StarLadder Berlin Major 2019: New Challengers Stage Odds to Qualify & Preview

• 16 teams compete in the StarLadder Berlin Major Challengers Stage from August 23rd to August 26th
• Top 8 Teams advance to the Legends Stage joining eight other teams that have already qualified
• Vitality and NRG Esports are huge favorites to qualify

The StarLadder Berlin Major opens on August 23rd and beings with the Challengers Stage. Sixteen teams have a chance to qualify for the Legends Stage, and join eight other teams that have previously qualified from IEM Katowice.

Odds of Qualifying for the StarLadder Berlin Major Legends Stage

*Odds taken 08/01/19

The Group of 8

Heading into the Challengers Stage, eight teams have been given negative odds to qualify. At -10000, Vitality are very likely to advance, as they should, considering they’re ranked no. 2 on HLTV’s CS:GO rankings. NRG, G2, mousesports, FURIA and North should also all be locks to advance. Their rosters all consist of players with lots of experience competing at the top level of CounterStrike. Both Cr4zy and AVANGAR have recent results that suggest they too have good chances to move on.

Starting with Cr4zy, the German organization took down North at the offline Europe Minor Championship to qualify for the Challenger Stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FygbSUFBXfA

They were also able to hold up to G2 Esports at the ESL One: New York European Qualifier. They forced the match to a third map that G2 narrowly won 16-13.

For AVANGAR, their results have been a bit more questionable. They have recent losses to Tricked Esport, Chaos Esports Club, and GamersLegion.

Some of those teams are weaker than the teams competing in the Challengers Stage. However, AVANGAR has recently signed former Faze Clan stand-in ‘AdreN’ to their roster which could give them a veteran boost heading in. If one team with negative odds was to miss out on qualifying, it would probably be AVANGAR.

The Regional Competition

It’s very difficult to determine how these teams match up since they all come from different regions and don’t face each other all to often. ForZe is a team that comes from the CIS and qualified for the Major by dominating the CIS Minor Championship. They didn’t drop a single map, including a 2-0 over Syman Gaming who are also heading to Berlin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WxUnXw3vgE

It was a similar story for the qualifiers out of Asia. Grayhound Gaming and Tyloo both looked strong against the other teams in their region. Their only real test was each other as the third and final map went to double overtime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhk5XZZ-yJ4

We’ve seen Tyloo’s potential in the past but they’ve never been able to really grab a notable win over a top team.

Complexity Gaming would normally be a team that could slot in here but they adjusted their roster back in June. They replaced stanislaw with oBo and also had dephh take over as in-game leader. Switching to a new IGL would definitely take time to get used to and could have an impact in the Challengers Stage.

I’d say that teams like ForZe and Grayhound Gaming that dominated their respective regions would have a better chance of qualifying over the likes of AVANGAR.

Pick: ForZe (+200)