PUBG Esports’ best Stockholm-bound for GLL Season 4: Grand Finals

The GLL Season 4: Grand Finals held in Stockholm, Sweden on February 28th will be the first PUBG Esports LAN event of 2020. Numerous teams and players from last season’s PUBG Esports pro-league format have qualified for the Grand Finals.

Entering the new year, PUBG Esports underwent an overhaul of its competitive structure, and as a result, the oppurtunity for third-party organizers to host their own mid-season events presented itself. This is the case with the GLL Season 4: Grand Finals, hosted in Stockholm, Sweden beginning on Friday, February 28th.

GLL will be awarding a $150,000 USD prize pool to the winners of the GLL Season 4: Grand Finals, though the exact earnings distribution has yet to be announced. The three-day event will feature an eighteen game format, with six games played each day. This should provide teams who may experience a tough day with enough time to bounce back from their mistakes and right their wrongs. In my opinion, best-of-eighteen is the most suitable format for tournaments in PUBG Esports. It isn’t too short, but it isn’t too long either where mid-tournament matches feel less significant.

Now that regional qualifiers have come to a close, a sixteen-team lobby has been invited to the GLL Season 4: Grand Finals. Of the sixteen teams, many of the invited players were involved in the PUBG Esports ecosystem last season. However, following a widespread shuffling of rosters and organizations over the break, the PUBG Esports and Grand Finals landscape may be a bit puzzling to those who tuned out during the offseason.

https://twitter.com/gllpubg/status/1226941349523533824

The sixteen teams headed to Stockholm will feature eight teams from the EMEA region, comprised of European and CIS teams. Four teams from North America qualified, along with three from the LATAM region, and one direct invite to Athletico from the OCE region. While there has been plenty of debate over the regional representation at this event, GLL’s decision to distribute the spots the way they have does make sense.

Some of the largest teams and players in PUBG Esports are on their way to Stockholm for this event. Fans of the esport will get their first look at international LAN competition of the 2020 season, where a variety of interesting storylines will be important to keep in mind.

First and foremost, the reigning PUBG Europe League Phase 3 champions and second-place PGS: 2019 squad will be in attendance, as FaZe Clan makes their LAN debut of a revitalized roster that saw the addition of “Gustav” over the break. Already loaded with talent and experience, FaZe picked up an impressive team-leading fragger from fellow EU foe, TSM. “Gustav” offers another threat for FaZe Clan to employ during team fights and can easily carry his own weight when it comes to securing kill points. If this team wasn’t intimidating enough, the roster continuity with the return of “FuzzFace”, “Aitzy”, and “ubah” coupled with the addition of “Gustav” certainly cements the team as one of the strongest squads throughout PUBG Esports entering the 2020 season.

Despite an early exit in the PUBG Global Championship last season, Team Liquid remains as one of the most talented teams in PUBG Esports. The team said farewell to the Finnish twins, “Jembty” and “Sambty”, but managed to sign ex-Faze player “Mxey” and “Kaymind”, the most anticipated offseason free-agent signing for the 2020 season. Making his move over from North America to join one of EU’s most dominant rosters, “Kaymind” has the ability to produce big-play moments with an extremely high game IQ. Reinforced by the two offseason additions, Team Liquid appears to have reloaded for the 2020 season. Lead by their vets, “Jeemzz” and “Ibiza”, the team may have found the missing piece when it comes to winning on the big stage. The GLL Season 4: Grand Finals will allow for the full potential of this team to be put on display against the similar competition to what they’ll face at PGS: Berlin, later this year.

One of the numerous rosters hit by organization departures in the preceding months, the ex-Lazarus roster has decided to proceed under their ‘Shoot To Kill’ banner for their next international LAN appearance. Ironic enough, it wasn’t until an impressive performance at last season’s FaceIt Global Summit in April that the Shoot To Kill was finally signed by Lazarus.

Roughly one year later, here we are again. They return the same roster from their National PUBG League Phase 3 squad and PUBG Global Championship appearance, where they placed thirteenth overall. Coming into the new year, I was expecting a change or two on this roster, but it never came. Now, the team is fresh off complete domination of the North American qualifiers for the GLL Season 4: Grand Finals. Considering how well this team has done during international play, they’ve quickly become a North American favorite to bring back hardware from Stockholm.

Completely aware of my North American bias, I want to mention the other three NA teams descending onto Stockholm in a couple of weeks. First, Wildcard Gaming added two ex-Soniqs players in “Wooly” and “Keenan”. Already experienced teammates, each player is dangerous and adds a great dynamic to “Kickstart” and “Sharpshot” to round out their roster. If you’re looking for another North American squad to cheer for, Wildcard Gaming should be a ton of fun to watch during this tournament.

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Ironically, Exodus is a conglomerate of ex-NPL players looking to make a name for themselves under a new identity – this is after a mass exodus by orgs from PUBG Esports that left these players without a club entering 2020. The team stars ex-eUnited players “TaylorJay” and “Balefrost”, ex-Envy player “PAT_KAPS”, and the once highly-anticipated prodigy of Ghost Gaming, “Vegas”.

I grapple with the idea that the team’s synergy will play a factor in the Grand Finals, especially considering their capability to qualify for the event in a competitive lobby. Nonetheless, its the only question mark I have regarding this team. Aside from the familiarity with one another, this team is more than skilled enough to turn heads at the GLL Season 4: Grand Finals.

The remaining North American squad touching down in Sweden is Yaho. Again, this is a roster of players who are no stranger to PUBG Esports and features some familiar faces for NPL fans. Most notably, teammates “Wo1f” and “Relo” of Endemic headline this roster with the teamwork and experience of competing alongside one another, while “Snakerrs” and “Shinboi” complete the four-man squad. Surprising to an extent, Yaho was able to edge out a handful of major North American teams; such as the Soniqs, Genesis, and The Rumblers. It will be interesting to see how this squad performs in Stockholm against some of the best teams from other regions.

The GLL Season 4: Grand Finals kick off on Friday, February 28th live from Stockholm and can be viewed on a new GLL Twitch channel. Be sure to tune in for the first PUBG Esports LAN event of the season and see which team takes home the majority of the $150,000 USD prize pool.