Now, we are on the last day. My predictions were on point, and the gameplay was great. Savor this day because Dreamhack Winter won’t come for quite a long time.
The first match of the day is arguably the hardest. These teams have been battling for the number two spot, and with NV’s new lineup and victory at Gamescom, NV is looking to battle Fnatic for the number one spot. TSM has the tried-and-true roster, though, and they did take the impressive win at Dreamhack Valencia where Fnatic was in attendance. To me, it looks like NV will pan out being the better of the two. EnVyUs will ban Overpass because they don’t play it, and TSM is a decent team on the map. TSM should ban out Cobblestone because NV has the personnel to do well on the map, and TSM has proven that it is probably their worst map. TSM plays well on all of the other maps except Train, but the problem is that they only will play to the level of EnVyUs on the rest of the maps, except Dust 2. TSM’s pick should be Dust 2, but NV is a good enough team to win on such a map against TSM. I think Mirage, a map that NV has been banning, will work in the favor of NV, despite TSM being great on the map, because they did extremely well against Na’Vi yesterday. Inferno has been a map where TSM has picked up some big wins and was a home map along with Mirage, yet TSM is not looking like the winner because this is NV’s best map. Both teams are good on Cache, but NV is just a bit better. It is just the same old story with these teams until we get to Train. TSM is pretty weak on this map. Earlier in the tournament, they lost to Renegades on Train, and Renegades does not play Train like VP did yesterday against NiP. For NV’s map pick, which may matter if TSM is on point, should be Inferno. I say Inferno because it is their best map, and they don’t need to be hiding information from their potential opponent in the finals. It will be a great series to watch, but I don’t expect TSM to win it.
The number one team and the number five team facing off should be easy to predict, right? Well, that’s not the case for those of you who only have only experienced the Virtus Plow from yesterday. On any given Sunday, Virtus Pro can be like that and win this major, but they are rated at fifth in the world because they aren’t that way all of the time. When they are off, they are really bad. The good news for VP fans is that VP can be in Plowmode for an entire tournament. Everyone is doing so well at the moment, but the bad news is that Fnatic doesn’t need for everything to work in order to be god-like. Fnatic has been doing great this tournament like we predicted, so VP must count on themselves creating a catastrophe instead of depending on Fnatic to show up as one. Virtus Pro can beat Fnatic on Overpass, and Fnatic does not favor it. This should be Fnatic’s ban. Virtus Pro is going to keep Dust 2 as their permaban. Virtus Pro could really pick any map because when they are in Plowmode, and Fnatic can pick any map against anyone pretty much. All I can really do is break down each map a little bit. Inferno is a good stable map for Fnatic; we saw them do very well against Na’Vi who are very good on the map too. Virtus Pro should try to pick something more optimal and something that they haven’t played. Mirage could be good for Virtus Pro as Fnatic has steered away from it, but I think Virtus Pro should pick Train. ex-Keyd brought Fnatic to overtime on Train at ESEA-ESL Pro League LAN. Cache and Cobble are the remaining maps, and good for Virtus Pro just like Mirage and Inferno. Fnatic is good on them, and so is Fnatic. Virtus Pro was a very good Cache team in the Spring, and they still play it today. Cobblestone against C9 brought Virtus Pro to the quarterfinals. Again, there isn’t much to say about Fnatic on these maps because they are just the world’s best by far. Of these maps, Fnatic should probably pick Inferno after doing so well against Na’Vi on it. Right now, I think Virtus Pro has a good chance to win and cannot be stopped when in Plowmode. On the other hand, Fnatic is a reliable pick. Since I have to make a prediction, I think Virtus Pro will show up and be able to edge it out.
If Virtus Pro is to make it out, they will win the tournament for sure. Nothing can be done to stop them. Fnatic should be able to beat either TSM or NV, but both teams can beat Fnatic. I think NV has the best chance of beating Fnatic of the two. Fnatic could edge out a win with the desire to be the first team to win back-to-back majors, but NV has a bit of a surprise factor and is a new, hungry team. I am going to have to say that Fnatic will win the finals due to their winner’s mentality.
