CSGO: 4 Storylines To Follow at ESL One New York

A big CS:GO party is coming to New York this Friday, and it's the first real challenging event for top teams since the end of StarLadder Berlin Major. There's the possibility of surprises and interesting moments here, so we've have chosen the four best storylines to follow at ESL One New York.

What Will the new FaZe will bring fans?

Marcelo “coldzera” David's FaZe Clan transfer storyline was one of the most interesting to watch during the post-Major period. And it ended with a pretty funny leak: on the photo below you can see NiKo, broky and YNk going to fly to New York. But who took the photo? If you pay attention to the reflection behind, you can see it’s coldzera. What should fans expect from the international team?

NEO tried to somehow change and give more structure to FaZe's game. While we don't know who will lead them in new York, we think it should be NiKo. It's too much to put on Coldzera's shoulders during his first month with the team and broky is too young and has no experience playing with a real tier-1 team.

If we take a look at the roster on paper, it looks really strong. But since ESL One New York is the first event for this FaZe lineup, fans shouldn't expect much from them. They haven't had enough time to make the system work, but surely it will be very interesting to watch their games. Fans should especially follow how broky plays – sometimes there’s a straight feeling that this Latvian guy is a cheater. But no, his cheat is his talent.

A stress test for Liquid’s psychology

Liquid lacked a winners’ mentality for a long time, and we saw them lose all of the key matches and tournaments. The ones they won prior to adren's coaching tenure looked like a fluke. Everything changed four months ago in Sydney. After the Australian IEM, Liquid grabbed four victories at premier events in a row and the Grand Slam $1M USD prize.

We expected much more from them in Berlin. It was so sad to see how easily #1 team was destroyed by Astralis in quarterfinals. ESL One New York is a key tournament for Liquid. They have to prove to everyone (and themselves) that they are still the real deal. Oh, yes, it’s gonna be a significant event for the Americans.

The intriguing Danes

Astralis’ situation differs much from what Liquid's at the moment. The Danes trended downwards after the Katowice Major, and fans didn't see a ton from them between Katowice and Berlin. Despite all of the criticism, they took their third Major in a row and their fans still should have a hope that Astralis will be even stronger now. Will they? Or it will happen again and Astralis will go the rest until the next Major? It worked out one, why wouldn’t Danes repeat it?

Optic to fight for a new home

Actually, we have one more Danish team in New York. Optic Gaming was sold to Immortals Gaming Club a couple of months ago, therefore Optic’s roster has been looking for a new organization to represent it since that time. It can take quite a long time for this to happen and brings a special motivation for the team to fight.

If they want someone to pick them up – they have to stand their ground to the end and find success as soon as possible. The team is decent, but they are still more tier 2 than they are a real tier 1 level. There are few big organizations that looking for a CS:GO roster right now, but are Optic a good fit for them?

Image VIA: StarLadder, YNk's Instagram