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ESL One Germany 2020 Playoffs Preview

ESL One Germany 2020 is quickly approaching its Playoffs Stage and the Quarterfinals matches look exciting. In this article,... Radu M. | 21. October 2020

ESL One Germany 2020 is quickly approaching its Playoffs Stage and the Quarterfinals matches look exciting. In this article, I will take a quick look at each of them and give you my predictions.

Team Secret – Team Nigma

Team Secret has been the best team of 2020. And the skill difference between them and the rest of the pack is enormous. Puppey and his squad managed to win no less than 8 trophies this year and in all likelihood, they will win their 9th at this event. There is absolutely nobody that could stop them, with one exception: Alliance. But even s4’s team is lightyears behind Secret in terms of cohesion and understanding of the meta.

Team Nigma is missing its captain and came close to elimination in the Group Stage of ESL One Germany 2020. Their record was ultimately 3 W – 2 L. But even in their decisive match, they had to make a comeback from 0 – 1.

When you compare these two teams, it’s obvious that Secret has all the advantages. I expect them to not only win, but to do it without losing a single game. The odds of a 2 – 0 result in this match are probably above 90%.

Team Liquid – mudgolems

These two teams already met in this tournament, in the first round of the Group Stage. Liquid won that match with a score of 2 – 0 and then went on to have a great run. Only Secret managed to beat them. Na’Vi and 5men got crushed. Based on these results, I think it’s safe to assume that Liquid is the favorite here. FATA and 33 may have great experience, but their roster as a whole is not that spectacular. Against weaker opponents, they shine. But when it comes to the big teams, they still have a lot of problems to patch in their playstyle.

I expect the end result for this match to be 2 – 1 in favor of Liquid.

OG – Natus Vincere

OG had relatively smooth sailing in the Group Stage of ESL One Germany 2020, but their results are not exactly relevant. The opponents they faced were weak. The only exception is Alliance. But Alliance beat them. The other 3 teams they played against were Winstrike, Vikin.gg, and YellowSubmarine. Vikin.gg is decent, but not amazing, while the other two are extremely weak for this competitive level.

Natus Vincere had a rougher time and needed 5 matches to qualify. Like OG, they lost against the tough opponents (Liquid and mudgolems) and only managed to win against the weak ones. Subsequently, it’s hard to predict which of the two teams will win this match. The last time they met each other, Na’Vi won. But the CIS team has been showing clear signs of weakness since the start of this tournament.

Vikin.gg – Alliance

Alliance managed to beat both NiP and OG at this tournament, so I don’t expect them to lose against a much weaker opponent. Nikobaby and the rest of his crew are clearly in great shape and will likely finish in the top 3. If they don’t win this match with a score of 2 – 0, then they should at least win with a score of 2 – 1. But I don’t see how they could possibly lose when they qualified with 3 consecutive wins while Vikin.gg barely made it through.

 

Photo credit: Valve