As the third edition of BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen is ahead of us, we take a look at the six competing teams and evaluate their chances at the event.

The tournament in Copenhagen will be the last $250,000 BLAST Pro Series stop of 2019 and will lead up to the $500,000 Global Finals, which will be held in Bahrain, on December 13-14. Three of the four teams for the finals are already confirmed — Astralis, Liquid, and FaZe —, while Natus Vincere and Cloud9 will be looking for a miracle to make up 10 points on Ninjas in Pyjamas and secure the last slot at the Global Finals.

The Royal Arena in Copenhagen will once again host a BLAST Pro Series event

BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen is also important as a standalone event. We will see two of the best teams in the world, Liquid and Astralis, fight to regain points and climb towards the top of the world rankings again after watching Evil Geniuses surge to the summit. While the remaining four teams aren't big contenders for the title, each of them has something to prove, coming off of recent roster changes.

The full team list for BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen is as follows:

Astralis
Natus Vincere
FaZe Liquid
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Cloud9

The current BLAST Pro Series table sees three teams in contention for the final spot. Natus Vincere and Cloud9 are 10 points behind Ninjas in Pyjamas, a gap they can only close if they win the tournament and Ninjas in Pyjamas finish last.

1. Liquid - 26
2. Astralis - 22
3. FaZe - 20
4. Ninjas in Pyjamas - 16
5. MIBR - 12
6. Natus Vincere - 6
7. Cloud9 - 6

Astralis #2

Lineup	Age	Rating
Nicolai "device" Reedtz	24	1.23
Emil "Magisk" Reif	21	1.09
Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth	24	1.08
Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen	26	1.07
Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander	24	1.03
Danny "zonic" Sørensen	Coach

Offline placings in the last three months

Placement	Event
3-4th	DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019
2nd	ESL One New York 2019
1st	StarLadder Major Berlin 2019

Some speculative results have followed for Astralis since their third consecutive Major win in September, resulting in the Danes losing the No.1 spot in the rankings in the lead up to BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen. A one-sided defeat to Evil Geniuses at ESL One New York was the first underwhelming result for Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander's team in the season, and it was followed by an upset loss to fnatic in the semi-finals of DreamHack Masters Malmö, the tournament the Swedes would go on to win while debuting their new lineup.

Will third time be the charm for Astralis?

A win, a second place, and a top-four from three tournaments played is a record many teams would love to have, but the bar is set higher for Astralis, who are aiming to return to their 2018 levels, when they were the supreme rulers of the Counter-Strike landscape. During their successful ESL Pro League group stage outing, the Danes got revenge on fnatic, but the scorelines — two 16-14 victories — do not instill the confidence that the "old Astralis" are back quite yet.

Thankfully, their star player Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz is in good form and should be expected to put in work at BLAST Pro Series as Astralis hope to get back to winning ways, and most importantly, stay ahead of Liquid, ensuring the North Americans don't gain momentum like they did after their iBUYPOWER Masters victory at the start of the year. Additionally, this is not just another event for Astralis: this is their home event, and one which they were unable to win in the last two iterations. The additional desire to win in the Danish capital, with their families and friends in the crowd, could be exactly what they need to push them across the finish line.

Liquid #4

Lineup	Age	Rating
Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski	22	1.21
Keith "NAF" Markovic	21	1.16
Russel "Twistzz" Van Dulken	19	1.08
Nick "nitr0" Cannella	24	1.06
Jake "Stewie2K" Yip	21	1.02
Eric "adreN" Hoag	Coach

Offline placings in the last three months

Placement	Event
9-12th	DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019
3-4th	ESL One New York 2019
5-8th	StarLadder Major Berlin 2019

It was looking like 2019 was going to be their year, it was hard to find a way Liquid's dominance would be stopped, but the North American squad came back from the summer break without the cutting edge they had when they won Intel Grand Slam Season 2 at breakneck speed. Today's Liquid are no pushovers either, but they have definitely dropped off, which can be seen in their ranking. Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella and his men are currently ranked fourth, and the last time they were this low was in August of 2018 when they still had Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo in the lineup.

There is no place for panic yet, however, as Liquid will have plenty of opportunities to prove their worth as we approach the tail end of the season. In addition to that, their recent placings are a bit misleading. Drawing Astralis in the first playoff matches of both the Major and ESL One New York resulted in Liquid's early exits, while DreamHack Masters Malmö, where they were eliminated by Grayhound 0-2 while dropping a 12-3 T-side lead on their home map, Mirage, is surely an anomaly that won't be repeated soon.

Liquid are hoping to spoil the Danes' plans

In Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski, Liquid still have one of the best players in the world who shows no signs of slowing down, Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic's form has been rising, and the team's star trio is completed by the ever-dangerous Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken. BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen is the perfect tournament for Liquid to remind people what they have in their arsenal, and potentially get back at Danish nemesis Astralis.

Natus Vincere #10

Lineup	Age	Rating
Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev	22	1.21
Denis "electroNic" Sharipov	21	1.16
Egor "flamie" Vasilyev	22	1.09
Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov	20	1.05
Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács	28	0.96
Andrey "B1ad3" Gorodenskiy	Coach

Offline placings in the last three months

Placement	Event
13-16th	StarSeries i-League Season 8
3-4th	DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019
6th	BLAST Pro Series Moscow 2019
5-8th	StarLadder Major Berlin 2019

For all the hype that came after a successful debut at DreamHack Masters Malmö, Natus Vincere's last-place elimination at StarSeries i-League Season 8 (which put them in the same category as Imperial, Invictus, and 5POWER) came as a cold shower, pulling everyone down to earth. This lineup definitely needs more work, because it was apparent that there were difficulties taking in what was envisioned by Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy, transforming it into a call by Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov, and then executing that on the server.

s1mple and co. will try to make up for the underwhelming showing at StarSeries

There was little time to improve, but we can only imagine that the Black and Yellowsaw the elimination as a learning experience and have worked hard to cut out their mistakes. If they managed to take the next step — and stopped repeatedly running out of time on the T-side, for example —, this team can be extremely scary, especially since the BO1 group stage will allow them to focus on a smaller pool of maps. The individual strength is still there, Boombl4 has been admirable in his aggressive role, Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev has improved, Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov and Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev continue to shine, despite the latter making a shift away from the main AWP role.

Aside from the team play and tactical side, which will surely get better with time, the biggest concern for this squad is Ladislav "⁠GuardiaN⁠" Kovács. The veteran Slovakian AWPer had some good initial games for Natus Vincere but has been struggling to keep up a high level since. Switching back to Russian after communicating in English during his FaZe stint could be something that is hindering him at the moment, as well as the fact that he is being used as more of a support player than a star AWPer. None of that makes his current level acceptable, but some more time is needed before we can pass the final judgment on GuardiaN's position on the team.

Ninjas in Pyjamas #12

Lineup	Age	Rating
Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg	31	1.06
Nicolas "Plopski" Gonzalez Zamora	17	1.06
Simon "twist" Eliasson	24	1.04
Jonas "Lekr0" Olofsson	26	1.03
Fredrik "REZ" Sterner	21	1.01
Faruk "pita" Pita	Coach

Offline placings in the last three months

Placement	Event
7-8th	StarSeries i-League Season 8
5-6th	DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019
5-6th	V4 Future Sports Festival 2019
3rd	BLAST Pro Series Moscow 2019
15-16th	StarLadder Major Berlin 2019

Another team that is fresh off of a change and brought in a new AWPer is Ninjas in Pyjamas. The Swedes have had some good results since adding Simon "⁠twist⁠" Eliasson, making playoffs in Malmö, securing two out of three wins at their ESL Pro League group stage, qualifying for ECS Season 8 and picking up victories over Evil Geniuses and FURIA at StarSeries. While all of those results are respectable to a certain degree and show improvements compared to the pre-Major struggles, there is a lack of deep tournament runs and truly impressive showings. With all of it combined, we simply don't know where Ninjas in Pyjamas stand yet.

f0rest is still doing damage

One thing is certain, though: Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg is back. The 31-year-old's career-worst showing at the StarLadder Major (0.54 rating) was not a sign of the end nearing: he bounced back and recorded 1.10, 1.19, and 1.15 ratings at his next three LAN outings. Alongside him, Jonas "⁠Lekr0⁠" Olofsson has also had an uptick in performance, but the worrying sign is Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner, who has not been playing his best since the addition of twist, and more recently of Björn "⁠THREAT⁠" Pers, who came in to work as Ninjas in Pyjamas's strategic coach.

With their place at the BLAST Pro Series Global Finals almost secured and all they need to ensure it being a 5th place finish, Ninjas in Pyjamas don't have too much pressure to perform at this event. However, it will serve as a good test to see if they have the proficiency to fight for the top, or if they will remain the gatekeeper of tier two teams.

FaZe #21

Lineup	Age	Rating
Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer	27	1.10
Marcelo "coldzera" David	25	1.09
Håvard "rain" Nygaard	25	1.03
Helvijs "broky" Saukants	18	1.01
Nikola "NiKo" Kovač	22	0.97
Janko "YNk" Paunović	Coach

Offline placings in the last three months

Placement	Event
7-8th	ESL One New York 2019
12-14th	StarLadder Major Berlin 2019

The highly anticipated, blockbuster move of signing Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David to FaZe can be described as an opening night flop, seeing that the international mixture had a disappointing debut at ESL One New York, where they were eliminated without a single map win and their star players showing abysmal form. Since then, there have been signs of improvement, but in the end Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and co. faced more disappointment as they failed to qualify for ECS, losing to Astralis, BIG, and Virtus.pro in the process.

Will coldzera and NiKo start living up to the hype?

One of the biggest talking points as of late has been NiKo's individual form. The Bosnian superstar hit rock-bottom in New York, where he put in a 0.80 rating, and was barely above average at the StarLadder Major and the ESL Pro League group stage. However, there is an indication that things are starting to get back on track for the team's in-game leader, as looking at the (mostly online) games he has played within the last month, he is sitting on a 1.12 rating, making him the second-best performer in the team behind coldzera.

This FaZe lineup was built around the Brazilian-Bosnian partnership and if they can continue that form — and maybe even turn it up on LAN, where they are more motivated and comfortable — we can expect them to pull off some upsets. The rest of the team is, to a certain degree, doing what is expected. Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer has been about average on the AWP, Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants has fit in nicely for a young and inexperienced player, while Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard is perhaps the individual who has lost some of the space he had before, which is reflected in his stats. It is clear that FaZe are no favorites, but they will be looking to turn some heads in the action-packed, BO1 heavy format at BLAST.

Cloud9 #37

Lineup	Age	Rating
Oscar "mixwell" Cañellas	24	1.11
Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik	22	1.07
Kenneth "koosta" Suen	23	0.99
Damian "daps" Steele	26	0.97
Timothy "autimatic" Ta	23	0.93
James "JamezIRL" Macaulay	Coach

Offline placings in the last three months

Placement	Event
3-4th	Arctic Invitational

The reformed Cloud9 lineup showed some promise at their debut at BLAST Pro Series Los Angeles, but despite bootcamping in Europe while the Major was going on, didn't shine at the Arctic Invitational in Finland, where they were eliminated quickly. But things really went sour only after that, as the league season kicked off. Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele' squad recorded losses to NRG (now Evil Geniuses) and Sharks in ECS before going 0-3 in their ESL Pro League group (including losses to eUnited and Complexity), which puts them in the relegation battle.

This Cloud9 roster has shown little since its creation in July

Changes weren't expected, but the decision to drop Tyson "⁠TenZ⁠" Ngo wasn't all that surprising either, especially after it was revealed that he wasn't fitting into the system Cloud9 wanted to play. The replacement coming in was a bit out of left-field, though, as Cloud9 added Yassine "⁠Subroza⁠" Taoufik from a dispersed Swole Patrol on trial. The 22-year-old has averaged a 1.07 rating over the past three months and has a history of playing alongside Kenneth "⁠koosta⁠" Suen and under James "⁠JamezIRL⁠" Macaulay, which perhaps helped him get a shot in the blue jersey.

With only one series played with Subroza, a 0-2 loss to INTZ in ECS, there isn't much to judge this exact lineup on. However, considering the core's results dating back to July, it is fair to say that we can, at least until we see something better, continue sleeping on Cloud9.

Marcelo 'coldzera' David Age: 25 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.20 Maps played: 1060 KPR: 0.80 DPR: 0.61 Epitacio 'TACO' de Melo Age: 24 Team: MIBR Rating 1.0: 0.94 Maps played: 990 KPR: 0.62 DPR: 0.64 Helvijs 'broky' Saukants Age: 18 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 228 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.63 Nick 'nitr0' Cannella Age: 24 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 1202 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.66 Complexity #33 William 'RUSH' WierzbaOwen 'oBo' SchlatterBenjamin 'blameF' Bremer 5POWER #65 Bin 'Savage' LiuLei 'bottle' MaoPeng 'xiaosaGe' SongWei 'shuadapai' WangLifan 'Viva' Ran Simon 'twist' Eliasson Age: 24 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1226 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.67 FaZe #21 Olof 'olofmeister' KajbjerNikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' NygaardMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidHelvijs 'broky' Saukants Imperial #44 Victor 'iDk' TorracaDener 'KHTEX' BarchfieldFelipe 'delboNi' DelboniGustavo 'tge' MottaEduardo 'dumau' Wolkmer Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Age: 19 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 924 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.62 James 'JamezIRL' Macaulay Age: 30 Team: Cloud9C Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 22 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 1115 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.67 Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg Age: 31 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 1613 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.65 Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski Age: 22 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1177 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.68 Cloud9 #37 Oscar 'mixwell' CañellasDamian 'daps' SteeleTimothy 'autimatic' TaKenneth 'koosta' SuenYassine 'Subroza' Taoufik Björn 'THREAT' Pers Age: 31 Team: No team Rating 1.0: 0.80 Maps played: 50 KPR: 0.53 DPR: 0.67 Nicolai 'device' Reedtz Age: 24 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 1387 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.62 eUnited #38 Ryan 'freakazoid' AbadirVictor 'food' WongEdgar 'MarKE' MaldonadoAnthony 'vanity' MalaspinaAustin 'Cooper' Abadir Sharks #27 Raphael 'exit' LacerdaLeonardo 'leo_drk' OliveiraJhonatan 'jnt' SilvaIgnacio 'meyern' MeyerLuca 'Luken' Nadotti Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev Age: 22 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1234 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.67 Jonas 'Lekr0' Olofsson Age: 26 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 853 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.67 MIBR #14 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoVito 'kNgV-' GiuseppeFernando 'fer' AlvarengaLucas 'LUCAS1' TelesEpitacio 'TACO' de Melo Liquid #4 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJake 'Stewie2K' YipRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken FURIA #8 Henrique 'HEN1' TelesAndrei 'arT' PiovezanYuri 'yuurih' SantosVinicius 'VINI' FigueiredoKaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato Grayhound #18 Simon 'Sico' WilliamsChristopher 'dexter' NongJoshua 'INS' PotterLiam 'malta' SchembriOllie 'DickStacy' Tierney Fredrik 'REZ' Sterner Age: 21 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 877 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.66 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 22 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.23 Maps played: 1055 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.66 Kirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov Age: 20 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 602 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.69 INTZ #43 Alexandre 'xand' ZiziLucas 'destiny' BulloGustavo 'yel' KnittelMarcelo 'chelo' CespedesBruno 'shz' Martinelli Evil Geniuses #1 Peter 'stanislaw' JarguzTarik 'tarik' CelikVincent 'Brehze' CayonteEthan 'Ethan' ArnoldTsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov Ladislav 'GuardiaN' Kovács Age: 28 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 1445 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.62 Tyson 'TenZ' Ngo Age: 18 Team: Cloud9B Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 378 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.68 BIG #24 Johannes 'tabseN' WodarzTizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschJohannes 'nex' MagetIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşOwen 'smooya' Butterfield Keith 'NAF' Markovic Age: 21 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1138 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.64 Damian 'daps' Steele Age: 26 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 0.87 Maps played: 901 KPR: 0.58 DPR: 0.66 NRG Denis 'electroNic' Sharipov Age: 21 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 802 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.66 Andrey 'B1ad3' Gorodenskiy Age: 32 Team: Natus VincereC Virtus.pro #22 Janusz 'Snax' PogorzelskiMichał 'MICHU' MüllerMichał 'snatchie' RudzkiTomasz 'phr' WójcikArek 'Vegi' Nawojski Swole Patrol Braxton 'swag' PierceJason 'neptune' Tran Yassine 'Subroza' Taoufik Age: 22 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 523 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.70 Ninjas in Pyjamas #12 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergSimon 'twist' EliassonJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' SternerNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez Zamora Kenneth 'koosta' Suen Age: 23 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 811 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.66 fnatic #3 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonMaikil 'Golden' SelimLudvig 'Brollan' Brolin Astralis #2 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Invictus #46 Anton 'Koshak' PlatkoVadim 'V4D1M' PanchukHeng 'expro' YangQingHui 'FIOURN' KongPeiqi 'flying' Song Natus Vincere #10 Ladislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' SharipovKirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander Age: 24 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 1230 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.66 Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjer Age: 27 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1310 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.65 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard Age: 25 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1146 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.69