In part one of our ELEAGUE Major preview we take a look at the Legends and their chances of success...
With teams out to win the title and their share of the $1,000,000 prize pool, the ELEAGUE Major looks to get 2017 off in style.
Natus Vincere – Is pure skill enough?
Talent and individual skill is something Na’Vi have in an abundance, but they’ve always struggled with incorporating it into a fully functioning system.
But when the pieces come together they’re unstoppable.
Na’Vi showed how dominant they can be at ESL New York, where they went through SK, Virtus.Pro and Liquid on their way to the title.
Even when Na’Vi are having a bad game you can always rely on s1mple to go full carry mode.
It’s difficult to predict which Na’Vi will turn up, but with a few tweaks to setups and strats, Na’Vi could walk to another trophy.
Na’vi to win the ELEAGUE Major – {ODDS:127334984:5.50}
Astralis – To the stars
Two months ago if you said that Astralis would be joint favourites to win the ELEAGUE Major I wouldn’t have believed it.
But the current world number ones have turned what was a disappointing 2016 into the start of something special.
Towards the end of 2016, Dupreeh admitted he didn’t believe they were going to win an event that year.
An incredible team performance at ECS Season 2 proved him wrong, as they won the year’s very last tournament in convincing style.
The five Danes from Astralis were the top rated players at the event, and incredibly every one of them had a rating above 1.15.
If they can maintain that level of performance, there’s no doubt that Astralis can take home their first Major, and kick 2017 off with a bang.
Astralis to win the ELEAGUE Major – {ODDS:127334985:5.50}
Virtus.pro – LAN veterans
When it comes to high pressure LANs, the Poles come into a league of their own. And this time around, the Virtus plow are ready to take the brakes off.
After a less than impressive showing at WESG Virtus.pro are no longer our favourites to take the title, but don’t count them out just yet. It’s likely they were saving tactics and new plays for the Major.
Last year VP secured themselves an impressive three big LAN titles and a further two second place standings.
On top of that they boast an incredible 79 wins of 128 LAN matches, the second best record of any top 10 team, only bested by SK.
If the plow gets into first gear from the get go then they have an excellent chance of taking the ELEAGUE Major.
VP to win the ELEAGUE Major – {ODDS:127334983:6.50}
SK – An AWP conundrum
The current reigning champions of the last two Majors are a huge 7.00 to score their third back-to-back Major victory.
Key to their success will be Coldzera – the kind of player made for the big occasion.
His 2016 Major stats are out of this world, with an incredible 1.6 KD and a 1.36 overall rating. SK always have a chance when he’s at his brilliant best.
Beyond Coldzera though, SK still have some issues to resolve to fill the hole left by fnx.
Fox stood in for ECS Season 2, where they finished a respectable third place and took best of three wins vs North and Immortals.
The main difficulty for SK will be finding where Fox’s AWP will fit in, with two world class AWPers already in fallen and Cold it’s hard to see them giving it up.
SK to win the ELEAGUE Major – {ODDS:127334987:7.00}
Fnatic – The potential is there
Like many teams right now, Fnatic are struggling to find their feet after a host of roster changes.
But amongst the turmoil, two-time Major winners krimz and olofmeisteR have proven they have the pedigree to challenge again.
Out of all the teams who’ve made roster changes recently, on paper they’re the team with the most potential.
They have players capable of locking down bomb sites own their own, picking up multikills with ease and clutching a 1v3 like it’s a 1v1.
If olof and krimz play can roll back the years and get the best from their more inexperienced team-mates, they’ll be more than a threat to the best.
Fnatic to win the ELEAGUE Major – {ODDS:127334995:9.00}
Gambit – Hoping to retain Legend status
Gambit are yet to break in to HLTV’s top 10 ranking but since the arrival of Zeus and Hobbit, they’ve rocketed up from 24th to 14th.
This rapid rise is down to good recruitment and drilling that’s made the Kazakhstani team one of the most well-rounded teams at the tournament.
Each player knows his role, they make very few individual mistakes, and have great communication.
They’ve won both of their previous two tournaments, and have beaten Cloud9, Rogue and GODSENT on LAN in best of threes.
Nobody’s expecting them to win, but their underdog status will allow them to play free from pressure and give them a good chance to spring a few surprises.
At 16.00 they’re definitely outsiders, but don’t be too quick to rule them out. A journey to the knockout stages is well within their grasp, where momentum could do the rest.
Gambit to win the ELEAGUE Major – {ODDS:127334990:16.00}
Liquid – Missing s1mple
Liquid just haven’t been the same since s1mple left, and a price of 51.00 shows the markets don’t have much faith in them to go far in Atlanta.
They might have a legends spot, but there’s been nothing legendary about their performances of late.
Currently the North American team are boot camping in Europe, hoping to make the most of their practice time before the Major.
Their only saving grace is that they’ll have pracc’ed against many of the other teams also in attendance, and could have a few surprises waiting.
If they’ve picked up a few counters to tier one teams by practicing in Europe, it’ll be time well spent and they could have a chance at the knockouts.
Liquid to win the ELEAGUE Major – {ODDS:127334997:51.00}
FlipSid3 – An outside chance
At 65.00 FlipSid3 have the longest odds of any team competing at the Major, but there’s still reason for fans to be optimistic.
The CIS team were so dominant during their victory at DreamHack Leipzig that they didn’t drop a map on their way to winning the trophy.
Yes, it was a second tier tournament, but they showed some excellent signs of teamwork and individual skill – plus gaining some momentum and confidence can’t be bad for their Major chances.
They managed to reach the quarter-final of the last Major – beating NiP in a best of three and taking SK to overtime.
What is for certain is that b1ad3 will have a couple of tricks up his sleeve. Whether they’ll pay off or not, we’ll have to wait and see.
FlipSid3 to win the ELEAGUE Major – {ODDS:127334998:65.00}
