PGL Major 2017 — Krakow Closed Qualifiers Review

Closed qualifiers to the biggest tournament in CS:GO discipline of this summer is over. It’s time to sum up.

[General information]

It should be mentioned that PGL Major Krakow 2017 was organized by PGL. The organization has enough experience in holding big events, and as usual, they’ve done their best. There were no big technical problems. The broadcasting, comments and other aspects of the live were on the highest level. The prize for this event was 8 tickets to the final stage of PGL Major Krakow 2017. In the closed qualifiers, 9 teams that get through the Minor tournaments and 7 teams that took 9 – 16 places on The ELEAGUE Major 2017 participated. In the closed qualifiers, the participants brought many surprises. Some teams, that everyone had high hopes for, demonstrated disappointing performance and did not receive the invite to PGL Major 2017 — Krakow. Other teams, that did not promise to take high places, managed to show a great game and got the invitations to the main CS:GO event of this summer.

[Team analysis]

—The teams that surprised pleasantly—

FlipSid3 Tactics

European mix demonstrated what it is capable for. Because of the long rest from the official matches, many thought that FlipSid3 Tactics would take one of the last places in the qualifiers. Despite that, B1ad3 and Co defeated Renegades, HellRaisers, Team Liquid and got the invite to PGL Major 2017 — Krakow.

Vega Squadron

Vega Squadron became the discovery of this event. Although the team took the first place on CIS Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow, many forecasted them to take the lowest places along with TyLoo and other teams. However, CIS roster proved that everyone who thought like that made a huge mistake. As well as FlipSid3 Tactics, Vega Squadron managed to surprise pleasantly all spectators and got one of the invites to PGL Krakow Major 2017.

Team BIG

The European team also managed to amaze the audience. Most thought that the champions of EU Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow had not had enough chances to win the invite, despite Cloud9, G2 or mousesports, for example. However, gob b and the team made a perfect job and ended closed qualifiers with 3-1 statistics receiving the invite to PGL Krakow Major 2017.

PENTA Sports

Another European mix PENTA Sports closes the list of the teams that pleasantly surprised the spectators. Despite winning ESEA #24 Global Challenge, Farmskins Championship #1 and taking the second place on EU Minor Championship 2017 — Krakow, everyone felt a little bit skeptical about the team. Many also thought that there were many other teams except for PENTA that could win the invite to Krakow Major. However, PENTA demonstrated a high level of game and ended their participation in the qualifiers taking the third place with 3-1 statistics.

—Teams that meet the expectations—

G2 Esports, mousesports, Cloud9, Immortals

All fours teams meet the expectations of the audience. They demonstrated a decent level of game and took the prize places getting the invites to PGL Krakow Major 2017. mousesports should be pointed out in a special way. In our preview, the team was in the category of teams that had all chances to get to the final of PGL Major Krakow 2017, but it demonstrated the best results among all participants, including the favorites. They ended a tournament with 3-0 statistics, so they really deserve a special attention.[Interesting fact: Robin «ropz» Kool became the first Estonian player who would participate in CS:GO major event in mousesports roster.]G2 Esports, as well as mousesports, ended their participation in the event with 3-0 stats, Cloud9 with 3-1, and Immortals took 8 place having 3 wins and 2 defeats.

—Teams that disappointed the audience—

Three teams fall into this category: Team Liquid, HellRaisers and OpTic Gaming. These teams were among the favorites, and it was not only my prediction, but most of the analysts and spectators as well. Despite that, Team Liquid, HellRaisers and OpTic Gaming did not demonstrate the best game and did not manage to pass to the final stage of PGL Krakow Major 2017. Team Liquid almost managed to pass to LAN-final of the Major tournaments. As well as Immortals, they ended with 3-2 result, but they lost 3 rounds more compared to the Brazilian team. That’s why Liquid will skip the tournament. As for HellRaisers and OpTic Gaming, their situation was worse. HellRaisers had 2-3 statistics, and OpTic Gaming were the farthest from the winning. They got three defeats from PENTA Sports, Vega Squadron and Renegades and got no winning.