Often the direction that teams take is massively influenced by the outcomes of big tournaments. While Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has seen a loose, skill-based playing style reign supreme since the game came out, the tactical play of the likes of Na`Vi, Luminosity, and most recently dignitas, has also proved to be effective enough to csgoskins challenge anyone -- including the teams they cannot match on an individual level.

With fnatic dominating the competitive landscape, a chess-like approach to Counter-Strike is yet to bag a big international tournament. But odds say it will have done that by the time DreamHack Malmo -- the third $250, 000 tournament in the next seven weeks -- has finished. Once that happens, some challengers will certainly start copying plays from the more tactical sides, and the meta-game of Counter-Strike will further evolve to a more tactical style of play. Unless fnatic, EnVyUs or Virtus. pro win -- and nothing may change.

Will one of the two most tactical Counter-Strike teams finally put it all together and get over the hump? Both have made the grand final of large tournaments in the past -- including ones with an identical prize purse of $250, 000 -- and are now looking to add an actual tournament win to their legacies. And Katowice may be their best chance at it yet.

Every incremental success the two tactical teams have had has added to their experience, and the only team against which one would still consider both of them underdogs is fnatic. As a result, they should have spent some extra time studying fnatic's play, and figuring out ways to beat them -- as any competitor would. They are skilled and tactical enough to beat others when in top shape, and should be armed with new tricks with only fnatic in mind.