From July 17 to 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the first S-tier event for Counter-Strike 2 after the players' summer break will take place — the Esports World Cup 2024. The world's best clubs will compete for a million dollars. In this article, we will discuss the main contenders for the trophy.
Team Spirit
The team finished the first half of 2024 as the one that earned the most prize money — $790,000. Spirit played in three finals and won two of them, bringing home trophies from IEM Katowice 2024 and BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024 to Serbia. The team has nearly reached its full potential and is rightfully considered the main favorite for the upcoming event.
Over the past six months, Spirit has won 81% of its matches. The team also boasts the most efficient player and the best defender at the moment — Daniil "donk" Kryshkovets and Myroslav "zont1x" Plakhotja, respectively. Sometimes it seems like the only thing that can stop this team is itself. The opening match against MIBR favors the team to easily secure a spot in the tournament playoffs, and from there, it's just a matter of following through…
G2 Esports
The G2 management finally decided to exclude two captains from the roster and change the structure that wasn't working. Moreover, the new roster looks much more interesting than the previous one, although its future remains uncertain. Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski as IGL is a choice that still needs to prove itself, as the Polish CS veteran only recently took on these responsibilities.
Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa, on the other hand, first needs to adapt to the team and then to the European region. The young talent has made a good name for himself in North America, but we all know the difference in the level of CS between the American and European regions. Despite this, the team might experience a "honeymoon" effect and euphoria to win the championship.
Natus Vincere
EWC 24 is a great opportunity for NAVI to prove that their victory at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 was not a fluke. The team's performance after winning the major cannot be called a failure, but it also does not match the level of a major winner. It was expected that after the breakthrough in Copenhagen, the team would always reach the top four, but this did not happen.
The team has created a fantastic atmosphere (the work of a mental coach), but this is not enough when someone is constantly out of the game and showing poor individual form. It seems that the players work too little on their individual form, and sometimes their actions look like they are not fully confident in what they are doing. If NAVI has prepared well for the tournament, their chances of winning are quite good.
Other teams
FaZe Clan is also worth noting. The team has slowed down somewhat compared to the end of 2023, which may be due to an oversaturation of tournaments. In the past six months, the team has participated in eight events. Add to this boot camps, training processes, flights, and you get incredible fatigue. If FaZe managed to rest well and come to Riyadh with renewed strength, try stopping them.
Another team not to forget about is MOUZ. Yes, their game is not as bright and impressive as Spirit's, but team synergy and mutual understanding work wonders. MOUZ won two consecutive ESL Pro League seasons and also became the champion of BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024. With the potential of their young players, the club confidently enters the top five contenders for the EWC 24 trophy.
The Esports World Cup 2024 for CS2 will take place from July 17 to 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 15 teams will compete for a prize pool of one million dollars. You can follow the news, schedule, results, and statistics of the tournament via the link.
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