Into the Qualifiers of PGL Major Kraków 2017

The PGL Qualifiers have begun, and it is going to be an intense competition. Teams including Dignitas, BIG, Cloud9, Mousesports, and G2 will be competing for 8 spots in the 2017 PGL Major. The event will be held in Krakow at the prestigious Tauron Arena and the championship will be July 16th to the 23rd. With so many talented teams, it is sure to be a fierce tournament. Until we get further along into the competition, it is hard to tell who will make it to the top eight, but that won’t keep fans from guessing. The map pool includes Cache, Mirage, Inferno, Nuke, Train, Cobblestone, and Overpass. To be successful in this tournament many teams will have to improve their gameplay on more challenging maps such as Nuke and Train. Both maps have given spectators some nail biting games at recent events.

Team Dignitas frequently places in the top ranks, but their history of having an unstable roster may once again hold them back from the prize. One thing that will likely help them is their balanced experience on the majority of the maps unlike teams such as OpTic. Another team that should be in with a strong chance is BIG. Their competent team placed first in the PGL Major Krakow 2017 Europe Minors, and 2nd in the ESEA Season 24 Global Challenge and DreamHack ASTRO Open Leipzig 2017. They have over a fifty percent win rate on all maps except Nuke and have already beat Team Dignitas, EnVyUs, and PENTA 2-0. They have already shown their strengths in Train, Overpass, Cache, and Cobblestone, but it is apparent by their bans that Nuke is their kryptonite.

Cloud9 is another team who have a good chance at securing a spot in the top eight. They are proficient  in the majority of the maps and have already placed 1st in the Americas Minor for PLG Major. They also placed 1st at ESL Pro League Season 4 Finals. In the ECS Season 3 Finals Cloud9 beat Astralis and Fnatic, but failed to bring down FaZe. They have a decent chance in the PGL Qualifiers and if they keep practicing the skills that have led them to victory. Already from the start of the Qualifiers we can get a picture of what the rest of the tournament will bring. Mousesports, ESL One Cologne 2016 Champions, are known to start out strong. In their first game they overcame Tengri, winning sixteen to one. Oskar’s sniping skills quickly took out the majority of Tengri’s team, and aided Mousesports in their victory.

G2 seem to have one of the strongest chances of winning, due to their talented players and extensive knowledge of all maps. G2 not only won the ESL Pro League Season Five Finals, but they also received first place at DreamHack Open Tours 2017 and 3rd at DreamHack Open Austin 2017. They also have the advantage of being able to win 92.9% of their games on Cobblestone and 81.8% of their games on Nuke. These two maps have proved to be the hardest for other teams and this could prove to be essential for G2.

The PGL tournament will most likely be one of the most exciting tournaments of the year, even amongst an already crowded tournament schedule this July.

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