On October 28th 2015, Valve-sponsored Dreamhack Cluj will open its doors to a plethora of international competitors. For the first time in CS:GO history, a major will be held with absolutely no clear and discernible winner. Among the lineups of the sixteen total teams in attendance, there are clear victors and losers, but one could only speculate as to who will take home first place. The teams that are most fit to take the title are EnVyUs, TSM, and Fnatic. In this article, We’ll look at each team’s recent results, history, and dominant matchups against other top teams. Regardless of all the games previously played, prize money previously paid, and dream stories successfully made- only one team will leave with the $100,000 first place prize, along with the pride of being crowned the best team in the world.
Fnatic
Fnatic has no doubt proven themselves to be the most legendary lineup of all time. Across this teams existence they have taken two major titles, an insane number of tournament wins, and have managed to place top four at practically every event. They have not fallen from a top two ranking since Autumn of 2014. Fnatic will enter Cluj with a level of confidence that neither of the other two competitors could have. Although EnVyUs has been to a major final with their current roster, they are yet to win one. The last time they battled Fnatic on the major stage, Fnatic dominated the duel, leaving EnVyUs’s members in emotional, and literal tears. Recently Fnatic has seen a dip in their performance. Problems that were previously kept covered by consistent superstar performances from Olof “Olofmeister” Kajbjer are now shown in the public eye. Although Fnatic is entering Cluj at their lowest point in months, they are still a force to be reckoned with.
EnVyUs
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In a period of only three months, EnVyUs has grown from being an inconsistent team, to the highest ranked team in the world. A two man roster switch with Titan back in August removed Richard “shox” Papillon and Edouard “Smithzz” Dubourdeaux in exchange for Kenny “KennyS” Schrub, and Dan “Apex” Madesclaire. Early results showed that the roster change was an immediate success. Since the team’s formation, they have won three out of five total attended events, and made four finals. During ESL One Cologne, the previous major, EnVyUs beat out TSM in convincing form. Fans speculated that the French line up would sweep the whole tournament. In the final vs Fnatic however, EnVyUs’s victory was stolen by the Swedish team. Since the major, EnVyUs has proven that they can defeat both TSM and Fnatic in high tier events. At Gfinity Champion of Champions, EnVyUs took a two to three best of five win against Fnatic. Along with that, EnVyUs has never lost a LAN series to TSM. Unless Fnatic brings an improved form to the Major, EnVyUs will take the win.
TSM
TSM has not won as many titles as other top teams, but they have expressed a level of consistency in the form of many top four finishes. Apart from being upset by HellRaisers at Acer Predator Masters back in late July, TSM has finished in the top four of every single event they have attended in the previous four months. Despite many premier placings, the Danes have only secured one title in the previous three months. The aforementioned tournament win was PGL Season 1, where TSM beat Virtus.Pro and Fnatic in best of three series. TSM swept the tournament without dropping a single map. Superstar player Nicolai “Device” Reedtz is now widely considered the best player in the world. His consistent play has provided a stable backbone for other players on the team to more freely perform without risk. For the past six months TSM has acted as Kryptonite for Fnatic. It seems that no matter their form, the Danes are able to upset them. TSM has not seen the same success against EnVyUs. They suffered losses to EnVyUs at IEM Gamescom, and ESL One Cologne. TSM has been unable to find a solution to EnVyUs. If these teams match up in Cluj, EnVyUs will likely take the win.
