Besieged On All Sides: DarkZero And The Dream Of A Second Major Trophy

Following last weekend’s stunning conclusion to the European November Major, the North American region is next in line. DarkZero Esports, Spacestation Gaming, Oxygen Esports, and Team SoloMid are all aiming for the trophy.

This lineup is the exact same constellation that we already got to see during the August Major, with one slight difference. Back then, DarkZero had to make a detour through the Major Qualification in order to get into the event. This time around, they’ve successfully completed the North American League in first place, giving them the highest seed. They’re the ones to beat now, and their past performances indicate that they have a rather straightforward path to victory cut out for themselves. But we’ve recently found that this isn’t necessarily a guarantee for success.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE EUROPEAN MAJOR?

The European November Major and the North American portion had a fairly similar setup. Both DarkZero and BDS won the August Majors and managed to reach first place in Stage 2 of their regional competitions. The two largely managed to get through their leagues unscathed. DarkZero only lost one match versus Spacestation, after which they went on to dominate the rest of the bracket. The same holds true for BDS, who merely conceded one single map to Natus Vincere during EUL Stage 2.

But despite their dominance, BDS lost out on the November Major trophy in stunning fashion. Team Empire first overcame them on a 2-1 scoreline, before achieving a blowout 3-0 victory in the Grand Finals. While the Frenchmen really underperformed during this event, they were also heavily counter-stratted by their opponents. The other teams used all the weeks leading up to the Major to prepare and find holes in BDS’ gameplan. Even Virtus.pro almost managed to topple them in the Opening Match.

Of course, North America is a different region, and there is no way of knowing beforehand how well the Major attendees have prepared. But the European installation has gone to show that league performance is only a weak indicator for what a roster is actually capable of. As soon as Empire got to narrow their competition down to just three teams, they started dominating.

• Read More - Can BDS Secure Back-To-Back Major Trophies?

CAN DARKZERO SECURE BACK-TO-BACK MAJOR WINS?

In theory, DZ have everything going for them. They won the August Major and ended up in first place of the US Division Stage 2. They have already defeated TSM, Oxygen and Spacestation in multiple Best-of-Three series, so in theory, they should be well on their way to another Major trophy.

But there are some reasons as to why this could be very difficult this time around. For one, Paul "Hyper" Kontopanagiotis isn’t anywhere near the individual level he held during Stage 1. Back then, he topped the player standings with an astonishing 1.33 rating, something he couldn’t replicate in Stage 2. Instead, TSM have massively stepped up their individual game. Jason “Beaulo” Doty and Matthew "Achieved" Solomon are on the top of the standings now. Even Emilio "Geometrics" Leynez Cuevas and Bryan "Merc" Wrzek, who recorded negative ratings during Stage 1, are now in the green with high kill counts and great support stats.

During Stage 2, DarkZero Esports and Team SoloMid only met once. In that Best-of-Three, TSM got close to defeating the reigning champions on Clubhouse, narrowly losing out on a 7-8 overtime. Matthew "Hotancold" Stevens, the August Major MVP, has ranked amongst the worst players in the league following up to this event. On top of that, DarkZero decisively lost to Spacestation Gaming in Group A.

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So things aren’t as clear-cut as they were in Europe (although Team Empire rendered most of our predictions incorrect). In August, DarkZero were largely carried through the event by their underdog status. Spacestation were the absolute favourites, and DZ weren’t even expected to really do damage at all. But their preparation was superb. The confidence of SSG and TSM proved to be their downfall. However, this isn’t going to happen again.

Now, DZ are the favourites. They’re the ones with the pressure to perform. All eyes are on them to succeed, and their fortunes are essentially reversed. Once again, they’ll face Spacestation in the Opening Match, which is an upset bound to happen. SSG will have done their homework this time around, and with their most recent duel being a decisive victory for Troy “Canadian” Jaroslawski and his men, DarkZero will have to be present in full force in order to not drop down to the Lower Bracket early on.

So the first match of the upcoming November Major will already be exciting to watch. With so much on the line and the possibility of DarkZero establishing a lasting legacy, the teams of North America are watching attentively. Some might be rooting for DZ to succeed, but OXG, TSM and SSG have their eyes locked on the trophy - and DarkZero are definitely standing in their way.
 

Images via SiegeGG