Review of DreamHack Masters Malmo 2017

The long-awaited tournament, that became the first large championship after the season of reshuffles, was finished yesterday.

The general information

DreamHack Masters Malmo 2017 was hosted from August 30 to September 3. 16 teams divided the prize pool in the sum of $250,000. The first place was held by the French team G2 Esports that had been one of the favorites in its group at the first stage of the tournament. G2 earned the main money prize in the sum of $100,000 for their efforts.

The tournament by DreamHack has prepared lots of surprises for all viewers. There also were many highlights, pleasant and, also, unpleasant surprises.

The review of groups

Group A

The speculation was made in our preview that the Brazilians from SK Gaming and the Danes from North were the main contenders for coming out from Group A. Besides this, SK Gaming was one of the favorites of the whole tournament. As it was expected, SK and North came out from the first group. Cloud9 didn’t gain a shape and start playing well together with three new members of the roster to pass to the playoff and B.O.O.T-dream[S]cape was initially thought to be an underdog of Group A, so there is nothing wonderful in their loss.

Group B

It was said in the preview that probably such teams as Astralis and Natus Vincere would come out from the group. Astralis was in the best shape among all teams of Group B and Natus Vincere received a great reinforcement represented by the new captain Danylo «Zeus» Teslenko. As it was expected, Astralis and Na’Vi came out from the group.
Virtus.pro had a chance to come out but they didn’t play well as a team to have a worthy participation at this tournament. Renegades, as B.O.O.T was in Group A, were thought to be outsiders in their group, so many people had expected such outcome of events as it happened at the championship.

Group C

Teams from Group C were the most unpredictable and they were difficult to be analyzed. This was due to all teams had made at least one replacement on the roster, however, it had been said in the preview that probably mousesports and FaZe Clan would have come out but that didn’t happen. FaZe Clan didn’t gain the required form and play well together with their new sniper, Ladislav «GuardiaN» Kovac. What about mousesports, the joining of such players as suNny and STYKO didn’t help the team to fight their way to the playoff of DreamHack Masters Malmo 2017. Most of the viewers were skeptical about Gambit eSports to come out to the playoff as they had lost one of the key players of their team, Danylo «Zeus» Teslenko, that had been an in-game coordinator of Gambit too. Also, it was unknown how fitch, who had joined the roster, would affect the results of the team. As a result, the Kazakhs surprised the public and participated well enough in the tournament. Having come out to the playoff, they won the vice-champions of PGL Major Krakow 2017, the team Immortals, and got to the semi-final. Despite all these, Gambit eSports didn’t win their opponent in the semi-final, having lost to North with a score 0-2. Ninjas in Pyjamas surprised the public with their performance too. Being more an outsider than a favorite in the group, the Swedes didn’t only get to the playoff but won their opponent in the quarter-final. They beat Natus Vincere with a score 2-1 but lost to the future champions of the tournament, G2 Esports with a score 0-2. We can make a conclusion that the replacement in Ninjas in Pyjamas was good for the team.

Group D

The fourth group was interesting. There were Fnatic, that had been very interesting after the change of the roster, and Immortals, that had almost left without the team, and Team EnVyUs, that had proved themselves well enough before the tournament, and one of the favorites, the French team G2 Esports.
It was said in the preview that the French would likely to get to the playoff and G2 Esports was one of the favorites not only in their group but in the whole tournament. And for good reason, because G2 beat all opponents on their way and became the champions of the first large tournament in the season 2017-2018.
As a result, the Brazilians from Immortals and G2 Esports came out from the group.

Teams that surprised

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Christopher «GeT_RiGhT» Alesund and his team really surprised the public. The team has recently been not in a good form. The victory at DreamHack Valencia 2017 is their last good achievement. Lots of people think they have won because there had been no Tier-1 teams that had had an active preparation to PGL Major Krakow 2017.
Many people thought that the Swedes would not come out from their group, considering more competitive teams in Group C. Despite this, Ninjas in Pyjamas played well at the tournament and didn’t only get to the playoff but passed to the semi-final, where they beat Na’Vi but lost to the reigning world champion, the team Gambit eSports.

North

This team was difficult to be referred as the favorite of the tournament but the Danes proved what they were able to do. Most part of the public would prefer to call SK Gaming and Astralis as finalists but hardly anyone had expected to see North in the final before the beginning of the tournament. North decided to refuse the services of Magisk on August 21 and signed valde as a new permanent fifth player. The team had started playing well in nine days and worked out strategies so well that they reached the final. Besides this, they beat SK Gaming at the group stage, the team that heads the list of the best CS:GO rosters, according to the portal HLTV.org, and, also, the vice-champions of the last Major tournament, Immortals, and the champions of PGL Major Krakow 2017, Gambit eSports. North showed an unbelievable pressure that no one had expected from them, except G2 Esports, that cooled their opponents off, having overcome them with a score 2-0.

Teams, from whom the public expected more

SK Gaming

The Brazilian team SK Gaming naturally became the main disappointment of the tournament. Lots of viewers put great hopes upon it and most of the analysts and other casters predicted the team to win DreamHack Masters Malmo 2017. However, SK Gaming participated in the group stage not in the best way, having lost one game to the future finalist, the Danish team North, and, having got to the playoff, finished its participation in the tournament in the quarter-final. The Brazilians were stopped by the future champion of the tournament, the French team G2 Esports. This was maybe an unlucky set of circumstances and a bad beginning of the season for SK and further, they will gain a form and show that they hold the first place in the list of best world teams for a reason.

Astralis

This is one more favorite team that has not realized its ambitions and potential in this tournament. Gla1ve and his team played better than other 15 participants of the tournament at the group stage. However, they were not ready to face the renewed roster of Gambit eSports. The rematch after the loss to the Kazakhs at PGL Major Krakow 2017 was not successful for the Danes. They have lost to Gambit with a score 0-2.