The much-awaited end of the August player break for professional players in CS:GO has finally arrived, as another Counter-Strike event is just around the corner.
DreamHack Masters Malmö will begin on Aug. 30 and run until Sep. 3. This $250,000 event in Malmö, Sweden will feature 16 of the world’s top teams, many of which will be debuting new lineups.
Related: Cloud9 to replace OpTic Gaming at DreamHack Masters Malmö
The most anticipated matchup in Group A is North vs. Cloud9, as both organizations have made significant changes to their rosters. North parted ways with Emil “Magisk” Reif, while Cloud9 no longer has Jordan “n0thing” Gilbert and Michael “shroud” Grzesiek. In the first game of the day, the other Group A match will feature SK Gaming vs. BOOT-dreamScape.
In Group B, Astralis will face off against underdog Renegades, who also qualified for the ELEAGUE Premier through the North American qualifier. The most anticipated matchup in this group is Natus Vincere vs. Virtus Pro, with the possibility of the storied rivalry continuing if both teams win their openers.
Later in the day, Gambit Esports, the recent PGL Major champion, will take on a newly mixed Mousesports. Mousesports has yet to test newcomers Miikka “suNny” Kemppi and Martin “STYKO” Styk in an offline setting. The group C matches will be rounded up by FaZe Clan vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas.
Group D play will kick off with a match between Immortals and Fnatic, followed by a classic French match between G2 Esports and Team EnVyUs. After the G2 vs. EnVyUs match, the winners of each starting match within each group will compete for the first four playoff spots to finish the day.
On day two of DreamHack Masters Malmö on Aug. 31, there will be four best-of-three losers’ matches to determine which teams will continue to compete and which will be eliminated.