ECS Season 6 FinalsECS Season 6 Finals preview
The ECS Season 6 Finals kicks off on Thursday, so let's take a look at the eight teams in our preview of the next big CS:GO tournament.
The brand new Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will debut with the ECS Season 6 Finals from November 22-25, with eight of the top teams from the North American and European divisions of the league set to battle for $660,000 in prize money.
The tournament has garnered some heavy hitters, including three top-five teams in Astralis, Liquid, and MOUZ, as well as four more from the top ten — MIBR, Ninjas in Pyjamas, NRG, and North — alongside Cloud9's new lineup, featuring Fabien "kioShiMa" Fiey, who have replaced Renegades at the tournament as the Australian side ran into visa issues.
The teams have been distributed into two groups (based on their placing in the online season), played in a GSL format with best-of-threes in all matches except for the opening round. For the detailed schedule, prize money distribution, and talent lineup for ECS Season 6 Finals, head over to our viewer's guide.
Without further ado, let's take a look at each team who will be in action this week in Arlington, Texas:
| Ratings are from the past three months on LAN |
Group A
| Astralis (#1) | Age | Rating |
 Nicolai "device" Reedtz |
23 | 1.24 |
| Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen |
25 | 1.19 |
| Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth |
23 | 1.16 |
| Emil "Magisk" Reif |
20 | 1.12 |
| Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander |
23 | 1.10 |
| Danny "zonic" Sørensen (coach) |
||
Offline placings in the last three months |
|
| 1st |  IEM Chicago |
| 3rd | BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen |
| 1st |  BLAST Pro Series Istanbul |
| 1st |  FACEIT Major |
| 3rd-5th | FACEIT Major Main Qualifier |
| 2nd |  DreamHack Masters Stockholm |
No. 1 team in the world Astralis headline Group A following an immensely dominant online portion of the European division, in which the Danes locked first place with an incredible 17-1 record after beating everyone 2-0 apart from LDLC on the way to the top.
Any event gla1ve and company go to, they will obviously be considered clear favorites to win it all. ECS is no different, and perhaps the Danish powerhouse are even more heavily favored for it given the set of teams attending, as there are some key names missing from the list, namely Natus Vincere and FaZe, two of the few teams to take series off Astralis at recent tournaments.
Out of the attending teams, there are only two who have won a match against Astralis: Liquid, who have an otherwise atrocious history with the Danes, and Ninjas in Pyjamas, whose current roster holds a 2-2 match record versus the giants since September.
To play devil's advocate, we have seen Astralis falter a few times since the off-season, which has allowed teams to either beat the heavyweights or at least get very close, to even some that you would not expect to have a chance, such as the aforementioned Swedes, this lineup of Cloud9, and MIBR, all of whom will be present at ECS. None of their seven possible opponents have defeated them in a series with their standing lineups, however, so they will once again head into an event as the massive favorites.
| MOUZ (#5) | Age | Rating |
 Miikka "suNny" Kemppi |
24 | 1.11 |
 Tomáš "oskar" Šťastný |
27 | 1.10 |
 Robin "ropz" Kool |
18 | 1.07 |
 Chris "chrisJ" de Jong |
28 | 1.06 |
 Martin "STYKO" Styk |
22 | 1.03 |
 Sergey "lmbt" Bezhanov (coach) |
||
Offline placings in the last three months |
|
| 5th-6th | IEM Chicago |
| 9th-11th | StarSeries i-League Season 6 (4/5 of the current lineup) |
| 1st | ESL One New York (4/5) |
| 15th-16th | FACEIT Major (4/5) |
| 3rd-4th | DreamHack Masters Stockholm (4/5) |
As the No. 3 team in the European division, MOUZ have also made it to the ECS Finals, not too long after the chrisJ-led squad reverted to their late-2017 to mid-2018 lineup featuring STYKO, who replaced Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski last month.
The new-old multi-national roster had their debut at IEM Chicago, where losses to Liquid in the groups and to Astralis in the quarter-finals saw them place fifth-sixth. That speaks to where the European squad ranks among their two biggest opponents at the tournament, including the Danes, with whom they share the group.
MIBR are also in the same group as a seemingly tough matchup for MOUZ, who have lost the last and only three maps they have played against the Brazilian-American roster, dating back to DreamHack Masters Stockholm, all in convincing fashion. Whether the roster change has done anything to turn this matchup for the better will be an important piece of the puzzle for mouz, who are set to face Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo's team in the opening round and are likely to meet them again in the decider, if the other matches go as expected.
Should MOUZ do well at ECS Season 6 Finals, it will have to be on the back of improved consistency from the star trio, who have all looked out of shape at some of the recent tournaments.
| MIBR (#6) | Age | Rating |
 Marcelo "coldzera" David |
24 | 1.21 |
| Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo |
27 | 1.10 |
| Fernando "fer" Alvarenga |
27 | 1.09 |
| Tarik "tarik" Celik |
22 | 1.07 |
| Jake "Stewie2K" Yip |
20 | 1.07 |
 Janko "YNk" Paunović (coach) |
||
Offline placings in the last three months |
|
| 9th-12th | IEM Chicago |
| 6th | BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen |
| 2nd | BLAST Pro Series Istanbul |
| 3rd-4th | FACEIT Major |
| 5th-8th | DreamHack Masters Stockholm |
| 1st |  ZOTAC Cup Masters 2018 Grand Finals |
MIBR are going into ECS with hopes of improving their November, which has so far seen the squad finish dead last at BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen and exit IEM Chicago in the group stage after close losses to FaZe and NRG within days from each other.
FalleN & co. have now had some time to reflect on the two tournaments, which came as a big blow to MIBR's confidence, as they had looked to be on the right path in September after following up a semi-final finish at the Major with a second place in Istanbul, where the team gave Astralis a run for their money in the grand final.
The pressure to perform is mounting, as the team continues to struggle with consistency, a well-defined map pool, and role balance as 2018 draws to a close. With early exits stacking up, it could only be a matter of time until we see a push for a more drastic change within MIBR, who have only made a deep run at the two aforementioned tournaments out of a total of seven "Big Events" attended with this lineup.
Recent history suggests a semi-final run is out of MIBR's reach, but their results have largely been close in November, even against the likes of FaZe, Astralis, and Natus Vincere. With the favorable MOUZ matchup in mind, the Brazilian-American side might just squeeze out of the group if some of the tight battles go their way this time around.
| Cloud9 (#24) | Age | Rating |
 Fabien "kioShiMa" Fiey |
24 | 1.04 |
| Timothy "autimatic" Ta |
22 | 0.99 |
| William "RUSH" Wierzba |
24 | 0.98 |
| Maikil "Golden" Selim |
24 | 0.96 |
| Robin "flusha" Rönnquist |
25 | 0.94 |
| Soham "valens" Chowdhury (coach) |
||
Offline placings in the last three months |
|
| 5th | BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen |
| 6th | BLAST Pro Series Istanbul (4/5) |
| 12th-14th | FACEIT Major (4/5) |
Cloud9 come to Arlington fresh off the officialization of kioShiMa's addition to the roster, after the Frenchman had clearly proved his worth ahead of and during BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen, at the beginning of the month.
The European-American mixture surpassed expectations after recording wins against MIBR and FaZe, as well as taking Natus Vincere and Astralis to their limit despite coach valens standing in for Golden in the team's first two matches in Denmark.
Though it was only good for fifth place at the tournament, it's a good sign for the team after months of struggles with the lineup and results, especially as kioShiMa ended up as a permanent member following a great individual start to the Danish event, which means Cloud9 finally have a full roster.
As valens outlined in our interview with him at BLAST, the team can now begin to get more productive as they set a more defined playstyle with clear roles. It's unlikely that they have been able to evolve enough in those two weeks to go on a deep run at ECS, but based on what we saw in Denmark, they should at least make things interesting and potentially throw a wrench into the plans of some of the higher ranked teams.
Group B
| Liquid (#3) | Age | Rating |
 Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken |
19 | 1.25 |
| Keith "NAF" Markovic |
20 | 1.16 |
| Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski |
21 | 1.14 |
| Nick "nitr0" Cannella |
23 | 1.08 |
| Epitacio "TACO" de Melo |
23 | 1.03 |
| Wilton "zews" Prado (coach) |
||
Offline placings in the last three months |
|
| 2nd | IEM Chicago |
| 3rd-4th |  EPICENTER |
| 2nd | ESL One New York |
| 3rd-4th | FACEIT Major |
| 1st-2nd | FACEIT Major Main Qualifier |
Group B also has its clear favorite in Liquid, who have held on to third place in the ranking following their fifth runner-up finish at a Big Event in 2018, at IEM Chicago.
With two more events to go before the month comes to a close, the North American side keep a rather packed schedule as they look to find true greatness and finally start winning after a nearly trophyless year, despite having had multiple chances to do so over the past six months.
Based on the teams, the ECS Season 6 Finals are heading for yet another Astralis-Liquid final. That would make it the fifth final showdown between the two since ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals in May, and a continuation of what has been a very, very one-sided rivalry, with Astralis currently holding a 19-3 map record (9-1 in matches) against this roster after the 3-0 sweep in Chicago.
However unlikely it is at ECS specifically, Liquid's best hope of hoisting a big trophy in this era is for someone else to take out Astralis beforehand; the North American squad has the upper hand against just about everyone else, which is why they have got to face the Danes this many times in the finals in the first place.
| Ninjas in Pyjamas (#7) | Age | Rating |
| Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg |
30 | 1.11 |
| Fredrik "REZ" Sterner |
20 | 1.06 |
| Jonas "Lekr0" Olofsson |
25 | 1.04 |
| Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund |
28 | 1.03 |
| Dennis "dennis" Edman |
27 | 0.98 |
 Faruk "pita" Pita (coach) |
||
Offline placings in the last three months |
|
| 2nd | BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen |
| 5th-6th | EPICENTER |
| 3rd | BLAST Pro Series Istanbul |
| 9th-11th | FACEIT Major |
| 1st-2nd | FACEIT Major Main Qualifier |
| 3rd-4th | DreamHack Masters Stockholm |
Barring big upsets (in other words: any of the last three teams beating Liquid), Group B will largely be about who gets the second spot in the playoffs, as the remaining three teams are ranked between 7th-10th and none have proven themselves an elite side.
With some promising results dating back to August under their belt, including their latest runner-up campaign at BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen, Ninjas in Pyjamas might just be the best bet out of the lot. However, even the Swedes haven't been consistent enough due to stumbles versus underdog teams such as Space Soldiers and AVANGAR in Istanbul and at EPICENTER, respectively.
The ECS Season 6 Finals will see the Swedes first go up against NRG, a very rare encounter that has only happened once this year in Stockholm, with Ninjas in Pyjamas coming out victorious 16-13 on Train. A potential North meeting would also be an uncommon occurence, as the last time the two cores met was back in May. That makes the battle for the second spot in Group B an exciting prospect, with Lekr0's men being slightly favored to make it through.
| NRG (#8) | Age | Rating |
| Ethan "Ethan" Arnold |
18 | 1.18 |
| Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte |
20 | 1.17 |
 Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov |
18 | 1.10 |
| Jacob "FugLy" Medina |
23 | 0.97 |
| Damian "daps" Steele |
25 | 0.88 |
| Chet "Chet" Singh (coach) |
||
Offline placings in the last three months |
|
| 7th-8th | IEM Chicago |
| 1st | cs_summit 3 |
| 3rd-4th | StarSeries i-League Season 6 |
| 3rd-4th | ESL One New York |
| 13th-16th | DreamHack Masters Stockholm |
While the Swedish side will be looking to build on a great result in Copenhagen, NRG are going into ECS Season 5 Finals disappointed from IEM Chicago, where they were inches away from the playoffs but ultimately fell to the tournament's surprise, LDLC.
Although a top-eight finish is hardly a failure at one of the most stacked events of the year, daps' team's loss to North on Cache in the opening match of the tournament could play a factor at ECS Season 6 Finals, should the two teams meet in the group stage, as it'll certainly be a bit of a knock on confidence in the closely contested group.
NRG should celebrate the return of CeRq's impact, however, as the Bulgarian AWPer has seemingly recovered from a rather poor period in August to October with a much better look at cs_summit 3 and IEM Chicago, where he played a particularly key role in eliminating MIBR from the tournament.
With the star trio going off, NRG could go on to do great things at ECS Season 6 Finals, though as we already mentioned, it'll be a tough fight between the bottom three teams of Group B.
| North (#10) | Age | Rating |
| Valdemar "valde" Bjørn Vangså |
23 | 1.11 |
| Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye |
20 | 1.07 |
| Philip "aizy" Aistrup |
22 | 1.01 |
| Nicklas "gade" Gade |
24 | 0.99 |
| Casper "cadiaN" Møller |
23 | 0.96 |
| Alexander "ave" Holdt (coach) |
||
Offline placings in the last three months |
|
| 9th-12th | IEM Chicago |
| 5th-8th | StarSeries i-League Season 6 |
| 9th-11th | FACEIT Major Main Qualifier (3/5) |
| 1st | DreamHack Masters Stockholm (3/5) |
North return to the United States following a disappointing campaign in Chicago, where they placed 9th-12th after being thrashed by fellow Danish side Astralis, and defeated by the tournament's surprise package, LDLC, in a three-map series.
IEM Chicago was just the team's second offline competition since bringing in cadiaN and gade, and fans will argue that the team showed improvements there by beating NRG in their opening match after being eliminated by the North American side at StarSeries i-League Season 6.
The pressure will be on North to prove they are an elite side - something that their last two offline appearances did not reflect. Anything less than a playoff appearance could send the Danes out of the top 10 in the ranking for the first time since August, and much of their fate will depend on the performances of aizy, who, after a streak of above-average ratings on LAN, had back-to-back events in the red.
Antoine 'to1nou' Pirard
Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad
Sean 'Gratisfaction' Kaiwai
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund
Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski
nachooww
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