There’s a $1 million prize pool and a $500,000 first-place prize up for grabs starting this week, as the best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams do battle in Atlanta at the G-Fuel ELEAGUE Arena. There are 16 teams placed into four groups for the ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2017, with one group playing out per weekend for the entirety of September.
Group A Features Star-Studded Lineup
Group A contains three top-ten teams, with DreamHack Masters Malmö champions G2 Esports being the favourites given their recent form. Touted as the “French super-team” since the creation of this lineup, G2 have finally begun to live up to expectations. First place in the group is by no means a given, especially considering the fact that both FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere have also been drawn in the same pool. Furthermore, both Na`Vi and FaZe also enter amid recent roster moves, providing a sense of unknown territory across the board.
Na`Vi, given their much-improved showing at Malmö last weekend, look to have the edge, but they do have the unfortunate luck of facing G2 in their opening match, lowering their chances of making it through to the playoffs. Renegades are unlikely to make it through to the knockout stages, yet with the new addition of NAF-FLY to the lineup, they have the talent to surprise FaZe if they continue to struggle post-roster changes.
Group B Left with No Clear Favourite
Group B appears to be the most hotly contested of the bunch, as all four teams have a chance to make it out. North finished second at Malmö – their first event since the controversial addition of valde, who replaced Magisk. The move was somewhat of a surprising one, since Aizy’s struggles recently led many to believe he would be the one to be replaced. While North have had the best recent showing, mousesports arrive with arguably the most talented roster of Group B after the addition of both STYKO and suNny to the roster – yet they experienced the worst results of the group at Malmö. Mousesports lost a map to both Gambit – who upset Astralis in the quarter-finals – and FaZe, knocking them out of the tournament in a tie for last.
Fnatic are another team with major roster changes, losing both dennis and olofmeister while acquiring Lekr0 and Golden. Fnatic are as unpredictable as ever, being equally as likely to go 2-0 as they are to bomb out at 0-2. Immortals, meanwhile, come in with question marks surrounding their focus on the game. Three members nearly left the squad during the offseason, causing a question of team cohesion and unity coming into ELEAGUE. If Immortals can settle their differences off the server then they should be able to secure the second seed.
Group C Set to Re-energise Virtus.Pro?
Group C contains four teams with reasonable aspirations for playoffs. Virtus.pro are in an absolutely horrific slump, yet the Poles always seem to make miracle runs through tournaments when it is least expected. Squaring off against three non-top five teams could be just what the doctor ordered for VP. Ninjas In Pyjamas arguably look like the favourites in this group given their recent success. Draken has continued to improve his play ever since his addition to the roster, leaving NiP with hopes of a first-place seed.
Cloud9 have struggled since their roster additions of tarik and RUSH, falling to such teams as NRG, albeit online rather than LAN. If Cloud9 get back to their roots of playing around Stewie2k then they should be in good shape for the second seed. Team EnVyUs would typically have no shot at making it to the playoffs, yet in a group without a clear favourite, they still hold a chance. If EnVyUs are to make it through, it will take a superstar performance by the clear best player on the team, ScreaM.
Group D Leaves Team Liquid Facing Tough Draw
Group D has two clear favourites, with the top two teams in the world, Astralis and SK Gaming, both expecting to make it out. Perhaps the unluckiest team in the tournament is Team Liquid, who would typically have a great chance at securing the second seed. Team Liquid have upset Astralis in the past, however, and Astralis just so happen to be their first-round opponent. While unlikely, Team Liquid do have a better shot than Heroic, who generally rely on flashy AWPer JUGi to carry them through. While anything is possible, Astralis and SK Gaming should be the number one and number two seeds barring incredible upsets.
The biggest surprise would be if ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2017 went purely according to form and it will be fascinating to see which one of the favourites fails to make it out of the group stage.
