With UK Masters handed control of the BYOC tournaments at Insomnia last event, it was always expected they’d return with big things for the Summer LAN of Insomnia 63. With many demanding changes from many, man LANs ago – they have finally listened and are offering a big change for the August Bank Holiday weekend event.
Here is a roundup post of where we are at in terms of all the biggest leagues and events in the UK currently. I will be going over ESL Premiership, Gfinity Elite Series, Multiplay’s UK Masters and of course the ESEA Open United Kingdom division. It should detail who is doing what in each respective league, and who are the biggest winners and losers to date.
The UK Masters Summer Season has just been announced. Returning for its fourth instalment, the UK Masters is back again with another £15k prize pool for both Counter-Strike:Global Offensive, and League of Legends.
After a long UK Masters season, the final two teams heading for Insomnia are confirmed. With there being four teams heading into the play-offs, only two could survive for the i60 showdown.
UK Masters Season 3, or Spring 2017 as they like to call it, has reached its final pre-lan stages – the playoffs. The top four teams from the weekly round-robin have qualified for the playoff stages of the UK Masters Spring season which is set to take place on April 1st/2nd. This best-of-three double elimination playoff will finish with just two teams left standing to compete at the live stage finals at Insomnia60 later that month.
We are now into Week Four of UK Masters, the penultimate week before we see which four teams will head into the playoffs. It has seriously been heating up in UK Masters, with teams pushing each other for some big results. With eight teams in action, there has been plenty of action, drama and folds to keep the UK Scene entertained. Those eight teams will be swallowed up and chewed out until we find four teams to head into the playoffs, once the playoffs conclude, two teams will stand, with their places confirmed at Multiplay’s insomnia60 for the finals, and they will then play for the giant’s share of £15,000.
Last week, we saw some rather intriguing results. Despite the rumours being true, that exceL eSports after recruiting Owen “smooya” Butterfield, had seen their team crumble like a pie, they had completely folded, they did manage to put up some what of a fight against mix team fish123 losing over two maps but making it close in the scores. Current reigning champions fm-eSports managed to secure a vital victory against Imperial, with two equally close maps in that series.
On the Wednesday, it was the biggest twist of the season as Team Infused who claimed they were “out of practice” managed to secure a massive 2:0 victory over reforming Team Endpoint, one that Ian and co really couldn’t find any answers to, and despite some great performances from Alex “Snodz” Byfield in the two maps, they struggled to get the map needed to secure a tie. Meanwhile Team CeX were left lusting for an important victory to take them off the bottom, as they ended up drawing with a team who continue to draw this season, newly found Team XENEX.
Thursday saw only one match go ahead as folded exceL eSports couldn’t “field a team” against Team CeX which saw CeX find their first victory of the season. Infused couldn’t continue their winning form from Wednesday and ended up losing in an entertaining second map against Jake “jakem” McCausland’s Team Imperial which went to overtime. It meant they ended up with a draw as the final match of the week concluded.
It leaves fish123 clear leaders currently with Endpoint sitting three points behind them. A point behind Endpoint, is current reigning champions fm-eSports, who do have a slight advantage as they have a series in hand over Endpoint that if they were to win, would put them two points clear of Endpoint. Infused & Imperial are tied on five points, which means either side needs some vital wins to secure their Top 4 place. Team CeX & Team XENEX are next on the list with four points each, whilst exceL eSports who should be considered a dead team now, are routed at the bottom of the table with just the one point so far.
XENEX have made roster changes since last week. Does this mean the roster will fare better this week?
With all the shuffling of rosters outside of any potential locks, and the league still in play currently, it leaves our panel scratching their heads on how they can possibly predict the matches going forward, but they will certainly try. Here is all the information you need including rosters (that we know currently), last week’s results, current standings and our panel’s results. You can read the previous prediction articles in the following links.
UK Masters Spring Season: Week 1 Predictions
UK Masters Spring Season: Week 2 Predictions
UK Masters Spring Season: Week 3 Predictions
fm-eSports: nEiLZiNHo, weber, fre1, Puls3, stan1ey
Team Endpoint: Immi, Esio, MightyMax, Snodz, pt
Team CeX: resu, BrodyC, LS, Astroo, JDD
Team XENEX: Spectrum, FiLLeR, DUKK, Hawkins, MMuffin
Imperial: Jakem, conoR, Whindanski, Boaster, REAZN
fish123: keita, Sliggy, robiin, batham, tsack
Team Infused: SHEEKEY, shaney , Lumji , Ozzy , Snakey
exceL eSports: Jenko, Mole, Kryptix, Smooya, Jesp
fm-eSports 2:0 Imperial (16:12 de_mirage & 16:13 de_overpass)
exceL eSports 0:2 fish123 (11:16 de_mirage & 13:16 de_cbble)
Team Endpoint 0:2 Team Infused (14:16 de_cbble & 11:16 de_mirage)
Team CeX 1:1 Team XENEX (14:16 de_mirage & 16:13 de_train)
Team Infused 1:1 Imperial (16:11 de_cache & 19:21 de_train)
Team CeX 2:0 exceL eSports (Default Win)
Michael “Duck” Moriarty – UKCSGO JournalistMichael is one of our journalists here at UKCSGO, he has written for many different organisation websites including Team Acer, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Reason Gaming. He currently writes for ESL with some IEM posts he has done over the last few months. His CS knowledge is relatively restricted to recent times as he has no prior knowledge or playtime in the UK Scene from either CS: Source or 1.6 and therefore his opinion should be treated as a relatively new to the scene. However he is starting to build on his awareness of the UK Scene in CS:GO and has valid ideas of what teams should be doing what. Michael will be taking on Tuesday night matches in UK Masters.
Ryan is one of the UK’s leading stars when it comes to commentating. Having started at epic.LAN last year for epic.SEVENTEEN, as an admin, he ended up going to Dreamhack Summer last June on behalf of CAZ eSports, then shortly after that he dived into casting, and got to cast events such as UK Premiership, UK Masters, Starladder, and WESG. He has an in depth knowledge around the UK Esports scene, and continues to thrive on casting events. Ryan will be taking on Wednesday night matches in UK Masters.
Callum has been working himself through the ranks over the last year, having won epic.NINETEEN back in October last year, he has the insight to help the panel come to some better conclusions on what should happen in the matches from week to week. Callum currently plays for Chrome Gaming who narrowly missed out in UK Masters and didn’t quite make it to the ESL Premiership either, but he knows how competitive the scene really is. Callum will be taking on Thursday night matches in UK Masters.
fm-eSports Vs Imperial Predicted: 1:1 Actual: 2:0
exceL eSports Vs fish123 Predicted 1:1 Actual: 0:2
Result: 0/2 (0%)
Team Endpoint Vs Team Infused Predicted: 2:0 Actual: 0:2
Team CeX Vs Team XENEX Predicted 1:1 Actual: 1:1
Result: 1/2 (50%)
Team Infused Vs Imperial Predicted: 1:1 Actual: 1:1
Team CeX Vs exceL eSports Predicted: 1:1 Actual: 2:0
Result: 1/2 (50%)
With FM performing strongly over the past few months, and their form not letting up to this week of games, they’re easy favourites to take out CeX. With CeX not winning a game, barring the default from exceL, their position isn’t that strong. FM will be looking to take a win to place themselves in a strong play-offs position to make their way to the finals at i60.
Prediction: 2:0 FM
With fish still being an extremely strong side, topping the current table as well, they have an obvious edge over XENEX. However with the change XENEX have made to their IGL, they’ll still be consolidating their tactics. But they should still be able to craft a draw from this matchup.
Prediction: 1:1
Endpoint are easily the stronger side, but still getting used to their new players. Assuming they don’t make some minor slip-ups, they’ll have another win in the bag here.
Prediction: 2:0 Endpoint
As we’re still not sure exceL will show up, or the lineup they’ll have, it’s a difficult game to predict. With Infused brining in Pickles recently they’ve got more firepower to use against exceL. But, assuming exceL turn up, it’ll be a draw.
Prediction: xL DFL / 1:1
Will Shaney and co be able to get Top 4 this season? Answers on a postcard please.
There are no Thursday matches this week, which means Callum gets a week off from predicting. However next week, Callum will return to predict the final week of matches alongside Michael & Ryan, before we head to playoffs.
Don’t forget you can visit the UK Masters hub to keep an eye on all fixtures and live tables of the event on a weekly basis, which you can find over at Multiplay’s mini website, by clicking on this relevant link.
Want to re-live the action from previous weeks, go and check out Multiplay’s Youtube channel, where you can catch all the VoDs from this season here.
We will have more coverage of the UK Masters over the coming weeks, including statistical breakdowns of all the major players in the league, interviews, and more prediction articles on a weekly basis. Make sure you keep yourselves posted to UKCSGO as we continue to cover the top tier of UK Counter-Strike. You can follow us on Twitter and like our page on Facebook for further updates so you never miss a beat in the UK Scene.
After two weeks of pulsating action, we now move to the third week of Multiplay’s UK Masters Spring Season. Eight teams go head to head in a Best-Of-Two series each week to determine who will be the four teams heading to the playoff stage before finding out which two teams head to the Finals at insomnia60 at Easter. Each of the teams get rewarded for the map wins they attain throughout the season, with the largest share of the £15,000 prize pool being determined at the NEC at insomnia60.
Last week we saw some incredible action take place with once again, ex-SKUM Gaming being the team that everyone seems to find difficult to actually beat. They came away with two more draws to add to their tally, as both Infused and Imperial struggled to break down the resilient defense by NK and co. Meanwhile, fish123 managed to overcome Team CeX in a very close encounter, whilst Endpoint managed to grab two more wins to get back into contention. The former exceL eSports lineup, which we understand has now since folded, struggled to make any impact on Week 2’s standings, and now they are currently residing in 6th place.
The exceL dream is now dead in the water.
With all the shuffling of rosters outside of any potential locks, and the league still in play currently, it leaves our panel scratching their heads on how they can possibly predict the matches going forward, but they will certainly try. Here is all the information you need including rosters (that we know currently), last week’s results, current standings and our panel’s results. You can read the previous prediction articles in the following links.
UK Masters Spring Season: Week 1 Predictions
UK Masters Spring Season: Week 2 Predictions
fm-eSports: nEiLZiNHo, weber, fre1, Puls3, stan1ey
Team Endpoint: Immi, Esio, MightyMax, Luzuh, HudzG
Team CeX: resu, BrodyC, LS, Astroo, JDD
ex-SKUM Gaming: NK, FiLLeR, DUKK, Hawkins, MMuffin
Imperial: Jakem, conoR, Whindanski, Boaster, REAZN
fish123: keita, Sliggy, robiin, batham, tsack
Team Infused: SHEEKEY, shaney , Lumji , Ozzy , Snakey
exceL eSports: Jenko, Mole, Kryptix, Smooya, Jesp
Team CeX 0:2 fish123 (16:19 de_train & 14:16 de_mirage)
Team Infused 1:1 ex-SKUM Gaming (16:6 de_cbble & 8:16 de_mirage)
Imperial 1:1 ex-SKUM Gaming (23:25 de_overpass & 16:8 de_mirage)
Team Endpoint 2:0 exceL eSports (19:16 de_mirage & 19:17 de_overpass)
Team Endpoint 2:0 Team CeX (16:8 de_overpass & 16:8 de_mirage)
fm-eSports 2:0 fish123 (16:12 de_mirage & 16:5 de_cache)
Michael “Duck” Moriarty – UKCSGO JournalistMichael is one of our journalists here at UKCSGO, he has written for many different organisation websites including Team Acer, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Reason Gaming. He currently writes for ESL with some IEM posts he has done over the last few months. His CS knowledge is relatively restricted to recent times as he has no prior knowledge or playtime in the UK Scene from either CS: Source or 1.6 and therefore his opinion should be treated as a relatively new to the scene. However he is starting to build on his awareness of the UK Scene in CS:GO and has valid ideas of what teams should be doing what. Michael will be taking on Tuesday night matches in UK Masters.
Ryan is one of the UK’s leading stars when it comes to commentating. Having started at epic.LAN last year for epic.SEVENTEEN, as an admin, he ended up going to Dreamhack Summer last June on behalf of CAZ eSports, then shortly after that he dived into casting, and got to cast events such as UK Premiership, UK Masters, Starladder, and WESG. He has an in depth knowledge around the UK Esports scene, and continues to thrive on casting events. Ryan will be taking on Wednesday night matches in UK Masters.
Callum has been working himself through the ranks over the last year, having won epic.NINETEEN back in October last year, he has the insight to help the panel come to some better conclusions on what should happen in the matches from week to week. Callum currently plays for Chrome Gaming who narrowly missed out in UK Masters and didn’t quite make it to the ESL Premiership either, but he knows how competitive the scene really is. Callum will be taking on Thursday night matches in UK Masters.
Team CeX Vs fish123 – Prediction: 0:2 Actual: 0:2
Team Infused Vs ex-SKUM Gaming – Prediction: 1:1 Actual: 1:1
Result: 2/2 (100%)
Imperial Vs ex-SKUM Gaming – Prediction: 2:0 Actual: 1:1
Team Endpoint Vs exceL eSports – Prediction: 1:1 Actual: 2:0
Result: 0/2 (0%)
Team Endpoint Vs Team CeX – Prediction: 1:1 Actual: 2:0
fm-eSports Vs fish123 – Prediction: 1:1 Actual: 2:0
Result: 0/2 (0%)
Probably the most interesting match up in Week 3 is this particular one. Two very strong teams going head to head across two maps. Imperial ended up getting a draw last week whilst fm-eSports managed to win, so both of these sides have an interesting challenge ahead of them. Both of these sides currently reside in the Top 4 which means if all goes well, they’d end up making the playoffs however this match may make or break either of these teams actual league seasons here.
fm-eSports are still considered the strongest of UK sides to many, so they’ll have the edge over their rivals here. However, Imperial have been slowly hitting a bit more a stride despite their draw last week to ex-SKUM Gaming. It should be interesting to note that both these sides have managed to struggle against ex-SKUM Gaming this season which makes this particular tie a little more interesting at the base level.
Whatever happens though, it will be a very very close match between the two sides tonight.
Prediction: A very close 1:1 between the two.
This match is probably the hardest to call, both sides are now effectively mix teams considering exceL eSports has folded in the last week, whilst fish123 have always been a glorified mix team. Major roster moves have meant that no one can accurately predict who will be playing for exceL eSports tonight, and that we are completely unaware if the actual proper roster will make an appearance tonight. This means that tactics or form books can be ruled out of this match up and means I am in the dark as to who will really win.
However, we all do know one thing that is key to a win for exceL eSports which is Owen “smooya” Butterfield and his form, if he is playing incredibly well and wants to look like the decent player that people speak highly of, then a win will be on the cards for exceL eSports here. However if Owen is playing poorly, then fish123 will be able to manage to scrape the win. It’s all about the key players in these matchups, and likewise Robin “robiin” Sjögren will be a key factor for fish123 in this match.
However, I will be sticking to the air of caution and going with a 1 all entertaining draw.
Prediction: Another 1:1 on the cards here.
Last night, Team Endpoint took the scene by storm with an impressive victory over Team Flipsid3 Tactics 16:12 on mirage in ESEA Premier. If Team Endpoint maintain that display and Infused continue to look like they are struggling, then I see no other winner here bar Immi and the lads. I personally have been impressed by Alex “Snodz” Byfield who seems to be bringing some good mental fortitude to the lineup.
Infused aren’t a weak team by any means, but I do feel yesterdays match for Endpoint may of turned the tide in their UK Masters season thus far. Looking at the likes of 16:9 across the two maps, but Endpoint will take it I feel.
Prediction: Team Endpoint to win 2:0 over Infused.
This match should in theory be a match that Team CeX finally win one and get off the bottom spot of the UK Masters table. If they play sensibly and manage to reignite some of their LAN form from epic20 back in February, then they should see this being a 2:0 over ex-SKUM who continue to trouble various teams in the league.
Saying that, ex-SKUM have played incredibly well despite their disadvantages of being inexperienced at the top flight of UK Counter-Strike. They have only lost one match up and that was to Team Endpoint who did come second last season. They’ve had a hard path currently, playing against some of the biggest names thus far, Imperial/fm-eSports and of course Endpoint. This may well be their biggest chance yet to take a surprise victory and maneuver into a position for the playoffs.
It will certainly be tough though, so I will stick with a 1:1 draw here between the two sides, but it could be explosive as both sides really need a win at this point.
Prediction: Close and tough match to call, but 1:1 draw.
Resu will be looking for the first win of the season this week.
I believe Infused vs Imperial will be a 1-1 scoreline, as far as I know the infused roster is currently incomplete after a change which could hinder their performance, also both teams drew 1-1 vs skum gaming in week #2 so I think it’ll be a close matchup between Infused and Imperial
Prediction: A close but exciting 1:1 draw.
I’m not sure what to think about CeX vs Excel, I don’t even know who will be playing on Excel as their team has folded so I don’t know if they’re mixing or what, CeX have been struggling lately alot though therefore I predict another 1-1 scoreline, I think CeX will be able to take a map of the mix if not both, however playing vs mixes is always difficult as a team as they’re very unpredictable and it’s not really what you practice to play against, therefore I expect the Excel mix (assuming it’s a mix) to take a map of CeX.
Prediction: Another interesting 1:1 draw here.
Don’t forget you can visit the UK Masters hub to keep an eye on all fixtures and live tables of the event on a weekly basis, which you can find over at Multiplay’s mini website, by clicking on this relevant link.
We will have more coverage of the UK Masters over the coming weeks, including statistical breakdowns of all the major players in the league, interviews, and more prediction articles on a weekly basis. Make sure you keep yourselves posted to UKCSGO as we continue to cover the top tier of UK Counter-Strike. You can follow us on Twitter and like our page on Facebook for further updates so you never miss a beat in the UK Scene.
After a first week full of action and surprise, we turn our attentions to the second week of Multiplay’s UK Masters League. The league is formed of eight teams who play each other over three week days and play in a Best-Of-Two series. The league has £15,000 up for grabs and will see two teams head to Multiplay’s insomnia series to compete in a Best-Of-Five Finals on the Friday of the event.
Week one’s action saw some surprising results from the fm-eSports camp. Despite our panelist predictions being spot on for the fm/exceL match up, fm-eSports ended up going up against a resiliant SKUM Gaming the following day. The interesting thing to note though, was that fm’s map win against exceL was on the same map they played SKUM and lost. Both of those maps went to overtime too as well. With that said, fm-eSports do come away with two draws in the two series they have played, and thus haven’t really been beaten yet. The more surprising of results came from Endpoint who managed to win against SKUM but then lose against the talented lineup of fish123. It did mar their results in Week 1 somewhat, and leaves fish123 as the early leaders in the league thus far.
fm-eSports first week results don’t give the greatest of confidence (Source: Multiplay Flickr)
fm-eSports: nEiLZiNHo, weber, fre1, Puls3, stan1ey
Team Endpoint: Immi, Esio, MightyMax, Luzuh, HudzG
Team CeX: resu, BrodyC, LS, Astroo, JDD
(ex) SKUM Gaming: NK, FiLLeR, DUKK, Hawkins, MMuffin
Imperial: Jakem, conoR, Whindanski, Boaster, REAZN
fish123: keita, Sliggy, robiin, batham, tsack
Team Infused: SHEEKEY, shaney , Lumji , Ozzy , Snakey
exceL eSports: Jenko, Mole, Kryptix, Smooya, Jesp
Imperial 2:0 Team CeX (16:12 de_nuke & 16:13 de_train)
Team Endpoint 2:0 SKUM Gaming (16:12 de_cbble & 16:5 de_overpass)
Team Infused 0:2 fish123 (16:19 de_cbble & 12:16 de_inferno)
fm-eSports 1:1 exceL eSports (10:16 de_cache & 19:16 de_mirage)
fm-eSports 1:1 SKUM Gaming (16:19 de_mirage & 16:13 de_cbble)
Team Endpoint 0:2 fish123 (10:16 de_overpass & 6:16 de_inferno)
Michael “Duck” Moriarty – UKCSGO JournalistMichael is one of our journalists here at UKCSGO, he has written for many different organisation websites including Team Acer, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Reason Gaming. He currently writes for ESL with some IEM posts he has done over the last few months. His CS knowledge is relatively restricted to recent times as he has no prior knowledge or playtime in the UK Scene from either CS: Source or 1.6 and therefore his opinion should be treated as a relatively new to the scene. However he is starting to build on his awareness of the UK Scene in CS:GO and has valid ideas of what teams should be doing what. Michael will be taking on Tuesday night matches in UK Masters.
Ryan is one of the UK’s leading stars when it comes to commentating. Having started at epic.LAN last year for epic.SEVENTEEN, as an admin, he ended up going to Dreamhack Summer last June on behalf of CAZ eSports, then shortly after that he dived into casting, and got to cast events such as UK Premiership, UK Masters, Starladder, and WESG. He has an in depth knowledge around the UK Esports scene, and continues to thrive on casting events. Ryan will be taking on Wednesday night matches in UK Masters.
Callum has been working himself through the ranks over the last year, having won epic.NINETEEN back in October last year, he has the insight to help the panel come to some better conclusions on what should happen in the matches from week to week. Callum currently plays for Chrome Gaming who narrowly missed out in UK Masters and didn’t quite make it to the ESL Premiership either, but he knows how competitive the scene really is. Callum will be taking on Thursday night matches in UK Masters.
Imperial Vs Team CeX – Prediction: 1:1 Actual: 2:0
Team Endpoint Vs SKUM Gaming – Prediction: 2:0 Actual: 2:0
Result: 1/2 (50%)
Infused Vs fish123 – Prediction: 0:2 Actual: 0:2
fm-eSports Vs exceL eSports – Prediction: 1:1 Actual: 1:1
Result: 2/2 (100%)
fm-eSports Vs SKUM Gaming – Prediction: 2:0 Actual: 1:1
Team Endpoint Vs fish123 – Prediction: 1:1 Actual: 0:2
Result: 0/2 (0%)
Fish are bouyant once again after qualifying for ESL Premiership Finals, even if it was after a loss to FM. After taking two wins in last week’s games they’re looking to be near the top of this league as well. CeX haven’t been able to impress as much as they did at epic. With fish123 showing a lot of skill coming into this week, and CeX not really hitting their groove still, there’s a lot of work to go on that night.
Prediction: 2:0 fish123 (Two close games, however)
A battle of two (sorta) unknowns. With both teams going close against other sides last week, this’ll be the match-up that decides the mid-table scrap. Infused are looking to keep strong and return to the heights of CS that both the org and the players once knew. ex-SKUM are now trying to reclaim their names and show they mean business. With these two sides both looking to perform strong, it’ll be a close head to head.
Prediction: A close series on our hands here, so 1:1
Imperial showed us last week that they can be a side that can be reckoned with in this league, despite only playing once last week, they managed to navigate past a side who came off the back of a second placed finish at the first LAN event of the year, and that has to be saying something. SKUM meanwhile disappointed us against Endpoint, but showed what they were capable of by taking a map off current champions fm-eSports. I think Imperial should take it 2-0, providing we don’t see any of that magic spark from SKUM that gets them flying high with some crazy talent.
Prediction: Imperial win 2:0
This will be an incredibly close match series, with both sides looking to prove a point. Despite Team Endpoint’s recent changes in roster, they certainly are capable of putting a shift in against an exceL side which struggled yesterday evening against a team they should have simply beaten. I’d like to see Endpoint win over Excel as they seem to be self imploding currently. However it really depends on maps and who steps up on either side, a 1:1 could be likely or a close 2:0 either way. Should be a good match to watch though!
Prediction: Tough to call, but 1:1 on maps (or close 2:0 either way)
Team Endpoint will be looking for answers this week. Tough matches ahead (Source: Multiplay Flickr)
I predict 1-1 for Endpoint v CeX – When CeX are turning up and hitting their shots they look very strong so I feel as if they’ll be able to catch Endpoint off and get a point, also Endpoint are currently going through roster changes which I feel will effect their performance as they won’t be fully focused / motivated. I think the scorelines are going to be really close on both maps however and any team can easily take the 2-0 depending on who turns up.
Prediction: Close match here, but 1:1 on maps (or 2:0 either way)
I predict this to go 1-1, however I believe fm-eSports could easily take the 2-0 if they’re performing well. I can’t imagine fm losing 2-0 however Fish123 do have very strong players who can easily turn up and cause upset purely with their skill if fm weren’t playing well. I’ve seen fm-eSports playing very sick recently and they have the edge as they’re a team who have been practising together for some time where as fish123 are still a mix so a 2-0 fm could be likely.
Prediction: Another close match here, 1:1 on maps.
We will have more coverage of the UK Masters over the coming weeks, including statistical breakdowns of all the major players in the league, interviews, and more prediction articles on a weekly basis. Make sure you keep yourselves posted to UKCSGO as we continue to cover the top tier of UK Counter-Strike. You can follow us on Twitter and like our page on Facebook for further updates so you never miss a beat in the UK Scene.
It is the brand new league season of UK Masters, so as I kind of missed the boat for both UKGT & ESL UK Premiership, we are going to do our famous prediction articles for UK Masters. Multiplay introduced UK Masters early last year, and it became that successful that they saw incredible potential to do more with it. They introduced the Best-Of-Two league stage with money up for grabs each time someone wins.
We are now onto the third season, aptly named Spring Season 2017, and with £15,000 up for grabs it will surely be an intense league season. Marred in some controversy in the qualifiers, we have finally arrived at the correct number of teams for the league season. Eight teams, mostly from the top end of the scene, however we do a few newer teams and people within this group this time. SKUM Gaming who have been marred in all kinds of controversy are included within the league. Nika “NK” Khaburzania is the man caught in the cross-hairs of the entire scene as everyone has been watching his performances since he dropped a 60 bomb in a match against exceL eSports (that went to many overtimes). So much so, that people stood there watching NK at LAN and even got into his face too at LAN. Many people have their own reserved judgement and have been vocal about it, however he continues to plough on and take the shit thrown at him.
Back in the Quickscope days, I used to write “prediction articles” on the EDCSSL league seasons, and assembled panel’s of people to help predict outcomes each week. This is basically what this article aims to do, although the turn-around time between epic.LAN & the new season, has been one of a short space of time, so if panellist’s are rusty, then that is probably why. This season will be incredibly interesting, with the LAN Finals at insomnia60 on Easter Weekend in April, then we are not sure who will make it there. However, first up it is the online stage which we will be guiding you through, all the way through the season, our panel will predict each week’s results. Because leagues have moved away from Best Of One, it means we will have to change the way we do predictions, so each week, I will assign a day of matches to each panellist and they will then take ownership of those days of matches.
UK Masters Trophy
fm-eSports: nEiLZiNHo, weber, fre1, Puls3, stan1ey
Team Endpoint: Immi, Esio, MightyMax, Luzuh, HudzG
Team CeX: resu, BrodyC, LS, Astroo, JDD
SKUM Gaming: NK, FiLLeR, DUKK, Hawkins, MMuffin
Imperial: Jakem, conoR, Whindanski, Boaster, REAZN
fish123: keita, Sliggy, robiin, batham, tsack
Team Infused: SHEEKEY, shaney , Lumji , Ozzy , Snakey
exceL eSports: Jenko, Mole, Kryptix, Smooya, Jesp
ichael “Duck” Moriarty – UKCSGO JournalistMichael is one of our journalists here at UKCSGO, he has written for many different organisation websites including Team Acer, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Reason Gaming. He currently writes for ESL with some IEM posts he has done over the last few months. His CS knowledge is relatively restricted to recent times as he has no prior knowledge or playtime in the UK Scene from either CS: Source or 1.6 and therefore his opinion should be treated as a relatively new to the scene. However he is starting to build on his awareness of the UK Scene in CS:GO and has valid ideas of what teams should be doing what. Michael will be taking on Tuesday night matches in UK Masters.
Ryan is one of the UK’s leading stars when it comes to commentating. Having started at epic.LAN last year for epic.SEVENTEEN, as an admin, he ended up going to Dreamhack Summer last June on behalf of CAZ eSports, then shortly after that he dived into casting, and got to cast events such as UK Premiership, UK Masters, Starladder, and WESG. He has an in depth knowledge around the UK Esports scene, and continues to thrive on casting events. Ryan will be taking on Wednesday night matches in UK Masters.
Callum has been working himself through the ranks over the last year, having won epic.NINETEEN back in October last year, he has the insight to help the panel come to some better conclusions on what should happen in the matches from week to week. Callum currently plays for Chrome Gaming who narrowly missed out in UK Masters and didn’t quite make it to the ESL Premiership either, but he knows how competitive the scene really is. Callum will be taking on Thursday night matches in UK Masters.
We’re back for a strong matchup between two strong IGLs in the game between resu and Jakem. With both sides having been together for similar lengths in recent history, their teamwork should be on a par with each other. CeX and Imperial are yet to come up against each other in any of the current season’s UK tournaments so there’s not an obvious result to go up against. Both are doing strong, with Imperial and CeX top three of UKGT and Imperial sitting top four of the ESL Prem, there’s not much of a margin between them both.
However, with CeX coming off of a strong LAN showing, albeit with a disappointing showing in the final, they most likely have the edge. If they have players like Astroo going off on a level like the weekend, they have a chance. However, it’s impossible to rule out Imperial when players like conoR would most likely show up.
Prediction: I’m predicting 1:1 in maps here!
The two sides recently played each other just before epic20 this weekend, with Endpoint demolishing SKUM. With two of their players coming back from winning epicLAN, they’ll be feeling as buoyant as ever.
SKUM will need to bring everything out of the cupboard to take on Endpoint head on, to avoid a repeat of Wednesday night. Solid performances from those on the team like DUKK will be the key for them to have a chance, but it’d take a lot to do so.
Prediction: 2:0 Endpoint
Infused is probably the only roster that has me doubtful on a serious note. They’ve had some incredible showings but also some ridiculously weak ones. Last night relying on a CT side cobble to bring things back against Royals UK, they should best them every time. There is much to the Infused roster though, they have that capability, but they are seriously underwhelming at the moment, whereas fish123 being a talented mix often pull out some rather surprising results. This match will be closely fought by both sides, but I just see fish123 pulling out the result here to beat Infused.
Prediction: fish123 will beat Infused 2:0 (albeit very close on scorelines, possibly 16:12/16:13)
Tonight you have pretty much the top dogs in the UK going head to head in one of the potentially best opening series of UK Masters Spring Season. All of these teams are top 2 potential, see leagues such as ESL Premiership, case and point. Both fm-eSports and fish tied up in points with exceL eSports capable of sling shotting themselves up there. This match will be incredibly close, and I cannot see any possible outcome where either team will win this. I reckon it will be 1 all on maps, but both sides with the talent at their disposal will be incredibly interesting to watch. I think people do need to keep a capable eye on to exceL to see how they cope with Smooya however he needs a team who are willing to adapt to his on the fly calling of where he wants to play.
We can’t keep seeing him run aggro mid solo and get picked every other round while his team play 4v5.
Prediction: I feel like fm-eSports & exceL could go 1:1
exceL eSports will be looking to grab this season’s UK Masters title.
FM vs SKUM should be easy for FM in my opinion, FM will completely outclass SKUM in pretty much every aspect and FM are looking very strong after nailing endpoint last night in ESL Premiership however you never know what’s going to happen with NK online he could just get another 60 kill game.. But I highly doubt that.
Prediction: I predict FM to win 2:0 with scorelines coming around 16:7 on both maps
Endpoint vs Fish123 is an interesting one. Endpoint looked pretty weak yesterday vs FM in ESL Premiership and there was twitter drama during it making it look like Endpoint aren’t in the best mindset at the moment as teammates, which makes me think that Fish123 could take the series 2:0 if Endpoint perform like they did yesterday. It’s hard to predict and I think the scoreline is one of a close nature, with both sides going to take a map each 16:14, I reckon.
Prediction: If I had to make a final prediction I’d say Endpoint are going to focus up after yesterday and the end result will be Endpoint 1:1.
We will have more coverage of the UK Masters over the coming weeks, including statistical breakdowns of all the major players in the league, interviews, and more prediction articles on a weekly basis. Make sure you keep yourselves posted to UKCSGO as we continue to cover the top tier of UK Counter-Strike. You can follow us on Twitter and like our page on Facebook for further updates so you never miss a beat in the UK Scene.
Earlier today, exceL Esports accused SKUM of cheating in the UK Masters qualifiers yesterday. After many accusations were thrown from exceL’s side of the court, and the UK scene subsequently broke out into civil war, Nika “NK” Khaburzania finally responded to the accusations brought before him in a TwitLonger post.
