The FACEIT Major: London 2018 begun two weeks ago with 24 teams and has whittled down to the final eight Counter-Strike: Global Offensive professional teams. The last eight teams have solidified their spot in the IEM Katowice Major in 2019 and now enter the new Champions Stage with their eyes on the $1 million prize pool.
The final eight teams are compLexity Gaming, MIBR, BIG, Natus Vincere (Navi), Team Liquid, HellRaisers, Astralis, and FaZe Clan. All eight of these teams have gone through a grueling battle to get where they are, and some have pulled off upsets to earn their spot too. The FACEIT Major: London 2018 is the final major tournament for CSGO and every major esports website is covering it, including the top CSGO betting sites as well.
The ‘New Champions Stage’ is a single-elimination bracket with all the matches being a best-of-three. The Buchholz system was used to seed the quarterfinal matches. The quarterfinal match-ups are compLexity Gaming vs. MIBR, BIG vs. Navi, Team Liquid vs. HellRaisers, and Astralis vs. FaZe Clan. Every match can be seen on Twitch or Steam.tv.
Astralis and Navi were the heavy favorites entering the major and they’ve yet to disappoint. The two teams avoided the initial stage since they were current legends from the previous major. In the new legends stage in the London Major, Astralis and Navi both went 3-1 in their matches. Astralis ended up facing three teams that made it to the final eight, defeating Navi and MIBR and falling to Team Liquid. Astralis also defeated Vega Squadron. Navi had a more accessible path if its based on teams that advanced because Navi defeated FaZe Clan, NiP, and Fnatic. It’s expected that these two teams advance from the quarterfinals and potentially meet in the finals.
Team Liquid and FaZe Clan are no underdogs by any means, but they aren’t considered on the same level of favorites as Navi and Astralis. Team Liquid ranks No. 3 in the latest HLTV rankings, while FaZe Clan ranks No. 4. Team Liquid was a part of the ‘New Challengers Stage,’ which means they’ve had to go through two stages to reach the final stage. Team Liquid went 3-0 in both the new challengers and new legends stages. FaZe Clan was fortunate enough to only compete in the ‘New Legends Stage’ and had to play in all five rounds. FaZe started out 0-2 with losses to BIG and Navi but rebounded with three-straight victories over mousesports, TyLoo and G2 Esports. One of these teams will have to knock off No. 1 Astralis to advance in the tournament, with FaZe Clan drawing Astralis in the quarterfinals. Team Liquid could potentially face Astralis if they advance to the semifinals.
The last four teams shouldn’t be considered upsets if they win the tournament because of their stellar play so far to get to the finals. However, with, these teams are lower ranked to the other four teams already mentioned. BIG, compLexity Gaming and HellRaisers all battled their way through the two stages to earn a spot in the finals, while MIBR only had to play in the ‘New Legends Stage.’ CompLexity Gaming dominated during play as they went a total 6-1 in their matches, with its only loss coming to Astralis in the ‘New Challengers Stage.’ The other three teams didn’t fare as well but did enough to qualify for the finals. BIG and HellRaisers went 6-3 in their matches, while MIBR went 3-2.
One outside factor that might play a role in how these teams do will be the upcoming tournaments. FaZe Clan, Team Liquid and Navi are all competing at the ESL One: New York 2018. The New York tournament takes place only three days following the finals match in London. It’s unlikely that these teams overlook the competition, but it’s a common trend in any sporting event.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next few days in London. It’s been an exciting tournament already with a bunch of unexpected moments. Astralis and Navi should meet in the finals if it were based off rankings but will one of the other six teams pull off the upset.
