SYDNEY -- IEM Sydney will go down as one of the most memorable esports events of the year. On top of being the biggest tournament in Australia, and opening the door to the sport's growth in the region, the storylines explored and developed over the week made for an exciting group stage and enthralling playoff matches.
The Great Cobblestone Bait
Astralis and FaZe have been rivals at the top of the world for the past two months, facing off in the grand finals of IEM Katowice and StarLadder i-League Season 3. The rivalry was fueled further, however, by their best-of-one battle in the group stage of IEM Sydney. Cobblestone, usually the perma-ban for both FaZe and Astralis, was left in the pool during the veto, with karrigan ultimately choosing to play the map over Train. The FaZe in-game leader likened the teams' veto process to a "game of chicken".
Astralis won the map convincingly 16-7, off the back of a decent T half and a lockout CT side, but it was after the match had concluded when things got heated. In an interview with HLTV, karrigan stated that he decided, at 12-6 down, not to show any sort of strategies to their opponents, saying "if I play Astralis again, I will feel very comfortable with the veto". And it was if karrigan had a glimpse into the future. In the semifinal between the sides, despite gla1ve stating in an interview with Dot eSports that karrigan was "definitely lying", Astralis' pick of Cobblestone in the veto process, thinking they had their opponent's number, backfired and FaZe secured the first map and eventually the series.
The Astralis and FaZe rivalry that has been growing in the past months was ignited even further with the circumstances surrounding this semifinal series, and it was one of the most memorable parts of IEM Sydney.
Chiefs make their case
Coming into IEM, Chiefs were the clear underdogs of the event, along with ViCi, because, as seen many times before, dominance in a team's respective region means nothing when coming up against top-tier international sides. But the Australian side's showing at IEM Sydney has put them on the world CS map, with players such as INS and aliStair putting on superstar performances.
The domestic matchup of Chiefs and Renegades was hyped up to be a great litmus test for tucks' men. But no one would have expected Chiefs to put on a perfect 15-0 CT half and completely shut Renegades out of the game. Catching up with pecks, the newest addition for Chiefs, he told ESPN that they had stuck to what they knew and hadn't really prepared any counter-strats to combat Renegades' normally strong T side. Nifty, the American AWPer for Renegades, echoed this statement, saying that his side had executed poorly and just couldn't hit their shots.
The Chiefs started day two with a poor Train performance against OpTic and the draw of North in the fourth round signified their run was about to come to an end. This was reinforced by their lacklustre Nuke CT side, dropping 10 rounds. However, the side were able to bounce back thanks to some innovative bombsite executes and fakes, and the brought the game to a 14-13 scoreline. pecks, with his team on eco, stepped up with a huge deagle spraydown in a 3 on 3 after plant situation to put Chiefs at match point, which they would pick up against a struggling North. The Danes have looked poor in recent tournament campaigns, but no one could have predicted they would be knocked out by the Australian qualified team, marking the match as one of the biggest upsets in recent memory. The Chiefs will only grow from this performance as they look to expand their regional dominance to the international scene.
SK win it all
The Brazilians were by far the best team of 2016, thanks to their two major championships and various strong finishes at large-scale events. However, SK dropped off following the departure of fnx. A second-place finish at DreamHack Masters Las Vegas was shrouded by group stage exits at events such as IEM Katowice and StarLadder i-League Season 3, but SK's play during the recent cs_summit and the group stage of IEM Sydney signalled they were on the road to establishing themselves as a top team once again.
SK were the first team to claim their playoff spot, taking down ViCi, North and Astralis to go 3-0 in the swiss group stage. A dominant win over OpTic in the semifinals (16-1, 16-7) set the Brazilian side up to challenge for their second title in two weeks, but a best-of-five victory against FaZe would be no easy feat -- especially considering that none of the maps to be played were weak for either team.
Train was reminiscent of the team's established era in 2016, with a lockout CT half only allowing FaZe 4 rounds; SK eventually closed the map out 16-13. Cache was, as FalleN described, the team's "best map" of the series. Speaking to the veteran in-game leader, he told ESPN that he believed his side's communication and teamwork were on point, winning many 3 on 3 and 2 on 2 rounds, which allowed them to shut the opponent out 16-7. Inferno went the way of FaZe, but this was to be SK's only map loss in the tournament: A late resurgence was not enough for the Brazilians as a disappointing 5 round CT half would allow the European roster to grind out the win. Overpass, however, was a back-and-forth affair, with constant force buys and clutch plays seeing the teams trade rounds one for one, eventuating in a 9-6 half in favour of FaZe. This trend would be shut down by SK on their CT side, winning 10 rounds thanks to coordinated retakes and a huge 1v2 by coldzera to win the map 16-11 and take the inaugural IEM Sydney championship.
SK Gaming's performance in Sydney alludes to the possibility of this becoming the most competitive era of CS to date. With teams like Astralis, FaZe, G2, Virtus.pro, North and Na`Vi lying in wait, the Brazilians will have a lot of work ahead of them if they are to become the best in the world once again. The team's firepower and tactics on display at IEM may get them there.