ROG Masters EMEA Finals preview
With the ROG Masters 2017 EMEA Finals kicking off this weekend, we take a look at the chances of all eight competing teams.
TaKeTV's studios, in Krefeld, Germany, will host over the weekend the ROG Masters EMEA Finals, where two spots at the $250,000 world finals will be up for grabs.
The event will feature a single-elimination, best-of-three bracket, with the quarter-finals being played out on Saturday. The two semi-finals and the grand final, which will be played for seeding purposes, are scheduled for Sunday.
Below you can find the bracket draw:
 Vega Squadron | vs.  PANTHERS |
 MOUZ | vs. ALTERNATE aTTaX |
 Tricked | vs. Seed |
 Gambit | vs.  Singularity |
Space Soldiers and Dignitas were initially two of the participants but withdrew from the tournament when the Europe Minor details were announced. HAVU also pulled out to compete in the Minor qualifiers, with the Finnish team having also taken into account the fact that they would not be able to attend the German event with 15-year-old player Jere "sergej" Salo due to the tournament's age restriction.
The final team list features eight teams, among whom are Gambit and MOUZ, who will be the favorites to secure places at the world finals.
Ratings used are from the past three months on LAN
* indicates online rating
| Gambit (#7) | Age | Rating |
| Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev | 27 | 1.10 |
| Rustem "mou" Telepov | 25 | 1.09 |
| Bektiyar "fitch" Bahytov | 25 | 1.07 |
| Abay "HObbit" Khassenov | 23 | 1.05 |
| Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov | 29 | 0.98 |
| Offline results in the past three months | ||
| 5th-6th |  ESG Tour Mykonos | |
| 3rd-4th | DreamHack Masters Malmö | |
| 1st |  PGL Major Krakow (4/5 of the current lineup) | |
The Kazakhstani squad will be the highest ranked team in Germany and are going into the event as one of the favorites. They took a big hit after becoming the champions at the PGL Major Krakow as their leader Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko decided to return to Natus Vincere, with fitch coming in his stead. Although the 25-year-old player has consistently averaged a +1.00 rating at offline events since joining in, Gambit have struggled to get deep finishes, mostly online, which has long been a problem for them.
Since August, Gambit have failed to qualify for ESL One New York, ELEAGUE Premier and ECS Season 4. In terms of offline competitions, HObbit & company placed 3rd-4th at DH Masters Malmö and 5th-6th at ESG Tour Mykonos.
Gambit will face Singularity in the quarter-finals, and their potential semi-final opponents are Tricked and Seed, meaning that they won't have to face MOUZ or Vega Squadron until the grand final.
In July, back when Gambit still had Zeus on their roster, they played their only match against Singularity and lost 16-12 on Cache (when the Swedes still played as Gatekeepers). It is important to note that Gambit's online form wasn't particularly impressive back then, but the Swedes might look at that result and think they can pounce on the opportunity if they smell blood.
However, Gambit are certainly the better team, and they should be able to win both their quarter-final and their semi-final matches if they can execute their plan properly. Should they get through to the grand final, they will most likely meet either MOUZ or Vega Squadron, both of which can be a challenge for the first place.
| MOUZ (#11) | Age | Rating |
 Tomáš "oskar" Šťastný | 26 | 1.18 |
 Miikka "suNny" Kemppi | 23 | 1.13 |
 Robin "ropz" Kool | 17 | 1.04 |
 Chris "chrisJ" de Jong | 27 | 0.97 |
 Martin "STYKO" Styk | 21 | 0.96 |
| Offline results in the past three months | ||
| 13th-16th |  ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier | |
| 1st | ESG Tour Mykonos | |
| 13th-16th | DreamHack Masters Malmö | |
| 12th-14th | PGL Major Krakow (3/5 of the current lineup) | |
MOUZ have had an intriguing few months since adding suNny from PENTA and STYKO from HellRaisers. Their biggest achievement came in Greece, where they won ESG Tour Mykonos after beating HEROIC, Gambit, Virtus.pro and Liquid in best-of-three series.
In Greece, oskar averaged a 1.33 rating, carrying his team to the championship and winning the HLTV MVP award. suNny was also bright, averaging a 1.23 rating to play an important role in the team's victory. However, the European mixture was uninspiring when they finished last in their group at DH Masters Malmö and ELEAGUE Premier 2017.
In Krefeld, MOUZ will take on ALTERNATE aTTaX in the quarter-finals, and oskar's team will be the clear favorites for that match. In case of a victory, they are likely to face Vega Squadron, who will not be an easy target for the European mixture.
Nonetheless, MOUZ should still come out on top of their matches and advance to the grand final. In case of a showdown against Gambit, MOUZ will be looking to repeat their performance from Mykonos, where they beat AdreN's team 2-0 in the group stage.
| Vega Squadron (#29) | Age | Rating |
| Nikolay "mir" Bityukov | 21 | 1.13 |
 Dmitriy "jR" Chervak | 23 | 1.09 |
| Leonid "chopper" Vishnyakov | 20 | 1.04 |
| Pavel "hutji" Lashkov | 22 | 1.04 |
| Sergey "keshandr" Nikishin | 23 | 1.01 |
| Offline results in the past three months | ||
| 1st |  China Top | |
| 15th-16th | PGL Major Krakow | |
The Russian team will be the third biggest contender for one of the top two spots, after Gambit and MOUZ. Earlier this week, they beat Natus Vincere 2-1 in the EPICENTER 2017 CIS Closed Qualifier grand final, coming back from behind to beat Zeus' men and secure a spot in the offline wild card qualifier.
mir's squad travel to Krefeld on the back of a successful campaign at China Top 2017, where they earned a $100,000 payout after beating ViCi 2-0 in the grand final, in Kunshan. Vega Squadron should move past PANTHERS in the quarter-finals, considering their current form, but it will be a much harder task to take down MOUZ in a potential semi-final game.
| Seed (#32) | Age | Rating |
| Jesse "zehN" Linjala | 25 | 1.10 |
| Kevin "kRYSTAL" Amend | 24 | 0.99 |
| Paweł "innocent" Mocek | 23 | 0.92 |
| Denis "denis" Howell | 23 | 1.01 * |
| Timo "Spiidi" Richter | 22 | 0.95 * |
| Offline results in the past three months | ||
| 12th-14th | PGL Major Krakow (3/5 of the current lineup) | |
Seed are a newly formed team featuring the ex-mousesports duo denis and Spiidi and three players formerly of PENTA. The team, led by kRYSTAL, have so far played two matches in ESEA Premier Season 26 Europe, losing both. They also picked up 2-0 victories over Japaleno and HellRaisers in the WCA 2017 Europe Main Qualifier, but were not able to go through after losing to the former Red Reserve squad in the decider match.
denis & company will go up against Tricked in the quarter-finals, meaning that they won't face one of the heavy-hitters in the first round. This is good news for Seed, but their chances of beating Gambit in a potential best-of-three semi-final look very slim, considering that the team is still new and the two new members are still trying to adapt to their new surroundings.
| Tricked (#33) | Age | Rating |
| Thomas "Ryxxo" Nielsen | 21 | 1.27 |
| Lucas "Lukki" Pilheden | 18 | 1.19 |
| Ismail "refrezh" Ali | 19 | 1.15 |
| Mads "Console" Skovby | 21 | 0.98 |
| Peter "Inzta" Kragelund | 24 | 0.97 |
| Offline results in the past three months | ||
| 1st | NGC Masters | |
| 2nd | Cross Border Esport | |
The Danes travel to Krefeld boosted by their recent victory at another German event, NGC Masters 2017. In Husum, Tricked beat Singularity 2-0 in the semi-finals, which means that the Danish team will have the upper hand if by some chance the two end up facing each other in the last-four stage this weekend.
Console & company will take on Seed in the quarter-finals, which should be a good match to watch as there isn't much separating the two teams at this moment. However, just like in Seed's case, their prospects against Gambit in a potential semi-final matchup do not look that encouraging.
| Singularity (#47) | Age | Rating |
| Saif "Sayf" Jibraeel | 16 | 1.07 |
| Robin "robiin" Sjögren | 22 | 0.99 |
 Miran "dumz" Matković | 22 | 0.94 |
| Linus "b0bbzki" Lundqvist | 22 | 0.90 |
| Benjamin "BENDJI" Söderena | 22 | 0.89 |
| Offline results in the past three months | ||
| 3rd-4th | NGC Masters | |
| 9th-16th | Cross Border Esport | |
The Swedish squad have had disappointing online results in the last few months as they failed to qualify for WCA 2017 and for the DH Open Denver closed qualifier. They also attended two LANs—Cross Border Esports, where they finished in 9-16th place, and NGC Masters, where they took 3rd-4th.
Singularity are in for a bumpy ride in Krefeld, where they'll take on Gambit in the quarter-finals. Unfortunately for Singularity, they don't seem to have even an outside chance to finish in the top two and qualify for the world finals, but they will still take this event as a learning experience, especially after the recent changes to their roster.
| PANTHERS (#79) | Age | Rating |
 Mateusz "mantuu" Wilczewski | 20 | 1.33 |
| Fabian "HighKitty" Schultze | - | 1.25 |
| Filip "tedderzy" Leksjö | 22 | 1.21 |
| Dustin "DuDe" Großmann | 24 | 1.11 |
| Jon "JDC" de Castro | - | - |
| Offline results in the past three months | ||
| 1st | ESL Meisterschaft Summer Finals | |
| 1st-2nd | ESL Meisterschaft Summer | |
PANTHERS are one of the least active teams who will be at the EMEA Finals. Their last tournament was the ESL Meisterschaft Summer 2017 Finals, where they beat EURONICS 2-1 to earn the grand prize of $11,800.
The German team are bound to have a hard time in Krefeld, where they will face Vega Squadron in the quarter-finals. As the latest team to be confirmed, they have had very limited time to prepare for what lies ahead, and it would be a huge surprise if they can fend off the threat posed by the Russians.
| ALTERNATE aTTaX (#81) | Age | Rating |
| Stefan "stfN" Seier | 24 | 1.15 |
| Lukas "ecfN" Kauer | 22 | 1.06 |
| Florian "syrsoN" Rische | 21 | 1.02 |
| Tizian "tiziaN" Feldbusch | 21 | 1.00 |
| Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen | 26 | 0.87 |
| Offline results in the past three months | ||
| 5th-6th | NGC Masters | |
| 3rd-4th | ESL Meisterschaft Summer (4/5 of the current lineup) | |
The German team haven't looked impressive in the last few months, in which they failed to qualify for ECS Season 4 EU Development League and for SL i-League Shanghai. ALTERNATE aTTaX finished 5-6th also at the NGC Masters, their first event with HUNDEN, as they lost against Singularity and North Academy in the group stage, in which they only beat minnows Final.
The draw for the ROG Masters EMEA Finals playoffs could not have been any worse for ALTERNATE aTTaX, who will have to face MOUZ in the quarter-finals. Since the game will be a best-of-three, ALTERNATE aTTaX's players will have to play the best Counter-Strike of their lives. Even that might not be enough, as the skill gap between the two teams is enormous, and ALTERNATE aTTaX's players are still trying to adapt to HUNDEN's leadership.
ViCi #40 Bin 'Savage' LiuBingYuan 'tb' LiWeiJie 'zhokiNg' ZhongZhiHong 'aumaN' Liu
WingHei 'Freeman' Cheung 
Virtus.pro #12 Wiktor 'TaZ' WojtasFilip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiJanusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiPaweł 'byali' Bieliński 
Jere 'sergej' Salo 
Age: 15 Team: HAVU Rating 1.0: 1.21 Maps played: 130 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.62 
Thomas 'Ryxxo' Nielsen 
Age: 21 Team: Tricked Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 274 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.64 
Robin 'robiin' Sjögren 
Age: 22 Team: Singularity Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 495 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.71 Miran 'dumz' Matković 
Age: 22 Team: Singularity Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 358 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.67 
Liquid #6 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaJosh 'jdm64' Marzano
Peter 'stanislaw' JarguzJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken 
Dignitas #39 
Ricardo 'fox' Pacheco
Ruben 'RUBINO' Villarroel
Christian 'loWel' Garcia AntoranAsger 'AcilioN' LarsenJoakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad 
Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastný 
Age: 26 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.16 Maps played: 567 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.66 
Tizian 'tiziaN' Feldbusch 
Age: 21 Team: ALTERNATE aTTaX Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 646 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.67 Mads 'Console' Skovby 
Age: 21 Team: Tricked Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 282 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.66 
Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakov 
Age: 20 Team: Vega Squadron Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 243 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.69 HAVU #31 Jesse 'KHRN' GrandellMikko 'xartE' VälimaaAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenOtto 'ottoNd' SihvoJere 'sergej' Salo 
Fabian 'HighKitty' Schultze 
Age: 20 Team: PANTHERS Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 14 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.62 Peter 'Inzta' Kragelund 
Age: 24 Team: Tricked Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 498 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.69 Lucas 'Lukki' Pilheden 
Age: 18 Team: Tricked Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 301 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.67 Robin 'ropz' Kool 
Age: 17 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 152 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.66 Chris 'chrisJ' de Jong 
Age: 27 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 964 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.65 
Space Soldiers #18 Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşBuğra 'Calyx' ArkınAhmet 'paz' KarahocaEngin 'ngiN' Kor 
Kevin 'kRYSTAL' Amend 
Age: 24 Team: Seed Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 948 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.67 
Natus Vincere #10 Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoIoann 'Edward' SukharievDenis 'seized' KostinEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Saif 'Sayf' Jibraeel 
Age: 16 Team: Singularity Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 121 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.68 Linus 'b0bbzki' Lundqvist 
Age: 22 Team: Singularity Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 186 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.71 Filip 'tedderzy' Leksjö 
Age: 22 Team: PANTHERS Rating 1.0: 0.94 Maps played: 49 KPR: 0.63 DPR: 0.66 
HEROIC #16 Andreas 'MODDII' FridhMarco 'Snappi' PfeifferPatrick 'es3tag' HansenJakob 'JUGi' HansenNikolaj 'niko' Kristensen 
Bektiyar 'fitch' Bahytov 
Age: 25 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 277 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.72 Rustem 'mou' Telepov 
Age: 25 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 666 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.66 Vega Squadron #29 Leonid 'chopper' VishnyakovDmitriy 'jR' ChervakSergey 'keshandr' NikishinNikolay 'mir' BityukovPavel 'hutji' Lashkov Timo 'Spiidi' Richter 
Age: 22 Team: Seed Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 666 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.65 Benjamin 'BENDJI' Söderena 
Age: 22 Team: Singularity Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 530 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.69 
EURONICS #83 Christian 'crisby' SchmittOliver 'kzy' HeckMarkus 'maRky' ReitenbachThilo 'syken' PhanMarko 'kressy' Đorđević Dauren 'AdreN' Kystaubayev 
Age: 27 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 968 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.68 Gambit #7 Dauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevMihail 'Dosia' StolyarovRustem 'mou' TelepovAbay 'HObbit' KhassenovBektiyar 'fitch' Bahytov Abay 'HObbit' Khassenov 
Age: 23 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 273 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.66 
North Academy #42 Nicklas 'gade' GadeDennis 'sycrone' NielsenDaniel 'mertz' MertzJohannes 'b0RUP' BorupFrederik 'acoR' Gyldstrand Jon 'JDC' de Castro 
Age: 17 Team: PANTHERS Rating 1.0: 0.83 Maps played: 4 KPR: 0.59 DPR: 0.70 Singularity #47 Robin 'robiin' SjögrenMiran 'dumz' MatkovićBenjamin 'BENDJI' SöderenaLinus 'b0bbzki' LundqvistSaif 'Sayf' Jibraeel Seed #32 Jesse 'zehN' LinjalaPaweł 'innocent' MocekKevin 'kRYSTAL' AmendTimo 'Spiidi' RichterDenis 'denis' Howell Dmitriy 'jR' Chervak 
Age: 23 Team: Vega Squadron Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 289 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.65 MOUZ #11 Tomáš 'oskar' ŠťastnýChris 'chrisJ' de JongMiikka 'suNny' KemppiMartin 'STYKO' StykRobin 'ropz' Kool Sergey 'keshandr' Nikishin 
Age: 23 Team: Vega Squadron Rating 1.0: 0.95 Maps played: 256 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.70 
Final #140 'Thraizer' Maximilian 'aNtrex' PatzerMarcel 'sAhais' KuhnIlja 'moVe' GeitschukNico 'devalter' Schmidt Paweł 'innocent' Mocek 
Age: 23 Team: Seed Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 758 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.69 Nikolay 'mir' Bityukov 
Age: 21 Team: Vega Squadron Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 277 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.67 Pavel 'hutji' Lashkov 
Age: 22 Team: Vega Squadron Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 210 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.69 Denis 'denis' Howell 
Age: 23 Team: Seed Rating 1.0: 0.94 Maps played: 705 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.71 PANTHERS #79 Filip 'tedderzy' LeksjöDustin 'DuDe' GroßmannMateusz 'mantuu' WilczewskiFabian 'HighKitty' SchultzeJon 'JDC' de Castro Tricked #33 Peter 'Inzta' KragelundThomas 'Ryxxo' NielsenLucas 'Lukki' PilhedenMads 'Console' SkovbyIsmail 'refrezh' Ali Mihail 'Dosia' Stolyarov 
Age: 29 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 1054 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.65 Stefan 'stfN' Seier 
Age: 24 Team: ALTERNATE aTTaX Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 383 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.69 Florian 'syrsoN' Rische 
Age: 21 Team: ALTERNATE aTTaX Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 365 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.70 Jesse 'zehN' Linjala 
Age: 25 Team: Seed Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 266 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.65 Dustin 'DuDe' Großmann 
Age: 24 Team: PANTHERS Rating 1.0: 0.82 Maps played: 40 KPR: 0.55 DPR: 0.70 Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko 
Age: 30 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 0.95 Maps played: 1014 KPR: 0.66 DPR: 0.69 Mateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewski 
Age: 20 Team: PANTHERS Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 40 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.71 Miikka 'suNny' Kemppi 
Age: 23 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 657 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.69 
HellRaisers #17 Kirill 'ANGE1' KarasiowPatrik 'Zero' ŽúdelÖzgür 'woxic' Eker
Bence 'DeadFox' Böröcz
Issa 'ISSAA' Murad ALTERNATE aTTaX #81 Tizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschFlorian 'syrsoN' RischeNicolai 'HUNDEN' PetersenStefan 'stfN' SeierLukas 'ecfN' Kauer Ismail 'refrezh' Ali 
Age: 19 Team: Tricked Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 207 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.66 
Japaleno #50 Fredrik 'FREDDyFROG' GustafssonJoakim 'Relaxa' GustafssonNiclas 'PlesseN' PlessenDaniel 'djL' NarancicSimon 'tabz' Feldt Nicolai 'HUNDEN' Petersen 
Age: 26 Team: ALTERNATE aTTaX Rating 1.0: 0.80 Maps played: 782 KPR: 0.55 DPR: 0.70 Martin 'STYKO' Styk 
Age: 21 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 608 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.67 Lukas 'ecfN' Kauer 
Age: 22 Team: ALTERNATE aTTaX Rating 1.0: 0.98 Maps played: 132 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.71