Beginning on Thanksgiving, eight Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams from across the globe will compete at DreamHack Winter in Jönköping, Sweden for their share of a $100,000 prize pool.
While many of these teams are not among the most well-known or successful teams in 2016, which is in theme with DreamHack's open tournaments throughout the course of the year, several of its invitees have had recent success, making the tournament more competitive and a spectacle to watch while eating turkey with loved ones.
Groups and schedule for DreamHack ZOWIE Open at DreamHack Winter this week:https://t.co/k97a0nCSV5 pic.twitter.com/LQ84G4k1Ja
- DreamHack Open (@DreamHackOpen) November 21, 2016
Danish Wonder
Despite a sloppy finish at ESL Pro League finals last month, Team Dignitas cemented itself as one of the best Counter-Strike teams in the world. Their first place at Epicenter in Moscow in mid-October and recent first place in their ELeague group shows that the Danish squad is more than capable of taking home the title, likely as the tournament favorite, at DreamHack Winter.
Eighteen-year-old star Emil "Magiskb0Y" Reif has been on fire in recent events, fragging heavily for the team and presenting a true threat against opponents. The remainder of the team, a mix of mostly young talent and Danish veteran René "cajunb" Borg, has also stepped up to provide a well-rounded system.
With their recent titles and strong showings, this iteration of Team Dignitas looks to outperform the org's former lineup, which moved on to Team SoloMid and later Astralis last year. And it's already started. Overall, Dignitas has overcome its Danish brethren Astralis and Heroic, cementing itself atop the scene, which has produced a plethora of European Counter-Strike talent, second only to Sweden.
North American Hope
With Cloud9's big win at the ESL Pro League finals in October and OpTic Gaming's first place finish at Northern Arena Montreal on Nov. 13, DreamHack Winter could again mark a tournament win for North America. Many analysts believe that at a top level performance, North America's teams -- whether it be Cloud9, OpTic or Team Liquid -- perform better than they ever have in the history of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Their problem, however, is consistency. Prior to ESL Pro League finals, Cloud9 was unexpectedly eliminated from ELeague Season 2 in a group with mousesports and a freshly restructured FaZe Clan. And at Intel Extreme Masters Oakland last weekend, the team was eliminated from its group after losses to FaZe, Ninjas in Pyjamas and SK Gaming, the latter two being finalists in the event.
OpTic has had its own struggles, despite an upward trend at offline events since the addition of Tarik "tarik" Celik. The win at Northern Arena, where it beat G2 Esports and Heroic in the finals, as well as second to Team Dignitas in their ELeague group, also show they're capable of winning a small international like this.
Something to Prove
Coming into the event, two teams have something to prove more than the others.
Those teams are GODSENT and Gambit Gaming.
For GODSENT -- the Swedish team that's just as confused, conflicted and incohesive as Fnatic -- the team needs to show a good performance at this eight-team event. In late October, they made yet another swap: Jonas "Lekr0" for Olofsson Freddy "KRiMZ" Johansson. What's changed is the team no longer holds a spot in the ELeague Major and will need to qualify in the heavily stacked qualifier in December. DreamHack Winter provides GODSENT the opportunity to warm up for that offline event as they face three teams: Dignitas, Cloud9 and OpTic Gaming, teams they'll likely face in the Major qualifier.
Gambit Gaming also has something to prove at this event. The team made two roster moves in the beginning of October, adopting former Natus Vincere in-game leader, veteran Daniil "Zeus" Teslenko and Tengri rifler, younggun Abay "HObbit" Khasenov, the latter via a six month loan agreement. That team does not have to play the major qualifier and will instead be automatically seeded into the major groups because of their top eight finish at the last major, ESL One Cologne 2016. DreamHack Winter finally gives the new Gambit Gaming an opportunity to show teams what they're capable of in a more competitive offline setting aside from that of the Esports World Convention in late October.