final match between LDLC and iBUYPOWER where the North Americans made a huge upset by eliminating the French team. This was followed by two more consecutive LAN finals, both against Fnatic, where LDLC managed to win only one map and lost five.
At Dreamhack, shoxie, Happy and co. will have to step up their game especially in the final rounds of the event if they want to earn a ‘bay leaf’. The first challenge will be against the ESL One champions in the group stage. NiP had some performance issues, however they should not be underestimated not even by a team like Team LDLC.
3. North America vs. Europe
Picture by Patrick Strack and ESL
Being the only two teams coming from North American soil, these two will be looking to upset at the upcoming major. Cloud9 has been showing mixed results lately, where they've been inconsistent in their games against top teams. On the other side, iBUYPOWER shocked everyone at the FACEIT lan finals and showed some consistency at ESWC finals but they got struck by roster changes and will be looking to show themselves in other lights.
For some time, the North American teams were not considered a real threat to their European opponents, but this time they are coming well prepared. Cloud9 are already doing their bootcamp in Sweden ever since ESWC finished and iBUYPOWER will be joining them too. With the other European top teams having some roster changes and fluctuations in their performance, C9 and iBP will have a perfect chance to show the world what are they capable of.
4. The debutants
Picture by Bravado Gaming
There are four groups with at least one debutant placed in each. Those teams could be considered as outsiders, though what is a better moment to deliver a huge upset than one of the biggest events of the year?
All of them have passed some sort of the qualifiers to earn their spot at this event. Maybe the history isn't in their favour, but we can’t deny that there is always a chance for some upset event if the odds are down to 1%. Bravado Gaming, Penta Sports, Planetkey Dynamics, myXMG and Flip.Sid3 Tactics will play without any pressure since they know that there is nothing to lose and everything to win. Each victory for them will be worth a ton and that’s their strength.
5. Fifflaren strengthens the casting crew
Picture by Patrick Strack and ESL
Following Fifflaren’s retirement, the community will have a chance to see him in the commentator's chair for the first time. He will be joining the already established Auguste 'Semmler' Massoant and Anders Blume together with Stuart 'Tosspot' Saw. Looking back at Dreamhack Stockholm and the production which was shown at this event, one can easily say that the guys at Dreamhack are world class when it comes to production of LAN events.
Recently, we witnessed many pro players joining Anders and Semmler as a co-commentators at the LAN events. This move turned out to be the perfect one, since the community feedback was all positive. Definitely, the favorite of the community is a Cloud9 player, Jordan 'n0thing' Gilbert. He has shown himself as a great entertainer and there is no doubt that we will be seeing him once again commentating one of the matches at Dreamhack Winter.
6. Writing the history
Dreamhack Winter 2014 will be the fourth held major for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. The past three majors were all won by different teams, but DreamHack Winter is the first one to ever have a second edition. What does it means? Fnatic will have a chance to be the first team in the CS:GO history which have defended the title at one of the major tournaments.
Although, they were considered as the underdogs at Dreamhack Winter 2013, there is no doubt that they are number one contenders for the champions throne. Their results over the past few months, especially after the last major in Cologne, were absolutely amazing. They’ve literally won every single LAN event at which they showed and we might be looking at some new era of CS:GO where Fnatic will be writing a new chapter in history.
