FACEIT Major 2018: A North American retrospective
The FACEIT Major is done and dusted, and so now it is time to look back on the performances of all of the teams from North America. How did their results in the UK compare to their expectations, and what do we see them doing in the future? In this article we will look at Liquid, MIBR, compLexity, Cloud9, Rogue, and NRG's results from the Major cycle and what we can expect from them later on.
Liquid - The basket for all of NA's eggs
At this point in time, Liquid is the hope of North America. They have established themselves as an elite team and a consistent top four contender. Many had hoped and predicted that Liquid would win this Major, but in the end their poor matchup against Astralis along with the Danish team's unbelievable form cut their run short.
Still, the team should not be ashamed of their performance in London, as they only dropped three maps in the entire event -- one to HellRaisers and two to Astralis. They even took down Astralis in the group stage, albeit not before almost choking a huge lead.
For the future, Liquid should continue to be an elite team and contend for titles, with tournaments following the Major being prime candidates due to the post-Major slump of many Major winning teams. ESL One New York would be a perfect event for Liquid to prove themselves as a team capable of winning events.
MIBR - Maybe a Brazilian/American mix can actually work?
After the endless disappointing results for MIBR ever since leaving SK, the Brazilian/American team actually precured a meaningful result. This semifinal placing does not grant the team elite status, but it is the start of the five players actually coming together as a team.
After a rough loss to TYLOO in the first round, MIBR responded by defeating mousesports, G2, and Ninjas in Pyjamas on their way to the playoffs. MIBR then were gifted the easiest quarterfinal matchup in compLexity, allowing for MIBR to place top four at the Major with their biggest win being against NiP.
Perhaps the addition of Janko "YNk" Paunovic was a contributing factor to their resurgence. With the Serbian coach, the squad has yet to place below the playoffs of any tournament, and have only been eliminated by an elite tournament favorite.
BLAST Pro Series Istanbul will be a key tournament for the pan-American team, where they will likely be expected to place second behind Astralis. If we were to use the buy/sell stock trope for this team, I would recommend buying MIBR.
compLexity - stanislaw and ShahZaM's redemption arc
The biggest surprise of the Major this time around was compLexity, who managed to make the playoffs with an impressive 6-1 record in both the Challengers and Legends stages. In both stages, at least one of their victories was also over a team who advanced to the next stage, meaning that they had a reasonably tough path.
In the playoffs, they were dismantled by MIBR, showing that while their level was much higher than the expected one, it was still a cut below the top and they have a ways to go before actually challenging for any titles.
One key storyline for coL revolves around Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz, who was written off as an in-game leader after disappointing tenures in Liquid and the Danish mix of OpTic. This lineup shows that his time in the original OpTic wasn't a fluke, especially considering the level of the players in coL when he joined.
compLexity is on the up going into the future, and will certainly be the favorite to win the MSI MGA Finals at ESL One New York. They should also be contenders to qualify for the LAN finals of the online leagues once those start up — though they must first qualify to FACEIT's ECS.
Cloud9 - Time to rebuild
Cloud9's result at the Major was not surprising, considering their shown level with this roster before the event. However, the roster which played at this event was always meant to be temporary.
After the departure of Tarik "tarik" Celik to MIBR, Cloud9 looked to Maikil "Golden" Selim and Martin "STYKO" Styk as stand-ins while they evaluated what they would do for the future. With no Major spot to hold and over two months having passed since the departure of tarik, it is now time for Cloud9 to decide what they really want to do looking forward.
They've already secured the permanent services of Golden as their new captain and in-game leader, and yesterday pounced on former Fnatic star Robin "flusha" Rönnquist. Only time will tell if a new continent and teammates will reignite the legendary player.
The expectations for Cloud9 going into the future should be positive, with results going upward. However, if they do not figure out their roster situation soon, the fate that befell the original OpTic lineup could become a reality for William "RUSH" Wierzba once again.
Rogue - Just mediocre
There isn't much to say about Rogue other than that their Major run was fairly inconclusive. They played well against Astralis and North, but failed completely while playing Spirit. They still have the potential to be one of the top contenders in North America, but it's hard to see if they will reach it.
Rogue don't currently have any LAN events lined up for the future, which makes it even harder to evaluate whether or not they need any changes. On top of all of this, there is a report that Casper "cadiaN" Møller is set to join North and replace Mathias "MSL" Lauridsen. Dust2.us knows that the team are actively (and urgently) looking for a fifth member.
It will probably take another month or so to decide whether or not a change is needed for the Rogue side, but the first player on the chopping block would likely be senior member Daniel "vice" Kim if the cadiaN move doesn't come to fruition.
NRG - The sleeper pick
The overshadowing factor for NRG post-Major is the fact that they were not at the Major. Failing to win or even place top two at the Americas Minor is probably the biggest blunder of this roster's time together. However, one choke or failure cannot define an entire team's legacy, as this lineup still has quite a lot to show.
After their amazing run in the early summer and their loss at the Americas Minor, NRG still went on to easily win IEM Shanghai, keeping them a cut above the lower tier 2 and tier 3 sides. Due to Damian "daps" Steele working the Major as an analyst, NRG was unable to attend DreamHack Montreal and had to use a stand-in for the EPICENTER North America qualifier.
At the upcoming ESL One New York, as well as StarSeries i-League Season 6 later on, NRG will have the chance to show their true level. I would expect this team to improve their results from the last three months, but perhaps not return to their level from StarSeries i-League Season 5.
