The game starts at stage two, where 16 teams will be battling it out in a single-elimination bracket.

The Malta Vibes Knockout Series is back from November 29-December 9 for the fourth iteration of the 40-team, $50,000 event, and with it comes another fantasy game. The game begins from stage two, so the eight teams invited to that stage are already ready to be selected, with the eight qualifying teams joining them on December 4.

Some players are ahead of the curve and have started putting their fantasy teams together, and some interesting drafting trends are already starting to appear.

HooXi is currently the most picked player

As of the time of writing, Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen finds himself the most picked player, not surprising considering he is the IGL of the highest ranked team in the entire event, and costs a measly $174,000. Three other Copenhagen Flames players join him in the top eight most picked, showing the confidence fantasy players have in the Danish squad.

Perhaps the smartest drafting trend appearing so far is the inclusion of Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg, who is the most picked player who doesn't play for either Copenhagen Flames or MAD Lions. Some may be confused considering friberg's often modest statistical output, but his status as the cheapest player currently available at $153,000, and the existence of the Noob role and Boosters such as Bottom of scoreboard, make him a great low-cost pick who may turn out to earn a solid number of points.

As always, there are prizes for those playing in the official fantasy game, HLTV x Hellcase.

Prizes for the Malta Vibes Knockout Series 4 game are:

1. Panda Knife case on Hellcase.com
2. Double Boost case on Hellcase.com
3. Premium case on Hellcase.com

Participants of the Fantasy game are required to abide by the Fantasy ruleset if they want to win the available prizes. Winners of the official HLTV x Hellcase league will be contacted via the email provided in their HLTV account, and must reply within one month to be eligible to receive any prize.

Rasmus 'HooXi' Nielsen Age: 26 Team: Copenhagen Flames Rating 1.0: 0.87 Maps played: 657 KPR: 0.59 DPR: 0.69 MAD Lions #23 Johannes 'b0RUP' BorupThomas 'TMB' BundsbækVolodymyr 'Woro2k' VeletniukPere 'sausol' Solsona SaumellJustinas 'jL' Lekavicius Adam 'friberg' Friberg Age: 30 Team: Dignitas Rating 1.0: 0.96 Maps played: 1861 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.68 Copenhagen Flames #14 Rasmus 'HooXi' NielsenNico 'nicoodoz' TamjidiFredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenJakob 'jabbi' NygaardRasmus 'Zyphon' Nordfoss