IEM Beijing EU Playoffs: The Favorites

A lot of big names have exited this tournament in the Group Stage already. But for Astralis, Vitality, Heroic and others, the fight will continue on Thursday. Which team has the biggest shot at hoisting the coveted IEM trophy?

There are some usual suspects among those who have qualified for playoffs. Natus Vincere, FaZe Clan, Astralis, Vitality and Heroic have all managed to secure Grand Finals placements in the last few months, but the bracket is going to get really tough for some of them.

CAN FAZE CLAN CELEBRATE BACK-TO-BACK IEM VICTORIES?

During their (short) honeymoon phase, the FaZe players were almost unbeatable. In October, they secured a 3-0 Grand Finals victory over OG to win IEM New York EU. But back then, teams like Natus Vincere and Astralis weren’t in attendance, making this IEM Beijing bracket now infinitely more difficult for them. On top of that, Nikola “NiKo” Kovač is now signed to G2 Esports and, ever since his return, Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer hasn’t really been up to par with the rest.

Nonetheless, FaZe are slotted in for the Quarter Finals. This is due to the incredible performance of Helvijs “broky” Saukants, who has maintained a phenomenal 1.35 rating in this event so far. He will need to deliver NiKo-like moments if FaZe want to stand a chance versus G2 Esports. The Bosnian is going up against his old team in the playoffs and will have to prove that transferring to G2 was the right decision. But after the team has lost a map to North and an entire Best-of-Three to the Ninjas in Pyjamas, their chances aren’t all that great. After securing a 2-0 victory over Team Vitality, FaZe are looking much sharper overall. Following their IEM New York win, they now have the chance to celebrate back-to-back IEM wins here.

CAN HEROIC SECURE BACK-TO-BACK WINS?

Between New York and Beijing there were lots of other tournaments in which FaZe didn’t make deep runs. Heroic were victorious at DreamHack Open Fall, the latest European event (not counting the BLAST Premier: Fall Series groups).

Heroic are getting along without a coach just fine. During ESL One Cologne in August, they had triumphed over Vitality under the leadership of Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen. They managed to repeat this feat during DreamHack Open and now, they’re facing Vitality again for the Beijing playoffs. After Vitality have already lost to a weakened FaZe Clan, the Danes are looking to secure another victory here.

CAN COMPLEXITY FINALLY GET GOING?

Just as the team was starting to get used to this online era, Owen “oBo” Schlatter announced his departure. Complexity have definitely taken a hit, but they have found a great replacement in Justin “jks” Savage. The Australian has already sufficiently proven his worth against the best players in the world. But so far, Complexity have been waiting for that one final push to help them break through.

And this might just have happened at IEM Beijing. They swept through the Group Stage with 2-0 and 2-1 wins over Fnatic and Natus Vincere, respectively. Benjamin “blameF” Bremer continues to be one of the most individually capable in-game-leaders ever. This time around, Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke is backing him up with a particularly great performance.

Unfortunately, they will encounter quite a challenging foe in the form of BIG. The performance of this team massively changes day-to-day. So we might see the kind of BIG that can easily dispatch Complexity, but we might just as likely see them falter against blameF and k0nfig. Even if Complexity survive the Quarter Finals, they will face either Heroic or Vitality.

ALL BETS ON ASTRALIS?

Astralis’ surprising defeat at the hands of G2 Esports during Blast Premier Group C is old news. They have confidently swept their Beijing group and, apart from one 14-16 loss to mousesports, they have secured one-sided victories. This infamous Astralis lineup continues to impress and should have a great time going up against Natus Vincere. The CIS team has recently struggled in their domestic competition. They lost to Virtus.pro multiple times and their victories over MAD Lions and Team Spirit haven’t looked all that impressive. So Astralis can expect to make Semi Finals, which would pit them against either FaZe or G2 Esports.

This tournament promises to deliver exciting matches between Europe’s very best teams. On Thursday, FaZe and G2 will kickstart the playoffs, with Astralis and Natus Vincere following suit afterwards.