The review of DreamHack Montreal 2017 and ESG Tour Mykonos 2017

Two great tournaments took place this weekend, as will be discussed in the today’s material.

DreamHack Montreal 2017

The championship was hosted with the prize pool in the sum of $100,000 by DreamHack in Montreal, Canada on September 8-10. The teams mainly from the North American division took part in the event. However, this was not without representatives of Europe, one of them, by the way, became the champion of DreamHack Montreal 2017.

The list of participants:

Almost all teams were equal in strength at this tournament but two teams stood out among them in a special way: Immortals and North. Immortals saved their roster after they had held the second place at PGL Major Krakow 2017. During a transfer season, the head of the team was confused as all cyber-sportsmen, that were on the roster of Immortals, wanted to leave the team but the situation resolved and players continued protecting the colors of the Brazilian organization. Despite this, Immortals were the favorites of the tournament. The Danish team North was the favorite too.

North

The Danes had made a replacement on the roster not a long time before the beginning of the tournament. The management of the organization made a decision to remove Emil «Magisk» Reif and signed a young and promising player Valdemar «valde» Bjørn instead of him. This had happened on August 21 but the result was not long in coming. Despite the fact that North was one of the favorites of the tournament, viewers didn’t know what to expect from the new roster. The Danes participated in the championship in an incredible way. [An interesting fact: North didn’t lose even a single map against its opponents at DreamHack Montreal 2017] Together with valde, they won their first trophy. The team was created on January 3, 2017, and became triumphant of the tournament in 9 months. North was the closest to the victory when they were taking part in ESL Pro League 5 Finals. There, they held the second place, having lost to G2 with a score 1:3 and earned $100,000 for their efforts.

At the moment, the Danish team is on the third place on the list of world’s best CS:GO teams, according to HLTV.org, right after SK Gaming and G2 Esports. In such a way, North is the best team in Denmark now.

The roster of North and the rate of players:

Mathias «MSL» Lauridsen — 1.02
Kristian «k0nfig» Wienecke — 1.19
René «cajunb» Borg — 1.11
Philip «aizy» Aistrup — 1.08
Valdemar «valde» Bjørn — 1.22

Immortals

The Brazilians showed a good enough game as North did. However, after the good participation in PGL Major Krakow, where LUCAS1 and his team had held the second place, many people expected a victory from Immortals at DreamHack Montreal 2017. Despite this, the Brazilian team played better than anyone at their group and came out to the playoff, after which beat Counter Logic Gaming in the semifinal without efforts but lost to North in the final. It is noteworthy that the first map was lost as a technical loss by the Brazilians.

Immortals hold the 6th place on the list of the best CS:GO teams after SK Gaming, G2 Esports, North, Astralis and Gambit eSports.

The roster of Immortals and the rate of players:

Henrique «HEN1» Teles — 1.12
Lucas «LUCAS1» Teles — 1.03
Ricardo «boltz» Prass — 1.10
Lucas «steel» Lopes — 1.03
Vito «kNgV-» Giuseppe — 1.07

Also, considering the level of all teams, the Americans from Cloud9 looked competitive, they participated well at the group stage but made nothing at the playoff, having lost to the champions, North.

The rest of teams could be called outsiders. Such teams as Counter Logic Gaming, Team Kinguin, Gale Force eSports, Luminosity Gaming and compLexity Gaming could be referred to this category. All above-mentioned teams played bad enough, except Counter Logic Gaming that fought their way to the playoff. Despite this, their participation at the final stage was not so long. They lost to Immortals in the semifinal with a score 0-2.

The final places of teams and the distribution of a prize pool looks in the following way:

1st place — North ($50,000)
2nd place — Immortals ($20,000)
3rd place — Cloud9 ($10,000)
4th place — Counter Logic Gaming ($10,000)
5th place — Team Kinguin ($3,000)
6th place — Luminosity Gaming ($3,000)
7th place — Gale Force eSports ($2,000)
8th place — compLexity Gaming ($2,000)

The quality of the latest DreamHack tournament was high as usual. There were no long delays or serious technical issues.

ESG Tour Mykonos 2017

The unusual eSports tournament, ESG Tour Mykonos 2017 was hosted in Greece at the same time with DreamHack Montreal 2017. €200,000 was up for grabs for eight participants there, most of them represented the European division.

This event became not only a serious competitive tournament but a place to rest for all teams. The company ESG Tour wanted to create a new format for players, in which they could not only struggle during matches but relax after them, swimming in a pool or in the Aegean Sea.

As for participants, they were the representatives of different gaming levels. Such teams as SK Gaming, who held the first place in the world’s top, and such teams as BIG, that had not won any tournament during their existence, fought for the title of the champion in ESG Tour Mykonos.

The list of participants:

Obviously, the winners of the tournament, the European team mousesports can be stood out among all teams that have taken part in the tournament.

mousesports

The European mix renewed its roster during a season of reshuffles. Mousesports decided that the exclusion of Denis «denis» Howell together with Christian «loWel» Antoran and the signing of Miikka «suNny» Kemppi and Martin «STYKO» Styk might save the situation and help the development of the team. After a short time, we can say that the changes on the roster were right. Mousesports played well at the group stage. Initially, they lost to SK Gaming and then, beat Heroic and Gambit eSports and guaranteed themselves a slot at the playoff. Having come out to the final stage, mousesports took care of their first opponent in the person of Virtus.pro with a score 2-1. After that, the Europeans came out to the final and beat Team Liquid. A victory was not easy for them as the last opponent, who was separating them from the trophy of ESG Tour Mykonos 2017, was the team that had beaten the favorite of the championship in the semifinal. Teams played all five matches in a best-of-five series.
Acer Predator Masters Season 2 was the last tournament that was won by mousesports. Mousesports earned $20,000 for a victory in this tournament and Tier-2, Tier-3 teams took part in this tournament. Now, the European roster has proved everyone that it is ready to enter the world level. At the moment, we only have to wait for new tournaments with mousesports and to see their progress.

The roster of mousesports and the rate of players:

Chris «chrisJ» de Jong — 1.01
Tomáš «oskar» Šťastný — 1.22
Robin «ropz» Kool — 1.08
Miikka «suNny» Kemppi — 1.18
Martin «STYKO» Styk — 0.97

SK Gaming

At the moment, the conclusion that the best days of SK Gaming are long gone can be done. In the previous season, they made an incredible series of four victories at the following tournaments: s_summit, Intel Extreme Masters XII - Sydney, Esports Championship Series Season 3 - Finals and ESL One: Cologne 2017. The team’s results started getting worse after their victory at ESL One: Cologne 2017. The team held the 5th-8th place at PGL Major Krakow 2017, where SK was one of the most obvious favorites, having finished its participation at the playoff in the quarterfinal. Also, SK held the 5th-8th place at DreamHack Masters Malmo 2017, when they had a significant advantage, unlike other teams: their roster had not been changed for half a year, while most of the participants were with changed and not coordinated rosters.
Not a very good participation in ESG Tour Mykonos 2017 says that SK Gaming have to change something, otherwise they risk their first place on the list of the world’s best CS:GO teams, according to HLTV.org. SK held the 3rd place at ESG Tour Mykonos 2017, having won Virtus.pro in the match for the 3rd place.

See also: Details of the closed qualifiers to EPICENTER 2017 were announced

The roster of SK Gaming and the rate of players:

Gabriel «FalleN» Toledo — 1.13
Fernando «fer» Alvarenga — 1.21
Marcelo «coldzera» David — 1.20
Epitacio «TACO» Pessoa — 1.00
João «felps» Vasconcellos — 1.08

No one from the rest of teams can be stood out in a special way. Most of the teams played as well as they were expected by viewers.

The final places of teams and the distribution of a prize pool looks in the following way:

1st place — mousesports (€100,000)
2nd place — Team Liquid (€40,000)
3rd place — SK Gaming (€20,000)
4th place — Virtus.pro (€20,000)
5th place — Gambit eSports (€5,000)
6th place — BIG (€5,000)
7th place — Heroic (€5,000)
8th place — Team EnVyUs (€5,000)

In this month, we will see such tournaments as ESL One New York 2017, that will be run on September 15-17, and ESEA Season 25 Global Challenge, that will be hosted on September 23-24.