Preview of NA,Asia,Europe,CIS Minor Championship — Katowice 2019

Minor tournaments that let the best participants get to the Major championship are about to begin. We will tell you about the upcoming events in a detailed way.

Americas Minor Championship — Katowice 2019

Group А

NRG Esports, Imperial eSports, Bravado Gaming, INTZ eSports

The clearest favorite of getting to the playoff and winning the American Minor tournament in this group is NRG Esports. Now this roster holds the 8 place in the list of the best CS:GO teams according to HLTV. These five players were gathered one year ago when Ethan ‘nahtE’ Arnold joined the collective. In comparison to the roster the other opponents such as Imperial eSports, Bravado Gaming and INTZ eSports look rather weak. NRG Esports are to get to the playoff and taking into account the participants from Group B, we are sure that NRG will get a ticket to the Major in Katowice.

The second strong collective is Bravado Gaming. A little more than three weeks ago the players from South Africa managed to win DreamHack Mumbai Invitational 2018. Their efforts resulted in the main money reward of ~$35,587.

Group B

Team EnVy, Team One, FURIA Esports, eUnited

It is very difficult to define a favorite of this group as all the mentioned teams play at approximately the same level. The only team that can stand out is FURIA Esports. This roster took the second place at the end of last year at the tournament with a prize pool of $30,000, NSG Eastern Conference Championship. The other teams have very bad recent results. We have doubts that any of the representatives of Group B will get an invite to the Major tournament.

Asia Minor Championship — Katowice 2019

Group А

Renegades, Aequus Club, CyberZen, Grayhound Gaming

The clearest favorite of passing the group stage and winning the Minor is Renegades. In comparison to the other participants Renegades look rather strong: individual skills of the players and their last results are much better than Aequus Club, CyberZen and Grayhound Gaming. At the middle of December last year the Australians managed to get the 5-6 place at ESL Pro League Season 8 - Finals, where world's strongest teams participated in. Aequus Club and CyberZen will hardly be able to compete with Renegades, but Grayhound Gaming have more chances to win over the Australians than the other representatives of Group A.

Group B

Vici Gaming, GOSU, Beyond Esports, MVP PK

The favorites of Group B could be only Vici Gaming. The game shape of all the collectives makes us doubt, but if we compare the results within the period of the last month and half, Vici Gaming are ahead their opponents. They took the 13-16 place at ESL Pro League Season 8 - Finals. Despite their failure at the LAN final, the fact that they have made it to there proves Vici Gaming's ability to compete in the Chinese division. The minor tournament will show whether this is true.

If we chose two participants that will get invited to the Major tournament, we would opt for Renegades and Grayhound Gaming, as their level of game is higher than any of the participants of Group B.

Europe Minor Championship — Katowice 2019

Group А

mousesports, Valiance, Team Vitality, OpTic Gaming

As for this group, its true favorite is mousesports. Since the return of STYKO to the European team, the team has started to show good results. In December mouze participated in two LAN finals. At Esports Championship Series Season 6 - Finals they took the 5-6 place and got a money reward of $45,000, and at ESL Pro League Season 8 - Finals the Europeans got the 3-4 place, getting a reward of $55,000. We will remind you that mousesports are among five best CS:GO rosters according to HLTV.

The second strong collective in Group A should be OpTic Gaming. The Danish showed good results last year and now they hold the 19 place in HLTV top.

Despite the analysis, unpredictable things can happen in the Group as OpTic Gaming, Vitality and Valiance play on the same level no matter their positions in the world rating.

Group B

North, Windigo Gaming, ex-Space Soldiers, ENCE eSports

In our opinion, the main favorite of Group B should be ENCE eSports. Unlike all the other collectives, their recent results have been the best. At the beginning of December the Finnish won DreamHack Open Winter 2018 and their efforts led them to a money reward of $50,000. In our opinion, the second strong representative of Group B is North. The last major tournament for the Danish was ESL Pro League Season 8 - Finals. There they were the first to leave the competition. Having lost the match against Sharks, North took the 13-16 place and got $20,000 as a consolation prize. Windigo Gaming ex-Space Soldiers are not likely to show impressive results as their game shape is to be worked on.

The most expectable result of the European minor is mousesports’ victory being in the upper bracket. The second team getting invited to the Major tournament in Katowice will be ENCE eSports or Vitality, for example.

CIS Minor Championship — Katowice 2019

Group А

Gambit Esports, Syman Gaming, Nemiga Gaming, Team Spirit

Despite the fact that Gambit Esports have recently made a reshuffle in their roster, they look rather strong in comparison to the other collectives. Syman, Nemiga and Team Spirit haven't shown any good results for a long time and the likelihood of their showing a good game is tiny.

Group B

AVANGAR, pro100, Runtime.gg, Winstrike

pro100 and AVANGAR are more likely to become leaders in the group and will be able to fight for desirable invitations to the Major tournament. On 28 December, pro100 took the first place at LOOT.BET Bullet Blizzard. Their efforts brought them a money reward of $3,000. Meanwhile, in December AVANGAR won Bucharest Gaming Week Invitational and got the main prize which is €25,000 (~$28,465).

Gambit Esports and AVANGAR are more likely to show the best results at CIS Minor Championship — Katowice 2019.