ELEAGUE BOSTON MAJOR 2018 - Pick'Em Challenge

A quick easy to follow guide for anyone who is unsure of who to pick for the upcoming major Pick'Em challenge. Although this is a guide I would love to hear your feedback and to have a discussion about the games! My input will be based off of personal insight and research for each team/match being played. Although I hope you decide to follow this guide, I must warn everyone that my predicitions will not always be correct and I am never 100% certain on any pick I make. After all, we are talking about Counter-Strike, a game where almost anything can happen no matter what team you are. Good Luck Everyone.

Please Remember to Rate Up and Favorite this guide so that we can gather a larger audience. (Thanks <3)

Introduction

Ok so for those of you that are new to this I will do my best to explain how the system works. This major is using something called the "Swiss System". What that means is that each team will play in BO1's (Best of Ones) until they either make it into the quarterfinals (need to win 3 games and lose no more than 2 games) or they are eliminated in the group stage (need to lose 3 games before they can win 3 games) and knocked out of the tournament.

In addition, this major will also have us picking teams for the Prelims. Basically, its the exact same thing as what was stated above, but for the teams that are yet to secure their spot in the major.

Once the prelims and group stage are over, the matches will be played in a normal bracket, meaning quarterfinals, semifinals and the finals.

In the old pickem challenge, you would pick the winner of each individual match (which is what you do in the bracket stage of this tournament) but for the group stage, you pick seven teams you think will go through, one team that will go undefeated and one team that will be knocked out without winning a single game (just a side note there will be 2 teams that are undefeated and 2 teams that are completely wiped out).

Our Participants

The new year is kicking off with quite a stacked group of teams. Let's take a look at who will be competing for the title in Boston:

First We Have Our 8 Legendary Teams:

-Gambit
-100 Thieves (Immortals) -Unable to compete due to immigration issues
-Astralis
-Virtus Pro
-Fnatic
-SK
-BIG
-North

Next Up We Have Kraków's Fallen Challengers:

-Cloud9
-Flipside
-G2
-Navi
-Mouse
-Sprout
-Faze
-Vega Squadron

And Lastly We Have The Minor Champions:

-Space Soldiers
-EnVyUs
-Team Liquid
-Misfits
-Avangar
-Quantum Bellator Fire
-Renegades
-Flash Gaming (Replaced Tyloo)

(No Longer Competing) Tyloo (High Chance that they will back out of the major after having Visa issues with one of their players and Peacemaker not wanting to play for them as a standin)

Important Things To Note:

The two biggest things that everyone needs to know are this:

Team Liquid's player Steel will not be able to play in this major because he tried to qualify with Immortals prior (atleast that's what I think I could be wrong). Their coach Zews will be standing in for them. Although I love TL and Zews, this is without question a major setback/handicap for the team.

Tyloo will most likely not be attending the major after having Visa issues with one of their players. Unlike Liquid, Peacemaker, their former coach, does not want to play as a standin for the team (for multiple valid reasons, I don't want to make it sound like it's all his fault). This has yet to be confirmed at the time of me writing this, however, it is important to keep an eye on the situation, especially if you have Tyloo as one of your picks. This could potentially also allow another team a spot in the major Prelims.

There are other major things to discuss but none will effect the prelims as of now. For example, Boltz cannot play for SK (same issue as Steel) and Device may not be able to play for Astralis due to a personal issue.

Prelims Predictions

***None of the following picks are final until I have confirmed them***

At this point, I am going to stick with my original predictions as shown below. My last advice before the picks lock is to maybe consider switching out team EnvyUs or maybe Flipside for a team like Misfits or Renegades, I will not be doing this, but if you have a gut feeling on either of them, it may be wise for you to do so.


My Picks:

3-0 (Undefeated Team) - Faze
0-3 (Eliminated Without a Win) - Quantum (May Change depending on Tyloo situation)

*Flash Gaming replaced Tyloo, so my pick for 0-3 might switch to them, will update when sure*

7 Remaining Teams That Will Advance:

- Cloud9

-Space Soldiers (Was Liquid but with Zews as a standin, it's a much more risky pick)

-Flipside

-Navi

-Mouse

-G2

-Envy

So many things can change from now and the Prelims, so please check back before the picks lock, as I will be updating this guide frequently.

Reasons For My Picks

Now that I have shown my picks for the Prelim Stage, I thought it might be a good idea to discuss some of my reasoning on who I picked.

Faze for 3-0:

Faze is without question the most powerful team in this stage, on paper and in stats. They have the best bet of going 3-0 because they have the power to take down every other team in this stage. Of course there is a chance for upset, after all, Faze did lose 0-3 in the last major, and back then, they were also one of the favored teams to win.

Quantum for 0-3:

When it came to making my choice for the team that was going to lose out 0-3, there were a few options that came to mind. Avangar, Sprout and Quantum. Don't get me wrong, these teams have proved themselves and made it this far to get into the prelims. However, they are also the most underpowered teams in the stage. I did some research on the teams, and Quantum seemed to have the more rough results out of the 3. To me, the 0-3 pick is always the hardest. Maybe Quantum will surprise us but for now, I'll be sticking with them as my pick.

Cloud 9:

Not much to say about this pick. C9 is the best NA team at the moment, close competition with Team Liquid but with them using Zews as a standin for this major, C9 definitely takes the #1 spot. (FYI I am not counting SK as NA when I say that before I get spammed with hate <3). C9 will always have their ups and downs but they should have no problem getting out of the prelims.

Space Soldiers:

SS to me, are the Turkish dark horse of this tournament. They are a very strong lineup that can do a lot of damage to big name teams. This major will be their proving grounds to whether or not they can make it with the top dogs. They only downside to them and correct me if I'm wrong, is that I believe they have a very limited map pool to play with.

Flipside Tactics:

Flipside is just one of those teams that no matter what they always seem to make it through to the major. It really is like a curse that no matter what they find a way in. However, a lot of people doubt them this year because their star player electronic is now playing for NAVI. That being said, they lost electronic and picked up Seized. Seized is a great player off of NAVI that I think will do the team a lot more good then people think. I am going to put my trust in them on this one but feel free to disagree with me on this pick as it is very risky.

NAVI:

Speaking of electronic, NAVI now has a new talent. NAVI have been having some questionable results as of late, some on and off performances and its looked it bit poor at times. However, with this roster change and plenty of time to practice with the new player from now and the major, I think NAVI might have a bit of a mini rebirth. I think that this might be what the team needs to really get back out there and start performing great again. They have so much raw fire power on the team that it is hard to think that they won't make it out of the prelims.


Mousesports:

Mouse have been doing very well recently. They just recently had a 2nd place finish against Faze (in a very close game might I add) and have been overall performing exceptionally well. Once again not much to talk about here, I think that with the current lineup and even more time to practice, Mouse should be able to fight their way out of the prelims.

G2:

The French super-team, G2 are another team with an incredibly strong lineup coming into this tournament. They have been having some mixed results recently. They came in 3rd place at Epicenter but not much since then. Although they might not seem at top performance right now, I still believe that they are good enough to make it out of the prelims depending on who they are matched up against.

EnVyUs:

This is in my opinion, the most risky pick I made. Envy are a good team with some big name players. However like G2, they haven't been having all the best results. My pick with Envy was really just based on my respect for the talented players that they have on the lineup. If I decided not to pick Envy, my pick would be between either Misfits or Renegades. And honestly, I still haven't 100% committed to them as my pick. (If I change a pick I will always post it on here).

Day 1 Prelim Results

Vega Squadron vs Renegades = 16-14 Vega (N/A)

Mousesports vs Avangar = 16-12 Mouse (✔)

Faze vs Liquid = 16-14 Faze (✔)

Flipside vs Misfits = 16-4 Misfits (❌)

Sprout vs Space Soldiers = 16-11 Sprout (❌)

Navi vs Quantum = 16-8 Navi (✔✔)

G2 vs Flash = 16-11 G2 (✔)

Cloud 9 vs EnvyUs = 16-11 C9 (✔/❌)

Day 2 Prelim Results

Flipside vs Liquid = 16-10 Liquid (❌)

Mouse vs NAVi = 16-2 Mouse (✔/❌)

Space Soldiers vs Avangar = 16-9 Space Soldiers (✔)

Envy vs Renegades = 16-6 Renegades (❌)

Flash vs Quantum = 16-13 Quantum (RIP 0-3 Pick) (❌)

Sprout vs C9 = 16-5 C9 (✔)

Faze vs Vega = 16-6 Vega (RIP 3-0 Pick) (❌)

Misfits vs G2 = 16-5 G2 (✔)


Today's matches absolutely destroyed our picks. Faze and Quantum both ruined the 3-0 and the 0-3 picks and Envy and Flipside lost their mathces making them 0-2, one loss away from being eliminated. Navi also lost a match today but it was against Mouse so them going 1-1 isn't a huge deal. At this point, we can only hope that all of our 7 remaining teams push through and at least give us a 5 or 6 out of 7.

Day 3 Prelim Results

Faze vs Quantum = 16-6 Faze (N/A)

Envy vs Flash = 16-13 Envy (✔)

Space Soldiers vs Misfits = 16- 13 Space Soldiers (✔)

NAVI vs Sprout = 16-3 NAVI (✔)

G2 vs Vega = 19-16 G2 (✔)

Renegades vs Liquid = 16-14 Liquid (N/A)

Flipside vs Avangar = 16-7 Avangar (❌)

Mouse vs C9 = 16-5 C9 (✔/❌)

Day 4 Prelim Results And Overall Prelim Stats

Misfits vs Avangar = 16-13 Avangar (N/A)

Liquid vs Vega = 16-14 Vega (N/A)

Faze vs NAVI = 16-4 Faze (❌)

Space Soldiers vs Mouse = 19-17 Space Soldiers (✔/❌)

Renegades vs Sprout = 16-10 Renegades (N/A)

Quantum vs Envy = 16-12 Quantum (❌)

Round 2:

Renegades vs Mouse = 16-4 Mouse (✔)

Quantum vs Avangar = 16-6 Quantum (N/A)

Liquid vs NAVI = 16-5 NAVI (✔)

Round 3 (To replace 100 Theives):

Avangar vs Renegades = 16-10 Avangar

Liquid vs Avangar = 19-15 Liquid (Go through to the major despite going 3-3)

5/9 Correct Picks:

C9 (✔)
G2 (✔)
Mouse (✔)
Navi (✔)
Space Soldiers (✔)
Envy (❌) - Envy had to play with their coach instead of Rpk and basically lost because of this :(
Flipside (❌)


Faze (❌)
Quantum (❌)

All in all, not a bad prelim stage for me. EnVyUs had a rough start and the one game where Scream came alive, rpk wasn't with them, so that kinda sucks.

Faze went 3-1 losing to Vega Squad which was a bit of an upset but not much we could do about it.

Quantum suprised just about everyone and instead of going 0-3, they ended up actually going through with a 3-2 scoreline.

And lastly we got hit hard by Flipside. They ended up going 0-3 and if you ask me, that roster won't last much longer together.

As always, I will update when I make my picks for the group stage, which should be in the next day or two. Leave your feedback down below :D

Group Stage Picks

After quite an interesting Prelim stage, we ended up going 5/9. This is obviously not the worst case scenario but it is far from the best we could have done. In the end, we did rather average as I believe many others have as well. But enough with prelims, let's talk about this rather stacked group stage that will be starting this Friday.

For this part, I am going to go through my picks one by one and explain why I choose them, for anyone that isn't big on reading feel free to skip to the bottom to see all the picks.

My 3-0 and 0-3 Picks:

VP (3-0):

This may be one of my most risky picks. The reason I am putting VP as my 3-0 team and not Faze/Astralis/SK, is because I do not want to risk not getting points off the teams that I am confident will go through. For example I don't want to put SK to go 3-0 and then get no points from them if they lose one map and go 3-1. The other main reason I am putting VP is because as many of you know, there are two forms of VP that we will see at majors. There is either the plow or the throw. I am not certain how VP is going to perform in this major, but they have a great chance at plowing through teams and grabbing a 3-0 and if they don't then I am willing to accept a loss on one pick for the risk, I would much rather have the other teams that MIGHT go 3-0 get me points in the regular picks.

Quantum Bellator Fire (0-3):

Now I know what you are all thinking, and yes, I might be a bit crazy to doubt them a second time. However, there is not a single doubt in my mind that these guys will not make it out of the groups. QBF got, in my opinion, extremely lucky with the teams they were matched against. They got to play Avangar, an Envy without Rpk, and Flash. These where some of the worst teams in the group (only saying this about Envy because the game that QBF played against them they had to use their coach). We are now at a time in the tournament where there are no longer "bad teams" to play against, the only way I see them wining a single game is by a HUGE upset.

My 7 Teams That Will Advance:

SK Gaming:

This pick didn't really require much thought, even without being able to play with boltz, these guys are up there for being one the most dangerous teams in the major. The pure amount of skill and fire power on that team is insane and will easily get them through the group stage.

Faze:

Faze had a pretty upsetting loss against Vega in the prelims but then continued to show dominance over their other opponents, especially against NAVI in their last match. Like SK, it's hard not seeing these guys get through the group stage especially with a match against Fnatic on day one, a game that I believe will be rather easy for the Faze clan to win.

G2 and Cloud 9:

G2 and C9 had a dominate showing in the prelims and I have to say looked like they were all on peak performance. They have it a bit rough seeing as they are facing each other in the day one match but regardless, I have to put them going through based on their current form.

Space Soldiers:

SS are another team that looked great during the prelims. They had a rocky start against Sprout on Cobblestone in their first match but then looked progressively better and better after that first loss. They have great spirit and some very high performing players. The only thing for me that could hold them back is their lack of experience when it comes to playing on LAN and being in such a high stakes event. The players said it themselves that they were very nervous coming into all this but they seemed to have shaken most of that off and began to play their own game, I think they have some serious dark horse potential.

Astralis:

Astralis has the potential to turn some heads in this major. As most of you already know, Device will be returning in time to play with his team and they will have the full lineup. However, Device will not be the main awper for the team, instead Dupreeh has taken the role and will continue into the major as so. This can either work out very well or very bad in my opinion. Device is the poster boy for Astralis and to me, a very good Awp player. But the more I think about it, this could play heavily in their favor. So many teams are used to Device awping and his play style but now that's all out the window, and Astralis can come into this major with a whole new strat book / game plan. I am very curious to see how this all plays out for them.


NAVI or Mouse (Leaning towards mouse but I will confirm before the picks lock):

To be honest, I haven't made up my mind on this one yet. I think mouse is in great form and I called them to possibly go all the way when I saw them playing in the Prelims, but I don't know if they will hold up against some of the bigger named teams. On the other hand there is NAVI. NAVI looked terrible starting off in the Prelims and then began to show some improvements. However these improvements seem to rely on Simple and electronic alone (mainly simple, he is having a fantastic run so far). I don't really feel confident in him being able to carry NAVI all the way to the quarter finals and for that reason I am leaning towards a mouse pick.

Important : The only pick that I am not 100% on at the moment is Mouse and I may change it before the picks lock, please check back here before they do. I will always update the guide if I make any changes.

Group Stage Results

5/9 Picks Correct

Overall, the group stage was about average in terms of my picks. VP was a risk to begin with and they showed up with the throw instead of the plow this time around. Quantum just loves to prove everyone wrong and somehow managed to gain legend status.

Cloud9 had a very nice reverse sweep and made it through 3-2 after going down 0-2.

G2 continued to impress going 6-0 in the prelims and groups combined.

SK and Faze were obvious picks and both worked out how I expected them to.

Astralis was a complete mess and I really wish I had seen that one coming, I don't know what was going on with them but it wasn't pretty.

Mouse, one of my favorites to make it far since the prelims, did great and worked out well. Unfortunately they were matched against Space Soldiers and had to eliminate them to move on (and they were another one of my picks).

Like I said though, all in all, it was an average run, and there isn't much more to look at.

Playoff Predictions

Ok so, when I first looked at the brackets, I thought this would be fairly easy to predict. However, I am now completely torn just by looking at it. Every game is such a coin toss when you look at them closely. So let me start to type out my thought process.

Faze vs Mouse:

This one is probably one of the more straightforward ones. I think mouse is an excellent team and they will most likely take a map off of Faze, but the raw firepower on the Faze roster and their performance against the other teams (besides that Vega match which we will no longer mention) is just to convincing to overlook. I think this will be a Faze win but a hard fought one.

NAVI vs QBF:

Probably the biggest coin toss game there is. NAVI have been looking better and better as the tournament progressed but I just can't doubt QBF anymore. I think that NAVI will win this one out, also given that they beat QBF once already, but I wouldn't be suprised to see some very tight score lines.

G2 vs C9:

This match is truly the hardest for me to predict (as well as the one that follows the winner of this game vs SK or Fnatic). I think that on paper, G2 should win this game. However, C9 have proved themselves and are fighting for a major on home soil. I have not 100% selected my final winner for this game yet but I will post back here as soon as I do. Honestly, this one may just be best to go with your gut, but if you are really unsure, G2 is the more safer pick.

After looking through some past matches, I think C9 have a great chance at upsetting this BO3 but G2 are the safer pick and for that matter, my final pick.

SK vs Fnatic:

Similar to the Faze match, this seems to be rather easy to predict in comparison to the rest. SK even without boltz look incredible coming into the playoffs and in a B03 format, should not have a problem beating Fnatic. Once again, Fnatic are another team that have proved themselves worthy of being here, but I do not see them coming out on top of this one.

Semi-Finals:

Faze vs NAVI:

This match will be interesting depending on the map picks but I can't see Faze losing to NAVI considering both teams' current forms. It is also worth noting that if NAVI lose to QBF in a huge upset which honestly wouldn't surpise me at this point -_- , Faze would still be the clear favorite to advance.

C9/G2 vs SK:

Depending on who I end up picking for G2 vs C9, will change my prediction for this match. I think that if G2 beat C9, then they stand a great chance against SK in a BO3. If I go with C9 to beat G2, I think that they still have a shot at taking out SK but I would have to favor the Brazilians in that case. Once again please check back before the picks lock to see any changes I make as they may affect the entire pickem.

Since I have choosen G2 over C9, I am also going to have G2 to beat SK in this match.

Finals:

Faze vs G2/SK (maybe C9):

Although it hurts my NA heart to go against C9 and SK, I think Faze would be able to best either of them in a BO3 given the current lineups (mostly regarding SK). If G2 are to move into the finals, I think they have a good chance at upsetting Faze but even then, I would give them maybe 60/40 odds. I want to make it clear that I am not just outing SK. They can easily win this major if they are firing on all cylinders, but they would need to do just that. Cold, Fallen, and the rest of the SK boys all need to show up in peak form to take this trophy home. Something that has been seen off and on so far this tournament. As of right now, I would have to go with Faze to win the major.

PLEASE CHECK BACK HERE FOR UPDATES! I WILL EVENTUALLY POST MY FULL (FINAL) PICKS. ALSO GIVE ME FEEDBACK ON WHAT TEAMS YOU THINK WILL WIN.

There is still a chance that I make a last minute change to my picks but like always I will post if I do. Thank you for following me this far and good luck to whatever you decide to pick for tomorrow!

[Krystal]

How to get free skins?
1) Go to pvpro .com(remove the space)
2) Start registration
3) In RAF code, use: KrySTaL100
4) Get 10000 coins and buy skins

Как получить бесплатные скины?
Заходим на pvpro .com(убираем пробел)
Регистрируемся
Используем Refcode: KrySTaL100
Получаем 10000 монет и покупаем скины

[unknown2000]

Apparently it was around 3-4% of people who got the gold trophy, so silver was something to be expected from this. Definitely not the easiest major for Pick'em.

[Tareeek]

I got mind today and many people are receiving theirs too, anyway GGWP got silver only needed 11 points for gold too bad was betting on SK not C9, but I loved c9 to have it 👍

[gunshot25]

Yea Pins usually take quite a while to get to your account, just give it a few days.

[Pedro Martins Prudente Savoldi]

It comes with the next game update guys, as far as I know

[bigbodi (evil)]

yea I didn't get my coin either anyone know why?

[Tareeek]

same here. got 64 points should've received the silver one but nothing yet, lol paniced and came to see that i am not the only one

[Rosco]

I won a pin as well but it still hasnt appeared in my inventory

[✪ CUI]

hey guys... i won a pin, but they didn't give that pin from steam. what's the problem ?

[SanderVB]

I need SK to beat C9 for Gold, but right now I don't see that happening ^^'