Astralis and Na'Vi lie in wait in the final four of the DreamHack Malmo bracket, with NIP, Fnatic, Vitality and mousesports in contention to join them in the semifinals.
Astralis will face the winners of NIP vs Fnatic, while Na'Vi are due to face Team Vitality or mousesports.
DreamHack Malmo bracket
Catch the action: All DreamHack Malmo live streams
Schedule of matches
Quarterfinal matches
Friday, October 4th, 2019
4pm CEST: NIP vs Fnatic
7.50pm CEST: Vitality vs mousesports
Semifinals
Saturday, October 5th, 2019
3pm CEST: Astralis vs NIP / Fnatic
6.50pm CEST: Na'Vi vs Vitality / mousesports
Final
5pm CEST: Winners of semifinal 1 vs winners of semifinal 2
Find the updated DreamHack Masters Malmo 2019 schedule, with all upcoming matches, live streams and results on the the Luckbox tournament page. You can make your predictions for the chance to win real cash - every new account starts with $5
Swede dreams
Apparently good events in CS:GO are like buses, in that you often wait for one for ages, and then loads come along at once, often just after you’ve accepted your fate and lit a cigarette. The pre-Major months were dominated by sniping on social media rather than headshots in game, as big names complained about Blast, the lack of good events, not being hired for events and anything else that crossed their path, but now we’re back and it’s better, baby.
Find the updated DreamHack Masters Malmo 2019 schedule, with all upcoming matches, live streams and results on the the Luckbox tournament page. You can make your predictions for the chance to win real cash - every new account starts with $5
Picture: Copyright ESL / Carlton Beener
Not just that, but we have a legitimate top three, and all it took was for Liquid to drop off their peak, allowing Astralis and NRG to close the gap. When NRG was sold to Evil Geniuses in a move that cost the org roughly $27m or so (the replacement CoD team is costing around $30m) just prior to the start of ESL One New York the number didn’t change, simply the number of letters in the team names, meaning we had a genuinely competitive event shaping up.
As it turned out, we got all that we could have wished for, with EG returning to make all the receding hairlines in North American CS smile, and now there is no wait for more of the same, as final stages of DreamHack Malmo bracket is almost upon us. The big three of Liquid, Astralis and EG will be in attendance, but might find it a bit harder to assert their dominance than was the case in NY, for reasons we shall now dive into…
Time waits for no man
The final of ESL One New York was epic, so much so that it seemed like only yesterday…no wait. That is really what is happening to Astralis, Liquid and EG, who fly from North America back to the civilised world to compete in this DreamHack less than 48hrs after ESL One NY finished. Jokes about America aside, this isn’t just the two NA teams, but also the ‘benchmark side’ for modern CS undergoing such a ridiculous schedule, and the players are clearly feeling the strain.
For this reason alone you should be expecting less from the top sides, and more of the surprise results that characterise online CSGO typically. Teams like Mousesports, Na’Vi and Vitality all have the talent to take on the top sides, and we’ve seen G2 also go head to head with the best despite their new line-up seeming to lack the star power we are used to seeing fill out the monochromatic jerseys Ocelote is so fond of.
Picture: Copyright ESL / Carlton Beener
EG, Liquid and Astralis should still be favourites for the event, alongside the aforementioned black and gold outfits, as both Na’Vi and Vitality have teams that look pretty intimidating on paper at least. The Zeus era does go a long way to tempering those expectations, but without the millstone of Kane, Edward and the man himself around s1mple and electronic’s neck we might see a better Na’Vi, and one deserving of the best player in CS history.
Liquid need this
Of all the top teams, it is Liquid who should be going hardest in the proverbial paint, having lost earlier than the other two in New York and also being the world’s number one team.
Astralis know the Major will keep the wolves from the door for some time, and EG are coming in on a high, but already have plenty of excuses ready for an underperformance with their epic NY victory and quick turnaround, no doubt after a night of a beverages with the boys in blue.
There is also a small chance that if Team Liquid bomb this event, which is perfectly possible with the field being so strong, that they aren’t even a unit by the end of the year, so this is bigger than it may seem initially.
Picture: Copyright ESL / Carlton Beener
The pack is more ravenous than was the case in the states, and the addition of Na’Vi, Vitality and mousesports to the group that went to NY only makes it more interesting for the neutral too, so tune in to see if EG can continue their good form, if the tide will rise for Liquid once again, or if another name will be added to the list of contenders at what might be the most open tier-one tournament of the year.
When is DreamHack Masters Malmo 2019?
The DreamHack Malmo bracket schedule runs from October 1st to October 6th 2019. The group stage matches are held from October 1st to October 3rd. The top three in each group progress to the playoffs, which are held on October 4th, 5th and 6th.
Initial matches are best-of-one. All other matches, including the final, are BO3.
