Now that the DreamHack Masters Dallas craze is finally over, it’s time to step into June and soak in all the top-tier CS:GO action looming in the distance. The highly-anticipated finals for two huge events are scheduled for this month, with one of them starting next week. As the title suggests, we’ll be focusing on FACEIT’s biannual tournament, ECS S7!. Yep, we’ve got an ECS Season 7 Finals Preview to make sure you’re ready before the first matches pop off. A comprehensive set of news, facts, team overviews and schedule await you in the next couple of paragraphs.

The spectacle will be held in London at the luxurious SSE Arena, Wembley. Furthermore, there are eight top-tier teams that’ll be fighting for the trophy. And for the biggest share of the $500,000 in total prize pool money, of course. That said, sit back, relax, and read about the highly-anticipated Esports Championship Series Season 7 Finals!

ECS Season 7 Finals Preview | Interesting Facts

• Esports Championship Series (ECS) is a biannual event (twice per year) that’s organized by the popular FACEIT organization. It features eight teams from two of the best CS:GO regions, Europe and North America. Four teams from each region, if I am to be more precise.
• This year, the competition is a bit more lenient than what we’re used to. That’s due to a completely different set of rules for the qualifying stages. Some of the best teams such as Team Liquid and FaZe have failed to qualify in this hectic qualifying system. That led to the likes of North, FURIA, and Complexity making it up to the big stage. Even though they might not be the best teams on paper, their upset potential should not be taken for granted.
• There’s a total of $500,000 in the prize pool, $160,000 less than the typical amount. Still, there’s a lot of money to grab here, meaning the rewards won’t fail to motivate the teams. With the SSE Arena, Wembley set as the venue we can rest assured the atmosphere will be electric.
• Esports Championship Series Season 7 Finals kicks off on Thursday, 6th June. The first two days are reserved for all ten group stage matches, and the last two days will feature the three remaining (playoffs) matches, all of which bring forth Bo3 action.

Prize Pool Distribution

Unfortunately, we still have no info so far as the official prize pool distribution is concerned. What’s worse, we can’t even give you proper assumptions since previous years featured an extra $160,000 in the pot. As the tournament comes closer, I reckon we’ll get an official announcement from FACEIT stating the prize pool distribution. Until then, we can only guess…

Tournament Format

There are several more details we need to go through before we can call this ECS Season 7 Finals Preview finished. First of which is the tournament format section, which is sort of like your viewer’s guide for this event.

For starters, ECS Season 7 Finals are your typical two-phase event. The Group stage and playoffs are both here, bringing forth two completely different styles of tournaments. The group stage has two double-elimination groups with four teams in each. The system is pretty typical – opening matches are Bo1 with all remaining ones set for Bo3 contests.

As for the playoff phase, it’s scheduled for a single-elimination bracket with all three matches as Bo3 fixtures. Yep, including the grand finals.

Esports Championship Series Season 7 Finals | Team Overviews

As mentioned earlier, there are more than a few top-tier teams missing here. Recent DH Masters Dallas 2019 finalists, Team Liquid and ENCE, are not here. The same goes for FaZe Clan and NaVi. Of course, ENCE and NaVi weren’t even competing in the quals, but that’s a story for another time.

In this section, I’ll guide you through four teams with the highest potential going into the playoffs. Two from group A and two from group B. Of course, this is just my personal opinion based on their recent performances. You don’t necessarily have to agree with me.

With that in mind, let’s jump straight to the next section of our ECS Season 7 Finals Preview, the team overviews.

Astralis

Astralis hasn’t competed in a single tournament since BLAST Pro Series Madrid. This, almost a full month, pause could take a toll on their performance. Especially considering their poor track record against ENCE in Madrid. A poor track record that resulted in the Finns snatching the trophy right out from under them.

Luckily for dupreeh and the rest of the Danish squad, ENCE is not participating in the ECS Season 7 Finals. However, that doesn’t mean RFRSH Entertainment’s CS:GO team won’t face any difficulties in London. MIBR, for instance, defeated them at BPS Miami as well as in the ECS Season 6 Finals. While Astralis is still the number one team in the competition, I don’t think their road to the trophy will be all butterflies and rainbows.

MIBR

At the moment, TACO is the only player somewhat struggling in this MIBR roster. At least when it comes to the last month or so. TACO’s performances weren’t on usual levels which brought a surge of questions regarding his roster contributions. In contrast, FalleN and coldzera are enjoying themselves out there. All matches throughout the last month or so have been excellent for these two fierce Brazilian competitors. Fer is doing great too, aligning those crucial, round-securing frags and ensuring his team gets the necessary rounds no matter the cost.

All in all, MIBR is arguably the second-best team on this tournament. After Astralis, of course. Their prompt rotations, timely site stacks, and impeccable timing are what makes them tough competitors in London. This Brazilian squad has the player potential to push through opposing defensive lines. They have the drive, the discipline and top player at each individual position. And that’s something all of their opponents will have to be wary of.

Team Vitality

Team Vitality is a potent French side that seems to be going through a renaissance. Their recent triumph at CS_summit 4 showcased their brilliance. They’ve managed to take down heavy favorites across several maps, further cementing their position as one of the biggest surprises in mid-2019. Next up, they’ll try to repeat their CS_summit 4 success in London. ECS S7 Finals would be the perfect occasion for another terrific Team Vitality performance.

The biggest part of their recent success was the team’s cohesion. They were compact yet dynamic, patient when needed, unpredictable in clutch situations. Their playstyle has evolved greatly and they could do great things in London. ZywOo has been a decisive factor as well. With a +273 K/D ratio over the last month, he’s proving himself as one of the best fraggers in the world. We’re talking S1mple and NiKo levels here. That said, I really believe they’ll advance to the semifinals and prove their worth against some of the world’s best CS:GO teams.

NRG Esports

The last team I’ll be covering in this ECS Season 7 Finals Preview is NRG Esports. This is a middle-of-the-pack team in international waters, but have been pretty stellar top-tier competitors in NA. Right behind the blue powerhouse, Team Liquid. However, their domestic success won’t mean much in London. After all, they’re in group A with two powerful European teams. Astralis and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Even though the initial Bo1 match against NiP will be a proper hassle, NRG will want to contest Astralis for the top spot. If not, they’ll have to face either NiP or FURIA in the Decider match. And, even though that one’s going to be a Bo3, the tension will be at the highest possible level. Luckily for NRG, their top players have been playing quite well during the last month or so. CeRq and Brehze are leading the charge, even though Ethan isn’t far behind them either. This roster packs plenty of potential so I’m really eager to see their match against NiP. Who knows, perhaps we get lucky and get to see two of them!

Potential Upsets

As far as the remaining teams are concerned, NiP and North seem like the most prominent names. The Swedes are in group A with Astralis, NRG, and FURIA. If they end up beating NRG in their initial Bo1 match, F0rest and co will be pretty close to the playoffs. If, on the other hand, they lose to NRG, the match against FURIA could be really unforgiving. In fact, the entire lower bracket section (Elimination and Decided rounds) could be unforgiving. Especially with NRG most likely looming in the Decider.

As for North, their initial match is against MIBR and could become a proper upset right off the bat. After all, we’re talking about a Bo1 fixture that could, in theory, go either way. Disregarding the quality of these two teams, Bo1 fixtures are upset-friendly so I’m eager to see the outcome of this match. If by any chance, North takes the win here, they could go head to head against Vitality for the direct 2-0 spot in the playoffs.

ECS S7 Finals Schedule (CEST)

This is it! There’s just one more section to go and we’re all done with our ECS Season 7 Finals Preview! Since I reckon most of you are in a hurry (aren’t we all?), let’s take a quick look at the schedule.

Thursday, 6th May

• Astralis vs FURIA – 11 a.m.
• NiP vs NRG – 12.30 p.m.
• Complexity vs Vitality – 2 p.m.
• MIBR vs North – 3.30 p.m.

The initial round of matches is followed by Winners’ Round later that day. The first playoffs contestants will be known after the end of day one. Day two brings forth the lower bracket rounds. Elimination and Decider matches. Saturday will showcase both semi finals matches (2 p.m. and 5 p.m.) while Sunday is reserved for the grand finals (5 p.m.).