ECS Season 7 Week 5 - Europe bracket preview

What is the Esports Championship Series (ECS) Season 7?

ECS Season 7 is the latest iteration of FACEIT’s popular CS:GO tournament format. It consists of two regions, European and North American circuit, consisting of over 20 teams battling it out in best-of-three (Bo3) knockout brackets to qualify for the ECS Season 7 - Finals.

The season is split into five online, eight-team single elimination brackets with the winners of the first three qualifying for the finals in London. The last two slots for the finals will be allocated to the highest earning European and North American team over the regular season, excluding those that have qualified.

ECS Season 7 Week 5 - Europe odds

The odds below represent the opening matches in ECS Season 7 Week 5 Europe. For a complete list of odds for ECS Season 7, head over to our CS:GO section.

End game: Who will claim the lion share of the Week 5 prize pool?

A qualification spot to the ECS Season 7 – Finals is on the line for Ninjas in Pyjamas and AVANGAR for ECS Week 5, as an inconclusive Week 4 clash failed to deliver the decisive blow that would secure them the spot. Many of the teams competing in Week 5 will be leveraging the best-of-three (Bo3) format to battle-harden their newly formed rosters for future Bo3 events.

Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP, 1.41*) enter Week 5 as the previous weeks’ Grand Finals winners and look to cement their position as a major threat to teams leading into the ECS Season 7 – Finals. NIP’s match history has largely been positive over the last month, placing third at IEM Sydney 2019 and third at BLAST Pro Series Madrid.

NiP are in great form to secure the last qualification spot to the ECS Season 7 Finals and are a favourite for ECS Week 5.

NiP’s performance has been propelled by an excellent record on Nuke with a 70% win-rate (WR) and Mirage (60% WR) in 2019 alongside a healthy percentage of rounds won on the CT-side. A player to keep an eye on is CS legend f0rest who has experienced a renaissance in form, proving to be a crucial catalyst for any NiP victory.

The Ninjas’ opening match against OpTic will prove to be a textbook encounter for the Swedes as they look to make quick work of their neighboring opponents and challenge them for a Week 5 Grand Final spot.

Fnatic (FNC, 1.23*) make a return to ECS Season 7, after a disappointing start in Week 2 resulted in a 0 - 2 defeat to Mousesports. However, Week 5 paints a much brighter future for the FNC squad. They bring forward a stronger match record that saw them almost clinch the IEM Sydney 2019 title, losing narrowly to Team Liquid 2 - 3 in a Bo5 on Inferno as the deciding map.

The map statistics look mixed for FNC with Mirage (73.3% WR ), Train (66.7% WR), and Inferno (46.7% WR) as the team’s likely picks in the Bo3 map veto. Bettors searching for an edge in the FNC squad will want to take a closer look at KRIMZ who has posted stellar performances on the scoreboard in their recent matches.

Reflecting on FNC’s opening match against Virtus.pro (VP), the opportunity for an upset is amplified by the results of Week 4 in which the newly reformed VP roster beat Week 4 favourite FaZe Clan 2 - 1 knocking them out of contention for the ECS Season 7 – Finals qualification spot.

Mousesports (MOUZ, 1.43*) look to prove that their young roster led by veteran IGL karrigan are a team to watch this year, as they look to break into the top 10 in the world rankings. They have had a string of positive results beating the likes of G2, BIG, and Renegades at various events, with rising stars ropz and woxic spearheading the effort.

Mousesports are a rising star in the CS:GO scene with the relatively young roster posed to become a major threat on the world stage.

Train (100% WR), Inferno (71.4% WR) and Mirage (80.0% WR) are map picks to watch for as karrigan crafts the map veto to leverage his team’s experience on those maps. Other interesting statistics to watch for with regards to MOUZ are Pistol Round Win percentage, CT-side Performance, and Number of Opening Kills.

MOUZ look to be the gatekeepers for AVANGAR as they come off a tournament win at DreamHack Open Tours 2019 dropping only one map in the tournament bracket and defeating AVANGAR in a clean sweep on Train (16 – 8) and Dust2 (16 – 7).

FaZe Clan (FaZe, 1.58*) round out the top four potential contenders for the Week 5 Grand Finals with the addition of former VP IGL NEO bringing some much-needed guidance within the game. FaZe has had a mixed match record recently bombing out of StarSeries i-League Season 7 but subsequently executed a great performance at BLAST Pro Series Miami 2019.

Whilst the addition of NEO to the roster as an IGL means there is a lack of map data, over the past three months the team have favoured Dust2 (78.6% WR), Overpass (62.5% WR), and Mirage (45.5% WR). Dust2 stands out as an interesting pick as it has historically been perceived as a map that heavily relies on a team’s raw aim. However, with the addition of NEO, fans should expect a pivot in strategy.

A challenge is brewing for FaZe in Week 5 with their opening match up against G2 looking to be a litmus test of the teams’ ability following the upgrade. Assuming a victory in the opening match, FaZe will start a difficult journey to the grand-finals with a potential match against NiP or OpTic in the semi-finals.

The hunter or the prey: Who are the Week 5 outsiders

AVANGAR (AVA, 2.84*) have their eyes set on the ECS Season 7 – Finals qualification spot in Week 5 after the failure to secure the spot in Week 4. The team have experienced a number of positive match wins following their formation in late March with notable victories over Virtus.pro and North in Bo3 matches.

AVA’s primary map picks are Inferno (78.6% WR), Dust2 (64.7% WR), and Train (50% WR), with a potential wildcard pick of Vertigo which they can use in their opening match against MOUZ. Players to watch on AVA are Jame and qikert, who many would argue have been the cornerstones for the team.

AVANGAR rejoin ECS Week 5 as the sole challenger to NiP for the last ECS Season 7 - Finals qualification spot with Jame and qikert as the catalyst for success in Week 5.

A number of people may be surprised to find G2 Esports (G2, 2.38*) pegged as an outsider in Week 5 despite their veteran line up, but a recent spell of poor performances alongside the lack of matches being played by the squad have led to the seeds of doubt being planted in the minds of analysts.

G2’s current map pool currently consists of Nuke (75% WR), Overpass (75% WR), and Train (37.5% WR), with the first two listed as priority map picks for the team if they want to ensure a competitive match against a reformed FaZe roster.

OpTic (OPT, 2.92*) are definitely a team to keep an eye on in ECS Week 5 with upset potential on the cards but a head-to-head against NiP could mean that they might bite off more than they can chew. Despite the potential for an upset, a recent underperformance in the ESL Pro League in the form of them losing to HellRaisers and Aristocracy have firmly placed them as an outsider for Week 5.

Dust2 (83.3% WR), Overpass (71.4% WR), and Mirage (42.9% WR) are the most popular map picks for the Danish lineup with strong CT-side performances on each. If OpTic want to cause an upset in their opening match against NiP, key rifler refrezh will need to have a stand-out performance to ensure a competitive match in the Bo3 format.

Virtus.pro (VP, 4.15*) enter Week 5 with hints that their roster has the potential for greatness with the Polish squad beating FaZe on Nuke (16 – 10) and Mirage (16 – 6) in ECS Week 4. Following the departure of NEO many questioned how well this squad would perform without their long-time IGL and the initial reactions from analysts are largely positive.

Due to how new this VP roster is, there is a lack of both match and map data for bettors to utilise to inform their predictions. However, a map pick that does stand out for VP is Mirage (71.4% WR) which they’ve picked 7 out of 18 times in their short history and is a likely map pick for the squad against FNC.

The ECS Regular Season is now coming to end, with this being the final matchup that these teams will have to play before the end ECS Season 7 – Finals. ECS Week 5 Europe will be played live on Twitch, starting on the 21 – 24 May 2019.