North
Ence Esports
FaZe Clan
TyLoo
Fnatic
MIBR
BIG
Navi
The StarSeries i-League series has reached its seventh season of annual Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments. The event organisers, StarLadder and ImbaTV will be bringing the competition to Shanghai, which will take place on the 30th March till 7th April. The 16 invited CSGO teams will get to compete against each other for the highest prize pool yet of $500K.
According to the official StarLadder website, the StarSeries i-League Product Manager, Sergey Bidzan briefly stated their plans for future competitions. “Starting in 2019, we are planning to open another way to the international stage for these players. We are starting to cooperate with local leagues and tournament organizers who can organize regional qualifications and send the best teams to the LAN-finals of StarSeries.”
StarSeries i-League Past CSGO Tournaments
In the StarSeries I-League Season 4, gaming fans got to see how Mousesports incredibly won over Natus Vincere with a 2-1 record. Mouz took the CS maps Mirage and Train while Navi took the Overpass game so that the German players claimed the first prize of $130K.
So close yet far for the Ukrainian players were driven with motivation to play better in the following StarSeries Season 5 so much so that the Born to win team, Natus Vincere outplayed NRG. With an overall score of 2-0, Navi won Counter-Strike maps, Overpass and Mirage to take home the first prize of $125K.
Last year’s StarSeries i-League Season 6 took place in Kiev where esports fans got to witness the best Counter-Strike action. Ence Esports outplayed Vega Squadron in the CS maps of Inferno, Dust II and Overpass finishing the game with an overall record of 3-2. Ence were crowned the winners claiming the first prize of $125K.
StarSeries i-League Season 7 Tournament Format
The Premier match kicks off with the group stages from the 30th March until 4th April with a Swiss System format. 16 professional teams compete in best-of-three matches where the top eight proceed to the Playoffs while the other eight will be eliminated from the StarSeries i-League Season 7.
The lucky eight CSGO teams advance to the playoffs held on the 5th till the 7th April. In the Quaterfinals and Semis, there will be a single elimination bracket with matches played in a best-of-three. The Grand Final will feature the top two CS squads who will show the world how Counter-Strike should be played in a Best-of-5.
Top CSGO Teams at StarSeries i-League Season 7
The top 13 Counter-Strike teams received direct invitations to take part. The remaining three squads went through the regional qualifying tournaments in North America, Asia and Europe. Meanwhile the fourth team earned their spot winning the GameCon Open CSGO 2018 in Brazil as the South American qualifier.
TyLoo
Tyloo’s CSGO team greatest achievement was the Starladder & ImbaTV Invitational Chongqing 2018. Taking the major title and first prize of $75K, beating Team Spirit with an incredible score of 2-0. Other matches that the Chinese team have competed include SuperNova Malta 2018, Toyota Master CSGO Bangkok 2018, Asian Development League Season 1 among many events.
BIG
Berlin International Gaming acquired Xantares to form part of the active lineup instead of nex who is under medical treatment for his wrists. The great achievement last year for Berlin International Gaming was at ESL One Cologne 2018. The German CSGO team managed to reach the grand finals against Natus Vincere, although they lost the match, BIG ranked second to take home their highest reward yet of $50K. They have recently participated at the SuperNova Malta 2018, Intel Extreme Masters Chicago, CS Summit 3, StarSeries i-League Season 6 among many tournaments.
North
Danes of The North achieved their greatest accomplishment in 2018 winning Dreamhack Masters Stockholm 2018. They managed to outplay Astralis 2-1 with pride, claiming a cash prize of $100K. North participated in other esports events such as ESL Pro League Season 8 – Finals, ECS Season 6 – Finals, Intel Extreme Masters Chicago and among many events. Do you think that North has what it takes to be a top team in the StarSeries iLeague CSGO Season 7?
Ence Esports
The Finnish team have achieved their best record yet at the Starladder & i-League CSGO Season 6. Ence outplayed Vega squadron with an impressive score of 3-2, claiming their huge cash prize of $125K. Their second best performance was at the DreamHack Winter 2018, dominating over Bravado Gaming with a record of 2-0. Ence has recently competed in the Qualifier matches of Europe Minor Championship – Katowice 2019, WESG 2018 North Europe and EPICENTER 2018.
NRG
The best performance by NRG was at the IEM Shanghai major match. The North American team beat TyLoo with an unbeatable score of 2-0. Another recent major that NRG participated was the SuperNova CSGO Malta 2018, reaching the grand finals to rank in second after Team Liquid. Other great performances worth noting was winning the CS Summit 3 and IEM Shanghai while also participating in many more esports tournaments.
Fnatic
Their best CSGO performance in 2018 for Fnatic was the World Electronic Sports Games 2017. A premier match where FNC won over Space Soldiers in the Grand Finals with 2-1 score, claiming their highest cash reward of $800K. After a losing streak, the Swedish players surprised the gaming fans at PLG Grand Slam 2018 beating G2 Esports 2-0. Another notable match was the IEM Chicago reaching the Semifinals competing against Astralis finishing in third place. Does Fnatic have what it takes to be among the top in this esports competition?
Made in Brazil
The MIBR’s coach yNk was let go due to his contract that expired and replacing him was zews. The esports team traded Stewie2K for TACO and benched Tarik to acquire felps from INTZ Esports, returning to a full roster of Brazilian players. The best performance in 2018 has to be the major ZOTAC Cup Masters 2018. Upon reaching the finals, Made in Brazil dominated over Team Kinguin with an unbeatable score of 3-0 to win the event, claiming their highest reward of $200K. Due to the roster changes will MiBR get back on their feet?
Faze Clan
With Karrigan dismissed from Faze Clan, the squad signed on YNk as their coach and AdreN as a temporary stand-in until IEM Katowice 2019. The highest accomplishment in 2018 for Faze has to be EPICENTER 2018 where they beat Navi with a record of 2-0 taking home a prize of $150K. Does Faze have the strength to go through to the playoffs at the StarSeries iLeague Season 7?
Mousesports
The German CSGO team Mouz won their highest prize of $247K at the V4 Future Sports Festival – Budapest 2018, winning over Virtus.pro in the finals scoring of 2-1. Another spectacular game for Mousesports was at the Starladder & i-League StarSeries Season 4 winning over Navi, claiming a prize of $130K. Other notable results include IEM Chicago, ESL One New York, FACEIT Major London 2018 and DreamHack Masters Stockholm among other events. Mousesports ranks in fourth place in the world’s top CSGO teams according to HLTV, this ranking shows that they do have the potential to be among the top but do they have the skills to go against Astralis in future? Experience, skill and time will reveal all.
