Who Should You Be Backing To Win CS_Summit 7?

Beyond The Summit has announced the next edition of CS_Summit, with the seventh edition of the tournament kicking off as the second S-Tier CS:GO event of 2021 on the 25th of January and ending on the 31st. The tournament will house a prize pool of $200,000 and will see 12 of the best sides in the world compete in the EU Online format in the same sort of structure as fans were used to seeing during the latter stages of 2020.

CS_Summit has grown significantly into one of the major S-Tier events to look out for over the course of the game’s competitive calendar, and CS_Summit 7 looks set to be one of the most stacked and interesting editions to date.

The highest-ranked side at the event according to the latest HLTV world rankings, Heroic, are 5th, whilst the lowest-ranked, Dignitas, are down in 30th which all goes to show just how close each and every side is at the tournament and really reinforces that old saying of anyone being able to beat anyone.

This will be the debut tournament for a number of teams in 2021, and there have been a whole host of roster reshuffling and goings-on outside of the server during the winter player break. With so many unknown elements and such a finely stacked level of competition on the show, here are some teams we tip to go all the way at CS_Summit 7.

 

OG

OG is one of those sides that will never dominate CS:GO betting markets and stand out as one of the world’s best, but will always deliver consistent performance at the events they attend. They’re not embedded in the world’s top five just yet but have largely maintained a presence in the top 10-15 sides in the world since their formation in December 2019.

There is a calmness and stability about OG that other sides don’t quite house, with their current roster remaining unchanged since the org’s formation.

The team ended 2020 in good form, finishing 1st-3rd at the 2020 BLAST Fall Regular Season and 2nd at IEM New York online and Flashpoint Season 2, an event which saw them beat the likes of Fnatic, BIG, MiBR, and Cloud9 (all of whom will be competing at the Summit).

Stability and consistency could well be the key for OG, particularly when it comes to stacking them up against so many sides that are adapting to new rosters. OG will enter the tournament in Group A, alongside Fnatic, Complexity Gaming, and Dignitas.

It’s undoubtedly one of the tougher groups in the tournament, but we’re confident that OG will be able to call upon their combined experience and make it out of the group in amongst the top two positions. From there, expect to see the Flashpoint-Esque pedigrees come to the fold, and OG’s ability to grind through those elimination matches really begin to take center stage again.

 

Furia 

The third highest-ranked side in the competition according to HLTV’s world rankings at the time of writing, the Brazilians of Furia are still one of the most unpredictable and potentially destructive sides in the world.

Furia spent most of the year playing in their native North America region, where they were able to establish themselves as the best side around following wins at ESL Pro League Season 12 and DreamHack Masters Summer and DreamHack Open Spring. They are still bootcamping in Europe, which has allowed them to compete in tournaments such as these, and they come into the Summit as one of the few teams to already have some experience in the professional servers following their appearance at the BLAST Premier: Global Final earlier in the month.

The org will be without their new talent Junior due to continued visa issues, but the addition of Honda from Furia’s academy brought with it an added steeliness in those clutch scenarios from what CS fans were able to see of the Brazilians at BLAST.

Throw on top of that the trademarked aggression of Art as an AWPer and in-game leader and continued consistency of Yuurih and Vini as fragging riflers, and you have a recipe for one seriously destructive side should everything marry up.

The disappointment of a 0-2 record and elimination at BLAST will also undoubtedly light a fire for Furia, and CS_Summit 7 could just be the perfect tournament for them to bounce back and regain a bit of the swagger the scene saw glimpses of at the backend of 2020.