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Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago Preview and Predictions

Between November 6th – 11th, one of the most awaited CS:GO events of the year will open its doors to the public. With a prize pool of $250.000, Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago welcomes both spectators and bettors in supporting 16 of the best teams worldwide during their exciting battles, while witnessing yet another remarkable CS:GO competition.

IEM XIII Chicago participants

Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago is attended by 16 teams from all over the world:

Fnatic
Team Liquid
MIBR
Astralis
BIG
FaZe Clan
mousesports
Natus Vincere
NRG Esports
North
eUnited
MVP PK
Luminosity Gaming
Renegades
Team LDLC.com
AVANGAR

IEM XIII Chicago event format

Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago matches take place in the stages: the Group Stage and the Playoffs Stage.

The Group Stage will have the participating teams divided into 2 groups of 8. All 8 teams are starting in the Upper Bracket, as both groups will follow the double-elimination format (GSL). After the results are determined, the top 3 teams from the initial groups will compete in the Playoffs Stage. The leading team of each group goes directly to the Semifinals and the following 2 teams advance to the Quarterfinals.

The Playoffs Stage brings a single elimination bracket format for the 3 rounds of matches played: 2 matches in the Quarterfinals, 2 matches in the Semifinals and the Grand Final.
You should keep in mind that every match is a Bo3 series, with the exception of the first round of Group Stage matches (Bo1) and the Grand Final (Bo5).

The groups

Group A

North
NRG Esports
Astralis
MVP PK
MIBR
FaZe Clan
Renegades
Team LDLC.com

The teams with the highest chance of advancing out of this group are Astralis, FaZe Clan and MIBR.

Group B

Luminosity Gaming
Team Liquid
Fnatic
BIG
Natus Vincere
eUnited
mousesports
AVANGAR

The teams with the highest chance of advancing out of this group are Natus Vincere, Team Liquid and mousesports.

Prize pool distribution

Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago offers a prize pool of $250.000. This prize pool will be divided among the 16 participants in the following way:

1st place: $100,000
2nd place: $42,000
3rd – 4th place: $20,000
5th – 6th place: $10,000
7th – 8th place: $6,000
9th – 12th place: $5,000
13th – 16th place: $4,000

Team analysis

Here’s a quick performance analysis of the most important teams taking part in Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago!

Astralis

While being ranked in 3rd place at its most recent CS:GO tournament – Blast Pro Series: Copenhagen 2018 – Astralis can still be viewed as the strongest team at the moment. Even after giving the first 2 places to Natus Vincere and Ninjas in Pyjamas in the Round-Robin of that event, the Danish team still has a lot of potential to unleash.

Therefore, I can predict that Astralis should have no problem winning Group A at Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago, and no less than a top 4 ranking overall. While still confronting with the doubt that it might not display the same strength as 5-6 weeks ago, when winning the FACEIT Major: London 2018 title, Astralis still remains a challenging opponent for the rest of the teams.

Natus Vincere

Their recent victory at Blast Pro Series: Copenhagen 2018 should not be forgotten. Na’Vi is one of the strongest teams in the world at the moment, ranking 2nd after Astralis. The great team performance is reflecting the overall efforts of its members, though s1mple is going the extra mile in keeping Natus Vincere among the best competitors worldwide.

Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago is a chance for Na’Vi’s roster to prove its skills, and I expect a 1st – 2nd place in Group B and a 1st – 4th place overall.

Team Liquid

When taking a look at the events organized in the last few months, we can notice that Team Liquid has had a consistent top performance. For example, TACO and his teammates managed to score a 2nd place at ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2018 and ESL One: New York 2018 and an honorable 3rd – 4th place at FACEIT Major: London 2018 and EPICENTER 2018.

Focusing on Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago, Team Liquid will mainly be confronted with Natus Vincere and mousesports in Group B. While we can be sure that one of these 3 competitors will win the group, it is still left to be determined whether Liquid will get a top 2, 4 or 6 overall.

FaZe Clan

Even if the previous months’ performance can be described as average, for being ranked 5th – 8th or even 7th – 8th in 4 consecutive tournaments, FaZe Clan has recently started rising again. The 2 memorable victories against Team Liquid (in the Semifinals) and Natus Vincere (in the Grand Final) that made it champion at EPICENTER 2018 are clear proof of its recovery.

Blast Pro Series: Copenhagen 2018 is the most recent CS:GO event FaZe Clan attended and the world’s best participants certainly gave FaZe a lot of trouble, as the team finished 4th out of 6 competitors in total. This result does not necessarily lead us to a clear conclusion, as each and every contestant was top tier and all matches were Bo1s.

It is important to note that FaZe Clan seems to have gained much of its former strength back and, moving beyond its lack of consistency, the team still has its place among the world’s greatest at Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago.

mousesports

Benching Snax and bringing STYKO back to the team might leave a mark on mousesports’ overall approach and performance. Thus, the fairly good team is expected to face some challenges in competing with the world’s top opponents.

Recently, mousesports defeated Team Liquid in the Grand Final of ESL One: New York 2018 and won the title. Shortly after that however, the same team managed to finish just 9th – 11th at StarSeries & i-League CS:GO Season 6.

All things considered, it is still uncertain how mousesports will perform at Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago. As a personal consideration, I expect the team to score a top 3 position in Group B and then finish 5th-6th overall.

MIBR

MIBR can still be regarded as one of the strongest teams in CS:GO, even though the result at Blast Pro Series: Copenhagen 2018 tells us a different story. In the competition, MIBR registered 0 W – 5 L record in the Round-Robin but the specific map scores, coupled with the fact that all matches were Bo1, do not allow us to draw a certain conclusion.

Going into Intel Extreme Masters XIII Chicago, MIBR is expected to place 2nd or 3rd in Group A and 5th – 6th overall.

Other teams to keep an eye on

Widening our focus beyond the 6 teams previously analyzed, we can expect NRG Esports in Group A and BIG in Group B to challenge the rankings, especially if their players use their skills wisely. In this case, NRG Esports could easily replace MIBR in the Playoffs and BIG can defeat mousesports.