ESL One Cologne 2019 Preview: Astralis Listed as Favorite

• ESL One Cologne kicks off July 2nd and runs until July 7th
• Is Astralis still worthy of being listed as the favorite?
• Will Liquid claim another title and the Intel Grand Slam?

ESL One Cologne, the most iconic tournament in all of Counterstrike, is set to take place from July 2-7 at the Lanxess Arena and will see 16 teams battling it out for the lion’s share of the $300,000 prize pool. The teams will be split into two groups of eight and will follow a double elimination format until the final eight teams advance to playoffs, which are single elimination.

Last year saw Na’vi claim the title in the Cathedral of Counterstrike after eliminating Fnatic and Astralis en route to the final, where they beat the hometown boys BIG, 3-1.  This time around Na’vi sit with the third highest odds on the table trailing behind Astralis and Liquid respectively. Do they have any real chance of repeating in Cologne? Or will there be a new champion in Germany?

ESL One Cologne 2019 Odds

Odds taken 06/27/19

Another One for Liquid?

For the first time in CSGO history, the world’s number one team comes from North America and they are on a serious roll heading into ESL One Cologne 2019. Liquid have managed to win three major tournaments over the past two months hoisting the trophy at IEM Sydney, Dreamhack Masters Dallas, and ESL Pro League Season 9 Finals.

Each player on Liquid has taken their turn firing out all-star performances, with three of their five players holding over a 1.18 rating over the past three months on LAN. It appears they’ve finally broken the second place curse after 2018 (AKA the year of silvers), and it looks like 2019 is shaping up to be the year of golds for the North American squad.<

We are champions once again!

The Frenchmen put up an amazing fight, but we will not be denied.

Thank you for the incredible amounts of support every step of the way, we couldn't have done it without you. #LetsGoLiquid pic.twitter.com/gVeixlSZYP

— Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) June 23, 2019

It may be a little too early to say, but if they manage to find a win in Cologne then it’s kind of hard to argue that the Counterstrike world isn’t living in the Liquid era. They would be only the second team to complete the Intel Grand Slam, the first being Astralis, and the amount of events they managed to do it in would be a lot less than it took the Danes to do it.

Considered to be the best team of all time, Astralis completed the Intel Grand Slam over the course of seven events, whereas if Liquid wins Cologne they would have done it over the course of five. If they do so, which I believe they will, Liquid will claim an extra $1,000,000 on top of the prize money for winning Cologne.

I think they are just too strong of a team right now, and I don’t really see them losing in a best of five series in the finals. There are certainly teams that will be in attendance that can push them to the brink, but it’s a tall task to take three maps off of Liquid at the moment. Expect them to add another to the cabinet by the end of the tournament.

Pick: Liquid (+275)

Who Will Be Joining Liquid in the Finals?

There are a few teams that will be competing in Cologne that could realistically find themselves playing for the title come Sunday; Astralis, Na’vi, ENCE, and mousesports.

Starting with Astralis, they are a just a team you can never count out even though they haven’t found the most success at the last few tournaments they’ve attended. They had a historic run in 2018 that may likely never be rivaled in Counterstrike, and despite them not reaching the same heights in recent months you just can’t ever count them out. They’re kind of like Golden State in that way.

Na’vi are the reigning champions in Cologne, and though they are heading into this year’s event with a new player on their roster they should still be seriously looked at to reach the final. They have undeniably the best player in the world in s1mple, and arguably another top five player in electronic. If they are both in peak form then they stand a serious chance at making a run to the finals.

Roster changes in our CS:GO roster! @EdwardCSGOD leaves the team, to be replaced by @Boombl4CS.

📰: https://t.co/gEghvlPwAk#NAVINATION #csgo pic.twitter.com/6bx9h32bqH

— NAVI (@natusvincere) May 29, 2019

ENCE may have started out as a bit of a meme with #EZ4ENCE, but they are a very good team. In 2019 they reached the finals in their first major at IEM Katowice, won Blast Pro Series Madrid and finished second again at Dreamhack Masters Dallas. I think of any of the teams mentioned they stand the best chance of reaching the finals where they will square up with Liquid once again.

ENCE may have started out as a bit of a meme with #EZ4ENCE, but they are a very good team.

The last team I could see possibly reaching the finals would be mousesports. When this roster was assembled they were pretty heavily hyped, but didn’t really have the results everyone expected off the bat. After a few months of playing together though, they managed to reach the semifinals of Dreamhack Masters Dallas where they fell to the eventual winner, Liquid. The EU mix squad seem to be hitting their stride finally and they’re doing it right in time for Cologne.

Picks: Liquid (-115), ENCE (+450)

ESL One Cologne 2019: Winning Region Odds

Another One for NA

Liquid are just too strong right now, so I don’t know if it makes any sense to bet anything other than NA on this prop. Sure, there are more teams in attendance from Europe, but I think it will be North America claiming yet another title at ESL One Cologne 2019.

Pick: NA (+160)