One of the most anticipated competitions of the year, ESL One Cologne, is right around the corner. The tournament will host some of the best teams in the world competing for one million dollars.
Team Liquid
The NA organization will be the team to look out for in this competition. They are the No. 1 team in the world and will have their eyes on a $1,150,000 prize. This is a huge amount in the competitive landscape of CS: GO, so the best team will be aiming to come out guns blazing and lift the trophy.
Astralis
It comes as no surprise that Astralis has fallen from their ranking as the world’s best team. This title has instead deservingly passed to Liquid, who had been waiting in the shadows for a long time. Nonetheless, the CS:GO community knows the Danes will be looking to cause an upset. They still retain some of the most talented players in the world, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them getting the top spot on the podium. We will have to wait and see if they can live up to such lofty expectations.
ENCE
The Finnish team is back in action, and they will be confident to build on their recent success. Allu and Sergej have been absolutely brilliant and should play a crucial role in getting ENCE to the playoffs. The Finns will have to compete against some of the best in the world, but these are teams they’ve managed to beat twice in the past few months; we believe that they will have a strong chance while pushing for success.
FaZe Clan
After recruiting NEO, it would not be surprising to see FaZe vying with the top dogs for supremacy. NiKo has been quite consistent in recent months, showing that the team can rely on him. At the same time, though, olof and rain need to boost their stats if FaZe want to assert dominance in this competition.
MIBR
Despite decent results, the Brazilian team has failed to lift a major trophy. They have has made some semi-final appearances, but failed to push themselves ever into the grand finale. With the likes of falleN and coldzera on the team, we believe that they have a strong chance of making it to the playoffs.
Mousesports
ChrisJ, ropz, and Woxic are finally showing their true potential. The trio was tipped by many as a force to be reckoned with, yet they failed to deliver big results. Now, Woxic and company are quite consistent and are truly the dark horses of the competition. We believe that they can even beat Team Liquid if it’s their day.
Natus Vincere
The best player of 2018, S1mple has not played a professional game for quite some time, as Na’Vi has not participated in a competition since late May. Despite this worrying statistic, we believe that Na’Vi will make a strong run in Cologne. It won’t be an easy road for them, though, since they will face Mousesports in the group phase.