Top contenders at StarSeries & i-League Season 8

StarLadder returns with a $500 thousand CS:GO LAN tournament in Belek, Turkey. The tournament features some of the best CS:GO teams from around the world. Being one of the few LAN tournaments of their scale after the Berlin Major, StarSeries & i-League Season 8 highlights many new rosters and storylines.

Teams like Vitality, Na’Vi and Fnatic all underwent roster changes recently. Here are some of the best teams in action at StarSeries & i-League Season 8.

Natus Vincere

S1mple and GuardiaN on Na’Vi. Image Credit: ESPN

Ladislav ‘GuardiaN’ Kovács’ addition to Na’Vi allows Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev to play on his preferred role as a rifler. The world’s best player consistently delivers on an individual level. However, the rest of Na’Vi rarely matches his performance.

GuardiaN is one of the most aggressive AWPers in the game and single-handedly turns matches. He positions passively but is not afraid to surprise opponents with unorthodox peeks.

With a new In-Game Leader in Kirill ‘Boombl4’ Mikhailov and with Andrey ‘B1ad3’ Gorodenskiy as their coach, Na’Vi’s current roster has the potential to be the world’s best team. Boombi4’s leadership lends itself to suit talented players on the team.

Vitality

Zyw0o is one of the world’s best players. Image Credit: ESL

Despite losing to Fnatic in the Grand Finals of DreamHack Masters Malmö, there were many positives for Vitality.

Cédric ‘RpK’ Guipouy and Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut are the pillars of Vitality’s performance and are two of the most consistent players on the lineup. Zyw0o is one of the best CS:GO players in the world alongside RpK’s consistency and reliability make big positives for the French team.

With Richard ‘shox’ Papillon joining the team as a specialist lurker, Alex has all the ingredients necessary for a successful team. The absence of teams like Astralis and Team Liquid make Vitality a top contender for this tournament.

Evil Geniuses

EG surprised opponents after winning ESL One New York 2019: Image Credit: HLTV

The Evil Geniuses roster comprises multiple heavy-hitters on the team. Vincent ‘Brehze’ Cayonte, Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik and Ethan ‘Ethan’ Arnold carry some of the best first-shot accuracies. However, Cvetelin ‘CeRq’ Dimitrov is the X-factor on the side. But his inconsistency with the AWP is a matter of concern for the North American team. While their performance remains high, they cannot always maintain the same level.

Evil Geniuses boast players with high individual skill-levels. Despite their victory at ESL One New York 2019, EG lost in the Group stage at DreamHack Masters Malmö. However, they topped their Group at ESL Pro League defeating teams such as Complexity, eUnited and Cloud9.

Fnatic

Fnatic won DreamHack Masters Malmo. Image Credit: Rivalry

Fnatic’s victory at DreamHack Masters Malmö raises hopes of a comeback for Swedish Counter-Strike. The Fnatic roster has the same core lineup from 2015 along with Maikil ‘Golden’ Kunda Selim and Ludvig ‘Brollan’ Brolin.

Golden has a unique leadership style wherein he customizes the team’s gameplay to suit the players’ playstyle. Fnatic’s performance against Astralis, especially with veteran players stepping up individually, is a glimpse of things to come from Swedish Counter-Strike.

StarSeries & i-League Season 8 kicks off on October 21 and continues for three days. CS:GO fans can watch the tournament live on Twitch.

Written by Rohan Samal