I will be upfront and say that this is one of the most top-heavy Elimination Stages we have ever seen, with the top five teams almost surely making it through. Vitality has made the playoffs of quite literally every single tournament they have attended this year, with the exception of IEM Katowice, which was the very first tournament in February. MOUZ failed to make the playoffs of ESL Pro League and IEM Dallas but reached the playoffs of all other events. G2 only failed to make the playoffs of IEM Rio, and that was with a BLAST Fall Finals championship hangover. NaVi had a streak of five consecutive Grand Finals before their implosion at the BLAST World Finals. People may even underrate Team Spirit, despite the fact that their only crash-out was famously at IEM Cologne, where they came in last place.
The chance that many underdogs will make it through this Elimination Stage is slim. Also, please, Valve, change the name of this stage. When discussing the Major, saying that a team has “qualified for Elimination” or “progressed to the Elimination Stage” just sounds too confusing.
Regardless of the stage names, here are X teams that I will be keeping my eye on in this stage:
MIBR
The anti-Complexity. MIBR had a five-man lineup that lasted for 15 months. It played out its course. Despite the fact that they maintained such a lengthy stint and just finished in 3rd–4th place at ESL Pro League, they still pulled the trigger when Lucaozy was available. A star that was shackled in a Fluxo prison, some would have even argued that there is role overlap between Lucaozy and insani. Despite that, MIBR decided to go through with the move anyway. Their ceiling has dramatically improved, as has Lucaozy in every single tournament.
The growth in Lucaozy’s play has been purely linear across events:
- 0.86 – CBCS Masters
- 0.94 – ESL Challenger Katowice
- 1.06 – Americas RMR
- 1.15 – Shanghai Major Opening Stage
That is unprecedented because the level of competition has also improved with every consecutive event, and it’s only been over the course of two months.
The team itself needs to understand how to come together better in the mid-to-late round because they can get stuck in individualistic plays. I genuinely find myself scratching my head when I see MIBR try to put together a solution for a round after the clock passes 0:40 on their T-side. On the other hand, their ceiling is a wholly destructive force. When they played against Flyquest, they consistently found multikill entry kills across every front with a single flash, all while disrespecting Flyquest’s utility—a clear demonstration of the skill gap against a team many considered a threat to their Major run.
I expect MIBR to continue improving and find themselves as a consistent top-12-ranked team in the world, even giving paiN and Furia a run for the title of best Brazilian team. In terms of improvement, the missing piece is slowly becoming a star AWPer. Unfortunately, saffee has much room to grow. One upside of saffee is that when he feels the AWP isn’t working, he doesn’t force the issue and is quite a proficient rifler.
Drop is also one of the best IGLs I have seen in the Opening Stage in terms of doing exactly what is needed to maximize his stars’ output. He consistently places himself in entry roles during low-utility site breaches and throws great utility to set his stars up for kills. The scoreboard will never reflect his true value to this team, as he genuinely plays like a Real-Time Strategy game with some impressive units.
paiN
biguzera has already proven himself in some of the biggest tournaments, with an attention-grabbing Copenhagen campaign that led to paiN achieving a 9th–11th finish (2–3 in the Elimination Stage) after defeating The Mongolz and Heroic in Bo3s.
Now, his team is picking up the slack. There is a strong case building that nqz is the best AWPer from South America at this point. A 1.39 rating at the Americas RMR, a 1.11 at the Opening Stage, and most importantly, a huge improvement since a poor showing at the previous Major. Since then, he has posted a 1.13 rating overall, though he is known to fall off against better opposition (only a 1.03 versus Top 30 teams).
Snow has been a welcome addition in terms of firepower from more supportive roles, but also mentality. It has been a talking point for some time that this 17-year-old is the loudest and most brazen of the bunch. The huge uptick I’ve loved the most, though, has been from kauez. Despite playing mostly anchor and extremity roles, his gamesense has dramatically improved in the last month. A 1.21 rating from those positions is almost surely unsustainable, but if he can harness some of that momentum in the latter stages of the Major, they may build a case as the most well-rounded Brazilian team.
On top of that, I haven’t even mentioned lux yet. His individual efforts during the Opening Stage led to some key map victories for them. In the match versus Cloud9, he went 21–14 and was instrumental in space-taking on Anubis. Absurd spray transfers along with a fearlessness that busted open bombsites for paiN led to a 1.33 rating, carrying his team. He also knows how to peel away after taking space, confident in the fear he’s struck into his opposition. A very well-rounded game for a space-taker is always appreciated, even if he is frequently tasked with the hardest entry roles.
Conclusion (and FURIA)
Simply put, FURIA hasn’t passed my eye test. The game planning versus MOUZ in the semifinals of IEM Rio was disastrous. I don’t think the individual players are bad in their roles, but I don’t feel like they can execute their plans as cleanly as they would hope. I’ve seen disconnected mid-rounds and poor pacing choices.
Kscerato may very well be surpassed by insani at this point as the most impactful Brazilian player overall. FURIA will always have experience, but the young guns aren’t just nipping at their heels—they’re biting.
