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Americas Minor StarLadder Major 2019 Odds & Preview: NRG Favored

Zack Bowker

by Zack Bowker in eSports

Updated Mar 25, 2020 · 1:49 PM PDT

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NRG look to win back-to-back America Minors and have the chance to battle it out for the Starladder Berlin Major trophy. Photo by @ESLCS (Twitter)
  • The Starladder Berlin Americas Minor starts July 17
  • Will NRG win a second in a row?
  • Other teams that could find themselves on top in Berlin

With the Starladder Berlin Major slowly approaching it’s everyone’s favorite time of the year, qualifier season. The North American qualifier is set to take place July 17-21 in Berlin, and will see the top two teams move on to the New Challengers Stage of the Major, and take home a little bit of cash as well.

NRG sit as the favorites to come out on top in the Americas Minor, but not far behind are the new Brazilians on the scene, Furia. Realistically both of the teams will probably be the ones who come out on the other side in Berlin and end up qualifying for the Major, but there may be a bit of a sleeper pick that could find themselves squeaking through.

Americas Minor Odds

Team Odds
NRG +160
Furia +275
eUnited +600
Sharks +800
Singularity +1000
Lazarus +1200
INTZ +1600
Team One +2500

*All odds taken 07/06/19

Another Minor First Place for NRG?

After falling short in the Boston Major Qualifier and again at the London Qualifier, NRG came out strong in the Katowice Qualifiers and ended up breezing through with the first place spot without even dropping a map. They didn’t manage to get through the first stage in Katowice though, which means they get to go through all this fun once again.

Recently NRG made a change in the IGL role, bringing in Stanislaw for Daps, which does offer more firepower but they’re not really proven just yet. They managed to make the quarterfinals of ESL One Cologne in the first time playing on LAN together, and since there competition was pretty stiff it’s actually a very good result.

They realistically will be using the Americas Minor as a tune up and more practice for the new squad, but I don’t really see a world where they aren’t able to at least make top-2 and qualify for the Major in Berlin.

Que Ota?

The other team I would say is more likely to win the Americas Minor is Furia. They took the CS world by storm after qualifying for the Katowice Major by battling through the Minor, taking second behind NRG. While they were in the actual Major they proved that they may be a real threat moving forward after a pretty decent showing considering how new they were on the global scene.

Since IEM Katowice, Furia has managed to make it pretty far in a few different tournaments, most notably at the ESC Finals Season 7 where they took home silver. They have a very unique playstyle and since they are so new to top tier teams, it seems like they are hard to prepare against. If NRG doesn’t manage to find the W at the Americas Qualifiers, I would say the Brazilians stand the next best chance.

Don’t Sleep on EU

eUnited are a team that may be able to provide an upset at the Americas Minor and end up at least coming in second and qualifying for the Starladder Berlin Major. They recently have shown that they can beat Furia, the team that I suspect will place second, and they did so in pretty convincing fashion with a 2-0 win with one of the maps being a 16-3 stomp.

They could end up qualifying for the Major, but I don’t really see a world where they are able to take the cake at the Americas Minor. They very well may be able to place second, but first may just be too much to ask for. Though stranger things have happened in Counterstrike, so if you’re looking for a higher risk/higher reward pick, look no further than eUnited.

Pick: NRG (+160)

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