The playoffs of DreamHack Masters Spring are about to kick off this weekend and it is set to be an exciting tournament.
The teams still left in the tournament are all top ten teams bound to deliver some incredibly close battles with how close they are to each other. Time to take a look at how they got there and who might end up as the winner.
Who will reach the semi-finals?
The first quarter-final sees G2 Esports facing off against Astralis. G2 secured their place through ending second in Group A after taking on several teams. They had a tense bout with Spirit for starters all the way to overtime, but with 19-12 G2 got on top. The problems started a bit later however, as they had to battle Gambit. A best-of-three where G2 did take one map but not more; this definitely shows potential for the semi-final if they manage to take on Astralis, their opponent.
Astralis had an easier trajectory in Group B, only losing out in the Upper Bracket Final against Heroic, their countrymen that have lately been showing much better form compared to Astralis. This also shows that there is definite potential for G2 to overtake them. Astralis has recently had to deal with the departure of dev1ce to NIP. G2 can take advantage of Astralis in their currently weaker position and secure a place against Gambit in the semi-final.
On the other side FURIA takes on Natus Vincere. A battle of Brazil versus CIS where FURIA fought hard to escape the Lower Bracket of Group B, effortlessly destroying teams like Vitality and Complexity with straight 2-0’s. If there is a favourite for the quarter-finals FURIA is the most likely team as their Lower Bracket performance was undeniably strong.
Meanwhile Natus Vincere has shown more signs of a struggle. It was a tough start against mousesports, narrowly winning the opening round with 16-14. This shows a shaky foundation for the CIS legends. They handled Virtus.pro considerably better but lost out against Gambit in the Group A Upper Final. This battle sees FURIA potentially being favourite with the solid track record in Groups. But Brazilian teams are known for their hit and miss performance, and whilst FURIA did a solid job in Groups, they could just as easily start struggling against NAVI.
Will Gambit and Heroic dominate?
In the semi-finals, two teams are already waiting for their opponents: Gambit and Heroic. They both succeeded in their respective groups, A and B. There is no doubt about Gambit and their capability to destroy whomever they land as an opponent, be it G2 or Astralis. The Grand Final spot is practically already in their pocket. They have been sitting comfortably at number one in the HLTV ranking for about a month and are showing no signs of giving this place up any time soon.
Heroic are close on Gambit’s tail with a solid number two ranking, a position they achieved about a month ago after refrezh and sjuush went through an understandable adjustment period and really started being part of the well-oiled machine that is Heroic. They will fight either FURIA or Natus Vincere in their own semi-final. Recent results indicate that they would have an easier time were they to face off against FURIA, although it would still be a considerable challenge. NAVI on the other hand has a more amicable track record, posting wins against Heroic both of the two times that they battled with each other.
It seems that in these semi-finals, the second one is definitely the potentially closer and more exciting one of the two. It is far more difficult to predict whether Heroic will hold onto their consistent performance or trail off just a tad too much, compared to being confident in Gambit their ability to shine.
Who wins it all?
There is no absolute guarantee of who might be the winner, but Gambit seems to be the most likely contender. The team has been on fire the last few months and is the deserved top one team in the entire world. They decimated teams like G2 and NAVI – they know how to deal with them.
And in the supposed worst case scenario for Gambit where they have to take on the number two in the world, Heroic, they are still working with an advantage. Gambit took on Heroic in the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown less than a month again and beat them out with 2-1 as well. A week before that they narrowly lost a best-of-five but even then played it to the very last map. That track record shows Gambit knows how to learn from their mistakes, something they will most likely prove again on Sunday.
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