CS:GO: With a $92,500 overall prize pool on the line at the WESG APAC Finals in Jiaozhou starting this week, chaos reigned with the news that the two far and away favourites to come away victorious at the WESG APAC Finals will unfortunately not be attending the event.
Withdrawals hurt
Gambit would have been the clear favourite, given their victory at the Major and overall placing as a tier one team. Unfortunately, visa issues have plagued the UK-based team, causing them to withdraw from the event. Similarly, Flash Gaming are unable to attend this event as they have been named as the emergency substitute for Tyloo at the ELEAGUE major. While the Chinese side are a step below Gambit, they nevertheless stood out from the rest of the pack here. While overall a great move for Flash; unfortunately, events such as WESG suffer from the absence of these quality teams.
One-nationality rule makes things interesting
The WESG APAC Finals are an event with a very important rule: each team may only have one nationality within it. This creates an interesting dynamic, with some sides creating a mixed bag line-up from multiple internal teams, while others are able to enter the event as a pre-existing team. Chosen5, for example, has players from four different teams, with ISSAA, currently of HellRaisers, being the most well-known player in the tournament. ISSAA is one of the bigger names at the event, with a chance to break out against lower competition.
B.O.O.T one to watch
B.O.O.T-dream[S]cape are a cohesive five-man roster, having the same members since July of last year. B.O.O.T have both prior international experiences, with matches against Cloud9, Vega Squadron, and Flash Gaming, as well as quality placements recently; they’ve finished first in two Minors as well as the qualifier for this event. While not an incredibly well-known name, the good fortune of having the same five-man roster for such a long period of time, coupled with the same coaches, allows for a consistency many teams lack at this tournament. Cohesion will be a huge factor, especially early on, as other mixed teams attempt to find their groove. One factor for B.O.O.T is that they are in a group with only four members (due to the absence of Gambit and Flash), giving them a higher chance of making it through to the playoffs.
Koreans placed in a deep group
Another team with quality showings recently is MVP PK, a Korean side that finalised their roster this past November. With first-place finishes at both the qualifier to IEM Masters XII in 2-0 fashion and a 3-0 against ViCi Gaming, a decent Chinese team in the DaddySkins Asia Super League, MVP PK has shown a nice run of form. One concern for MVP is they are in arguably the deepest group, which contains the aforementioned Chosen5, as well as ORDER, Fire Dragoon, and PortaL
EMC move out of Hong Kong
One team looking to prove themselves on a larger stage is EMC, who have been dominating the Hong Kong region. Despite having almost no experience against anyone other than local opponents, EMC are positioned to possibly make the playoffs given their presence within the second four-team group. EMC have placed first in four qualifiers in the past four months, showing off their dominance recently with two straight 2-0 wins.
The major challenge for EMC comes in the form of Recca, an Indonesian-based team with solid talent throughout. Recca was originally most known for the presence of BnTeT on the roster, a star player who has since transferred to Tyloo. Recca, however, have continued their solid play in the region, and will have hopes of a quality finish to put on their resume at this event.
Unlike most tournaments, the WESG 2017 APAC Finals appear to have no clear favourites and little practical form to judge the participants. That should make for an exciting event with plenty of upsets and surprises.
