The Berlin Major starts tomorrow; here’s the three must-watch games on Day 1

 ^{Image: Ubisoft/Kirill B.}

A total of 16 games will take place tomorrow in the first of three group stage play days of the Six Berlin Major. Every team will play twice, starting from 10:30 CET (UTC+2) across two channels. 

With so many games happening, it may be hard to keep a track of all of them, so here are the three biggest games to watch on day one, and why they are so important.

11:50 AM -- Elevate vs Astralis

Astralis have won the North American League for two stages in a row. They are also tournament favourites in Berlin after finishing as runners-up behind DarkZero at the Charlotte Major.

Meanwhile, Elevate are arguably the best team in APAC right now. They were the last APAC team to be knocked out of the last Six Invitational, the only APAC team to qualify for both the Charlotte and Berlin Majors, and have done no worse than fifth in APAC since they picked up this Thai roster five stages ago. 

This will be a battle of two titans that could decide who wins Group D, Astralis and North America’s first game of the tournament, and the second international game for Elevate’s two newest additions. Both teams need to start off strong.

2:50 PM -- Wolves Esports vs Oxygen Esports 

While Oxygen finished third in the NAL in Stage 2, they were tied on points with both Astralis and Soniqs ahead of them, led the league from play days six to eight, and were the first team in the world to qualify for the Six Major. They are another serious contender for the title.

Wolves are Europe’s best hope after winning the EUL by three clear points. While this is their third Six Major in a row, both prior events saw them exit third in their group. Their game against Oxygen will be their second of the tournament, following a debut against Gaimin Gladiators. If they win both of these matches, a top-two position looks a lot more likely. 

Considering Gaimin Gladiators’ lack of global experience, many expect this group to be a tight fight between w7m, Wolves, and Oxygen. This means a head-to-head win in this game could make all the difference.

7:10 PM -- Soniqs vs G2 Esports

Finally, it’s the game that will likely lead to the most post-game attention at the end of the day. 

Looking past the Seth “supr” Hoffman vs Karl “Alem4o” Zarth Twitter fight, this game is also meaningful for supr and Thomas “Shas” Lee. Both members will leave the roster they have led for years at the end of this tournament and will be eager to have a successful opening day. 

It is also one of only three NA versus EU games on day one, alongside Wolves vs OXG and XSET vs Rogue. Plus, the game being in the evening local time and the home team taking part means it will probably be the most watched match of the day.

Finally, Group B is really hard. FaZe Clan won the title two Six Majors ago, SANDBOX made the quarter-finals at the same event, Soniqs finished top-six at SI 22, and G2 were quarter-finalists in Charlotte. All four of these teams could win this group, so even putting aside rivalries, team histories, and player futures, there’s still a lot riding on this result.