Ring the bells and wake your friends, the week has finally come. FACEIT's long awaited London Major Premiers tomorrow (Sept. 5th) and this is one of the most anticipated majors to date.

There are just so many amazing story lines to cover... the MIBR rebuild and will they be in shape to make moves this event? Will North rally off their amazing win at Dreamhack and make a run to topple their danish brethren? Will the defending champions show up and stun the world with Styko and Golden? Even the minor qualifying teams all pose a real threat to disrupt the norm when it comes to the useal suspects to make it to the main stage this weekend and we as CS fans couldn't be more spoiled/excited to watch it unfold.

First off... FACEIT has and continues to do everything right with their production, communication and treatment of teams and players throughout the time leading up to this event. Couple that with some exciting communication and updates from CSGO_dev including new souvenir packages for both Infernew and Newk, I anticipate some major spike in viewership vs the Boston major.

The big 3 things to watch for;
1] North is the obvious headline after their stellar performance at Dreamhack but it still makes the list. If MSL and the boys can hold that form it could really cause a shakeup in the round 2/3 match ups we might see throughout this challenger stage. Not really the boldest prediction but I do believe they will advance out of groups and end up taking a Legend status at the end of this event. The bold part of this prediction comes in at them taking this 3-0 in the Challenger stage and being a strong contender for the finals.

2] Complexity. A true brand of what NA CS is all about... and that is who the heck knows what we will get. Looking at their performance during the minor... they showed real glimpses of dominance and their team play and individual skills really shined. That being said, we haven't seen much of them since and this core has been known to falter if they don't get their feet under them early. With their first match up being AST. I think this will really define what version of this team we will see for the remainder of the tournament. I actually feel like they will make it through this challenger stage but they need a lot of other variables to go right to see this happen.

3] G2. This is it. This is the French teams last chance to prove to the world that they aren't just a failed project over the last few months. They have had nothing but mediocre results and any news that does pop up around them is shrouded with uncertainty and doubt that we will ever see these 5 "star" players in their prime again. It sickens me to say that because all 5 of the current starters are insane in their own right and have earned their respect as individuals over the past few years... but that is where the concern begins to come in for me. All 5 are great individual players but as a teammate they all seem to lack the chemistry that makes them a terrifying force in today's CS landscape. I want them to prove me wrong and shock the world with some amazing blast from the past performances with some vintage kennyS awp flicks or insane play calling by Ex6 but only time will tell for this fading French squad.

-n1pples