VP, mousesports, Fnatic Top Groups at cs_summit 7

The seventh iteration of cs_summit has its first playoffs contestants. Fnatic, mousesports, and Virtus.pro have made first place in their respective groups, which gives the remaining teams only a few slots left to occupy.

The tournament features only three groups, with two of the eight playoffs teams being decided through a Last Chance Stage. Fortunately for Fnatic, mousesports, and VP, they won’t have to go through all these hoops.

FNATIC PRESENT THEIR NEWEST ROSTER

After the departure of Robin “flusha” Rönnquist from the iconic Swedish team, the organization has now recruited Jack “Jackinho” Ström Mattsson. This rather young player hasn’t got a lot of experience at the top and so, expectedly, his first two matches weren’t exactly blow-out performances. But he held his own, while Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson and Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin did most of the heavy lifting. In their Opening Match, they quickly dispatched Complexity to set themselves up for the Winners’ Match versus OG. A few months ago, they had played multiple series against the team and so far, they had more or less traded blows equally.

This match was no different, as the two teams played out another close Best-of-Three. Fnatic may have been able to secure Train on a 16-9 scoreline, but OG struck back on Mirage for a 16-11 win. The Inferno showdown kicked off with a 9-6 half for Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen and his men, but soon the Swedes pulled through to overtime. There, they narrowly set themselves on top of OG and snatched the playoffs spot.

Now, Complexity and Dignitas will have to enter the Elimination Match first. The winning side will then compete against OG. But there’s hope even for the last-place team of the group. Should they deliver a solid performance, there might be a chance for them to make it to the Last Chance Stage.

KARRIGAN DOMINATES IN ACOR DEBUT

Just like so many other teams, mousesports aren’t quite back from the winter break. For their Winners’ Match against Heroic, this was obviously not a great sign, but Finn “karrigan” Andersen dragged his team to victory. The veteran in-game-leader effortlessly secured 32 kills on Train for a 1.73 rating – all while three of his colleagues were in the negative.

Frederik “acoR” Gyldstrand didn’t really prove himself in this debut, but karrigan did. Just a few weeks ago, he was rumored to make his move to FaZe Clan as their new fifth, but he appears to have made the decision to stay with mouz – and obviously he is taking that decision seriously.

But that 16-12 scoreline on Train wasn’t the end of it. On Vertigo, mouz mounted a 12-3 half. They had to watch as Heroic slowly decimated this lead on the CT side, until the Danes themselves stood close to victory on a 14-12 scoreline. At this point, the offense finally clicked and with three kills in the last round, karrigan helped his team to a 16-14 comeback. This time around, acoR also pulled off a positive rating and contributed with 24 kills. Meanwhile, karrigan had to be content with ‘just’ 27 kills and a 1.23 rating.

After such a close and intense match, one might almost forget how mousesports had already won two decisive maps against FaZe Clan prior to this. Maybe it was the right decision to stick with mouz, as FaZe only won 10 rounds on Mirage and Train combined. They’re now heading into the Elimination Match s well and while there is still the potential for playoffs, the playing field of the remaining groups makes this seem highly unlikely.

VIRTUS.PRO ARE STILL IN SHAPE

The Eastern European team continues to set itself on top of the international Top 20. With their victory at Flashpoint Season 2, they proved that there’s a desire to break into the highest tier of professional Counter-Strike. In the new year, however, they have to prove that they can consistently deliver the kind of performances necessary. Out of FURIA, Cloud9, and NiP, no team was able to compete with them.

The Ninjas fell on two quick maps. With just 11 round wins combined, they weren’t even able to make a dent. None of the Swedes managed to secure a positive rating, all while Dzhame “Jame” Ali posted 42 kills with just 16 deaths. In the Winners’ Match against FURIA, they finally got some opposition. Still, it only took them two maps to win. Jame was the driving force for VP once again, as they took over Inferno on a 16-13 scoreline. On Overpass, their own map pick, VP had to suffer a 4-11 half. However, their defense was virtually impenetrable. Giving away only one single round point on their CT side, they eventually mounted a 16-12 comeback. After such a performance, they have deservedly secured their playoffs spot.

WHICH TEAMS CAN MAKE THE JUMP?

For the remaining nine teams, there’s still the possibility of making playoffs. So far, OG, Heroic, and FURIA should have the biggest shot at actually making this happen in a conventional manner. But the third- and last-placed teams still have a chance in the form of the Last Chance Stage of cs_summit 7. Even though there aren’t any clear favorites for who whill make that jump, there is one team that absolutely has to: Cloud9.

After losing Özgür “woxic” Eker, the multi-million dollar project has to prove that it deserves to exist. So far, the ‘Colossus’ hasn’t been able to post a single impressive victory. With their 1-2 match against FURIA, they at least proved to be somewhat competitive, but so far, this doesn’t seem to be nearly enough to break into the Top 20. It stands to question whether they can even make playoffs at cs_summit 7.