Following the success of the Dota 2 event back in May, EPICENTER are hosting another engaging tournament, this time for CS:GO. In a few weeks’ time, eight of the best European and CIS teams will face each other in heated battle.
The tournament will take place in Moscow between 17-23 October at the VTB Ice Palace. The prize pool is the same as in the last edition, $500,000, with half of it going directly into the pockets of the winners. Everyone who makes it to the tournament will get a portion of the prize pool.
Six of the teams have been invited, while the other two will participate after winning a closed qualifying stage, one for the CIS region and another for the Europe region. The invitees include some of the best teams in CS:GO, namely G2, Fnatic, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, SK Gaming and Virtus Pro.
The European qualifier is Team Dignitas, the British organization with a Scandinavian line-up who managed to beat the Swedes from GODSENT in the Finals. Meanwhile, the winners of the CIS qualifier were HellRaisers.
Regarding the main event, the nature of the group stage has not yet been announced, but the format will most likely be similar to the one in the qualifiers. The eight teams will be divided into two groups of four. The group draw has not taken place yet either, but proceedings will likely see the winners of the first two matches play against one another to determine the team that will qualify for the Semifinals by finishing top of the group. The loser from this match will play the winner from the match between the two initial losers for the second spot and qualifying berth in the group.
As is tradition, all of the matches will likely be played in a best-of-three format.
Whether there will be a losers’ bracket or teams that finish third and fourth in the group stages will be directly eliminated is yet to be announced. Both formats are used in CS:GO tournaments, so it will be up to the organizers.
The tournament will involve most of the major players from Europe and the CIS. In the eyes of many, the favourites are Virtus.Pro, SK and Natus Vincere. The Ukrainian side have just won ESL One: New York after a thrilling match against Virtus.Pro, and the Polish team will certainly try to get revenge after they were denied a second straight Premier win following their success at DreamHack Bucharest. Meanwhile, with the win in New York, Na’Vi threw themselves back into contention for the top prizes after a disappointing recent run by their own high standards.
SK’s last big win was at ESL in Cologne in July, where they bagged the juicy prize of $500,000 after a brilliant performance, losing just one map in the whole event. The Brazilian squad took part in ESL One: New York and finished in the 3rd-4th spot after being eliminated by Virtus.Pro.
The rest of the bunch should not be written off because some of these teams are more than capable of causing a surprise. Fnatic are traditionally one of the CS:GO powerhouses, but since their 2nd place in ELEAGUE Season 1 in late July, they have been in a bit of a slump. Ninjas in Pyjamas are another big name, and they are currently riding high having won the StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2 in September.
The least favoured teams are G2 Esports, Team Dignitas and HellRaisers. G2 made their mark in June when they surprised everyone with a win in the Esports Championship Series Season 1 Finals, while Dignitas have managed to land 3rd-4th spot twice this season at DreamHack Bucharest 2016 and StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2. HellRaisers seem like the runt of the litter among these teams, but they should not be written off too hastily, particularly as they have had some success in Majors throughout 2016 and finished 3rd-4th in CEVO Gfinity Pro-League Season 9.
The organization of the first edition of EPICENTER for Dota 2 raised the standard of how a tournament should be organized and conducted. This time, Moscow will turn into a shooting ground for some of the best European and CIS CS:GO teams. A lot of money is at stake and some old scores have to be settled, so expect top-drawer action as the EPICENTER name aims to develop.
