StarLadder Berlin Major 2019: Format, Participating Teams & Favourites; All You Need To Know

Background

Counter-Strike Global Offensive's 15th Major will head to Germany for the fourth time in the game's history. But for the first time, Cologne won't be the host but Germany's capital Berlin will host their first-ever CSGO Major.

StarLadder will also host their first-ever Major after hosting several high profile tournaments over the game's seven-year history.

The Ukraine-based Tournament Organisers will be the first CIS organization to host a Major.

But the Russian region will have to wait for a Major to be hosted on their soil as StarLadder chose Berlin as their host. Germany has previously hosted three Majors in 2014, 2015 and 2016 all being the annual ESL One Cologne tournament.

The tournament will host 24 teams from all over the world. Players will be representing a record 33 countries beating the previous Katowice Major's record of 27.

Brazil and Russia will be the most heavily represented countries with 15 players each. Players representing Uzbekistan, Serbia, and Azerbaijan will be making their debut in the Major.

The prize pool will be similar to the previous Majors with $1,000,000 up for grabs. The winner of the tournament will take home $500,000.

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Format

The tournament will have three primary stages: The Challengers, The Legends, and The Champions Stage.

The Challengers Stage will see the 11 Minor Challengers and the five Returning Challengers compete for eight spots in the Legends Stage.(This irregularity is due to Cloud9 failing to retain their Challenger spot, as a result, additional Minor spot was opened up).

The teams will battle each other in a 16-team Swiss System. All the teams will be seeded first using the Player-Selected Seeding format. In this format, all the teams will rank themselves and the other 15 sides as they seem fit. If any bias is found, the entry will be rejected.

After the first round matches, every team will be matched against others with the same record. So the losing teams from the first round will face each other while the winners will lock horns.

These matches will be decided using an Advanced Elo system which will keep updating as the tournament proceeds.

Teams with three wins will advance to the next stage. The sides who lose 3 games will be eliminated.

Every match will be played as a Best-of-1(Just 1 map) except elimination and advancement matches (i.e. teams with an 2-x, x-2 or 2-2 record) which will be played as Best-of-3(3 Maps) matches.

The Legends Stage will have the 8 qualified teams from The Challengers Stage and the 8 returning Legends. The format of this stage will be exactly similar to that of the Challengers Stage. The bottom 8 teams who lose 3 games will be eliminated while the top 8 teams who win 3 games will qualify for the Champions Stage. Out of the bottom 8 teams who are eliminated, 6 will earn Challenger status for the next Major while the bottom 2 teams won't.

The Champions Stage is essentially the playoffs. The 8 teams are drawn against each other in a single-elimination bracket. All matches are Best-of-3. All teams that qualify for The Champions Stage will earn 'Legend Status' and will secure qualification to the next Major as Legends.

The Challengers Stage of the Major will begin on 23rd August and run till 26th August. The Legends Stage will begin on 28th August and end on 1st September. Finally, the Champions Stage will take commence on 5th September with the Grand Finals on 8th September.

Participating Teams

The teams will be primarily divided into 3 categories: The Legends, The Returning Challengers and The Minor Challengers.

The Legends of Katowice

The Legends

World Rank #1 Team Liquid - Liquid became the first-ever North American team to become the number one team in the world. They have dominated the scene in the past 5 months speedrunning the Intel Grandslam Season 2 in 4 out of 4 tournaments. Their domination has made them the biggest favorite to win this Major.

Line-up: Twistzz, NAF, Stewie2k, Nitro, and Elige. Coach - Adren

World Rank #3 Astralis - We haven't seen a team dominate the CSGO scene as much as Astralis did the past year. The won the last two Majors becoming the 3rd team to win back to back Majors. But their era conclusively ended as in the past 4 months Liquid began their dominance over the scene. Regardless, they are still favorites to win the tournament.

Line-up: Device, Dupreeh, Glaive, Xyp9x and Magisk. Coach - Zonic

World Rank #4 ENCE Esports - ENCE were the biggest surprise of the last year. The community made a meme "Ez for Ence" which became a reality when Ence made it to the Grand Finals of the last Major at Katowice. They will go into the Berlin Major as favorites.

Line-up: Aleksib, Sergej, Allu, XSeven and Aerial. Coach - Twista

World Rank #6 FaZe Clan - Faze are still one of the strongest teams in the world. Although they haven't challenged Liquid and Astralis for the title of the best team in the world in a long time, they still have an immensely talented team and are expected to become Legends again

Line-up: Niko, Rain, Guardian, Olofmeister, and Neo. Coach - YNK

World Rank #7 Natus Vincere - Na'vi boast having the best player in the world on their line-up, S1mple. Having changed their line-up between the Majors they are looking stronger than their last line-up did. They are also favorites to become Legends as well.

Line-up: S1mple, Zeus, Electronic, Boombl4, and Flamie. Coach - Kane

World Rank #11 Ninjas in Pyjamas - Although the organization has come under heavy fire from controversial accusations from several former players, they will take part in the Major as Legends. This will also mark their iconic player Get_Right's final Major with them.

Line-up: Rez, Lekro, Golden, Forest, and Get_Right. Coach - Pita

World Rank #14 Made in Brazil - MiBR can be considered as a sinking ship. Not only has the team failed to win a tournament in a long, long time but they just lost their biggest star Coldzera. They managed a top 8 finish at the last Major but will probably struggle to repeat it.

Line-up: Fallen, Fer, Taco, Lucas1, and Zews.

World Rank #17 Renegades - Renegades had a dream run at Katowice managing to finish in the top 8. But their run came to a crashing end as they followed it up with a string of poor results. They will enter as the lowest-ranked Legend in the tournament.

Line-up: AZR, Jks, Jkaem, Gratisfaction, and Liazz. Coach - Kassad

The Returning Challengers

World Rank #2 Vitality - Vitality rose up the ranks of CSGO teams in record speed. Like Ence, they surprised everyone with a strong showing at the last Major but they followed it up with even Top 2 finishes in several tournaments. They are favorites to be Legends and might just shock everyone by winning it all.

Line-up: NBK, Apex, Zywoo, Alex, and Rpk. Coach - XTQZZ

World Rank #8 G2 Esports - G2 have returned to their form after the Katowice Major. They even finished 2nd in ESL Pro League finals. Still, they are not expected to trouble the top contenders that much.

Line-up: Shox, KennyS, Lucky, Jackz and Alex. Coach - Malek

World Rank #26 Complexity - Complexity will be returning to the Major with a new line-up infused with young talent. However, they aren't expected to perform well or even make Legends.

Line-up: Dephh, Shahzam, Rickeh, Sick, and Obo. Coach - Warden

World Rank #31 Avangar - Avangar were one of the surprises of the last Major. Led by star sniper Jame, they managed to get a Challengers spot but it has gone downhill for them ever since and they aren't expected to make it too far in this Major.

Line-up: Adren, Sanji, Buster, Qikert and Jame. Coach - Dastan

World Rank #32 HellRaisers - HellRaisers had a turbulent season. They had several changes to their roster over and over again. As a result they nearly lost their Challengers status but due to some rule changes, they can field a team but aren't allowed a coach.

Line-up: Ange1, Issaa, Oskar, Nukkye and IoWel.

The Minor Challengers

World Rank #5 NRG Esports - North America's second-best team is undoubtedly NRG at this point. They recently changed their in-game leader after removing Daps and have looked just as strong under new leaders, Stanislaw. They are expected to become Legends easily.

Line-up: Tarik, Ethan, Cerq, Stanislaw and Brehze. Coach - ImAPet

World Rank #9 Furia Esports - Furia has been Brazil's brightest over the past few months. Since MiBR's decline, Brazil had taken a backseat in the CSGO pro scene but Furia has taken it upon themselves to bring Brazil back on top. They can easily become Legends.

Line-up: Kscerato, Yuurih, ArT, Vini, and AbleJ. Coach - Guerri

World Rank #10 Mousesports - Mousesports infamously missed the last Major becoming one of the strongest teams to ever miss a Major. They shuffled their roster and now have finally made it back to the Major. They certainly have what it takes to be Legends easily.

Line-up: ChrisJ, Ropz, Karrigan, Frozen, and Woxic. Coach - Rejin

World Rank #12 North - North also missed the last Majors infamously losing to teams outside the top 50. They finally have made it back to the Major. With the talent they have they are capable of becoming Legends but given their recent results, it seems unlikely.

Line-up: Kjaerbye, Aizy, Valde, Gade, and Jugi. Coach - MithR

World Rank #16 Cr4zy - Formerly known as Valiance, Crazy have pulled off an upset over a few European teams and qualified for the Major. They are an up and coming squad and might make it far, although it seems highly unlikely.

Line-up: Letn1, OttoNd, Hunter, Nexa, and Espiranto. Coach - Emi

World Rank #22 Forze - Forze qualified through the CIS Minor and will be making their debut at a Major. Their entire line-up are new and will play a Major for the first time.

Line-up: Facecrack, Jerry, Xsepower, Almazer, and Fl1t. Coach - Little

World Rank #25 Grayhound - Australia's Grayhound have qualified for their second consecutive Major. They are not expected to go much further though.

Line-up: Dickstacy, ErkaSt, Malta, Dexter, and Sico. Coach - Neil M

World Rank #33 Tyloo - Tyloo are Asia's best team. They usually put up decent performances at Majors but had a really bad showing in the last Major. They aren't expected to go much farther in the tournament.

Line-up: Somebody, BnTet, Summer, Attacker, and Freeman.

World Rank #34 INTZ Esports - INTZ were Brazil's strongest team after MiBR before Furia came around. They failed to qualify for several high profile tournaments but have made it to the Major. However, they aren't expected to go much far.

Line-up: Kngv, Chelo, Xand, Destiny, and YeL. Coach - Apoka

World Rank #40 Syman Gaming - Syman qualified through the CIS Minor and will be making their debut at Majors. They are complete newcomers and much isn't expected.

Line-up: NeaLaN, Torick, Perfecto, Ramz1k, and Keoz. Coach - Solaar

World Rank #41 DreamEaters - DreamEaters are the lowest-ranked team in the Major. They will also be making their debut in Majors.

Line-up: Speed4k, Kinqie, Krad, Forester, and Svyat. Coach - ZoneR

Astralis are the 2-time defending Major Champions

The Majors are CSGO's biggest tournaments of the year. These are some of the most popular esports events of the year. Astralis are the defending Champions and while they will look to make it 3 times in a row, several teams will be looking to spoil their dreams.

Favorites to Win

Astralis are one of the obvious choices to win. Although they haven't won a tournament since winning Blast Sao Paolo in March. They skipped several premier events since the last Major and their lack of match practice showed in the more recent tournaments. Regardless of their form, they are still one of the strongest teams to ever play CSGO and will look to become the first team ever to win 4 Majors.

However, Team Liquid are actual on-paper favorites to win the Berlin Major. Liquid has won the last 5 tournaments they have played. Not only did they win, they dominated every team in the tournament. People are expecting similar dominance from them and Liquid will be hoping to win NA's second-ever Major.

Vitality and ENCE are two of the other favorites to win the tournament. Relatively new to the tier 1 scene, Vitality and ENCE have reached the summit of CSGO in record time. They are certainly favorites to win if they can pull off an upset on Liquid.

Na'vi also deserves a mention considering S1mple is at the helm of the team. But they will certainly require more than S1mple's firepower to win the Major.

Dark Horses

Almost like a trend, Faze Clan are Dark Horses once again. They have not been on top for well over a year now but have never actually declined in form. They always seem one victory away from again reaching their glory days. They will be hoping the Major is the one.

Furia has replaced MiBR as the top Brazilian team and they even managed a huge upset over Astralis a couple of months ago. They have that immense upset potential and they can go the distance shocking everyone.

Mousesports are one of the other teams that will trouble the favorites. Led by Karrigan they have immense talent and can easily upset any team on their best day. The sheer unpredictability of the team makes them extremely dangerous.

NRG are the final dark horse we'll talk about. They are 5th on the rankings and on paper looks like one of the best teams in the world. But they have failed to actually win or even make the grand finals of a premier tournament in almost a year.

The Challengers Stage - Predictions

The Challengers Stage will have 5 teams returning as Challengers and 11 teams qualifying through Minors. The 5 returning teams are Complexity, Avangar, Vitality, G2, and HellRaisers. The 11 teams which qualified through the Minors are Mousesports, Cr4zy, North, NRG, Furia, INTZ, Forze, Syman, DreamEaters, Tyloo and Grayhound.

The 8 teams I pick that will qualify from this stage are Mousesports, NRG, Furia, INTZ, North, Vitality, G2 and Cr4zy.

The Legends Stage - Predictions

The Legends stage will have 8 teams from the previous stage and the 8 Legends. The 8 Legends are Astralis, Ence, Na'vi, Liquid, Renegades, NiP, Faze and MiBR.

The 8 teams I pick to go through to the Champions Stage are Astralis, Ence, Liquid, and Faze from among the Legends. Also, Vitality, Mousesports, Furia, and NRG if they indeed make it through the Challengers Stage.

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The Major will be streamed live on StarLadder's official twitch channel. Anyone can also create a CSGO account to watch the games live using the CSGO Game client.