[CS:GO] ESL One Cologne (Gamescom)

Rmlk2ei · August 13, 2014

In about 24 hours from this post ESL One cologne will commence as another valve funded CSGO major.

Coming fresh of G3 where in CSGO saw Virtus.Pro back on championship form after what seemed like an unstoppable Dignitas. The 2nd placers, Titan, also seemed renewed with the previous 3 months fairing poorly for the french-belgian team, putting good run through to the finals beating the likes of a new Fnatic and ESEA s16 and s15 champions iBuyPower (who have beaten Titan in the finals of ESEA s15). Dignitas were unseen for the past few months seeing as they were on holiday, but with this G3 performance, they reminded everyone of how much of a threat they still can be.

The biggest shocker of all was for sure NiP's performance. With the loss of this tournament, losing 2-0 to Dignitas and a poor group stage that they barely made it through, this will be the 2nd time that NiP has placed outside of top 4, the first being ESEA s16.

Now coming into ESL One, the big questions are:

Is the era of NiP's dominance over the game in terms of consistency over?

Will VP maintain their form and take another CSGO major as well as being the first team to win two majors?

Can Titan reclaim their former glory and secure their placing as the top 4 in the world again?

Is this the first major that an American team might win?

All those questions will be answered in time to come. This will be one heck of tournament.

So, who are you rooting for and why?

Relevant links:
Official ESL website with countdown timer: http://www.esl-one.com/csgo/

Viewer's guide: http://www.hltv.org/news/12972-esl-one-cologne-viewers-guide

Tournament page http://kniferound.net/wiki/ESL_One:_Cologne_2014

Interviews:
Vox Eminor: http://www.hltv.org/news/12989-spunj-not-just-there-to-fill-the-s

Epsilon: http://www.hltv.org/news/12979-shox-i-dont-fear-any-team