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The Favorites of DreamHack Masters Winter EU

DreamHack Masters Winter is right around the corner. After IEM Beijing, this is the next big event in the... Fabio | 29. November 2020

DreamHack Masters Winter is right around the corner. After IEM Beijing, this is the next big event in the calendar of most top teams, but two names are not on the list: Natus Vincere and Team Vitality. So who can snatch the trophy in the absence of the two most recent Grand Finalists?

WILL WE SEE THE CLOUD9/COMPLEXITY REMATCH?

For fans of the duel between the ‘colossus’ and the ‘juggernaut’, there might be more in store soon. Provided that Complexity win over ENCE and Cloud9 succeed against Gambit Esports, these two teams will meet again for a spot in the DreamHack Masters playoffs.

The mastermind of their recent victory, Alex “ALEX” McMeekin, has finally shown the potential that this roster has. But even with that phenomenal performance, it still got incredibly close. Cloud9 only survived on a 16-14 scoreline on Dust2. So Benjamin “blameF” Bremer has definitely got some material to go through now, which will help them prepare for their next meeting. This means that Cloud9 are once again in the hot seat. They’ll have to come up with a new game plan, otherwise Complexity may be able to take this match on the second attempt.

HOW WELL CAN HEROIC DELIVER?

During the BLAST Showdown, the Danes have suffered a striking blow. Their 1-2 defeat to mousesports was quite one-sided on the last two maps and revealed how much this team can actually underperform. However, this shouldn’t be an issue going up against c0ntact Gaming, as this team isn’t nearly on the same level – even at its best. But what happens if Heroic encounter FaZe in the Upper Bracket?

Granted, FaZe aren’t in their prime right now. Their exit from the BLAST Showdown was marked by an embarrassing defeat on Nuke. During the match against FURIA, they already held an 11-2 lead and eventually gave the map away in overtime. Following another 11-16 loss on Dust2, they were out of the tournament.

Team Spirit, who are renowned for their upset potential, can use this to their advantage. But even if they should fail to break FaZe, their match versus Heroic could already send them down to the Lower Bracket.

FURIA MIGHT FACE G2 AGAIN

At the beginning of the month, FURIA and G2 Esports already met during the BLAST Premier: Fall Regular Season. Back then, Kenny “kennyS” Schrub and his mates quickly advanced with a 2-0 win, but a lot has changed since then. The FURIA boys have now been on European soil for an entire month and have done well during the Showdown. But G2 have grown too and have already taken down some big top teams with Nikola “NiKo” Kovač on board.

So the Brazilians’ progress might not be enough to counter the individuals on the G2 camp. Prior to that, they also have to deal with North, which shouldn’t pose too much of a challenge. The Danish team wasn’t very good even before they decided to bench Philip “aizy” Aistrup and their shotcaller, Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen. So FURIA should be able to continue on to the Upper Bracket, just like G2 Esports should win over their newly announced opponents, Nemiga.

IS A LIQUID VERSUS ASTRALIS MATCH ON THE HORIZON?

We might be able to witness the ‘el clasico’ of 2018 and 2019 again. Team Liquid will have to survive against mousesports, while Astralis will have to succeed over GODSENT. The latter is very much a safe bet, as GODSENT have worsened since their signing of a new in-game-leader. So far, Luka “emi” Vuković has not been able to lead this team like Kevin “kRYSTAL” Amend did. Obviously, that shouldn’t be expected of him this early on, but this won’t help them at all in their fight against Astralis.

On the other side, Liquid are competing against mousesports. Both have made it to the final phase of the BLAST Premier: Fall Showdown, but Liquid have definitely had a tougher time – against weaker opponents, however. On top of that, mousesports have delivered beautifully against Heroic.

The two groups of DreamHack Masters Winter EU offer great potential for exciting matches and give teams like Cloud9 the chance to show that they can perform consistently. For Astralis, this is an opportunity to prove that the old roster can still deliver on its premise, without the support of Patrick “es3tag” Hansen. But Complexity, Heroic, and mousesports too want to prove that they can set themselves apart from the masses.