StarLadder Major 2019: New Legends Stage preview
Overview of the StarLadder Major group stage 2019 by CSGO.com
This Wednesday, August 28, the second stage of StarLadder Major 2019 - New Legends Stage - kicks off. The legends of the previous major, Astralis, ENCE, Natus Vincere, MiBR, FaZe, Liquid, Renegades and NiP, will be competing for the championship title, with the teams who managed to advance troghout the New Challengers Stage.
Location
The group stage of Berlin's major will be taken up by the same venue as the New Challengers Stage - Verti Music Hall. As previously reported in the preview, it is located next to the Mercedes-Benz Arena and seats up to 1,000 spectators.
Participants and format
As part of the StarLadder Major 2019: New Legends Stage, the preliminary stage finalists will meet face-to-face with the top 8 IEM Katowice 2019 participants who have traditionally received invitations directly to the group stage of the major.
List of participants:
Astralis (Xyp9x, dupreeh, gla1ve, device, Magisk)
ENCE (allu, Aerial, xseveN, Aleksib, sergej)
Natus Vincere (Zeus, flamie, s1mple, electronic, Boombl4)
MiBR (FalleN, zews, fer, LUCAS1, TACO)
FaZe (NEO, olofmeister, GuardiaN, NiKo, rain)
Liquid (nitr0, NAF, EliGE, Stewie2K, Twistzz)
Renegades (jks, AZR, jkaem, Gratisfaction, Liazz)
NiP (f0rest, GeT_RiGhT, Lekr0, REZ, Golden)
StarLadder Major 2019 Finalists: New Challengers Stage
North (aizy, Kjaerbye, JUGi, gade, valde)
mousesports (karrigan, chrisJ, woxic, frozen, ropz)
G2 (JaCkz, shox, kennyS, AmaNEk, Lucky) NRG (stanislaw, tarik, Brehze, Ethan, CeRq)
CR4ZY (huNter, LETN1, nexa, ottoNd, EspiranTo)
AVANGAR (AdreN, SANJI, buster, qikert, Jame) DreamEaters (kinqie, svyat, Krad, speed4k, Forester) Vitality (NBK-, RpK, apEX, ALEX, ZywOo)
The New Legends Stage is based on the Swiss-system tournament format. Both matches for advancing to the playoffs and leaving the major will be played in the format of up to two victories, all other matches "Swiss" - within the best-of-1.
The seeding of the first round of the Swiss group was based on the positions of the teams in the HLTV.org ranking for the period from March 4 to August 12. The participants received their own ELO rating correspondingly, which will determine the pairs of subsequent rounds, taking into account the results of previous matches.
Eight strongest teams will advance in the New Champions Stage, where they will play out the lion's share of the prize pool of $1,000,000,000 and crown the winner of the championship title StarLadder Major 2019.
The first round of New Legends Stage:
Astralis vs. DreamEaters Liquid vs. CR4ZY ENCE vs. AVANGAR Natus Vincere vs. G2 FaZe vs. mousesports Vitality vs. North MiBR vs. NiP Renegades vs. NRG
Legends
Astralis (3rd place in the HLTV.org ranking)
The Danish team came to Berlin to defend their title, which was won at the first major in 2019. Once the strongest team in the world, which dominated the competitive scene last year, won only one of the six tournaments after the IEM Katowice 2019. However, Astralis still remains one of the most formidable and stable squads, which is obliged, at least, to keep its legendary status.
Recent achievements:
3-4 place ESL One Cologne 2019
5th-6th place ESL Pro League S9 Finals
5th-6th place ECS S7 Finals
ENCE (4th place in the HLTV.org rating)
Finnish Grand is the vice champion of IEM Katowice 2019. The team had an amazing start this year, during which it held a well-deserved place in the top-5 ranking of the world's strongest teams. ENCE was one of the main contenders to enter the playoffs of he StarLadder Major 2019, but the team's performance may be affected by the tense atmosphere due to the departure of Alexi "Aleksib" Virolainen immediately after the championship. The organization said that the players had made this decision in advance, and we will learn how it will affect the real results very soon.
Recent achievements:
2nd place for IEM Chicago 2019
13-16 place ESL One Cologne 2019
2nd place DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019
3-4 place cs_summit 4
Natus Vincere (6th place in the HLTV.org rating)
At the previous major, Daniil "Zeus" Teslenko's team still with Ioann "Edward" Sukharev, managed to reach the semifinals, but they lost to the Finns from ENCE. After the IEM Katowice 2019, the "born to win" visited only four tournaments, with only one notable the StarSeries i-League S7, where they've won the title. Na`Vi are definitely contenders for the top 8 New Legends Stage, but due to the rare performances at the international championships there the current game form of the team is questionable.
Recent achievements:
3-4 place ESL One Cologne 2019
MiBR (17th place in the HLTV.org rating)
The Brazilians took the 3rd-4th place at the IEM Katowice 2019, thus securing a direct invite into the StarLadder Major 2019 group stage. In Berlin MiBR will be pefrorming with a substitute, Marcelo "coldzera" David has left the team on the eve of the major. Wilton "zews" Prado will have to take the place of the strongest shooter of the squad.
The latest achievements:
3rd-4th place for IEM Chicago 2019
5th place BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles 2019
13-16 place ESL One: Cologne 2019
7-8 place ESL Pro League S9 Finals
7-8 place ECS S7 Finals
Liquid (1st place in the HLTV.org rating)
The current "king of the mountain" of the HLTV.org rating, which reached only quarterfinals at the previous major. The results of the American team for the spring-summer of this year speak for themselves and do not create any doubts about the status of the main favorite not only New Legends Stage, but StarLadder Major 2019 as a whole. Liquid have won all the last big tournaments, but what about the major, where there is a special competitive atmosphere?
The latest achievements:
1st place for IEM Chicago 2019
1st place BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles 2019
1st place ESL One Cologne 2019
1st place ESL Pro League S9 Finals
1st place DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019
2nd place cs_summit 4
FaZe (7th place in the HLTV.org rating)
At IEM Katowice 2019 they took the 5th-8th place with Dauren "AdreN" Kistaubayev as a replacement. In May Philip "NEO" Kubski joined the team, who took the position of ingame leader. Considering the recent results of FaZe, it seems that the new captain has not solved the problems that have been observed in the squad for a long time. If the European Five fail to rekindle their spirits in the major, the New Challengers Stage finalists could create them serious problems.
Recent achievements:
2nd place BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles 2019
9-12 place ESL One Cologne 2019
5th-6th place ESL Pro League S9 Finals
3-4 place DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019
NiP (12th place in the HLTV.org rating)
Another team to go to StarLadder Major 2019 with problems in their line-up, but with an invite directly into the New Legends Stage. Ninja in Pijamas will play in Berlin with Michael "Golden" Selim instead of the main player Nicholas "Plopski" Gonzalez Zamora, who joined the team after the start of the major qualifier, and has played for another team at Europe Minor - Berlin 2019. NiP are not showing their best performance, even in full line-up, so it is obvious that it will be difficult to keep the status of a legend.
Recent achievements:
5th-6th place for ESL One Cologne 2019
7-8 place ECS S7 Finals
9-12 place DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019
Renegades (17th place on HLTV.org)
At the previous major the team managed to demonstrate an exciting route from winning the Asian minor to the quarterfinals of the New Champions Stage. After a stunning performance at the IEM Katowice 2019, the Australian team received invitations to several major tournaments, but the results were disappointing. It's hard to attribute Renegades to the confident contenders for the top 8 New Legends Stage, but you shouldn't write off a team that has kept its roster and knows how to assemble at the majors.
The latest achievements:
7-8th place of IEM Chicago 2019
6th place BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles 2019
13-16 place ESL One Cologne 2019
7-8 place DreamHack Masters Dallas 2019
6th place cs_summit 4
Contenders
The New Challengers Stage is an unusually spectacular and tense stage. Among the participants there were many more than eight teams that really claimed to be in the top eight and fight in the group stage with the legends. Some has been more lucky, some were less lucky, but the fact is that in New Legends Stage we'll see some worthy playoff contenders who will surely compete with the world's giants.
The path of each of the New Challengers Stage finalists can be seen in the infographic below.
StarLadder Major 2019: New Challengers Stage results:
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