iBUYPOWER Masters 2017 Preview

This weekend will see the Esports Arena in Santa Ana, California play host to the 2017 edition of iBUYPOWER Masters, marking the event’s third consecutive year in the CS circuit. There, the eight attending teams will be split into two groups as they lock horns through the best-of-one GSL group stage, culminating with the group deciders and playoff round on Sunday.

The eight participants have been split up into the following groups:

Group A	Group B
Cloud9	Liquid
Renegades	OpTic
Luminosity	CLG
NRG	Misfits

Earlier this week, Liquid’s Jonathan “EliGE” Jablownowski told Dust2.us he thinks "[North American teams] should be gunning for the top of the world instead of just in our region"; however, crowning the best in the region is just what iBUYPOWER Masters looks to do. With IEM Oakland on the horizon, Team Liquid will have the opportunity to double-down on EliGE’s sentiments - once again attempting to prove their prowess against both international opposition and their countrymen.

Despite the eight teams in attendance, only Liquid and Cloud9 field rosters that are solely North American. A week ago one might have thought that OpTic’s European roster would be the only squad that would present a serious threat to Liquid and Cloud9, but a surprisingly strong showing from Misfits last week at the Americas Minor shows that they can throw the group wide-open if they can muster a repeat performance.

Group A:

Cloud9

Fresh off a 2-0 victory at DreamHack Open Denver at the end of October, Cloud9 arrive in Santa Ana as one of the three favourites to take the title. The results of their roster changes back in August are finally beginning to show.

The addition of Tarik “tarik” Celik and Will “RUSH” Wierzba were long awaited changes to the North American roster - changes that transformed the team’s in-game composition to one far more fitting for its players. Tarik taking the reigns as the squad’s in-game leader frees up Jake “Stewie2k” Yip to focus on his own game. RUSH’s proven excellence as an entry fragger allows Stewie further freedom as a playmaker, and gives the team a more diverse playbook for difficult competition.

Initially shaky showings at DreamHack Masters Malmo and DreamHack Open Montreal quickly gave way to a best-of-three win over Na`Vi in the Group A decider match of ESL One New York; however,  it wasn’t until ELEAGUE Premier that Cloud9 showed their true potential.

Two dominant group stage victories over Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team EnVyUs ensured the North Americans access to the playoffs. It was there that tarik and co. took down G2 2-0 in the quarter-finals, falling only to Astralis in the semi-finals 1-2 despite winning the first map and holding a 14-10 lead on the second.

This loss, though crushing, was a good sign. In as little as two months they had taken one of the top three teams in the world to their limits. DreamHack Open Denver saw Cloud9 cruise through most of their competition, with only mousesports giving them a run for their money in a close semi-final bout.

iBUYPOWER Masters gives Cloud9 the opportunity to further prove their worth, acting as not only a gauge of their own progress versus their countrymen, but also as a warmup for IEM Oakland - where they will have the chance to claim revenge over Astralis in Group A.

Team Liquid

Liquid arrive at the Esports Arena hot off a victory themselves. An initial best-of-three loss to Misfits at the Americas Minor gave way to a rematch in the grand finals, where Liquid conceded the first map narrowly, but went on to dominate the following two maps to claim victory. With Nick “nitr0” Cannella’s leadership the team was also able to secure a Major Qualifier spot, polishing off CLG and compLexity with ease. The team has been praised by many analysts for their stellar usage of utility, with many talents considering their grenade usage on par with that of Astralis.

The team’s coach, Wilton “zews” Prado, has been the subject of much praise, with many crediting his ability to inspire his players to stay in the match and keep a level head. This has been crucial in conjunction with nitr0 taking over as in-game-leader, as the player has been known to lose confidence when he’s taken on the role previously.

This leadership swap seems to have reinvigorated the roster. Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz’s swap into a lurk role has enabled him to pick up kills that are far more impactful to the outcome of rounds, and the fearsome duo of EliGE and Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken has proven to be the scariest pair of players in North America when both players are on their game.

Unlike Cloud9, Liquid didn’t miss out on Epicenter - in fact, they’re the ones who eliminated Cloud9 in the North American Wild Card Qualifier. Alas, Liquid were unable to claim a series win in St. Petersberg, where they were knocked out of the tournament following a deceptively close 0-2 defeat to Astralis.

If Liquid hope to take on their countrymen at iBUYPOWER Masters, they’ll need Josh “jdm64” Marzano to show up. The once-star AWPer of CLG has shown flashes of brilliance in some matches with Liquid, but finding consistency will be key as he’ll face fierce opposition in Tyler “Skadoodle” Latham, who looks to be in resurgent form as of late.

OpTic Gaming

The European squad will play their first LAN together on American soil this weekend, taking on many players who once were OpTic players themselves. In fact, every single player who has played for OpTic since the organization entered CS:GO - not including stand-ins or players on trial - will be at iBUYPOWER Masters. Five of the other seven teams contain players who once played for the Green Wall, with even former coach James “hazed” Cobb appearing on the analyst desk.

OpTic, unlike Cloud9 and Liquid, aren’t arriving in Santa Ana off of a newfangled victory - quite the opposite, in fact. Although competition was fierce, OpTic’s attendance at the European Minor seemed to offer them a stellar opportunity to qualify for the Major Main Qualifier. Their main opposition was Team EnVyUs, but with two slots on offer OpTic was in with a good shot to make it through; however, Space Soliders claimed the crown in surprise fashion, victorious in series play over both the Green Wall and Boys in Blue.

OpTic were unable to take out Team EnVyUs in the lower bracket after falling to Space Soldiers, dropping them out of contention for the upcoming Major. Their biggest opportunity squandered, Adam “friberg” Friberg and his crew were understandably crushed, with many players expressing their sorrow on Twitter following their elimination.

iBUYPOWER Masters presents the squad with a shot to redeem themselves by taking down the best North America has to offer. Óscar "mixwell" Cañellas will also be in the unique position of facing many of his former teammates across multiple rosters - his first showing against them on LAN since the roster’s inception. Like Cloud9 and Liquid, the event also gives OpTic the chance to to prepare for the stiffer competition at IEM Oakland next week, where they’ll take on the likes of FaZe and G2 in Group B.

Misfits

CarbonDogma mentioned in his Americas Minor Preview that the Minor could very well be one of the final stands for this Misfits roster, and that they’d have to prove their worth while they were there. Misfits exceeded those expectations. After besting both Rise Nation and Luminosity in two best-of-three series, Misfits went on to upset Liquid 2-1, dropping the clear favourite at the Minor into the lower bracket.

Sean “seang@res” Gares then led his squad through another best-of-three against CLG, where a 2-1 victory secured them a coveted slot at the Major Qualifier. They demonstrated a good foundation based on tactics and role play as they worked their way through the bracket.

Their imported talents in François "AmaNEk" Delaunay and David "devoduvek" Dobrosavljevic finally began showing just why they’d been brought over to North America - both players were key in Misfits’ victories, and they must prove that they can maintain that level going into this weekend. Without the French duo showing up, Misfits will be hard-pressed to find openings versus the deeper playbooks of Liquid, Cloud9, and OpTic, and having just the two Frenchmen show up won’t be enough.

Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan will also be a crucial player if Misfits hopes to upset any of the top squads. ShahZaM has struggled with consistency throughout the recent portion of his career, but Misfits will need him to be wholly present when their matches roll around to take on Skadoodle and jdm64.

Renegades

The Aussie-North American mix of Renegades have been showing signs of improvement as their roster adjusts to the addition of Keith “NAF” Markovic. Just last week they triumphed over Virtus.Pro in the Grand Finals of StarLadder’s i-League Invitational in Shanghai, besting the Poles 2-0 on Mirage and Train.

Renegades also secured a Major Qualifier spot for themselves in Seoul just prior to their bout in Shanghai, taking Tyloo down in two best-of-three series to claim both a Qualifier slot and victory in the grand finals. NAF and Noah “Nifty” Francis put up solid numbers, leading the way for Renegades in both series.

That duo will need Aussie accompaniment if they hope to take on the likes of OpTic, Cloud9, and Liquid. Just Nifty’s AWP alone won’t be enough to deal with players like Stewie2k and friberg, and NAF will need help from the lads down under when facing the strong riflers from the other squads.

This will also be NAF’s opportunity to play against his former teammates, and give him a chance to try playing against the OpTic roster he was temporarily a part of as well. Renegades claiming victory in a series or two over the top crop of North America would bolster their standing among the world’s elite.

CLG

A team that looked to be on the rise early in the year has faltered ever so slightly. Failing to make the Major Qualifier was a blow to this squad as well, with in-game leader Pujan “FNS” Mehta tweeting after the match that they “deserved to lose.”

Ever since the departure of coach Chet “ImAPet” Singh, FNS and co. have struggled to adapt to teams as well as they did before. It was clear when watching their matches with ImAPet that they went into maps with clear and decisive game plans, and an understanding of their opponent’s playstyle and tendencies.

CLG have looked to fill that hole with the addition of Steve “Ryu” Rattacasa, who joined the team back in August. Though there was some improvement in their performance, it hasn’t been enough to take on the likes of Team Liquid, and won’t be enough if they don’t step up this weekend. Liquid crushed them at the Americas Minor 16-1 on Inferno, and proceeded to close out the series on the following map.

If CLG hope to have a shot at the title in Santa Ana, they’ll need their stars in Kenneth “koosta” Suen, Ethan “nahtE” Arnold, and Ricardo “Rickeh” Mulholland to all show up. Otherwise, they stand little chance against their North American counterparts.

NRG

NRG had a disappointing run at the Americas Minor. Though they triumphed over compLexity in overtime in their opening match, they failed to grab more than five rounds against Liquid. A best-of-three rematch versus compLexity seemed in their favour, but the Jacob “FugLy” Medina-led squad were unable to close out the series after taking the first map.

A roster change immediately followed the event, with Damian “daps” Steele returning to the roster in place of Dylan “RIKO” Sabin-Arnce. iBUYPOWER Masters will be the first time we see daps lead the roster on LAN with Cvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov, and the Bulgarian player will be needed if NRG hope to even pull of a best-of-one upset. Allan "AnJ" Jensen will also be crucial in NRG’s performance. A recent Twitlonger post from the player expressed his lack of confidence in his game, mentioning his need to adjust to a new style of play. He’ll look to support CeRq and Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte, and put up numbers himself throughout the event.

Shaky performances from the roster have given little confidence in NRG’s ability to take on any of the top teams in series play, but best-of-one upsets are quite possible if the players are able to figure out their roles.

Luminosity

One of many Brazilians squads that have undergone roster changes as of late, Luminosity will have a tough road ahead of them this weekend. Though they have shown an ability to play multiple maps and have good teamplay, they’ll have a rough time against their opposition.

Luminosity’s performances at the Americas Minor and at DreamHack Montreal showed that they have potential, but when faced by teams that were more practiced than they were, they struggled. A group stage exit in Montreal and no Major Qualifier spot were the results of their efforts, but the losses present a learning opportunity for the still-blossoming roster.

In a similar vein to NRG, Luminosity will look to the best-of-one group stage to grab wins over Cloud9, Renegades, and NRG. While victory over Cloud9 is unlikely, it’s quite possible that Luminosity can beat out NRG and Renegades to make the playoffs; however, they’ll be hard pressed to go deeper in the tournament once the playoffs come around.