Preview: Apeks and FURIA are favourites - Showdown qual starts today
So far the Spring Showdown qualifiers have already seen SAW, Rare Atom, Timbermen, and Imperial already book their places in Spring Showdown 2024, but now it's time to turn our collective attention to Western Europe.
The RES Western European Masters is set to kick off today, and there are some banger teams involved, so allow us to tell you the favourites, underdogs, and where you can watch all the action.
The favourites
There are two clear favourites to secure the Showdown spot, so let's start with the team that isn't European at all: FURIA.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenFURIA had a tough time at the IEM Katowice Play-in as they bombed out in last place, but there's too much talent on this team for them not to be a force to be reckoned with in this event.
It's an incredibly rare thing for FURIA to miss a Showdown, and with a player like KSCERATO on their roster, they can never be counted out.
The biggest threat to FURIA making it to Showdown is Apeks. Apeks went a step further in Poland by making it to the main stage of IEM Katowice despite only recently promoting former academy player sense to the IGL position.
Since making it to the semi-finals of the BLAST.tv Paris Major, Apeks have maintained their position as a tier one Counter-Strike team, and that isn't changing anytime soon. They're one of the most established teams in the event, and they'll be sure to put up a strong fight here.
What makes this even more exciting? The two teams are in the same group.
The underdogs
It feels weird to call fnatic underdogs, but that's where we're at today. They're still a relatively new team, so we can't truly gauge where they're at as a roster - but we do like their new pieces.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenThey have an experienced core trio in afro, KRIMZ, and bodyy who will all be keen to prove themselves once more, and when you add in the youthful hunger of MATYS and kyuubii, they could easily cause an upset.
The other team to watch out for is Metizport, and that's for one main reason: nilo. Five different players named him as their bold prediction for 2024 in the HLTV top 20, and it's easy to see why.
His HLTV rating is sitting pretty at 1.22 for the past three months and that's just the tip of the iceberg. A player whose star is constantly rising, securing a place at Spring Showdown for his team could be the next step in what is proving to be a very promising career.
Complete team list
Group A
- fnatic
- Endpoint
- 3DMAX
- Sprout
Group B
- Apeks
- ex-Anonymo
- FURIA
- Metizport
Photo: Michal KonkolWhere to watch the event
You can catch all the action on relog's Twitch channel that you'll find right here.