With no Astralis at DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019, the tournament represents an opportunity for numerous pretenders to their crown to make a statement.
FaZe Clan are perhaps the most interesting team ahead of the event, having only recently added NEO to the fold.
NEO is a true legend of Counter Strike and one of the few in-game leaders who would be able to attract the respect of all the players on FaZe’s roster.
NEO has replaced AdreN, who never fully found his footing within this line-up, so decent results could come quickly. NEO’s job essentially comes down to keeping NiKo on top of his game, while elevating either rain or GuardiaN to a higher level. Should he succeed, FaZe could immediately catapult themselves back into the world’s elite.
FaZe open their Group A play against a dangerous Windigo Gaming squad and all eyes will be on the performance of the new-look squad.
Renegades at full strength
Renegades have flown under the radar recently having used stand-ins at numerous tournaments. However, they are still one of the best teams in the world when at full strength, which they will be in Dallas.
Gratisfaction is back as the primary AWPer (sniper) with his highlight potential once again joining the play of jks, who himself has been one of the breakout stars of 2019. jks can seemingly do it all this year, at times secondary AWPing and finding an unexpected consistency that has been at the forefront of Renegades’ play this season.
The play of jks has allowed others to get better looks as well, and overall the team come in with a chip on their shoulder and ready to remind the world what they are capable of.
Beginning against a G2 side known for their incredibly high variance, Renegades will need to come out swinging or potentially fall into the lower bracket.
Liquid on a roll
Team Liquid are looking for another LAN title after claiming 1st place at IEM Sydney at the beginning of the month. This is a slightly more talented field, with ENCE joining the competition this time around after they missed out on Sydney.
Liquid have continued to be a juggernaut in CG:SO and no wonder given they are essentially a five-headed monster.
The transition to allow Stewie2K more freedom in terms of picking up the AWP has yielded success for this squad, as he does an excellent job of single-handedly holding down a bombsite.
Liquid have four players who consistently produce star performances, with the largest issue being making sure there is enough to go around to keep these players happy.
Twistzz is generally the player who sees the largest upswing when Liquid make play-off runs, and he will be relied upon early and often as Liquid continue to attempt to shake the idea that they cannot handle pressure late on LAN.
Watch out for ENCE
The aforementioned ENCE recently emerged victorious at BLAST Pro Series: Madrid, beating Astralis 2-0 in the final, once again proving they are one of the best teams in the world.
The surprising revelation of late for ENCE has been the play of Aerial and xseveN, role players who are making more and more impact as time moves on. sergej and allu still steal the show most often, but they, at times, can take a back seat now with others having stepped up. The improved depth has given ENCE greater consistency over the duration of a tournament.
This is a real chance for ENCE to add to their trophy case in what has been a stunningly-positive year for the organisation.
