Will DarkZero Secure a Second Major Win?

In August, we witnessed DarkZero dethroning the reigning champions of North American Siege, Spacestation Gaming. In NAL Stage 2, they have now managed to achieve first place as well. But are they really in a good position to win a second Major?

With their first-place finish in the US Division Stage 2, they have proven to be able to surpass virtually all top teams less than a month ago. Their 2-0 victories over TSM and Oxygen looked particularly impressive. Spacestation, the region’s former top team, is struggling with performance issues and had to make a detour through the Major Qualification after only securing a fourth place in Stage 2.

ARE THE ODDS STACKED AGAINST DARKZERO?

Of course they have the results on their side. Following victories over TSM and Oxygen, they are set up pretty well, but they did lose the Winners’ Final of Group A to Spacestation Gaming pretty decisively. The only team they didn’t manage to beat in Stage 2 will now face them in the Opening Match already. So we will get to see the exact same pairings from August once again.

Spacestation Gaming will immediately get a shot at flipping the Major on its head. Should they win over DarkZero, the title holders will drop down to the Lower Bracket. There, Kyle “Mint” Lander and company will have to contend with either TSM or Oxygen. Obviously, this wouldn’t spell the end for DarkZero. Even from the Lower Bracket, they can still win this tournament. BDS have thoroughly demonstrated this with their incredible reverse sweep in the August Major. But there is one even more important factor to consider.

The figures show that DZ haven’t exactly experienced a positive development in recent months. Paul “Hyper” Kontopanagiotis was the undoubted top player of Stage 1, but dropped from a 1.33 rating down to a 1.16 rating in Stage 2. Matthew “Hotancold” Stevens, the August Major MVP, has been hit even harder: with a 0.98 rating, he has delivered a considerably worse performance throughout the second Stage.

TSM, however, have planted four of their players in the Top 10. Jason “Beaulo” Doty and Matthew “Achieved” Solomon placed third and first, respectively. All TSM players have secured positive ratings, making them the individually strongest roster in Stage 2. They’re entering this Major on a performance high.

On top of that, this event is taking place offline. For this Major, Ubisoft have prepared a studio in which the players can finally play out a LAN event again. But this isn’t good news for DarkZero, as SSG are offline beasts. Their victory at the Six Invitational 2020 is a great example for this and generally, a LAN environment suits them much better than online competition.

NO HYPER AT THE MAJOR?

This close to the Major, another serious problem has sprung up. Apparently, Hyper is battling some undisclosed health issues, which puts a question mark around his participation at the November Major. In such a case, their coach, Brandon “BC” Carr, would have to step in. Despite Hyper not having as much impact on his team’s success during Stage 2, he is still a vital component. Naturally, his absence would flip everything on its head. The final decision on this will be only be made on match-day.

So DarkZero have some hurdles to overcome. On one side they have their rivalry with Spacestation Gaming, on the other side the individual development of the entire TSM roster. If Hyper really were to drop out last minute, DZ will have a rather hard time keeping their Major streak alive.