Just a couple of days after their last meeting in the ESL: Road to Rio, North will take on G2 Esports again in the DreamHack Masters’ Spring 2020 European division. The match will be played on the late hours of 19th May and will follow the best-of-three format.
North
North won the series on Sunday and they will come with high hopes to lift their first 2020 title after their triumph in DreamHack Open Sevilla 2019, in December. The side led by Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen has shown decent form recently. They managed a fifth-sixth finish at DreamHack Open Leipzig 2020, got a top-four finish at #HomeSweetHome: Week 1 and DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020. However, their solid run was stopped by 13th-15th placing at ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe and after that managed a sixth-place finish at the Elisa Invitational.
The side then competed in the ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe, where they managed a respectable 4-3 record after beating the likes of Movistar Riders, c0ntact, and G2. Yet North’s hopes of winning the title ended in the early stages of the playoffs. They lost to Team Heretics in the upper bracket and had to settle for an eighth-place finish after getting beaten by Godsent
We are ready for @DreamHackCSGO Masters Spring 2020
A couple of Danish rivalries and a French team who is looking for revenge 😈#HearTheRoar pic.twitter.com/ObSh6iCf7Y— North (@TheNorthIsHere) May 18, 2020
Their poor showing in the ESL One: Road to Rio can be attributed to the fact that they were playing without one of their key players, Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye. He had to miss the tournament owing to some medical reasons. His spot was taken up by the coach of the team, Jimmy “Jumpy” Berndtsson. He has played four games with the side and sits at a disappointing 0.725 match rating which just shows how much the team misses Kjaerbye.
G2 Esports
G2 Esports has had its fair share of troubles ever since the competitive landscape has moved to online play. They were labeled as one of the favorites to win the ESL Pro League Season 11: Europe yet the side crashed out of the tournament in the first phase. They finished dead last in the group after losing to OG, FaZe Clan, and Mousesports.
Their performance improved at the ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe, where the EU side finished at 2nd place in the group stage. After that, the team made its way to the final after beating FaZe, Team Vitality, and Team Heretics. But they were helpless against one of the best teams in the world, Astralis, and had to settle for a 2nd place finish.
no chance in that one. Lost to @astralisgg 0-3, with the level we have right now it was surprising we even made it to the grand finals. gg go next
— Nemanja Isakovic (@nexaOG) May 17, 2020
Their recent performance on paper shows that G2 is a force reckoned with, but it doesn’t escape the fact that the side struggles in the online format. It was pretty obvious that the team led by Nemanja “nexa” Isaković will see off tier-two teams like Godsent, c0ntact, Copenhagen Flames, and Movistar Riders.
Prediction G2 Esports 2-1 North
Some critics labeled North as the massive underdogs, but the side still managed to beat G2 a couple of days ago without Kjaerbye. Yet we are confident that the team will not be able to beat their opponents in the upcoming game and will give them a fight for their money.
