IEM Krakow Stage One Preview

PARIVISION and B8 are the two highest Valve-ranked teams in the first stage, which is an insane sentence to read. And write.

If you'd told us a year ago that that first sentence was true, and that the event was IEM Krakow, we'd have first tried to correct you to Katowice before a record scratch sound happened in our head. PARI-who?

The truth is that while PARIVISION's rise is understandable, B8 haven't seemed to have moved. It's just that a lot of the other teams around them have been nothing special either. This is the first big event of the year, and every team in this stage has a hell of a lot to prove - to themselves, to us, and to the wider Counter-Strike world.

That B8 are that high is just a symptom of that tier 1.5 malaise.

TEAM BY TEAM

PARIVISION come in off the back of their stunning win at BLAST Bounty, with a target on their back and now the real game begins. If they breeze through here we'll really start to believe, but this will be a bit of a different challenge. They're a big fish now.

G2 are probably the next big favourite, and they're probably the most reliable of the teams here, which is a terrifying statement. HeavyGod is so consistent and is usually good enough on his own to hold off teams outside of the big ones, which means every team at this stage. The third 'best' team here?

Your guess is as good as ours.

Every other team is massively flawed in some way. Team Liquid are one of the best contenders, but as mentioned on the Win Condition podcast, they have a 'big orange problem'.

They have been flawed since inception of this roster with mismatched roles, horrible patches of form and an AWPer who simply isn't good enough for where they want to be. Add to that they have Krimbo standing-in, and things get weird. We still think they'll get through, but it won't be pretty. Aurora are a bit all over the shop at the moment and seem to be tailing off, while Astralis...

We've got no idea what to expect. But we know it's not going to be anything like Astralis of old.

3DMAX are perhaps the third team here, by virtue of being somewhat structured. They have firepower issues and always will, as they're a national team without the best player in the country, but they're a solid enough team who just crumble for no reason sometimes.

We mentioned B8 as the second highest ranked team by Valve, but frankly, we disagree. We like B8. They're a decent team who help to improve the general level of an event, but they aren't better than G2. However, we will be watching them with hawk eyes, as they've brought in a 16 year old with zero - zero! - recorded pro games over headtr1ck. He's only played ESEA Advanced, and seems to be more of a hybrid/rifler than an out-an-out AWPer, though we don't have much to go on.

For them to make that gamble, they must think he's absolutely extraordinary.

Passion UA and paiN are the highest ranked from outside Europe, but both have been largely disappointing recently. paiN have made a pair of changes, going back to a full Brazilian roster, and there's some excitement around vsm and piriajr, but we've believed in paiN before and been hurt. Never again.

GamerLegion looked better than expected at BLAST Bounty, but we need more data to really be confident suggesting they'll continue to be a top contender. HEROIC are a big question mark, but we like the individuals they brought in, and Legacy were sort of the 'PARIVISION' of last season. Two crazy results, and then nothing.

That's quite presumptuous on PARIVISION, but you know what we mean.

We do think NIP can do some damage, especially with the level of competition, but they've proven themselves to be incapable of finishing the job. They did bring in an exciting player in cairne, though, so we're interested to see them again.

That leaves BC.Game, who will definitely be rubbish, NRG, who were surprisingly not rubbish at the Major, and FUT, who are lowkey a contender for top eight. There's big excitement around their players in the scene, and they've got a great shot at climbing their ranks as other teams have big issues.

Opening games

16 teams become eight, and it's a simple case of two wins and you're in, two losses and you're out.

That means each game is important, and there's none spicier than Liquid vs NIP, again. Just like last time, it's two bottlejobs fighting it out to be the team who chokes less, and we will be there. TL picked up the win last time, but none of their results or performances seem to link to each to other anyway, so it's all irrelevant.

The winner will play either Passion UA or G2, and you'd have to expect G2 win that, but that's exactly the position that G2 normally capitulate in.

HEROIC vs PARIVISION is the next most intriguing game just to see how PARIVISION deal with their new found status, and because it looks like someone is shouting the game. It must be important, it's in all caps. A loss to HEROIC would completely change the story around PARIVISION, maybe unfairly.

They'll play either Aurora or GamerLegion, and we're just going to shrug our shoulders on this one. One of those teams will win. Nothing else is certain.

BC.Game start their campaign against Legacy, which is one of the easier match-ups they could get. They've just lost to two teams you've never heard of, though, and one of them they even had s1mple dropping 73. We're not expecting much.

They'll play FUT or 3DMAX, which is a sneaky good game. It's not quite a thigh-rubber, but it's a very watchable game. 3DMAX are a gatekeeper and FUT are a battering ram - we'll learn a lot about both teams from this series.

NRG vs B8 and Astralis vs paiN are the final pair of games, with B8 being massive favourites in the former. The second is a bit more in the air, but if vsm and piriajr land like we think they might, Astralis will not be able to live with the firepower difference.