#HSH Week 8: Group D Preview
The last group of #HomeSweetHomes final week is upon us and as always we preview the teams. AGF Esport, Complexity Gaming, Hard Legion ...
#HomeSweetHome has reached its second playoff stage, as the four groups have ended play. This means only 8 teams remains of the 16 we began with. In reverse to the first week the second one offered a whole lot of surprises and the playoff bracket looks much different than last time around. Can the upsets continue as we reach the later stages of this week? That's the question we will try to answer below as we predict each series. On Sunday evening a champion for week 2 will be crowned and as such bring home the $30,000 that is awarded to the winner. If you want to know more about #HomeSweetHome you can head over to our event page! As the newcomers to #HomeSweetHome Copenhagen Flames have already exceeded expectations by making their way to the playoffs. With that said they might have ended up in one of the only groups without any big favorites and therefore a very open one. Their wins against Gambit Youngsters and SKADE were definitely impressive, but Spirit is an opponent of a different level. Spirit played an impressive playoff last week to reach all the way to the final and it would be no surprise if they can repeat that. For this series the CIS team comes in as a massive favorite, but we have seen some up and downs from them in the past and by no means is this a super clear win, even if we think they will pull through when all is said and done. BIG are the reigning champs and as such there is no discussion they come to this match as a favorite, a big one. A quite shaky group stage was saved by heroic plays from especially Florian “syrsoN” Rische and last weeks MVP Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş. BIG is now set to face the biggest surprise from the second weeks group stage - Nordavind. Wins against Japaleno and forZe have brought them to this quarter final and that is a vast improvement from their performance in the first week of #HomeSweetHome. They can call themselves unlucky to face off against a team as strong as BIG after winning their group. It’s close to impossible to see them pulling off an upset here, even with the previous success in mind. BIG once again has an excellent chance to reach a final, and win it. forZe might have lost very surprisingly against Nordavind in the group stage, but they came back with a statement against Sprout to clinch their playoff spot. The fact that they will go up against SMASH is incredibly surprising, as they managed to win their group after a massive win against BIG. With all that said forZe should still be one of the strongest teams in #HomeSweetHome and we believe it’s their time to reach the grand final. They have ended up in a very fortunate spot due to the playoff bracket and anything else at this point would be disappointing. Reaching the playoffs is already a great result for SMASH, but the fun will end here...right? For this quarter final Syman has replaced Virtus.Pro and after having a tough time two weeks in a row it’s hard to see the team turn that around when being thrown into a playoff game. Endpoint had a very impressive week 1 of #HomeSweetHome where they were inches from reaching further in the playoffs and they have continued to show strength in the second week. Both SKADE and Copenhagen Flames ended up being food for them as Joey “CRUC1AL” Steusel once again played amazingly well, something we are getting used to. There is no doubt in our minds that Endpoint should move on to the semifinal and even there the chances are great. There seems to be close to no room for upsets in these quarter finals as Spirit, BIG, forZe and Endpoint all come in as massive favorites. We can’t predict against it either since all these teams have shown good form and their opponents are surprises to even be in the playoffs to begin with. However all of these teams defeated top teams to reach this far and if they can somehow replicate that kind of performances there obviously is a chance. One thing is for certain - whatever the outcome is of these games we are set to have two amazing semifinals tomorrow that will lead up to another grand final to determine yet another champion of #HomeSweetHome! The chance for a repeat winner in BIG also looks quite likely! If you wish to read about the latest news from us and from the esports world make sure to check out our Twitter! If you wish to read about betting tips, we deliver them through our esports betting Twitter! Janne Kouva
#HomeSweetHome Week 2: Quarterfinals Preview
Quarterfinals
Team Spirit - Copenhagen Flames
Nordavind - BIG
forZe - SMASH Esports
Syman Gaming - Endpoint
Conclusion
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