StarSeries & i-League have both established themselves as notable representatives of CS:GO’s competitive calendar. Their importance is booming with each passing iteration, and there’s no sign of them stepping down anytime soon. Especially now that we all know the next CS:GO Major will bear StarSeries banners which only serves to boost their importance. With all that in mind, allow me to welcome you to a quick and concise StarSeries Season 7 Preview!

Within this preview, we’ll go through some interesting facts regarding this tournament, take a closer look at its format and say a thing or two about the most prominent competing teams. Additionally, there’ll be a short paragraph touching the upcoming StarSeries Major as well as a brief schedule section to inform you when to tune in to the first matches.

So, without any further ado, let’s dig right into the first part of this StarSeries Season 7 Preview!

StarSeries Season 7 Preview | Interesting Facts

• StarSeries & i-League is a joint venture between ImbaTV and StarLadder which now features several top-grossing esports among its roster; the most important games being CS:GO and Dota 2.
• StarSeries’ history in CS:GO dates all the way back to May 2016 when the first StarSeries Invitational took place. Seven more tournaments were held since then, with S7 being the overall 9^th StarSeries CS:GO
• StarSeries tournaments went from $100,000 to $150,000 and $300,000 in prize pool money, but that’s all pocket change compared to the total prize pool of StarSeries Season 7 which sits at $500,000. Of course, the next StarSeries tournament (the second Major of 2019) will break that record too with its $1,000,000 in prize pool money.
• As for the dates, StarSeries Season 7 kicks off on Saturday, March 30^, and lasts until Sunday, April 7. Over the course of those eight days, we’ll have the chance to watch a total of 40 matches. 33 of them will be during the group stage with the remaining seven scheduled for the three rounds of playoffs.

The Next CS:GO Major Will Bear StarSeries Colors

As you all know, Majors are the biggest tournaments in CS:GO’s competitive calendar, and as such, they are of the utmost importance for everyone involved. The teams, the players, the fans, heck, even the broadcasting talent. Majors take things up a notch and are marked as true CS:GO festivals with each passing installment.

As of recently, Valve introduced a specialized funding system that ensures their Majors get the “love” they deserve. This new funding system has brought in considerable changes to the organizational infrastructure, with Valve falling into the background and leaving the hosting obligations to third-party organizers such as ELEAGUE, FACEIT, Intel Extreme Masters….and StarSeries.

Last month, we found out StarSeries is set to host the next CS:GO Major, second of 2019 and fifteenth overall. Dubbed as StarLadder Berlin Major 2019, this CS:GO Major will be played at the marvelous Mercedes-Benz Arena from the  20^th of August to the 8^th of September, and is likely to feature the same exact format as the previous iterations.

However, there have already been some issues with the event, mainly due to tight, competitive schedules and the fact that StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 starts just days after the end of the players’ summer break. While this is quite a big issue for CS:GO’s competitive ecosystem, I really doubt things will change now that everything’s announced and scheduled.

Be that as it may, StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 starts in roughly five months, and I’m sure we’ll all be eagerly awaiting the first matches as the start date comes closer.

Prize Pool Distribution

As I  mentioned at the start of this StarSeries Season 7 Preview,  the prize pools keep on increasing with each passing iteration. The seventh season is set to feature a whopping $500,000, the biggest prize pool in the history of StarSeries CS:GO tournaments. Once again, that record won’t stand for too long since the upcoming CS:GO Major hosted by StarSeries will feature at least $1,000,000.

As far as the official prize pool distribution is concerned, here’s how the situation pans out:

Place	Prize Pool Money
1st	$250,000
2nd	$80,000
3rd/4th	$30,000
5th/8th	$15,000
9th/11th	$8,500
12th/14th	$5,500
15th/16th	$4,000

Tournament Format

It’s been a couple of years since StarSeries introduced the controversial best of three swiss system format which will be featured during the group stage of StarSeries Season 7. The top eight teams will advance through to the playoffs with the bottom eight eliminated right off the bat.

The playoffs will be played as a single-elimination bracket with best of three matches during the first two stages (quarterfinals and semifinals). As usual, the grand finals is set to be a best of five spectacle that will awe CS:GO fans worldwide.

StarSeries Season 7 Teams Overview

There will be a total of 16 teams competing in Shanghai later this month. Out of these 16 contestants, I’d say there are five or so which could pose as direct trophy contestants. Others, well, while they do have certain qualities to be participating here, their weaknesses will be too easily exploited by the top-tier competitors.

The biggest surprise here is the absence of Astralis. The Danish super team decided to take some time off from their busy schedule to recharge their batteries. While this isn’t great news for their fans (and the overall quality of this competition), it’s actually great news for all other competing teams. They’ll have a much better chance of winning this tournament now that Astralis is out of the picture.

That said, I believe ENCE and Natus Vincere have the best chances of taking the StarSeries Season 7 trophy home. Here’s why:

ENCE Esports

EZ4ENCE!!! My StarSeries Season 7 Preview just couldn’t go live without at least a single paragraph about ENCE Esports. A true sensation of the Major, and more recently BLAST Pro Series Sao Paulo, the talented Finns aims to continue their stellar track record. Dubbed as a “one-hit wonder” after IEM Katowice, ENCE players already debunked these claims in Brazil and will be looking for more of the same in Shanghai.

Natus Vincere

Natus Vincere is still considered as one of the best CS:GO teams in the world. However, after ENCE’s stellar performances at the Katowice Major and BLAST Pro Series Sao Paulo, the Finns snatched the third spot away from S1mple and his Ukrainian/Russian comrades. Still, knowing S1mple’s individual qualities combined with his teams’ cohesion, Natus Vincere will always be a tough team to play against.

But What About Everyone Else?

In addition to these two teams, several others could cause an upset at StarSeries Season 7. MIBR stands as the biggest threat after a disastrous performance on their home soil during BLAST Pro Series Sao Paulo. The boys from Brazil will definitely be looking to impress here, so we shouldn’t count them out just yet.

NRG and Renegades stand as tough contestants too, and will surely create a couple of stellar matches for us to enjoy. As teams they both have the qualities needed to win matches; plus as individuals they have the strength needed for those clutch situation. Speaking of individual strengths and qualities, let’s not forget about FaZe Clan! NiKo and the company haven’t been at their best recently, but are still among the favorites to win StarSeries Season 7.

StarSeries Season 7 Schedule (CET)

And finally, let’s wrap this StarSeries Season 7 Preview up by checking out the time and date of each 1^st round match. We’ll talk about the most important playoff dates as well.

Saturday, Mar. 30

• North vs NRG – 4 a.m.
• ENCE vs Spirit – 4 a.m.
• FaZe vs paiN – 7 a.m.
• TYLOO vs RNG – 7 a.m.
• Fnatic vs NiP – 10 a.m.
• MIBR vs Panda – 10 a.m.
• BIG vs Vitality – 1 p.m.
• NaVi vs Rogue – 1 p.m.

• Remaining group stage matches will be played over the following four days.
• Playoffs are set to kickoff with quarterfinals matches on Friday, April 5.
• Grand finals matchup kicks off on Saturday, April 7 at exactly 11 a.m.

Are you ready for StarSeries? Drop us a line on Twitter and let us know who your pick to win is!