Who is who? – Elisa Invitational Fall 2021 Swiss Team Preview
It’s Main Swiss time!
- 16 teams
- 8 invited to Main Swiss
- 8 qualified through Regionals
- $100 000 prize pool
- 13.09.2021 – 15.10.2021
It is a perfect time to go over some of the most fascinating storylines of the 16 teams we’ll see in the Swiss Stage of the tournament.
Talent Predictions
The talent predictins tell us that Sinners, Copenhagen Flames, SKADE, and Fiend are the biggest favorites to reach the playoffs. After that Dignitas and DBL Poney got some love too.
| Robu | Jay | Dweg | Skriv | RetR00 | AnThran | |
| HAVU | x | x | ||||
| Copenhagen Flames | x | x | x | x | x | |
| DBL Poney | x | x | x | x | ||
| Sinners | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| x-kom AGO | x | x | x | x | x | |
| SKADE | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Dignitas | x | x | x | x | ||
| Fiend | x | x | x | x | x | |
| Lyngby Vikings | x | x | x | |||
| Galaxy Racer | x | |||||
| Finest | x | x | ||||
| KOVA | ||||||
| GORILLAZ | x | |||||
| Apeks | ||||||
| 777 | x | x | ||||
| Young Ninjas | x | x |
HAVU (invited)
HLTV Rank: #35
Player to watch: Sami “xseveN” Laasanen
The best all-Finnish team around had a weird Summer and they’d be probably the first to admit that. In June they benched their most recent player at the time, Jemi “jemi” Mäkinen, only for him to come back a couple of months later. Still, it’s good to remember that the team achieved a very high level earlier in the year, reaching a team ranking of 14 at their peak. Now they’re looking to replicate that.
Dignitas (invited)
HLTV Rank: #36
Player to watch: Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg
This Swedish team was built to bring back the legendary NIP line-up but now only two of those players remain – friberg and f0rest. DIG has still been able to find a high level of play especially as of late taking down solid teams like ENCE and FunPlus Phoenix.
The team is nicely rounded out with younger talent in HEAP and the lone-Norwegian, hallzerk. Dignitas is coming in as one of the favorites to go through to the playoffs.
Sinners (invited)
HLTV Rank: #19
Player to watch: Tomáš “oskar” Šťastný
The highest-ranked team of the Swiss stage is the Czech Republic squad of Sinners. A mere year ago they still were world-ranked 158. They were quick to improve though and especially the addition of the legendary 30-year old Czech awper, oskar, brought them to a new level. They’re looking to cause mayhem and anything short of a top-8 placement would be a disappointment.
SKADE (invited)
HLTV Rank: #22
Player to watch: Georgi “SHiPZ” Grigorov
We welcome back the juggernauts of Elisa Invitational tournaments. This Bulgarian squad won the Spring edition of the event and fell only in the final to FURIA in the Summer version. In other events, their results haven’t been quite as magnificent but the Elisa Invitational magic feels more real with every passing event.
Copenhagen Flames (invited)
HLTV Rank: #27
Player to watch: Fredrik “roeJ” Jørgensen
Copenhagen Flames are looking strong as are many of the teams at this stage. Especially roeJ’s opening kill success has brought the team to another level. He wins 56% of his entry duels – an impressive number for a non-awper.
DBL Poney (invited)
HLTV Rank: #30
Player to watch: Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro
DBL Poney isn’t only good for memes. Recently they announced their fifth, Pierre “Ex3rcice” Bulinge, who has some large shoes to fill replacing the legendary NBK-.
Galaxy Racer (qualified)
HLTV Rank: #53
Player to watch: Hugo “chawzyyy” Günther
Perfection was the name of the game for Galaxy Racer in the Regionals stage. They 2-0’ed SAW Youngsters, Apeks and Lyngby Vikings. The domination the Swedes handed over the Lyngby Vikings was impressive, a 16-6 on Inferno and a 16-4 on Mirage. The slick Regionals stage raises hopes that we’ll see Galaxy Racer reach the playoffs.
KOVA (qualified)
HLTV Rank: #107
Player to watch: Jussi “Airax” Airaksinen
KOVA’s run in the Regionals wasn’t simple but it worked. They played with EIGHT different players in total. Finally, the IGL himself got his way back onto the server after healing from an injury and he played lights out finishing with a 1.24 rating and beating the Young Ninjas unexpectedly. They aren’t expected to go through here but we’ll see if the Cinderella run continues.
X-kom AGO (invited)
HLTV Rank: #23
Player to watch: Michał “snatchie” Rudzki
Fiend (invited)
HLTV Rank: #32
Player to watch: Deyvid “h4rn” Benchev
Lyngby Vikings (qualified)
HLTV Rank: #39
Player to watch: Dion “FASRH” Derksen
Finest (qualified)
HLTV Rank: #84
Player to watch: Guy “anarkez” Trachtman
777 (qualified)
HLTV Rank: #54
Player to watch: Haris “H4RRE” Hadzic
Young Ninjas (qualified)
HLTV Rank: #43
Player to watch: Love “phzy” Smidebran
Apeks (qualified)
HLTV Rank: #55
Player to watch: Dennis “dennis” Edman
GORILLAZ (qualified)
HLTV Rank: #118
Player to watch: Jere “sergej” Salo
Where to follow:
You can find more information about the tournament, as well as current esports news at elisaesports.fi
Main Swiss Schedules => https://elisaesports.com/2021/08/09/elisa-invitational-fall-2021-main-swiss/
For the latest news regarding everything Elisa Esports, follow @elisaesports on Twitter and Instagram
