We’re only a few days on from the end of the FACEIT London Major, but CSGO never stops, and it’s time for a bit of action from the city that never sleeps.
Fresh from Astralis' stroll to victory in London, the circus moves across the pond for ESL One New York 2018.
Astralis do not feature in the Big Apple but the team they beat in the final at Wembley, Na'Vi, are at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, along with seven other rivals.
ESL One New York 2018 schedule
ESL One New York 2018 runs from September 26 to September 30.
Group stages
Matches will be played on September 26, 27 and 28 in a double-elimination bracket, with four teams qualifying for the playoffs stage in front a live crowd on September 29 and 30.
There are two groups of four who play best-of-three, with the top two teams qualifying for the play-offs.
Semi-final matches are BO3, with the grand final BO5.
ESL One New York fixtures
Latest CSGO fixtures and results
Group A Upper Bracket
- Na'Vi 1-2 Gambit
- Fnatic 1-2 mousesports
Group A Lower Bracket
- Navi 2-0 Fnatic
Group B Upper Bracket
- FaZe 1-2 G2
- NRG 1-2 Team Liquid
Group B Lower Bracket
- FaZe 0-2 NRG
Group A Winners' Match
- Gambit 1-2 Mousesports
Group B Winners' Match
- G2 Esports 0-2 Team Liquid
Group A decider match
- Gambit 2-0 Na'Vi
Group B decider match
- G2 0-2 NRG
Semi-finals
- mousesports 2-0 NRG
- Team Liquid 2-0 Gambit
Final
- mousesports 3-2 Team Liquid
ESL One New York final
ESL One New York 2018 teams
Group A
- Na'Vi
- mousesports
- Fnatic
- Gambit
Group B
- FaZe
- Team Liquid
- NRG
- G2
ESL One New York predictions
Luckbox's Tim Masters runs the rule over the teams in action in New York and suggests some ESL One New York predictions.
The big guns
Na'Vi
If there is a favourite for this event it has to be the world number-two team, who lost in the final of the Major just a few days ago. However, after such a big loss, there are two ways the team could go - either bouncing back, or into a slump, and we should not assume a roster as temperamental and tempestuous as Na'Vi's will just shake it off like a Taylor Swift breakup.
Having said that, they are still the best team at this tournament and have probably two of the three best players in the world right now in s1mple and electronic, so it is not going to be easy for the others to stop the CIS mix. Overall, you should expect them to make the final at least, and hope that their stars turn up with a point to prove.
Team Liquid
If the title does not go to the London finalists then it really should be Team Liquid's for the taking. While their best-of-one win over Astralis can look like a red herring in the context of the BO3 they lost later on, there is a degree of inexperience that has to be taken into account, too, which certainly allowed the Danes to win the game more comfortably than might be the case.
If you want proof of that, look at the way dev1ce played in London. It took the star sniper years to get to the point where he could even play his average level in big games, let alone his best, and if you compare the way Liquid's young stars acquitted themselves with how other such talents have grown, things still look very bright for the American mix.
Mousesports
Some people had Mousesports as an outside pick for the FACEIT London Major, which was about as spot-on as the sourcing for practice PCs at the event. The team have loads of talent and potential to improve hugely, but internal problems have soured things of late and it seems as though that is only going to get worse before it gets better.
The addition of snacks to a diet can make you fat and slow, and the addition of Snax to Mousesports hasn't exactly taken them to new heights, either. Blaming it all on the Polish player is unfair, of course, as he has not deliberately played badly, but the reality is that most said this move was a mistake when he replaced STYKO, and so far those people turned out to be right.
NRG
A lot of fans were very upset about the fact NRG didn't make it to London, but not half as upset as the talent. The hiring of daps to the analyst desk at the FACEIT Major enriched the broadcast in a number of ways, but he got a lot of passive-aggressive hate on Twitter from names in the scene who felt they were more deserving of a spot on the desk.
Well, it is time for daps and his talented young crew to prove they can also turn heads on the server, and what better way to do that than making a deep run here. With the players being constantly connected with moves away, it's also a shop window if they are looking to pursue such a career change, so keep your eyes on NRG over the next few days.
The outsiders
Fnatic
While they are not a team you expect to make headlines in the game, there is a very good reason to watch Fnatic at this event, where they are playing with a stand-in. Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom is due to wear the famous grey jersey in New York, where he has replaced the departed Robin 'flusha' Rönnquist after the most successful core in CSGO history finally came to an end.
There is little chance their performance is going to improve drastically, but it is clear that one element they are keen to fix is the in-game atmosphere, where flusha was clearly no longer participating in good faith. This is the start of a healing journey for Fnatic, and most likely the last chance for JW to prove he can hang at this level before the org rebuilds completely.
FaZe
If any team should be thinking about changes now, it should be FaZe Clan. Sure, there are plenty of teams that also did badly at the Major and many were out long before FaZe, but the fundamental fact remains that this team completely melted down even with their full line-up and Olofmeister in god mode, and eventually changed in-game leader to avoid going out of the tournament.
The question really comes down to what they need to change, but the reality is that the current team is not working. Cutting Karrigan is probably the first move you make at this point, but there are arguments for three of the five to be sacked or replaced, depending on how the market looks. If they continue to the end of 2018 with this team, however, you can expect them to repeat their failure in Katowice.
G2
If you want to talk about expensive failures, the current G2 team has to be right up there in the conversation with Jose Mourinho and that hotel in North Korea. Initially spending nearly €30k-a-month per player for the French superteam did not work out for Ocelote, so he benched apEX and NBK to bring in Ex6TenZ and former coach SmithZz, with the sort of results youíd expect, given their previous level.
Even the most rabid fanboys for Ex6 have gone quiet these days, although they'll probably just wait until he's back at the bottom and then blame his team mates for the way G2 failed, but the people in charge of money need to do better. Shox looked good at the Major, but bodyy, SmithZz and Ex6 are dead weight, and even kennyS is only there for his potential at the moment.
Gambit
According to many industry sources, Gambit were done as a CSGO team after the FACEIT Major, but yet here they are. Placing their best player on the transfer list certainly doesnít smack of a team full of ambition, but it may be that Hobbit has expressed a desire to play at the top level, something he is capable of, but his team are not any more.
According to available information Hobbit will be on the team for ESL One New York, and that might work out for them with the player looking to sell himself and in the proverbial "shop window", but long-term there are some hard choices to make for the organisation.
ESL One New York live stream
CSGO fans can find a list of ESL One New York live streams here.
ESL One New York prize pool
The total prize pool is $250,000. ESL One New York is an Intel Grand Slam event, which offers teams the chance to win a $1m bonus if they can win four contests out of 10.
ESL One New York talent
Stage Host: OJ Borg (Oliver James Borg D'Anastasi)
Desk Host: stunna (Tres Saranthus)
Analysts:
- PUNJ (Chad Burchill)
- Maniac (Mathieu Quiquerez)
- Thorin (Duncan Shields)
Commentators:
- Sadokist (Matthew Trivett)
- HenryG (Henry Greer)
- Machine (Alex Richardson)
- Pansy (Lauren Scott)
Reporter: James Banks (James Banks)
Observers:
- Rushly (Alex Rush)
- Patricia (Patricia von Halle)
Main picture: Dan Nguyen / Flickr
