CS:GO – DreamHack Open November 2021 Preview

DreamHack Open November 2021 is set to commence today. Eight teams will fight for a place in the Playoffs, with the Grand Final winner qualifying for ESL Pro League Conference Season 15, a direct qualifier for the grand ESL Pro League Season 15.

Details

DreamHack Open November 2021 is set to take place online, with a total prize pool of $100,000. Starting on 10th November, it is a 5-day tournament with no breaks between the Group Stage and the Playoffs. The Grand Final is set to take place on 14th November.

Competitors

The 8 competing teams are:

• ENCE
• MOUZ
• BIG Clan
• MAD Lions
• Team Spirit
• forZe
• fnatic
• GamerLegion

The teams are arranged in their world-rank number manner; the best at the top.

Group A consists of BIG, MOUZ, MAD Lions, and Team GamerLegion.
Group B consists of ENCE, Team Spirit, fnatic, and forZe.

Prizes and Format

The winner of the tournament will be awarded $50,000 while the runner-up gets $20,000. The 3rd-4th placed teams will earn $10,000. 5th-6th and 7th-8th placed teams will earn $3,000 and $2,000 respectively.

The winner of the tournament will also receive 100 ESL Pro Tour points. The runner-up will earn 80 points. The 3rd-4th placed teams and 5th-6th placed teams will earn 40 and 20 points respectively. The bottom two teams will not earn any points.

The Group Stage consists of 2 groups, with four teams each. It’s of round-robin format, with double-elimination in place. The top two teams of each group will advance into the Playoffs.

The Playoffs consist of two Bo3 semifinals and a Bo5 Grand Finals.

How Did the Teams Qualify?

Four of the eight teams – ENCE, BIG, MOUZ, and Team Spirit – were directly invited to the tournament. The other four – MAD Lions, fnatic, GamerLegion and forZe – qualified from DreamHack Open November 2021: Closed Qualifier. MAD Lions went on a flawless run to qualify by beating Entropiq and SKADE 2-0. fnatic were undefeated as well, but they weren’t as clean as MAD Lions, as they defeated both Eternal Fire and GamerLegion 2-1.

GamerLegion had to struggle more than MAD Lions and fnatic, as they lost to the latter in UB Round 2. In LB Round 2, they had to make a comeback against Sinners Esports to get into LB Round 3. They faced forZe there where they had to make another comeback and fight deep into quadruple overtime to finally win and qualify.

forZe too had to run for their money, as they got relegated into Lower Bracket very early by GamerLegion. In LB Round 1 and LB Round 2, they won 2-0 but all the maps were very close (three 16-14 and one 16-13). Their struggle continued in LB Round 3 against the team that relegated them, but they had to face defeat once again. Nevertheless, they qualified for DreamHack Open November 2021 as the fourth-placed team.

What Can We Expect From the Group Stage?

Group A consists of three closely-ranked teams – BIG, MOUZ, and MAD Lions. The fourth, Team GamerLegion is comfortably behind them and can only be expected to finish third at best. It will be a close fight between the other three, and it may come down to individual brilliance to create a disparity. MOUZ is a clear favorite, with frozen, ropz, and Bymas all above 1.10.

MAD Lions have Woro2k to rely on, given his 1.18 rating in the past 3 months. BIG seem to be lacking in the aspect of individual performance, with all players posting lesser than 1.05 rating in the past 3 months. BIG are good at strategizing, though, so it’s likely that MOUZ and BIG qualify for the Playoffs. GamerLegion has iM to rely on, given his 1.15 rating, but they’ll have to give in a huge fight to displace BIG or MAD Lions.

Group B has a similar story. One clear favorite in ENCE, who like MOUZ, made the Legends Stage in the preceding Major. Team Spirit are likely to qualify for the Playoffs as well, given their recent form and the strong partnership of sdy and degster. But fnatic and forZe will offer high resistance to Spirit and ENCE alike.

smooya’s otherworldly form in recent months is highlighted by his 1.34 rating and he will play a strong role in determining fnatic’s results. mezii and Brollan will be worthy backups as well.forZe will make a fuss too, with zorte and KENSI putting up some great numbers over the months. Group B will be a treat to watch, and we can only expect some good quality CS to look forward to post-Major.