PGL Major Krakow 2017 — Offline Qualifier Preview

Today the closed qualifier to the main tournament of the summer, PGL Major Krakow 2017, is going to start. It’s time to analyze the participants.

[General information]

The first thing to mention is that the Major tournament is organized by the company that has already got an extensive experience in organizing esports events. Thus, the spectators may not worry about the quality of their work. Offline qualifiers to PGL Major Krakow 2017 will take place on June 29 – July 2. PGL decided to implement Swiss system for the qualifiers. To clarify what the Swiss system is, check the detailed scheme of the tournament played according to it.

The participants passed to PGL Major Krakow 2017 closed qualifiers either after taking 9-16 places in the first Major of 2017 season, The ELEAGUE Major 2017, or via Minor tournaments in Asia, America, CIS and Europe. List of participants: GODSENT (9-16 place on The ELEAGUE Major 2017)G2 Esports (9-16 place on The ELEAGUE Major 2017)Team Liquid (9-16 place on The ELEAGUE Major 2017)mousesports (9-16 place on The ELEAGUE Major 2017)OpTic Gaming (9-16 place on The ELEAGUE Major 2017)HellRaisers (9-16 place on The ELEAGUE Major 2017)FlipSid3 Tactics (9-16 place on The ELEAGUE Major 2017)Team BIG (Europe Minor Championship #1) PENTA Sports (Europe Minor Championship #2)Team Dignitas (Europe Minor Championship #3)Renegades (Asia Minor Championship #1)TyLoo (Asia Minor Championship #1)Cloud9 (Americas Minor Championship #1)Immortals (Americas Minor Championship #1)Vega Squadron (CIS Minor Championship #1)Tengri (CIS Minor Championship #1)

[Analysis of participants]

All participants of the closed qualifier fall into three categories:1) Favorites who have the biggest chances to pass to the LAN-final PGL Major Krakow 2017.2) Teams that also can join the main stage of PGL Major Krakow 2017, but they have a little bit lower chances than the teams from the first category3) Underdogs, that have almost no chances

[1 — Favorites]

G2 Esports

Obviously, that a French team G2 Esports is the main favorite of the offline qualifiers. Recently, G2 Esports won two tournaments in a row, and Kenny «kennyS» Schrub, team AWP, became MVP of the events. The rating of all players according to HLTV.org is 1.05 and higher. G2 Esports roster and rating of the players: Kenny «kennyS» Schrub — 1.19Alexandre «bodyy» Pianaro — 1.10Richard «shox» Papillion — 1.09Nathan «NBK-» Schmitt — 1.06Dan «apEX» Madesclaire — 1.05Edouard «SmithZz» Dubourdeaux (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: ECS Season 3 Finals — 5-6 placeESL Pro League Season 5 Finals — 1 placeDreamHack Open Tours 2017 — 1 placeDreamHack Open Austin 2017 — 3-4 placeStarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3 Finals — 5-8 place

Cloud9

One more team, that no one doubts to be a favorite of this event, is one of the most known North American rosters - Cloud 9. They have not demonstrated some prominent results, and many players and analysts considered Cloud9 to be one of the weakest teams of ECS Season 3 Finals both in the group, and among all participants. However, it did not prevent Stewie2k and the Co from demonstrating the best results among the teams in the group stage. They easily passed to the play-off, took 3-4 place on ECS Season 3 Finals, and proved that they must pass the closed qualifiers to PGL Major 2017 Krakow. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Jake «Stewie2k» Yip — 1.13Timothy «autimatic» Ta — 1.09Tyler «Skadoodle» Latham — 1.01Jordan «n0thing» Gilbert — 0.94Mike «shroud» Grzesiek — 0.94Soham «valens» Chowdhury (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: ECS Season 3 Finals — 3-4 placeDreamHack Open Summer 2017 — 7-8 placeAmericas Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow — 1 placeESL Pro League Season 5 Finals — 11-12 placeDreamHack Open Austin 2017 — 5-6 placecs_summit — 4 place

Team Liquid

Team Liquid is one of the most known teams of North American division. As well as with Cloud9, there is no doubting in their skills. The last results tell that Liquid can get into the top-8 players of closed qualifiers to PGL Major Krakow 2017, while rating of the players is 0.96 and higher. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Jonathan «EliGE» Jablonowski — 1.17Russel «Twistzz» Van Dulken — 1.14Nick «nitr0» Cannella — 1.01Josh «jdm64» Marzano — 0.99Peter «stanislaw» Jarguz — 0.96Wilton «zews» Prado (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: ECS Season 3 Finals — 5-6 placeESL Pro League Season 5 Finals — 3-4 placeDreamHack Open Austin 2017 — 7-8 placecs_summit — 5-6 place

Immortals

Most of the teams from the first category are the representatives of American division, and Immortals are not exception. Reaching good enough results lately and having rather high rating of the players, the Brazilians ensure the spectators that Immortals must appear in the list of PGL Major Krakow 2017. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Ricardo «boltz» Prass — 1.18Vito «kNg» Giuseppe — 1.12Henrique «HEN1» Teles — 1.11Lucas «LUCAS1» Teles — 1.10Lucas «steel» Lopes — 1.02Rafael «zakk» Fernandes (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: DreamHack Open Summer 2017 — 3-4 placeAmericas Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow — 2 placeESL Pro League Season 5 Finals — 9-10 placeEsports Arena Showdown Championship — 1 place (4 out of 5 players of the main roster)DreamHack Open Austin — 2 place (4 out of 5 players of the main roster)StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3 Finals — 9-11 place (4 out of 5 players of the main roster)

OpTic Gaming

The last but not the least team among the American favorites is the team that has not won a single trophy for a long time - OpTic Gaming. Regular getting into the list of top-8 players of the biggest world tournaments proves that OpTic Gaming should not have any complications with weaker opponents they will meet on the closed qualifiers. There are teams that are stronger than OpTic Gaming in this event, but most of the participants do not belong to this list. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Oscar «mixwell» Canellas — 1.15Keith «NAF» Markovic — 1.12Tarik «tarik» Celik — 1.02Will «RUSH» Wierzba — 0.95James «hazed» Cobb — 0.80 Results of the team for the past 3 months: ECS Season 3 Finals — 7-8 placeESL Pro League Season 5 Finals — 7-8 place (4 out of 5 players of the main roster)Intel Extreme Masters XII — Syndey — 3-4 placecs_summit — 3 place (4 out of 5 players of the main roster)

HellRaisers

The last team in my list of favorites is European-Ukrainian mix HellRaisers. Headed by Kirill «ANGE1» Karasiow, an experienced captain, the team will try to become one of the top 8 teas of the closed qualifiers. Taking the prize place on DreamHack Open Tours, that was held relatively recently, and having rather good rating of the players, HellRaisers leave room for hope for a successful performance of the team. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Kirill «ANGE1» Karasiow — 1.14Patrik «Zero» Žúdel — 1.08Bence «DeadFox» Böröcz — 1.03Martin «STYKO» Styk — 0.97Vlаdуslаv «bondik» Nеchуроrchuk — 0.96Ivan «Johnta» Shevtsov (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: Adrenaline Cyber League — 3-4 placeDreamHack Open Tours — 2 placeDreamHack Open Austin 2017 — 5-6 place

[2 — Teams having good chances to get to PGL Major Krakow 2017]

mousesports

This is a European mix, that in my view is the best representative of this category, has all chances to get into LAN-final of PGL Major Krakow. However, comparing to the teams from the first category, the team looks rather ineffective. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Tomáš «oskar» Šťastný — 1.18Robin «ropz» Kool — 1.03Christian «loWel» Garcia Antoran — 1.01Chris «chrisJ» de Jong — 0.94Denis «denis» Howell — 0.89Сергей «lmbt» Бежанов (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: DreamHack Open Summer 2017 — 5-6 placeESL Pro League Season 5 Finals — 5-6 placeDreamHack Open Tours 2017 — 3-4 place

Team BIG

The winners of European Mino take the second place in the list of teams that have all chances to join the LAN-final of this summer Major tournament. To my opinion, BIG are not worse than mousesports comparing their characteristic, and even surpass them. However, as mousesports have more experience in playing on the professional arena, BIG took the second but not the first place of this category. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Johannes «tabseN» Wodarz — 1.35Johannes «nex» Maget — 1.14Kevin «keev» Bartholomäus — 1.02Fatih «gob b» Dayik — 1.02Nikola «LEGIJA» Ninić — 0.99Alexander «kakafu» Szymanczyk (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: Europe Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow — 1 placeESEA Season 24 Global Challenge — MDL Global Finals — 2 placeCopenhagen Games 2017 — 3-4 place

PENTA Sports

The team, that has been gathered out of players from different European countries, also demonstrated a good game in a recent Minot tournament. By taking the second place, PENTA ensured a spot in the closed qualifiers. One question remains answered: can PENTA Sports ensure a spot in PGL Major Krakow 2017 LAN-final? Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Miikka «suNny» Kemppi — 1.20Paweł «innocent» Mocek — 1.09Kevin «HS» Tarn — 1.07Jesse «zehN» Linjala — 0.96Kevin «kRYSTAL» Amend — 0.91Niko «naSu» Kovanen (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: Europe Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow — 2 placeGeForce Cup 2017 — 5-8 placeESEA S24 Global Challenge - MDL Global Finals — 1 place

Renegades

One of the very few popular Australian teams managed to take the first place on Asia Minor Championship. Considering the rating of the players and the last achievement, the team headed by AZR, can join the list of top-8 players of closed qualifiers. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Noah «Nifty» Francis — 1.11Justin «jks» Savage — 1.10Karlo «USTILO» Pivac — 1.09Aaron «AZR» Ward — 1.04Nemanja «nexa» Isaković — 0.98Aleksandar «kassad» Trifunović (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: Asia Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow — 1 placeIntel Extreme Masters XII — Sydney — 6-7 place

Team Dignitas

A Norwegian team looks less confident comparing to the previous participants. For the past 3 months, they managed to take only one prize place on the tournaments of international significance. In European Minor tournament, Dignitas took the third place and passed to the closed qualifiers. The team has low chances, but we should not put them out to pasture. We still do not know how they prepared for this event. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Ricardo «fox» Pacheco — 1.20Jorgen «cromen» Robertsen — 1.13Joakim «jkaem» Myrbostad — 1.10Ruben «RUBINO» Villarroel — 1.10Jesper «TENZKI» Plougmann — 1.07Morten «zEVES» Vollan (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: Europe Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow — 3 place

GODSENT

Taking into consideration the latest results, I may tell that GODSENT should put all the efforts to pass to the LAN-final. If they do not change their approach to the game, they won’t be able to avoid the defeat on the closed qualifiers. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Simon «twist» Eliasson — 1.16Joakim «disco doplan» Gidetun — 1.12Andreas «znajder» Lindberg — 1.07Jonas «Lekr0» Olofsson — 1.02Markus «pronax» Wallsten — 0.93Graham «messioso» Pitt (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: ESEA S24 Global Challenge - MDL Global Finals — 3-4 placecs_summit — 7-8 place

FlipSid3 Tactics

For a long time, the only representative of CIS region in this category, hasn’t played official matches prior to participating in Adrenaline Cyber League. They took 3-4 place there. Four out of five players have a rating lower than one, but to my opinion, FlipSid3 Tactics team does not deserve to be called an underdog. Thus, FlipSid3 is the last team to be presented in this category. PGL Major Krakow 2017 may allow FlipSid3 Tactics to get back to top 30 CS:GO teams according to HLTV.org. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Yegor «markeloff» Markelov — 1.07Andrey «B1ad3» Gorodenskiy— 0.90Denis «electronic» Sharipov — 0.84Georgi «WorldEdit» Yaskin — 0.82Jan «wayLander» Rahkonen — 0.75 Results of the team for the past 3 months: Adrenaline Cyber League — 3-4 place

[3 — teams having the lowest chances to join LAN-final]

TyLoo

The team that opens this category is a Chinese roster TyLoo. Despite a high rating of the players and the second place on Asian Minor-tournament, TyLoo will hardly join top-8 teams of the event because closed qualifiers got many teams that look more confident and are in a better condition than Chinese players. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Hansel «BnTeT» Ferdinand — 1.40Hui «DD» Wu — 1.25Zhen «HZ» Huang — 1.12HaoWen «somebody» Xu — 1.10Ke «Mo» Liu — 1.08 Results of the team for the past 3 months: Asia Minor - PGL Major Krakow — 2 placeCSL Spring Season Finals — 1 placeSL i-League StarSeries Season 3 Finals (4 out of 5 players of the main roster) — 15-16 place

Vega Squadron

Currently, CIS team Vega Squadron does not have enough experience to be compared to such teams as G2, Immortals, C9, Liquid, OpTic, HellRaisers and others. I think that Vega have almost no chances to move to PGL Major Krakow 2017. Lately, the only triumph of CIS-team was winning CIS Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Nikolay «mir» Bityukov — 1.27Leonid «chopper» Vishnyakov — 1.26Pavel «hutji» Lashkov — 1.11Dmitriy «jR» Chervak — 1.06Sergey «Keshandr» Nikishin — 0.98 Results of the team for the past 3 months:

Cis Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow — 1 place

Tengri

Tengri are in the same situation as the previous CIS-roster, Vega Squadron. However, Vega Squadron, that have almost no chances in the event, at least managed to take the first place on CIS Minor Championship 2017, while Tengri took the second place, which means that they have zero chances to get into play-off. Roster and rating of the players according to HLTV.org: Bektiyar «fitch» Bahytov — 1.23Ramazan «Ramz1k» Bashizov — 1.21Aleksandr «SNk» Semkin — 1.11Bakir «pachanga» Kurbanaliev — 1.10Anuar «sonic» Abu — 0.82Ilnar «cau» Galeev (coach) Results of the team for the past 3 months: CIS Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow — 2 place

[Conclusion]

Can all favorites get the spots on the main CS:GO event of this summer? Which of the teams can surprise the audience, and which one will disappoint the fans? We will get answers to these question in the next three days!