CSGO: ESL One New York 2019 Preview & Format

ESL goes back to Brooklyn.

ESL One New York kicks off this weekend, bringing Counterstrike: Global Offensive back to the Big Apple. This year, eight teams in two groups will take to the map pool to take home part of the $200K prize pool. It’s not just the competition viewers will want to watch out for; ESL One New York will show off a reworked version of Cache during the showmatch prior to the Grand Final.

ESL One New York Preview

Group A

• Team Liquid
• ENCE
• G2
• eUnited

At first glance, Group A seems like an easy lock for Team Liquid and ENCE to move forward. G2 could buckle under the pressure of Richard “shox” Papillon’s rumored move to rival French team Vitality and Fabien “kioShiMa” Fiey’s stand-in status. Additionally, eUnited hasn’t shown the Counterstrike scene all that much since their inception. Ryan “freakazoid” Abadir’s status as Kaleb “moose” Jayne’s replacement is a question mark for the team as well, as Abadir hasn’t played in a professional Counterstrike match since cs_summit IV with Ghost Gaming.

Group B

• Astralis
• NRG
• FaZe Clan
• OpTic Gaming

Group B is more unpredictable than Group A is, especially in terms of predicting a second team to leave the group. Current Major title holder Astralis will make it through, of course, but second place is a different beast altogether. No one has seen the reworked FaZe Clan after the addition of Helvijs “broky” Saukants or the rumored addition Marcelo “coldzera” David, and no one should count on it either. Additionally, NRG is fresh off a semifinal run in Berlin where they looked strong under Tarik “tarik” Celek’s leadership. OpTic Gaming hasn’t made waves in months, and ESL One New York won’t be the place they start, either.

ESL One New York Match Schedule & Format

Check out the first matchups for #ESLOne New York!

First up:@TeamLiquid vs @eUnited @G2esports vs @ENCE

Then afterwards:@astralisgg vs @OpTicGaming @FaZeClan vs @NRGgg

What are your predictions? 🤔
🗽 https://t.co/4l9jJmg5sW pic.twitter.com/fmR4iCG7zY

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 21, 2019

ESL One New York will use a GSL best-of-three format. In the playoffs, the top two teams from each group will advance to a best-of-three semifinal, before final two contenders participate in a best-of-five grand final. The tournament kicks off on Thursday, September 26^th at 11:00 AM EST*.

Thursday, September 26th

• 11:00 AM EST Team Liquid vs. eUnited
• 11:00 AM EST G2 vs. ENCE
• 3:00 PM Astralis vs. OpTic Gaming
• 3:00 PM FaZe Clan vs. NRG

Friday, September 27

• 11:00 AM ESL One NY Group B Winners' Match
• 11:00 AM ESL One NY Group B Elimination Match
• 1:35 PM ESL One NY Group A Decider Match
• 5:10 PM ESL One NY Group B Decider Match

Saturday, September 28^th

• 1:30 PM ESL One NY Semi-Final #1
• 5:20 PM ESL One NY Semi-Final #2

Sunday, September 29^th

• 11:35 AM Reworked Cache Showmatch
• 1:30 AM ESL One NY Grand Final

*All times in EDT, provided by ESL 

Images VIA: ESL, StarLadder