The New Champions Stage Pick’Em — StarLadder Berlin Major

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DreamTeam Media

4 min readSep 5, 2019

*This one is going to be personal

To me, “controversial” is the perfect way to describe the StarLadder Berlin Major, in terms of the teams’ performances and the fans’ expectations.

At the beginning of the Major, I couldn’t have imagined the Champions Stage brackets would look the way they do. The same goes for my Pick’Em. But it happens so often that one’s expectations never even rub shoulders with reality. It’s devastating when you have to choose between your heart and common sense. Sometimes, these two coincide, but, unfortunately, that doesn’t happen often.

However, a choice had to be made. So here is my StarLadder Berlin Champions Stage Pick’Em.

Quarterfinals

ENCE vs Renegades

Heart: ENCE
Common Sense: ENCE

Finnish magic meets the Australian miracle.

No hesitation when picking the winner.

#EZ4ENCE

For the second time since Katowice Major 2019, Renegades have somehow managed to earn Legends status despite their poor performance throughout the rest of the year. In Berlin, to make it to the New Champions Stage they had to summon the ghosts of ENCE’s Katowice Major 2019 also overcoming a 0–2 deficit. That says it all. The dream ends here, though.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. That describes ENCE perfectly.

I had no faith in the Finnish side at the beginning of the tournament due to the issue with Aleksib’s replacement after the Major. But it feels like knowing that beforehand relieved all the pressure and let the team breeze through the New Legends Stage. According to Twistaa’s interview, the atmosphere is friendly, and Twistaa doesn’t seem to be the kind of person who’s capable of lying to the team’s fans.

With those facts combined, it made my pick in this quarterfinal pretty clear — ENCE.

Vitality vs AVANGAR

Heart: AVANGAR
Common Sense: Vitality

Both of these teams’ performances at the Berlin Major were unexpected.

AVANGAR did unexpectedly well, Vitality, unexpectedly, faced lots of issues (especially with the CIS teams during the New Challengers Stage).

AVANGAR have earned Legends status for the first time, which is an awesome achievement. However, that adds pressure. And I can’t see them handling it. I’d love to see them in the Semis at least but that seems unlikely.

At this point, Vitality is a much more experienced team that seems to have worked through the mistakes they made during the previous stages. I can’t see AVANGAR stopping ZywOo.

And, as I see it, AVANGAR are already satisfied with what they’ve achieved, Vitality are not.

That makes me pick Vitality.

NRG vs Natus Vincere

Heart: Na’Vi
Common Sense: NRG

This one is tearing me apart.

With all my heart I want Na’Vi to be as dedicated, motivated, psychologically ready, and prepared in terms of individual and team in-game skill as they say. But the performances they showed throughout the New Legends Stage leaves much to be desired.

Everyone has to perform at his peak in the playoffs, just like electronic and, in some respect, s1mple did during the group stage. Plus, they need to forget about all the Major disappointments in their past, which is easier said than done. 15 Majors. Three Grand Finals. Zero titles. It’s so hard to forget all that.

Some say that Na’Vi have a psychological advantage over teams like NRG. But it’s hard to rely on intangibles in the Major Playoffs.

As for NRG, they are a machine with the objective to win. And by beating Astralis and Team Liquid in the group stage, they’ve proven that they’re able to do that.

With a broken heart, I’ll pick NRG. I hope I’m wrong.

Astralis vs Team Liquid

Heart: Astralis
Common Sense: Team Liquid

Six months ago this would’ve sounded like heresy, but I think Astralis are the underdogs in this matchup. That’s why my heart favors them.

They’ve got methodology, they’ve got skills, they’ve got all…

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