The European RMR system is often labeled as one of the toughest environments in all of CS:GO. The label is one that has been rightly placed upon it; in recent history, we’ve seen both G2 and Astralis fail to make a Major as they fell victim to the Swiss system.

It’s clear that favorites can fall under the pressure of these situations, but for the most part, they are still more likely to succeed in the RMR and book their tickets to the Major.

With the RMRs for the BLAST.tv Paris Major right around the corner; who can you consider to be the favorites for European RMR A?

We asked Anders for his thoughts, and now we’re going to take you through them.

Virtus.pro

Can Jame lead Virtus.pro to the BLAST Major?

Where better to start than the winners of the previous Major, Virtus.pro (or, Outsiders as they were called until recently)? A team that quietly built up strength in the months leading up to IEM Rio 2022, Virtus.pro has been louder about it this time.

Keen to avoid their Major victory being regarded as a fluke following a grounding performance at BLAST Fall Finals, Virtus.pro removed David “n0rb3r7” Danielyan in favor of the prodigious Aleksandr “KaiRON-” Anashkin. Their first outing with the youngster at IEM Katowice 2023 can be considered a resounding success, a top-six finish when little was expected of their roster, having just undergone a change.

Virtus.pro style is now infamous. Slow-paced, save heavy, for many fans, the paint-by-numbers nature of it is like watching paint dry. It may be boring, but it’s successful. Their stars are underestimated due to it, and that becomes their greatest weapon. When you add that together, it makes Virtus.pro a shoo-in for an appearance in Paris.

FaZe

FaZe just won the Intel Grand Slam and is one of the favorites in EU RMR A.

FaZe will be disappointed at their time in Poland, so they’ll be sure not to leave Copenhagen with a similar feeling in April. Led by one of the greatest IGLs in Counter-Strike history, Finn “karrigan” Andersen, the Dane commands one of the most mechanically gifted rosters the game has ever seen.

One of the few teams fortunate enough to say they have a roster comprised of four stars, it was this luxury that allowed them to become so dominant in the first half of 2022. While the peak form that propelled them to that dominance has since tapered off, it’s more than enough to maintain their ranking as one of the top five teams in the world.

Victory is no longer a certainty for FaZe, particularly against those teams around them at the top; however, it is as close to certain as can be when faced with those teams below them. FaZe is the highest-ranked team in European RMR A, so with their pure talent and Major experience, you can expect to see them at the BLAST.tv Major in May.

NAVI

S1mple's NAVI is one of the favorites in RMR A

Just like the previous two names on this list, NAVI has already won a Major since the return to LAN in late 2021. Victors of the first Major since the Online Era, PGL Stockholm 2021, NAVI has maintained its position as one of the world’s elite teams since then. While they have never quite looked the same outfit that became the first team to win a Major without dropping a map, the mere presence of Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev makes them a team everyone fears playing against.

Roster instability and outside factors prevented this team from ever reaching sustained greatness, but it can not prevent the sheer firepower this roster possesses. Still bedding in their newest star, Andrii “npl” Kukharskyi, we don’t even have a solid grasp of how good this roster will be once the youngster is comfortable in his roles.

IEM Katowice may have ended in frustration for the Ukrainian team, but they will be more determined than ever heading into the Major. As doubts begin to creep in from the Counter-Strike world, you can be sure the GOAT and his boys will be cooking up a storm for the Major.