Americas Minor Preview

Six North American and two South American teams will go head-to-head with each other this week, from Saturday to Wednesday, at the Twickenham Stadium in London. The eight teams have been placed into two GSL-style groups, which will be played on Saturday and Sunday, while the double-elimination playoffs will follow from Monday to Wednesday.

Group A	Group B
NRG	Complexity
eUnited	Rogue
Não Tem Como	Dignitas
Swole Patrol	FURIA

Looking at the teams attending the tournament, NRG are one of the favorites to secure a spot at the FACEIT Major, September, with the team having bloomed into form in the past three-months - both online and on LAN. Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele's side are the highest-ranked team in attendance (7th), followed by Rogue (31st] and Complexity (32nd), two teams with a decent amount of experience with their respective line-ups. 

Aside from the North Americans, two Brazilians teams - FURIA and Não Tem Como - are also strong contenders to reach the New Challengers stage, with Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan and his men on the rise since March, while Não Tem Como have been a roller coaster, attending this event on the back of group stage exits in Belo Horizonte and Miland.

In addition to the two spots in the FACEIT Major's New Challengers Stage, the teams will be vying for their share of a $50,000 prize pool.

Group A

NRG (#7)	Age	Rating
Tsvetelin "⁠CeRq⁠" Dimitrov	18	1.20
Ethan "⁠Ethan⁠" Arnold	18	1.19
Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte	20	1.16
Jacob "⁠FugLy⁠" Medina	23	1.07
Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele	24	0.98

Offline placings in the last three months
3rd-4th	ECS Season 5 Finals
2nd	StarSeries i-League Season 5

NRG being the highest ranked team in the tournament means that the squad will have a target on their backs entering the fray. NRG have found success in the past three months and are a team on the rise since their last offline appearances at StarSeries i-League Season 5 and ECS Season 5 Finals, breaking into the top-ten of the world ranking for the first time.

NRG began the year on a rather slower note except for their online play; however, things have seemed more structured since the team brought Chet "⁠Chet⁠" Singh on board as coach, in late May.

CeRq aims to continue his rein through the Minor

Since then, NRG's biggest showing came in Ukraine, when the team took part in the StarSeries i-League Season 5 Finals. Despite the slow start to the tournament, daps and his men got right back into the mix as CeRq shined wielding the Big Green to help his squad reach the grand final.

Swept in the finals in Ukraine, the team then headed to London to take part in the ECS Season 5 Finals, where the team breezed through the group stage to secure a semi-final spot. In the end, they fell short of another grand final appearance after losing to fellow North American side Liquid.

The Minor comes at a pivotal moment for NRG, who sit in the best position the organisation has been since since venturing into the scene in 2016. Individual players have stepped up to push the team to newer heights, with CeRq not afraid to take responsibility. Looking at NRG's opponents, there should be no reason why the team wouldn't top Group A in London.

eUnited (#44)	Age	Rating
Michael "⁠dapr⁠" Gulino	19	1.09
Kaleb "⁠moose⁠" Jayne	20	1.08
Brandon "⁠Ace⁠" Winn	23	1.06
Will "⁠dazzLe⁠" Loafman	22	1.06
Skyler "⁠Relyks⁠" Weaver	23	1.02

Offline placings in the last three months
3rd-4th	ZOTAC Cup Masters Americas Regional Finals
5th-6th	DreamHack Open Austin 2018
3rd-4th	ESEA Season 27 Global Challenge

eUnited got their first taste of offline action in March 2018, when the team participated in the ESEA Season 27 Global Challenge, where the squad managed to top their group before falling in the semi-finals. The first showing on LAN proved the team has some fire burning within and can compete with some of the region's best.

Shortly afterwards, the team made an appearance at DreamHack Open Austin, where the competition was at a higher level than at the previous event. Relyks and his men got off to a great start, but the team quickly deflated later in the group stage before being eliminated by Fragsters in a three-map series. 

The young squad of eUnited have had little exposure in their offline adventures throughout 2018 - with their most recent offline showing being at the ZOTAC Cup Masters Americas Regional Finals. Moreover, the team is also fairly young, lacking the veteran experience needed to guide the team deeper into the playoffs at offline events. In order for this young group to reach the playoffs, eUnited must come out with fire in their bellies to pick up the opening matches in hopes of securing a spot in the playoffs.

Não Tem Como (#42)	Age	Rating
João "⁠felps⁠" Vasconcellos	21	1.22
Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe	23	1.19
Marcelo "⁠chelo⁠" Cespedes	20	1.13
Lincoln "⁠fnx⁠" Lau	28	1.11
Bruno "⁠BIT⁠" Fukuda Lima	27	0.92

Offline placings in the last three months
5th-6th	ZOTAC Cup Masters Europe Regional Finals
7th-8th	ESL One Belo Horizonte 2018

Não Tem Como have been up and down throughout the last three months, with the nagging roster changes throwing a wedge into the team's potential consistency. Following the exit of twin brothers Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles and Lucas "⁠LUCAS1⁠" Teles, Não Tem Como quickly turned to kNgV- and chelo to fill the voids. 

The first offline event with home-field advantage in Belo Horizonte came at a time NTC were ready to show the world what they had been working on; however, the team quickly flopped in the group stage, unable to secure a series win in the tournament. Back in Europe, they did not fare much better at the ZOTAC Cup Masters Europe Finals, where they placed 5th-6th, and then were overrun by Spirit in the open qualifier for DreamHack Masters Stockholm.

NTC will need to acquit themselves much better in London

Despite the lacklustre results, the core members of the team are certainly capable of breaking out at any given moment to allow the team some room to make their mark in the playoffs. But based on what we have seen from them, it would be an overstatement to consider them a favourite for a top-two finish in London.

Swole Patrol (#49)	Age	Rating
Austin "⁠Cooper⁠" Abadir	24	1.12
Jordan "⁠Zellsis⁠" Montemurro	20	1.12
Ryan "⁠freakazoid⁠" Abadir	25	1.08
Derrick "⁠LILMAN⁠" Boyne	24	1.01
Samuel "⁠SileNt⁠" Portillo	23	0.99

Offline placings in the last three months
5th-6th	ZOTAC Cup Masters Americas Regionals Finals
7th-8th	ESEA Season 27 Global Challenge

Swole Patrol are not a household name in North America, but they have already made some appearances at large-scale offline tournaments in 2018, starting with the WESG World Finals, where they went out 0-3 in a group that included GODSENT in AGO. The team then travelled to Leicester, where they finished dead-last in the ESEA Season 27 Global Challenge and lost to ex-Splyce in the ESL Pro League relegation stage.

freakazoid's Swole Patrol look to muscle their way into the playoffs

In an effort to improve their game, Swole Patrol replaced Ryan "⁠ryann⁠" Welsh with LILMAN, and the early signs were positive as they played out a close match against Sharks at the ZOTAC Cup Masters Americas Finals even if, in the end, they were unable to claim the victory. 

Swole Patrol will need to be prepared before jumping into the mix as their history at offline events has been lacklustre. Unluckily for them, they have been placed in a very stacked group, so it looks like the most they can hope for in London is to cause an upset by taking a map off one of the big-name sides.

Group B

Complexity (#32)	Age	Rating
Shahzeb "⁠ShahZaM⁠" Khan	24	1.24
Bradley "⁠ANDROID⁠" Fodor	24	1.17
Rory "⁠dephh⁠" Jackson	26	1.15
Jaccob "⁠yay⁠" Whiteaker	19	1.12
Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz	24	1.06

Offline placings in the last three months
5th-6th	ZOTAC Cup Masters Americas Regional Finals
5th-6th	DreamHack Open Summer
7th-8th	DreamHack Open Austin

Complexity is another team that has been familiar with roster changes and inconsistency during the first half of the year. In late April, the team added stanislaw and ShahZaM to beef up their active roster, and results have been gradually been paying off for the squad as the year progresses. If there were a time for the team to break out, now would be it. 

Since the lineup was completed with these two additions, the team has been unable to finish higher than 5th-6th on LAN. The first in this series of events was DreamHack Open Austin, where the team were unable to secure a win in their group, resulting in a last-place finish.

ShahZam and co. will face FURIA on Sunday

Then, Complexity got off to a great start at DreamHack Summer, securing a win in their opener; however, the team quickly spiralled downhill following a pair of series losses that resulted in another early exit.

With nearly ten days to prepare for their next event, ZOTAC Cup Masters America Finals, Complexity struggled against FURIA, who proved to be a tall order as stanislaw and co. flunked in the quarter-finals. The recent lacklustre performances have put the team in a mounting situation; to make the next stage or bust.

Rogue (#31)	Age	Rating
Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller	23	1.21
Ricardo "⁠Rickeh⁠" Mulholland	26	1.17
Daniel "⁠vice⁠" Kim	22	1.10
Hunter "⁠SicK⁠" Mims	19	1.09
Spencer "⁠Hiko⁠" Martin	28	1.02

Offline placings in the last three months
2nd	DreamHack Open Austin

Rogue have had a rather slow start to the 2018 campaign, with only one offline event in the last three months, where they finished runner-ups at DreamHack Open Austin. Less than 24 hours before the start of the event in Texas, the team secured the services of Rickeh, which ended up being a quick turn around point for Hiko and his men. Rogue jumped out and quickly secured a playoff spot before taking a three-map series against Fragsters to reach the grand final, but the team crumbled in the title decider versus Space Soldiers.

cadiaN aims to have another successful LAN performance

Rogue's recent success has a lot of room to grow as the team is backed by veteran experience, with the likes of cadiaN, Hiko, and Rickeh being the team's core unit. Despite the lackluster results from mostly online qualifiers, Rogue can still compete and send teams home if not prepared, so keep an eye out for a quick start from Rogue.

Dignitas (#55)	Age	Rating
Gage "⁠Infinite⁠" Green	19	1.18
Peter "⁠ptr⁠" Gurney	28	1.17
Ronnie "⁠ryx⁠" Bylicki	25	1.13
Mitch "⁠mitch⁠" Semago	21	1.08
Michael "⁠Grim⁠" Wince	17	1.00

Dignitas have seen better times than those they are currently in. The North Americans have yet to compete in an offline event this year, with a plethora of roster changes having consistently put the team behind. And while they finalized the roster in late May, the results have been hard to swallow. 

With ptr, Infinite, and ryx now in the mix, the newly-formed roster raised eyebrows in the closed qualifier for the Minor, sweeping through TeamOne, Luminosity and Swole Patrol, but this is LAN we are talking about here. With zero offline experience so far this year, Dignitas will have a hard time to survive a group that includes teams who have seen plenty of LAN action in 2018.

FURIA (#48)	Age	Rating
Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos	18	1.33
Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato	18	1.27
Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan	22	1.22
Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo	19	1.14
Guilherme "⁠spacca⁠" Spacca	28	0.98

Offline placings in the last three months
2nd	ZOTAC Cup Masters Americas Regional Finals

FURIA have been silently climbing the ranks in recent months after coming out on top of several qualifiers, including the one for the ZOTAC Cup Masters Americas Regional Finals. Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan and his men also claimed several domestic titles at the beginning of the year, making for a very successful first half of 2018.

FURIA's recent run at the Americas Regionals Finals saw the team advance from the quarter-finals to the title decider, in which they came up short against Ghost. Led by veteran spacca, the Brazilians are riding the wave after the strong showing in California, and they will be looking to claim more scalps in London as they try to establish themselves as the next big team to emerge out of South America.