IEM Cologne, the second IEM Masters Championship of 2021, is set to begin on July 6th. Of the 24 teams attending, none is more favored to win the trophy than Gambit Esports. Gambit has been standing atop the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive world for almost half a year now beginning with their win at the first IEM Masters Championship in Katowice. Recently, they’ve held the number one spot on HLTV’s global rankings for three consecutive months.
Gambit Esports have stood atop the Counter-Strike world for nearly half a year. Can they continue their dominance at Cologne? (Image Credit Gambit)
|
Team: Gambit Esports |
||||
|
Players |
||||
|
nafany |
sh1ro |
interz |
Ax1le |
Hobbit |
|
Roles |
||||
|
In-Game Leader |
AWPer |
Support |
Rifler |
Rifler |
|
Most Played Maps |
Highest WR Map |
Permaban Map |
||
|
Dust2 |
Mirage |
Vertigo |
Vertigo |
Nuke |
Consistently Crushing the Competition
To put into perspective how dominant Gambit have been, we need to look at their accomplishments. Starting with their run at IEM Katowice, Gambit have entered nine events. Their match record in those events is 47-7. If you remove the BLAST Spring Showdown, which was a qualifier event, Gambit have also made the Grand Finals at every event they’ve attended except one. They’ve also won five of these seven Grand Finals and total prize earnings of $947,000.
A Well-Oiled Machine
Gambit have managed to perfect a style of CS that only the best teams in history can get close to achieving. The reason why even top-level teams can see streaks of inconsistency is that no player is perfect. Everyone can make mistakes or have off days. If just one player per five-man roster is off their game, holes open up in their play. When Astralis was the best team in the world for multiple years in a row, they had incredible consistency and surgical precision across the entire team.
Gambit is approaching that same level of play at a rapid pace. All five of their players do their jobs phenomenally and without fail. Their individual stats from the past three months support this. Gambit’s AWPer Sh1ro picks up multikill rounds more often than not with a 1.5 K/D ratio. Their Riflers Ax1le and Hobbit boast 1.25 and 1.22 K/D’s respectively and are often able to clean up and clutch out rounds. In-game leader nafany also plays the entry fragging role. He attempts 31.5% of Gambit’s opening duels with a rating of 1.16. Lastly, interz tops the team in Flashbang support, averaging 0.68 flashes per grenade thrown.
Any Potential Weaknesses?
Gambit are by far the most complete team coming into IEM Cologne. However, that’s not to say that they are infallible. Gambit have still suffered the odd loss here and there. While it is incredibly hard to outperform Gambit as a full team, Heroic managed to do it at the ESL Pro League S13 Finals. Even with Sh1ro having an MVP-level performance, Heroic’s five-man unit was stronger overall on the day. Na’Vi and Vitality have also dealt Gambit some blows as of recent. When you have s1mple or ZywOo playing to their full potential on your team, you can beat anyone in the world.
Gambit’s first match at IEM Cologne will take place on July 8th. The tournament favorites will certainly be looking to add another trophy to their cabinet and take their third and penultimate step to the Intel Grand Slam. With a massive target on their backs, will anyone be able to stop them?
