From a rejuvenated Astralis turning things around to an up and coming Spanish super star, here's what we've learned from the weekend's Counter-Strike action...
No s1mple, no party
Na’Vi bombed out of ELEAGUE in a pretty unspectacular fashion, in what is probably the biggest shock from this weekend’s Counter-Strike action.
Their only saving grace during their opening match against SK was an incredible individual performance from s1mple.
He single–handedly kept them in the game – and despite being on the losing side – had 29 kills. More than Guardian and Edward combined.
Unfortunately for the CIS team, when s1mple isn’t going beast-mode, they look less than convincing.
For Na’Vi to stand a chance of winning IEM Oakland, other players need to start showing up and take some of the weight off of s1mple’s shoulders.
OpTic can compete with Europe’s elite
Another surprise this weekend came from OpTic, who defied all odds and won Northern Arena.
But their journey to the title was far from easy.
During the semi-final, Heroic were up 5-1 and looked set to halt OpTic in their tracks but the firepower of Tarik and mixwell was too much for the Danes to handle.
With the consistency of NAF, Stanislaw, and RUSH forming a solid foundation for their star players, the Green Wall went onto to take a fairly convincing best of three series against G2.
If OpTic can keep getting the best from their stars, they could soon be considered as a worthy challenger for European teams.
mixwell is a superstar in the making
At Northern Arena the talented Spaniard showed yet again why he’s one of the most highly regarded players at the moment.
Despite strong competition from the likes of shox, kennyS, and valde, he ended the event with an impressive 1.29 rating – the highest of any player there.
In fact, he had a positive rating in 8 out of the 10 maps he played.
His most impressive performance came in the final vs G2. He was effortlessly picking up multi kill rounds, clutching and locking down bombsites.
mixwell is well on course to reaching star player status but needs to find a higher level of consistency before he can be classed as amongst the world’s best.
Astralis back on track
Nobody thoguth Astralis would take first seed in ELEAGUE’s Group C, especially considering the strength of their group and recent lacklustre results.
They started strong with an expected, yet commanding victory against ALTERNATE aTTax.
Next up was the current number one team in the world, SK.
They headed in the second half on the back foot but managed to string eight consecutive rounds together and close out the map from there.
It’s too early to say that Astralis are back at the top, but they’ve taken the first steps on what could be a long road to recovery.
IEM Oakland looks set to be one hell of a tournament
If recent tournaments are anything to go by, expect upsets.
At one moment teams like Astralis and Immortals look like they’re out for the count, the next, they’re beating SK on LAN and winning IBP Masters.
The madness continued, with G2, Cloud9 and SK all favourites to win the event or top their group, yet none of them did. If the support acts are anything to go by, Oakland’s main event will be much of the same.
As with any headline act, you need the star power to match. Luckily, IEM Oakland doesn’t fall short there either.
NiKo, s1mple, Coldzera, shox, and GeT_RiGhT are five of the world’s biggest superstars, and seeing who comes out on top is all part of the show.
Bring it on, Oakland.
