Starting today at PAX Prime in Seattle, Washington is the much anticipated Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) ESWC North American Championship. The tournament will see four of the better CS:GO teams battle it out for a chance to go to the ESWC World Finals in Paris, France taking place on October 31st.
The entire North American Championship will be streamed live and casted by Corey “dunN” Dunn and Jimmy “whisenhunt” Whisenhunt.
The four qualified teams show a good mix of players from former games. Of the two invited teams, Dynamic has been the dominate force in Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) for several years, while Area 51 is composed of a good mix of both former CS:S and CS:1.6 players who won the first ESEA Open season. Of the two qualified teams, HoldMouse1 is a former Call of Duty Team, while Murder Inc is a former CS:S team.
While we all hope for an exciting championship, it is hard to deny the fact that Dynamic are the clear favorites.Winning 7 of the last 8 ESEA Invite championships, Dynamic clearly have a winning pedigree. The only thing working against them is that they still aren't fully committed to CS:GO as they are still focusing on CS:S. This has shown as they have dropped two matches already in ESEA Invite to two of the other teams attending this tournament, Area 51 and HoldMouse1.
Read on for more information about the CS:GO ESWC North American Championship.
Playing a lot of CS:GO is one of the biggest things in Area 51's favor. Not only do they have a lot of skill and dedication, but they have all been playing and putting a lot of time into CS:GO since the earlier betas. Additionally, they are one of two undefeated teams left in ESEA Invite, including a narrow 16-13 victory over Dynamic
The biggest underdog story is going to be HoldMouse1, a former Call of Duty team. Can we really call them underdogs though? They are currently the only other undefeated team in ESEA Invite with an overtime victory over Dynamic and a convincing 16-7 decision over Murder Inc. To get to the North American Championship, HoldMouse1 beat a very strong CS:S team in Zomblerz.
Murder Inc is kind of an afterthought. The only reason they are at this tournament is because of the disqualification to Flaming Rainbows due to the age of one of their players. While they hold a respectable 4 and 1 record in ESEA Invite, their overall results are nothing to get excited about. Unfortunately the first season of CS:GO ESEA Invite has been somewhat poorly thought out. Many teams who don't belong or don't focus on CS:GO are featured due to their results in other games, rather than some more deserving teams who focus purely on GO. While this isn't saying Murder Inc does not belong, as they certainly do and have put in the effort, it is more focused on some of the teams they have played thus far.
Before we make our predictions on these facts, there is one key element we must remember: this tournament is not online. Playing on LAN brings different things out of people. While Area 51 or HoldMouse1 have shown to be better so far in ESEA Invite, Dynamic is a team that thrives in the LAN environment. One thing is for sure, this is going to be one exciting tournament.
Predictions:
1st: Area 51
Having played against Area 51 many times and seeing their commitment to the game, it is hard to see even a team as powerful as Dynamic taking them down.
2nd: HoldMouse1
While CS has not been their forte, they have proven the community wrong about beign added to ESEA Invite and have played very well.
3rd: Dynamic
The winning pedigree only goes as far as your commitment to practice and preparation. CS:GO is similar to CS:S but not similar enough where you can just go and wing it, hoping for victory.
4th: Murder Inc
A good team that will be playing against great teams. Hopefully we can see an upset, but it seems unlikely.
Rosters:
Dynamic (AZK, PEX, adreN, anger, freakazoid)
Area 51 (DaZeD, SEMPHIS, hiko, PineKone, seangares)
HoldMouse1 (emong, tm-, Michael3d, juv3nile, Skadoodle)
Murder Inc. (frozt, tck, marlin, haunt, ezpk)
Streaming:
http://www.twitch.tv/Plantronics_GameCom
Schedule (PST):
Sunday, September 1st:
3:00 PM Pregame Show
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM Semi Finals-1: Dynamic vs. Murder Inc.
Sunday, September 2nd:
10:30 AM Pregame Show
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Semi Finals-2: Area51 vs. Hold Mouse One
1:45 PM – 4:00 PM Finals
Stay tuned to our PAX Prime 2012 News Center brought to you by Corsair, FPS General's PAX Prime hub, and the Curse Entertainment YouTube Channel, where everything we post about the convention will be gathered for your viewing pleasure!
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