ELEAGUE Major Media Day: FaZe and SK the players' favorites

At the Agganis Arena in Boston, eight representatives from the teams still in contention at the ELEAGUE Major in Boston answered questions from the present journalists. The players present were: Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo, Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt, Nikita "⁠waterfaLLZ⁠" Matveyev, Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard, Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip, Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev, Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong, and Maikil "⁠Golden⁠" Selim.

Players from all of the surviving teams in Boston

After the press conference, we approached the eight players, one by one, to ask who they thought was the favourite to win the tournament, excluding their team, and which underdog had upset potential.

Excluding your team, who do you think will win the ELEAGUE Major?

FalleN: I think if it's not us I would definitely have to go with FaZe. This is definitely the tournament for them to go and win, but there's nothing sure, there are other teams with potential to beat them as well. Counter-Strike is very open nowadays, it's hard to say, but if you go by what is most likely to happen it's either FaZe or SK.

NBK-: I think FaZe is the... I don't know if the clear favorite of the tournament, but they've shown a very good game, despite being a bit shaky against Vega back in the qualifier. Aside from that, they have been strong. They're not indubitably on top, but I'll take FaZe.

waterfaLLZ: I think the strongest team in this tournament is FaZe because SK have felps instead of boltz. I don't know, they really showed a good level before this Major for two or three months, and I really think they're the main team to win.

rain: SK or G2.

Stewie2K: I think FaZe can definitely go all the way, I'm pretty sure everyone predicts that, but it's kind of hard to say. You can't really underestimate anyone here, they're all giving their all. I think even with a stand-in, SK can also go pretty far in the tournament.

s1mple: Probably FaZe or SK. FaZe because they're in really good form, no stand-ins, and SK still have a good chance even without practicin with felps. Also because of their mentality against FaZe, because FaZe never beats them in best-of-threes. Although maybe even G2, I don't know, actually, but I think FaZe are the favorites for this tournament.

chrisJ: I feel SK or FaZe. We dislike playing against SK more, but I guess also FaZe dislikes playing SK... I guess if we don't beat FaZe they will go to the final against SK and SK will win.

Golden: SK.

Out of the underdogs, who do you think can surprise the most?

FalleN: If you consider G2 a favorite, you wouldn't mention them, but I think G2 has a good chance. If they can make it past Cloud9 and beat us or fnatic again they have a chance to win the tournament. They have a very good match-up against FaZe despite not beating them in the recent past. I think with this new form that they're showing they have what it takes to beat FaZe. If we somehow lose to fnatic or G2 I think they have a big chance.

NBK-: I like the idea of mouz upsetting FaZe, but I don't know if they would get any farther. If fnatic can start unlocking their potential and start playing like they did online two or three months ago they'll become a top contender, because they were playing insane online and if they can keep that up I'm sure they could also go very far. So I'd say mouz and fnatic, because Na`Vi have shown big signs of weakness so far, especially concerning their map pool. SK with felps, they're going to be very strong, but I'm not sure they'll go all the way. That'd be a miracle, in a way, that would prove they're the greatest team of all time, but I don't think they're there yet.

waterfaLLZ: If we don't consider ourselves [QB.Fire], it can be mousesports. If they can beat FaZe in a best-of-three it will be a big surprise and then they could have a real chance to make it to the final of the Major. If we show up against Na`Vi we can still surprise as well.

rain: I think Cloud9 have a chance to surprise. I know they haven't performed as well as they can perform. I think they can do a lot better than what they showed in the group stage.

Stewie2K: I think QBF are showing they can upset, so it's not even a surprise anymore if they beat someone at this point. I think mousesports can also do it, I think they're pretty motivated and hungry to win, so I'm pretty excited to see what they can show everybody.

s1mple: Maybe Cloud9 or G2. I think Cloud9 has a good chance to beat G2 on Friday, I guess. It's going to be a big crowd cheering for them, and I think Cloud9 are going to feel it and play better and better. They already showed in the group stage that they can play well. They played really well and were just a bit unlucky against Space Soldiers and G2.

chrisJ: In a way, I feel like it's not that big of a surprise that fnatic are doing well, but most of their players have done well at Majors before. flusha, KRIMZ, and JW as well, they have won Majors, they've always played really well. Now they're a bit of an underdog team, but if they really get into shape and Golden gets comfortable calling at this level, suddenly they can be really good.

Golden: If it is not us, it's Na`Vi [laughs]. If we go out, the surprise would be Na`Vi.