Soar Gaming vs Rise

CEVO Main Season 13 North America,

Since the start of CSGO, European teams have dominated the scene and continue to do so. The only "North American" team to ever win a major or big event is SK gaming. And even they are only considered North American, because their is not a big of a CS scene in Brazil. I digress, the Cevo Main Season 13 North America, gives all the up and coming North American teams and organizations a chance to compete and prove themselves for some bragging rights and a little bit of prize money. Today's match we will be looking at is Soar Gaming vs Rise Nation.

Soar Gaming:

Soar Gaming has been a consistent team in these frequent North American lower tier events. Placing 3rd at "America's Minor Last Chance Qualifier - ELEAGUE Major 2018" and 1-2 in the "EASA MDL Season 26 North America" event. Along side Rise Nation. Having a wide map pool and convincingly positive record of 27-12 over the past three months.

Let's talk maps, as Soar seem to have a lot of different variation and success on many maps. Their most popular map is "Mirage" being played eight times total and having a 6-2 win/lose rate, this is their favorite and top pick in most matchups. Following "Mirage" is "Inferno", "Nuke", and "Cobblestone", of which all three maps sit at a record of 5-2. You can already see the diversity of maps used by Soar. "Cache" sits at 4-2, "Train" sits 1-0, and lastly "Overpass" is their only negative map with a record of 1-2, still not entirely terrible.

Rise Nation:

Rise Nation has been on the rise for the past few months now, ranking incredibly high in events in the North American scene, and in the international scene as well. Never placing in the bottom half of any event they choose to compete in. Their most notable victories have been their most recent, placing first in "Dreamhack Open Winter 2017 North America Closed Qualifier". Though, in this event Soar Gaming did not participate.

Playing more often than Soar, Rise Nation has more games to show for their recent performance. "Inferno" is their most played and own map, with a record of 16-6. "Mirage" is followed up with a record of 12-4. "Nuke" is third in the lineup with a record of 10-6. "Train" is their only remaining positive map at a record of 6-3. Their "Overpass" record is 1-5, "Cobblestone" sits at 4-8, and lastly "Cache" is barely played with a record of 0-1.

Map Pick/Ban:

"Mirage", "Inferno", and "Nuke" are the top three maps played and won the most by both teams. So I will say comfortably that these will be the maps that will be played. Saying that however, it is likely for a team to ban a top map, in order to force the other team into a less comfortable map. I feel Soar will do this, banning "Inferno" and trying to pick "Cobblestone". Which could give Soar the upper hand.

Final Thoughts:

Though Rise Nation might be force to play a map they aren't entirely comfortable with. I have little doubt that if this series goes to a third map, Rise won't be able to pull it back. Rise have been playing more matches recently and have been playing a higher caliber of teams and players. Rise will be playing on at least 2 of their favored maps and I hope to watch a good match between both of these up and coming North American Talents.