The Main Qualifier for the Berlin Major kicks off on Friday, with sixteen teams fighting for eight spots at the main event of the Major. Of these sixteen, five of them are here by merit of making top fourteen at the previous Major (IEM Katowice), and the remaining 11 via the grueling Minor qualifier system. There is a wide variety in the experience these teams bring to the major, including four different former Major MVPs, a plethora of former Major winners, and even more Major rookies. There is serious talent and there is guaranteed to be some serious drama that folds out over the four-day Qualifier. Let's go through the teams and see how they stack up.
Vitality and NRG could both make a deep run at the major, and should have no trouble qualifying to the next stage. Anything less than that would be a huge disappointment and could spell the end for either lineup.
Vitality are the #2 team in the world, and should have no trouble in a best-of-three against any of the other teams in attendance. For NRG, while Tarik hasn't quite excelled since he joined the roster, his presence has brought experience and leadership that has let the rest of the roster shine. They should advance comfortably.
While these four teams aren't quite as talented as the former two, they are still a class above the rest of the competition. On paper, they should all be seen as favorites to advance. That being said, every year at this stage there is at least one huge upset where a heavy favorite is eliminated.
This year, the favorite that is most likely to be upset has to be G2. The fact of the matter is that in 2019 a lineup of shox, KennyS, and three average to above average French players isn't an intimidating roster. They are veterans and have experience, but don't have a cerebral In-Game-Leader, don't have a deep map pool, and don't inspire much confidence in general. They should advance on talent alone, but if they get upset in a couple Best-of-One's and find themselves facing elimination early on, don't say I didn't warn you.
For FURIA and North, the similarities don't end with their suspiciously similar logos. They are both tactically innovative teams that sometimes struggle for firepower if opponents can force them to switch things up. North have a history of disappointing in important matches, but I have confidence in Kjaerbye and valde to step up this time around. Finally, mousesports have finally have a well-balanced roster in this iteration of their lineup. They have the IGL they've lacked for years in karrigan, and have tons of fragging potential surrounding him. They should advance with ease.
CR4ZY, forZe and AVANGAR are all very dangerous on their day. The question is which of them will bring their A game to the stage, and which will fail to deliver on their potential.
AVANGAR are a Major veteran squad, while the other two qualified trough the minors. That Major experience should help AVANGAR, although they might have the least firepower of these three teams. CR4ZY is a team that has been up-and-coming for what feels like years, and have shown some of that at smaller LANS, but this is their first chance at a Major. Meanwhile forZe have shown really great form online for the past few months, but are even more inexperienced on LAN, let alone a major. All three of these teams should feel like they can advance.
Now we have reached the less upbeat section of this ranking- None of these teams are likely to advance to the next round, for myriad reasons. Complexity are simply not a strong enough team for this stage, and should not advance. However, they had a similarly gloomy outlook in Katowice at the last Major and somehow turned that into a top-14 finish, so anything is possible.
For TYLOO and HellRaisers, the outlook isn't quite as gloomy. HellRaisers have a lot of talent, but if ANGE1 is able to turn that talent around him into results remains to be seen. He hasn't shown that he can do that consistently in the past, with even more talented lineups. TYLOO have been around for ages and thus have experience, but have never really made a dent in the Majors. This time around should be no different.
I did not save the best for last. These four teams are all great choices for your 0-3 Pick'Em prediction. Fortunately for the players the format mandates that only two teams can go 0-3, so two of these teams will exceed expectations and go 1-3!
kNgV- is a top-tier player, but no major organizations will sign him due to the drama surrounding him. Despite that, INTZ were the final team to qualify out of the Minor system. That doesn't inspire much confidence. DickStacy of Grayhounds is another notorious player. He's most well known for trying to get the most out of a single joke, rather than anything related to actually playing counter strike. For DreamEaters and Syman, there isn't much else to say other than GLHF.