The CS:GO Asia Championships schedule has been set, the groups are drawn and the teams are ready.
As well as the schedule, latest standings, live stream and bracket details, Counter-Strike writer Tim Masters takes a look at the teams taking part in the $500,000 LAN in Shanghai.
Schedule
The CS:GO Asia Championships 2019 take place from November 20th to November 24th, with group matches played on the first two days and the playoff bracket split over the final two days.
Picture: Copyright ESL / Bart Oerbekke
Asia Championships live streams: All matches live at Luckbox
The tournament features eight teams divided into two groups with those who perform best in the CS:GO Asia Championships standings progressing to the playoff bracket - the top team from each group advances to the semifinals, while the second and third teams from each group go into the quarterfinals.
Group A
- Evil Geniuses
- G2 Esports
- MIBR
- TYLOO
Group B
- AVANGAR
- ENCE
- mousesports
- ViCi Gaming
The CS:GO Asia Championships schedule is formed as the tournament progresses, with matches dependent on previous results and how teams fare in the standings.
The opening matches are:
Wednesday, November 20th
G2 vs TYLOO 4am CET
EG vs MIBR 7am CET
ENCE vs ViCi Gaming 11am CET
AVANGAR vs mousesports - 2pm CET
Predictions and preview
It’s been an exciting few days for fans of CS:GO, who have new maps to play with, new skins to grind towards, and even a cheaper, more efficient FAMAS to complain about with the latest patch.
There are potentially massive changes to the competitive landscape coming off the back of these moves, but for now we will have to wait as the LANs coming this weekend are going to be played on the previous patch.
That’s not a bad thing for the guys attending the CS:GO Asia Championships, the second massive tournament in China in a matter of weeks, as they won’t have to learn anything new overnight.
It may be money, it may be a lack of credible alternatives in the west, but it seems like the big EU and NA teams are more inclined to travel east for their bread as 2019 comes to a close, meaning we have a stacked event to look forward to.
Picture: Copyright ESL / Stephanie Lieske
Group A
Phrases such as "group of death" are overused and, to be honest, the CS:GO Asia Championships event is lacking a few of the elite competitors, with ESL Pro League and other commitments making it hard to get everyone in the same room at the same time.
However, Group A looks like the quality half of this tournament, with the winners set for a bye to the semi finals, where they’ll face the runners up from Group B or the 3rd place team from Group A.
If the jetlag thing is real, and affecting the US teams more, then Evil Geniuses have no excuses for playing badly here as they’ve had time to acclimatise to the Chinese way now.
With G2, MIBR and TYLOO in their half of the draw the North Americans should come in feeling good about their chances, and with all matches being BO3 there are few excuses available to teams that let their fans down.
EG’s recent, China-based losses have come at the hands of FaZe, and a 2-0 series win over TYLOO means Stan and his men will feel confident about facing the home team.
Their last meeting with G2 was a 2-0 win back at ESL One NY, and while they’ve not faced MIBR as EG, there should be little stress involved given historical results and current form. Expect EG and G2 to top the group, with Tyloo most likely to leave empty-handed and struggle to make an impact on the CS:GO Asia Championships standings.
Group B
Six months ago, this would be have a really interesting group to preview, with the excellence of ENCE pitted against the stoicism and unique style AVANGAR bring to the game.
On top of that there is karrigan’s exciting new mousesports team, that looked set to make a real impact at the Major, and the unpredictable beast that is ViCi Gaming, a team that can win any BO1 and make big guns sweat in a BO3.
Sadly, this isn’t the start of 2019, but the end, meaning that all signs suggest we are also closer to the end of ENCE than the EZ phase.
Picture: Copyright ESL / Bart Oerbekke
The decline of the first elite Finnish team CS:GO had seen in some time has probably been the saddest story of 2019, outside of what Valve have done to the game itself, and the team that made a Major final earlier in the year look like a decent shout to get third in Group B if things go to form.
AVANGAR are the subjects of much derision from western analysts and fans, but of the four teams in Group B they have had the best time of it of late, and will feel confident of getting out in the top two at least.
For that top spot, that guarantees a bye to the semis, they will have to beat mousesports, but so far karrigan hasn’t managed to unlock all the potential of his team and that series could go either way.
Expect fireworks
That’s about the shape of things then, with Group A looking to be EG’s to lose and Group B more up in the air, but likely to be won by AVANGAR or Mouz.
With a week under their belt in China, it will be interesting to see how EG play this time around, and if the famously enigmatic Chinese crowd gets into the swing of the CS:GO Asia Championships - which promises to be very high-quality Counter-Strike event indeed.
