SuperNova Malta 2018 Recap
Liquid has finally won a tournament. It took them eight months with this roster, but they finally did it. That’s easily the headlining story at this tournament, although plenty else happened. This was a tournament that had a pretty clear dividing line between the top four and the bottom four, and it shows in the results. It’s always fun to see teams like TYLOO and Kinguin on LAN, although they rarely amount to much. For the most part though, things proceeded about how one would expect, and the tournament ended up being a fun watch. Especially Liquid on that comeback in grand finals, which we don’t see often from them.
BIG
BIG has been unimpressive for a while now. Since their second place at Cologne this year they haven’t placed higher than third at LAN and continue to drop series to teams they have no business dropping series to. Hellraisers, OpTic, and ENCE are all teams that they have lost to in the past couple months, which does not bode well for their status as a (borderline) contender.
On the bright side, tabseN had a great tournament. This team still has all the pieces they need to put up results, and I would be worried to face off against them at a Major. Gob B is one of the best IGLs in the scene which means BIG is a monster when given adequate prep time.
All in all, this tournament wasn’t terrible for BIG. They got unlucky and drew Liquid in the semis and played them fairly close. While BIG has had some rough tournaments since the Major, I expect them to have a strong showing in Katowice.
HellRaisers
This team looked good for this being their first tournament with this lineup. woxic is very, very good at Counter Strike (I don’t know if you knew). ANGE1 seems to be doing a good job holding the team together, and Hobbit is especially useful for the veteran presence that players like woxic need.
That being said, they didn’t play many maps, and didn’t beat anyone notable. They beat Gambit, who was playing with a standin, and then beat TYLOO 2-1. In the semis they bombed out against NRG 0-2 without reaching double digits on either map.
I think that HR is going to make a run at Adren. He could make this team scary, and I don’t really see anywhere else for him to go (Unless Na’Vi makes a roster change). He could elevate this team a lot, providing that second kick right behind woxic and really pulling the whole thing together.
HellRaisers will likely continue to look better and better, and will likely make the Major, especially due to the lack of depth in the CIS Minor.
Liquid
Liquid finally won a tournament with this roster. They beat NRG in the grand finals convincingly, mounting an impressive comeback on Inferno to take the map 16-14.
This win likely means a lot to Liquid. Not having won a tournament of any kind since adding Taco was no doubt something that weighed on them. Now that they’ve proven they can do it, it might add a little morale boost in their next matchup with Astralis.
NAF performed exceptionally well at this tournament, outperforming EliGE and Twistzz. NAF went +53 over eight maps and was instrumental in their comeback on Inferno. He had an ADR of 81.6 and died 11 times in 30 rounds. Also, he was AWPing. I don’t know if that is something that he is going to continue to do, but that could actually be a big help in their matchups against Astralis. Having someone else who can pick up the AWP and help shutdown bombsites and look for picks could be big for Liquid.
NRG
NRG seems to have taken the “little brother of NA” spot away from Cloud9, seeing as how Cloud9 isn’t really an American team anymore. And so, as is tradition for the little brother team, they got smashed in the grand finals.
This team still feels young, and I’m not sure I trust daps as IGL. NRG’s CT side fell apart on Overpass, and they couldn’t close the game out on CT side even with a nine-round advantage. This kind of defeat is the kind you’d expect from a young team, so it’s not terribly worrying, but it does seem to me like this team could benefit from a veteran presence.
That all being said, a roster change doesn’t feel necessary. They should ride this lineup out and really see what they can do, especially because CeRq and nahtE are so young. I see no reason for this roster to stop improving, and I look forward to watching them play. Hopefully they make some waves at the Major.
TYLOO
I was hopeful for TYLOO at this tournament. I predicted them to beat BIG, which they did by the slimmest possible margin, and then they proceeded to lay an egg against HellRaisers and BIG. I would anticipate a roster change from TYLOO in the immediate future. BnTeT is way too good to be playing on a team like this, so they’ll either build around him or he will get poached. I don’t know if he speaks any English, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on an international mix team or on an NA team sometime in the future.
Kinguin
This team is so weird. They push NRG to overtime and lose. Then they play VP in the elimination match and push them top overtime as well. Then, they lose 4-16. It’s not even like Mirage is that bad of a map for Kinguin, it’s middle of the road for this lineup.
They had a chance to prove that they are the best Polish team (Which doesn’t seem like an incredible feat anymore really), and they blew it. I honestly can’t tell if this team is just TaZ’s retirement tour or if they’re actively trying to push the roster, but at this point I don’t think it matters.
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