My Picks For The PGL Copenhagen Major — Opening Stage

The first Counter-Strike 2 Major, the Copenhagen Major, is going to begin very soon — on the 17th of March. After waiting for some time, we finally got an update adding the Viewer Pass to the game, allowing Pick’Em predictions. The pass costs £7.90, and purchasing it nets you the Copenhagen 2024 Viewer Medal, unlimited graffiti for the duration of the event, and opportunities to earn Souvenir Tokens.

The way it works is when you buy the pass, you get the basic bronze medal. There are a few tasks you can do to upgrade the coin — placing predictions and getting them correct. The medal has four total tiers: bronze, silver, gold, and diamond; with every few tasks you do, it upgrades, and with every upgrade, you get a Souvenir Token. These can be exchanged for Souvenir Packages, which you can either open for some gambling (everyone knows Counter-Strike players love our dopamine hits) or keep and sell later for a small profit. Getting your predictions correct is hard, though, but since I keep track of the esports scene, I think I can be pretty confident in my picks.

3:0

First off, there are two slots for teams that will go three matches without losing and advance to the next stage. In previous majors, it was considered a better strategy to not put the best teams in this prediction since there was only one slot which was very hard to get. Now, though, I think it’s best to pick the best team alongside one of their rivals, so my predictions for this are:

Cloud9 — Probably the best team playing in the opening stages, with a pretty easy first match against ECSTATIC, they have the highest chances of going three consecutive matches without losing.

ENCE — Being about equal with HEROIC, this team is one of the best playing here, and have a pretty nice chance of getting this spot if they have some luck.

3:1

This win/loss ratio is a lot more common, but still pretty hard to get and requires a good team. Only losing one match during the opening stages is a really tough thing that requires great performance from the teams, and as such, it’s best to pick the remaining three best teams:

FURIA — An amazing team filled with great players, FURIA’s performance during the RMR was commendable, and as such, they are a great pick for winning three rounds and only losing one.

HEROIC — Rivalling ENCE, this remarkable team is almost sure to either get 3:0 or 3:1 and is only here because, in a matchup, ENCE would probably beat them.

Apeks — While not the best team competing in the opening stage, they have had a very promising performance lately, making them a very strong candidate for winning a spot here.

3:2

While an impressive feat, this is a much easier and more forgiving situation for teams to get. Losing two matches is the most a team can lose while still qualifying for the next stage. Though the teams for this prediction should still be good, obviously.

Eternal Fire — After a really impressive performance in the RMR, managing to beat some pretty tough opponents, Eternal Fire’s initial matchup will be against TheMongolz, a great team, but one they have a pretty significant chance against. They could easily secure a spot in the major, but if put up against a team like Cloud9 or HEROIC, they don’t really stand a chance.

TheMongolz — While not likely to win their first matchup, this team from Asia has had a pretty nice RMR, and while Asian teams aren’t very dominant in Counter-Strike, they have a really nice chance to make it past the opening stage, at least. And who knows, maybe they’ll surprise everyone and actually win the Major!

Imperial — Going up against ENCE, there is almost a zero percent chance they’ll win their first match of the major, but regardless, they’re a great team, and there’s almost no chance they won’t make it past the opening stage based on their performance during the qualifiers.

0:3

Now, I don’t think the teams that would lose three matches in a row are bad — they’re still some of the best players in the world, and just making it into the Major is something that 99% of Counter-Strike 2 players can’t do, but for these slots, it’s better to predict teams that haven’t had the best performance in the RMR:

Lynn Vision — While a professional team, without a doubt, compared to everyone else competing in the Opening Stage, they don’t really stand a chance. Especially with their first matchup being against HEROIC, I can’t see them winning matches against the other teams competing.

Legacy — While they didn’t have the worst performance during the qualifiers, it’s hard to picture them winning matches against any of these teams, and they have an almost zero percent chance of winning against FURIA, which is their opening match.

Conclusion

These are my predictions, and I think they’re pretty accurate, but I can’t see the future, and everything here is just based on my thought process. If you disagree and have some knowledge regarding Counter-Strike 2 esports, you should probably go with your own predictions.