PGL Major: Kraków 2017

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PGL Major 2017
2017
PGL Major 2017Logo.png
The PGL Major 2017 logo
Tournament information
SportCounter-Strike: Global Offensive
LocationKraków, Poland
DatesJuly 16, 2017–July 23, 2017
Administrator(s)Valve
PGL
Tournament
format(s)
16 team swiss-system group stage
8 team single-elimination playoff
Host(s)PGL
VenueTauron Arena Kraków
Teams16 teams
Purse$1,000,000 USD
Final positions
ChampionsKazakhstan Gambit Esports
1st runners-upBrazil Immortals
2nd runners-upDenmark Astralis
Poland Virtus.pro
Tournament statistics
Attendance15,000
MVPKazakhstan Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev [1]

PGL Major: Kraków 2017, also known as PGL Major 2017 or Kraków 2017, was the eleventh Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship. It was organized by PGL and held in Kraków, Poland from July 16 to 23, 2017. It featured sixteen professional CS:GO teams from around the world. Eight teams qualified directly based on their top eight placement in the previous Major, ELEAGUE Major 2017, while another eight teams qualified through the Offline Major Qualifier. The PGL Major was the fourth consecutive major with a prize pool of US$1,000,000.[2]

The playoffs consisted of eight teams. Astralis, Fnatic, Gambit Esports, North, SK Gaming, and Virtus.pro were returning Legends while BIG and Immortals were new Legends. FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere lost their Legends status after failing to advance from the group stage. The grand finals featured two underdogs: Gambit Esports, which defeated Fnatic and Astralis, and Immortals, which defeated BIG and Virtus.pro. The Major concluded with Gambit defeating Immortals 2–1 in a relatively close best-of-three series, marking just the third time a non-European team won a Major (the Brazilian Luminosity/SK roster won two Majors) and the first time an Asian team won a Major.

Format[]

The format remained the same as the previous Major.[3] The top eight teams from Atlanta 2017 ("Legends") were automatically invited to Kraków 2017. The remaining eight spots were filled by teams that advanced from the PGL Major Krakow 2017 Main Qualifier. The Krakow 2017 Main Qualifier was a 16-team Swiss-system tournament tournament consisting of the bottom eight teams from Atlanta 2017, as well as eight teams promoted from four regional qualifiers. The top eight teams at the Main Qualifier, teams with three wins, then advanced to the Major as the "Challengers".

The group stage of the Major was also a 16-team Swiss-system group stage. The top eight teams at the end of the group stage, teams with three wins, advanced to the playoff stage and became the new Legends. Teams with three losses were eliminated, but earned an invite to the next Major's offline qualifier. All playoff matches were best-of-three, single elimination.

Map Pool[]

The map pool was changed for this major. Dust II was taken out of the active map pool and Valve reintroduced Inferno, which had been taken out of the map pool and revamped.[4]

The veto process was also changed for best-of-one games. One team decided whether to veto maps first or second. The team that vetoes first removed two maps. The second team vetoed three maps. The first team then chose one of the two remaining maps. The second team then chose the side it wanted to start on. The best-of-three veto process was unchanged. Each team first banned a map, leaving a five-map pool. Each team then chose a map, with the opposing team selecting which side they wanted to start on for their opponent's map choice. The two map picks were the first two maps in the best-of-three. The teams then each banned one more map, leaving one map remaining for the best-of-three decider if necessary.

Maps
  • Cache
  • Cobblestone
  • Inferno
  • Mirage
  • Nuke
  • Overpass
  • Train

Major Qualifier[]

Regional Qualifiers[]

Asia Minor[]

A total of eight teams will compete in the Asia Minor. Two teams will be invited and the other six will qualify in their regional qualifiers. These teams include one team from East Asia, one team from the Middle East, one team from China, one team from Oceania, and two teams from the India & Southeast Asia qualifier.[5]

Teams
  • Australia Renegades (Invited)
  • China TyLoo (Invited)
  • China Flash Gaming (China)
  • Mongolia The MongolZ (East Asia)
  • Lebanon Team Spotnet (Middle East)
  • Australia Team Immunity (Oceanic)
  • Thailand Signature Gaming (India + SEA)
  • Thailand 7642 (India + SEA)
  First round Semifinals Finals
                             
 A1    China Flash Gaming  0  
 B2   AustraliaTeam Immunity  2  
   B2   Australia Team Immunity  1  
   A2   Australia Renegades  2  
 B1   China TyLoo  1
 A2   Australia Renegades  2  
   A2   Australia Renegades  2
   B1   China TyLoo  1
 A1   China Flash Gaming  0  
 B1   China TyLoo  2  
   B2   Australia Team Immunity  0
   B1   China TyLoo  2  
Asian Minor summary; Shanghai, China

Teams were split up into two groups. It was played out like the old group stages in a major, most recently being at ESL One Cologne 2016. In Group A, Flash and Renegades easily took care of Signature and Spotnet, respectively. Flash then took down Renegades in the winner's match to take first seed in the group. Signature defeated Spotnet in a close 2–0 series, and Renegades defeated Signature in the decider match, 2–1. In Group B, TyLoo easily took care of 7642 while Immunity needed to take almost the full 30 rounds to take down MongolZ. TyLoo then defeated Immunity 16–4 to take first seed in the group. 7642 fell to MongolZ in the loser's match 0–2, but Immunity again defeated MongolZ in the decider match to move on to the final four.

TyLoo and Renegades won their respective maps and it came to the decider map. The third map ended up being a battle between each team's newly acquired players, with TyLoo picking up Hansel "BnTet" Ferdinand from Indonesia and Renegades signing Noah "Nifty" Francis from the United States. In the end, Renegades ended up with the win in overtime to move a step closer to the major qualifier. Immunity pulled off an upset win against Flash and both Australian teams moved on to winner's finals. In winner's finals, very lopsided matches took place, as Renegades won the first map 16–5, Immunity won the second map 16–5, and Renegades won the third map 16–4 to guarantee a spot at the major qualifier. In loser's semifinals, TyLoo fell behind early in the first map, but came back to take it; TyLoo then carried the momentum to the second map and dominated Flash and moved on to face Immunity. In loser's final, TyLoo swept up Immunity with ease and took the second Asian spot in the major qualifier. Renegades met TyLoo once again in the Asia Minor finals. This time, Renegades came up on top after a game three overtime win and took the first seed in the Asia Minor after finally defeating its Asian rival.[6]

CIS Minor[]

A total of eight teams will compete in the Commonwealth of Independent States Minor. The eight teams that participated in this minor all qualified through the closed qualifier. In the closed qualifier, twelve teams are invited and four teams qualify through an online open qualifier. Teams were separated into four groups of four and the top two teams moved on in each group to the closed qualifier. Two teams in the minor qualified for the main qualifier.

Teams
  • Russia Spartak Esports (CIS High)
  • Russia Team Spirit (CIS High)
  • Russia Team Spirit Academy (CIS High)
  • Kazakhstan Tengri (CIS High)
  • Belarus Nemiga Gaming (CIS Low)
  • Ukraine pro100 (CIS Low)
  • Russia Quantum Bellator Fire (CIS Low)
  • Russia Vega Squadron (CIS Low)
  First round Semifinals Finals
                             
 A1   Russia Vega Squadron  2  
 B2   Ukraine pro100  0  
   A1   Russia Vega Squadron  1  
   A2   Kazakhstan Tengri  2  
 B1   Russia Q.B. Fire  0
 A2   Kazakhstan Tengri  2  
   A2   Kazakhstan Tengri  0
   A1   Russia Vega Squadron  2
 B2   Ukraine pro100  2  
 B1   Russia Q.B. Fire  0  
   A1   Russia Vega Squadron  2
   B2   Ukraine pro100  1  
CIS Minor summary; Moscow, Russia

Spirit Academy and Vega Squadron won close games in the initial matches, but Vega easily took the winner's match to take the top seed for Group A. Tengri defeated Nemiga in the loser's match and then got revenge on Spirit Academy to take the second seed. Both second seeds won the initial matches, as Quantum Bellator Fire (QBF) defeated Team Spirit and pro100 defeated Spartak Esports. QBF took a close winner's match 16–14 against pro100 to take the top seed of Group B. Team Spirit fell to Spartak in the loser's match, but it was pro100 to come out on top in the decider's match.

Vega easily took down pro100. Tengri had a little bit of a tougher time but still managed to close it out against QBF relatively easily. In the loser's bracket, pro10 took care of QBF relatively easily to move on toe loser's finals. In a tense winner's finals, Vega defeated Tengr in the first game 19-16 and the second game went in favor of Tengri, 16–13. Tengri then dominated the third game to secure a spot at the major qualifier. Vega and pro100 were in a hotly contested best of three, but it was the Russian team that came up on top, with the scores being 22–19, 14–16, and 16–11. Vega secured its second straight major qualifier spot. Tengri and Vega fought again and this time Vega took down Tengri to obtain the top seed at the minor.[7]

Europe Minor[]

All teams in the European Minor were required to compete in a closed qualifier. In the closed qualifier, 8 teams were invited and 8 other teams qualified through three different open qualifiers. The teams will play in a Swiss system tournament and the top 8 teams move on to the closed qualifier. In the closed qualifier, the teams will be separated into two groups of four teams. Two teams from each group move on to a four team, double elimination playoff bracket. The top three teams advance to the main qualifier.[8]

Teams
  • European Union PENTA Sports (1st-2nd)
  • France Team EnVyUs (1st-2nd)
  • Germany BIG (3rd-5th)
  • Finland iGame.com (3rd-5th)
  • European Union Team LDLC.com (3rd-5th)
  • Sweden Ballistix Gaming1 (6th-8th)
  • Norway Team Dignitas (6th-8th)
  • Poland Team Kinguin (6th-8th)

1Fnatic Academy will play under the organization Ballistix Gaming just for the European Minor due to two teams not being allowed under the same organization.[9][10]

  First round Semifinals Finals
                             
 A1   Germany BIG  0  
 B2   Norway Team Dignitas  2  
   B2   Norway Team Dignitas  1  
   B1   European Union PENTA Sports  2  
 B1   European Union PENTA Sports  2
 A2   France Team EnVyUs  1  
   B1   European Union PENTA Sports  0
   A1   Germany BIG  2
 A1   Germany BIG  2  
 A2   France Team EnVyUs  0  
   B2   Norway Team Dignitas  0
   A1   Germany BIG  2  
Europe Minor summary; Bucharest, Romania

Ballistix Gaming upset Team EnVyUs in the first match of the minor after taking a dominant lead and then closing it out before EnVyUs could complete its comeback. BIG had an easy time against Team Kinguin. In the winner's match, Ballistix had a 11–4 lead at the half, but BIG was able to bring it back and take first seed in the group, 16–14. EnVyUs was able to defeat Kinguin after a slow start in the loser's matchup. In the decider's match of Group A, the French team took revenge on Ballistix and take the second spot in the group after two close games, including an overtime game for the second map. In Group B, PENTA Sports came back from a 1–9 deficit to win the game 16–14 over iGame.comTeam Dignitas handily defeated Team LDLC.com and PENTA defeated Dignitas to claim the first seed in the group. iGame continued to surprise as the underdog of the group, but LDLC was able to take it over the edge to eliminate iGame from the tournament. Dignitas easily defeated LDLC in the first match of the decider's series; the second match was much closer as LDLC made a massive comeback to win 16–14. In the final group stage map of the Kraków minors, Dignitas edged out LDLC in overtime to take the final spot in the European Minor playoffs.

In bracket play, Dignitas defeated BIG in one triple overtime game and one blowout to guarantee a spot at the main qualifier. PENTA defeated EnVyUs in the other series with relative ease in the third game. Dignitas was able to convincingly take out PENTA in the second map, but two close losses allowed PENTA to move on to the finals. BIG defeated EnVyUs to secure the last spot at the major qualifier and EnVyUs was eliminated despite being hugely favored to make it out of the minor. This was the first time EnVyUs's in game leader Vincent "Happy" Cervoni will not play at a major. BIG continued its run in the loser's bracket by taking out Dignitas in two 16-14 victories and then blew PENTA out of the water to claim the top seed at the major despite struggling the first day.[11]

Americas Minor[]

Two teams were invited to the Americas minor. One team out of a pool of 512 from South America qualified for the minor. The last five teams came from the North American closed qualifier. In that closed qualifier, 8 teams qualified through the open qualifier and 8 more teams were invited. The top five teams moved on to the Americas minor. In the minor, two teams moved on to the major.[12]

Teams
  First round Semifinals Finals
                             
 A1   Brazil Immortals  2  
 B2   United States Counter Logic G.  0  
   A1   Brazil Immortals  2  
   B1   United States Cloud9  0  
 B1   United States Cloud9  2
 A2   Brazil Luminosity G.  0  
   A1   Brazil Immortals  1
   B1   United States Cloud9  2
 B2   United States Counter Logic  2  
 A2   Brazil Luminosity G.  0  
   B1   United States Cloud9  2
   B2   United States Counter Logic G.  0  
Americas Minor summary; Santa Ana, California

Immortals and Luminosity won their games as the two Brazilian teams faced off in the winner's match. Immortals convincingly won the match between the two to take the first seed. compLexity and NRG duked it out in the loser's match, but it was NRG taking the first game in double overtime and convincingly taking the second game to move on. Luminosity and NRG fought in the decider's match and it was Luminosity taking the 2–0 win, with both maps being a very close 16-14 scoreline. Cloud9 started Group B strong with a 16–1 win over paiN Gaming and Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) took down a Misfits team that was without its in-game leader Sean "seang@res" Gares due to a wedding[13] and its AWPer Shahzeeb "ShahZaM" Khan.[14] Cloud9 took the first seed of the group after edging out CLG. paiN took a 2–0 upset win over Misfits in the loser's match, including a comeback win on the second map. In the decider's match, CLG took a huge lead in the first game of the first half (13-2), but paiN started a comeback but fell short. In the second map, CLG cleaned up the third Brazilian team after paiN started another comeback to reach the final four.

Cloud9 took down Luminosity in the first game after a close first half and ran away with the game in the second. In the second game, Cloud9 came back from a deficit and took the series in overtime. Immortals had some trouble with CLG, and the Brazilians pulled away with both games despite removing CS:GO veteran Lincoln "fnx" Lau from the lineup due to internal problems.[15] Luminosity had a 12–3 lead in the first game, but CLG made the comeback to take the first game. CLG had a 13–3 lead, but losing an anti-economy round started a comeback for the other side as Luminosity came alive this time. However, CLG barely took it over the line to take it 16–14. CLG did not find the same success as it did against Luminosity as it fell to Cloud9 2–0. Cloud9 then defeated Immortals to take the top seed for the Americas Minor. This was also the first time Cloud9 defeated Immortals in a series on LAN.[16]

Main Qualifier[]

Teams[]

Atlanta 2017 Bottom 81
Regional Qualifiers
  • Australia Renegades (Asia Minor #1)
  • China TyLoo (Asia Minor #2)
  • Russia Vega Squadron (CIS Minor #1)
  • Kazakhstan Tengri (CIS Minor #2)
  • United States Cloud9 (Americas Minor #1)
  • Brazil Immortals (Americas Minor #2)
  • Germany BIG (Europe Minor #1)
  • European Union PENTA Sports (Europe Minor #2)
  • Norway Team Dignitas (Europe Minor #3)

1Team EnVyUs loses its automatic bid since it changed three players after kennyS, apEX, and NBK- transferred to G2 Esports. Thus, G2 acquires EnVyUs's spot and EnVyUs must play in the regional qualifier.

The main qualifier will be a sixteen team swiss tournament, where after the Day 1 games, teams will play other teams with the same win-loss record. Every round will consist of one game. In addition, teams will not play the same team twice unless necessary. Any team with three wins would qualify for the major, and any team with three losses would be eliminated. The qualifier will be played in Bucharest, Romania.

In the first round, teams from pool 1 will be matched up against teams in pool 4. Teams in pool 2 will play teams in pool 3.

In the second round, the winners in the first round will face each other in the "high" matches; the losers will face each other in the "low" matches.

In the third round, the winners of the high matches from round two will face each other. The winners of these two matches will qualify for the major. The losers of the high round and the winners of the low round will face each other in the "mid" matches. The losers from the previous low matches will face each other in round three's low matches. The losers of these low matches are eliminated. Twelve teams remain in the Qualifier.

In the fourth round, the losers of the high matches and the winners of the low matches will face each other in round four's high matches. The winners of the high matches qualify for the major. The losers of the mid matches and the winners of the low matches will face each other in the low matches of round four. The losers of these matches are eliminated from the Qualifier. Six teams remain.

In the last round, the remaining teams will face off. The winners of these matches will qualify for the major and the losing teams will be eliminated.

The Ninjas in Pyjamas, after missing its first ever major at ELEAGUE and failed to be Legends for the first time at ESL One Cologne 2016, failed to qualify for the major qualifier and the European Minor after losing to Finland's iGame.com in the first round, losing to Sweden's Red Reserve in second round, defeating Sweden's Epsilon eSports in the third round, and losing to Turkey's Space Soldiers in the fourth round, failing to attend its second straight major.

Main Qualifier Results
Place Team Record Differential Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5
1–2 European Union mousesports 3-0 +21 Tengri
16-1
Inferno 		High match
GODSENT
16-11
Train 		High match
PENTA Sports
16-14
Cobblestone 		Qualified Qualified
France G2 Esports 3-0 +10 Immortals
22-20
Inferno 		High match
Cloud9
16-11
Cache 		High match
FlipSid3 Tactics
16-13
Nuke 		Qualified Qualified
3–5 European Union PENTA Sports 3-1 +21 OpTic Gaming
16-14
Train 		High match
Team Liquid
16-3
Mirage 		High match
mousesports
14-16
Cobblestone 		High match
Vega Squadron
16-8
Train 		Qualified
United States Cloud9 3-1 +19 BIG
16-10
Cobblestone 		High match
G2 Esports
11-16
Cache 		Mid match
GODSENT
16-11
Train 		High match
FlipSid3 Tactics
16-3
Mirage 		Qualified
Germany BIG 3-1 +9 Cloud9
10-16
Cobblestone 		Low match
Tengri
16-14
Cobblestone 		Mid match
Immortals
16-19
Cache 		High match
Team Liquid
16-10
Train 		Qualified
6–8 Russia Vega Squadron 3-2 +9 HellRaisers
10-16
Mirage 		Low match
OpTic Gaming
16-10
Train 		Mid match
TyLoo
16-10
Inferno 		High match
PENTA Sports
8-16
Train 		Team Dignitas
16-5
Inferno
Commonwealth of Independent States FlipSid3 Tactics 3-2 +1 Renegades
19-16
Train 		High match
HellRaisers
16-4
Overpass 		High match
G2 Esports
13-16
Nuke 		High match
Cloud9
3-16
Mirage 		Team Liquid
25-23
Mirage
Brazil Immortals 3-2 -1 G2 Esports
20-22
Inferno 		Low match
Team Dignitas
16-13
Cache 		Mid match
BIG
9-16
Cache 		Low match
GODSENT
16-14
Cobblestone 		HellRaisers
16-13
Overpass
9–11 United States Team Liquid 2-3 -4 TyLoo
22-19
Inferno 		High match
PENTA Sports
3-16
Mirage 		Mid match
HellRaisers
16-2
Train 		High match
BIG
10-16
Train 		FlipSid3 Tactics
23-25
Mirage
Norway Team Dignitas 2–3 -5 GODSENT
14-16
Overpass 		Low match
Immortals
13-16
Cache 		Low match
Tengri
16-7
Mirage 		Low match
Renegades
16-14
Mirage 		Vega Squadron
5-16
Inferno
European Union HellRaisers 2-3 -17 Vega Squadron
16-10
Mirage 		High match
FlipSid3 Tactics
4-16
Overpass 		Mid match
Team Liquid
2-16
Train 		Low match
TyLoo
16-11
Overpass 		Immortals
13-16
Overpass
12–14 Australia Renegades 1-3 -1 FlipSid3 Tactics
16-19
Train 		Low match
TyLoo
14-16
Cache 		Low match
OpTic Gaming
16-10
Mirage 		Low match
Team Dignitas
14-16
Mirage 		Eliminated
Sweden GODSENT 1–3 -10 Team Dignitas
16-14
Overpass 		High match
mousesports
11-16
Train 		Mid match
Cloud9
11-16
Train 		Low match
Immortals
14-16
Cobblestone 		Eliminated
China TyLoo 1-3 -12 Team Liquid
19-22
Inferno 		Low match
Renegades
16-14
Cache 		Mid match
Vega Squadron
10-16
Inferno 		Low match
HellRaisers
11-16
Overpass 		Eliminated
15–16 United States OpTic Gaming 0-3 -14 PENTA Sports
14-16
Train 		Low match
Vega Squadron
10-16
Train 		Low match
Renegades
10-16
Mirage 		Eliminated Eliminated
Kazakhstan Tengri 0-3 -26 mousesports
1-16
Inferno 		Low match
BIG
14-16
Cobblestone 		Low match
Team Dignitas
7-16
Mirage 		Eliminated Eliminated

Broadcast Talent[]

Host

Interviewer

  • United States Scott "SirScoots" Smith

Fluff

  • United Kingdom Pala "Mantrousse" Gilroy Sen

Commentators

  • United Kingdom James Bardolph
  • Denmark Anders Blume
  • United Kingdom Henry "HenryG" Greer
  • United Kingdom Daniel "ddk" Kapadia
  • United States Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat
  • Canada Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett

Analysts

  • Australia Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill
  • Sweden Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson
  • Finland Joona "natu" Leppänen
  • United States Jason "moses" O'Toole
  • Serbia Janko "YNk" Paunović

Observers

  • United States Heather "sapphiRe" Garozzo
  • United States DJ "Prius" Kuntz

Broadcasts[]

All streams were broadcast on Twitch in various languages.

  • United Kingdom PGL TV
  • Poland IzakOOO
  • Vietnam 500Bros
  • Germany 99Damage
  • Brazil BiDa
  • Sweden Fragbite
  • Czech Republic HitpointCZ
  • China ImbaTV
  • Portugal Moreira
  • France Ogaming TV
  • Hungary SpilerTV
  • Russia Starladder

Teams Competing[]

The top eight teams from ELEAGUE Major 2017 (Legends) were joined by the eight teams from the main qualifier (Challengers).

Legends
Challengers

Prior to the major, changes took place.

Jesper "JW" Wecksell and Robin "flusha" Rönnquist, after transferring to and playing in ELEAGUE with GODSENT, transferred back to Fnatic. GODSENT acquired Joakim "disco doplan" Gidetun and reacquired Simon "twist" Eliasson in the exchange.[17]

SK Gaming, after benching him, traded Lincoln "fnx" Lau to Immortals and acquired João "felps" Vasconcellos after Ricardo "fox" Pacheco fulfilled his duty as a stand-in for SK Gaming. fox played with SK Gaming at ECS Season 2 Finals and the ELEAGUE Major 2017, where the team placed third place at both events, losing to Astralis and Virtus.pro, respectively. fox then went on to join Team Dignitas.[18][19] After a few months playing with Immortals, fnx was benched on that team due to internal issues. He was replaced by Vito "kNg" Giuseppe.[20]

North acquired Philip "aizy" Aistrup from FaZe Clan and released Ruben "RUBINO" Villarroel.[21] FaZe Clan then bought out Bosnian player Nikola "NiKo" Kovač from mousesports. NiKo officially joined the team after DreamHack Las Vegas 2017.[22] RUBINO went on to join Team Dignitas's newly formed European roster.[23] mousesports signed Robin "ropz" Kool and activated Tomáš "oskar" Šťastný from the roster to complete its five-man roster. Timo "Spiidi" Richter was moved to the inactive roster.[24][25][26]

Legendary Natus Vincere former player and current coach Sergey "starix" Ischuk leaves the team and Na'Vi's manager analyst Andrey "Andi" Prokhorov takes over the coaching role. Only Denis "seized" Kostin remains from the original Na'Vi lineup after starix departed and its former team captain Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko was released by the team in favor of Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev and went on to play for Gambit Gaming (now rebranded as Gambit Esports) last year. starix signed with Team Spirit as a player and will play in the CIS qualifier.[27][28]

Arguably the biggest change of the teams in the major was the "French shuffle," which was led by Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt and Richard "shox" Papillon. NBK-. Kenny "kennyS" Schrub and, Dan "apEX" Madesclaire left Team EnVyUs for G2 Esports to join shox and Alexandre "bodyy" Pianaro; in addition, former G2 AWPer Édouard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux moved to the coaching position. The remaining two G2 players, Cédric "RpK" Guipouy and Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom, left the team and joined Team EnVyUs.[29]

Former NRG Esports players Fatih "gob b" Dayik, Johannes "tabseN" Wodarz, and Nikola "LEGIJA" Ninic form Berlin International Gaming, abbreviated as BIG. They also buy out Johannes "nex" Maget from mousesports and Kevin "keev" Bartholomäus from ALTERNATE aTTaX to fill out its roster.[30][31]

PENTA Sports also had big changes to its lineup. After Stefan "stfN" Seier left the team because he could not commit playing full-time, Christian "loWel" Antoran being picked up by mousesports, and Tahsin "tahsiN" Broschk and Mike "mikeS" Tuns leaving the team, PENTA signed four new players. PENTA first signed Miikka "suNny" Kemppi from Finland. After Kevin "kRYSTAL" Amend decided to stay on the team, PENTA filled out its five-man roster by signing Kevin "HS" Tarn from Estonia, Jesse "zehN" Linjala from Finland, and Paweł "innocent" Mocek from Poland.[32]

Pre-major ranking[]

HLTV.org rank teams based on results of teams' performances. The rankings shown below reflect the July 10, 2017 rankings. In addition, a list premier tournaments and relevant major events is listed. These tournaments are part of the list the HLTV.org takes into consideration when calculating the rankings, starting with ESL One Cologne 2016, in which SK Gaming defeated Team Liquid and StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 2, in which Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated G2 Esports. The rankings concluded with the Esports Championship Series Season 3 Finals, in which SK Gaming defeated FaZe Clan and ESL One: Cologne 2017 in which SK Gaming defeated Cloud9 in the finals.[33][34][35][36]

HLTV.org Pre-Major Ranking
World ranking
Place Team Points Move1 Peak2 Low2
1 Brazil SK Gaming 1000 Steady 1 4
2 European Union FaZe Clan 623 Steady 2 9
3 Denmark Astralis 518 Steady 1 3
4 France G2 Esports 474 Steady 4 16
5 United States Cloud9 427 Increase 1 5 14
6 Commonwealth of Independent States Natus Vincere 295 Increase 4 4 10
7 Denmark North 294 Decrease 2 4 8
10 Brazil Immortals 225 Decrease 2 7 27
11 Sweden Fnatic 209 Decrease 4 6 14
12 European Union mousesports 200 Steady 12 17
14 Poland Virtus.pro 181 Decrease 3 2 15
15 Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 177 Decrease 1 7 15
17 Germany BIG 127 Increase 1 17 27
20 European Union PENTA Sports 106 Decrease 1 19 52
23 Commonwealth of Independent States Flipsid3 Tactics 76 Decrease 1 16 53
24 Russia Vega Squadron 74 Decrease 3 21 56

1Change since July 3, 2017 ranking

2Peak and low since end of ELEAGUE Major.

Group stage[]

The group stage was a sixteen-team Swiss-system tournament in which, after the first round, teams only played other teams with the same win-loss record. Each match was best-of-one, and no team played another team twice. All teams played until they had either won or lost three games: any team with three wins advanced to the playoff stage, and any team with three losses was eliminated. The group stage and playoffs were played in Kraków, Poland, with group stage played in closed studio and playoffs being held in Tauron Arena Kraków.

First round seeding was determined by the following:

  • Teams that placed top four at the previous Major (Astralis, Virtus.pro, Fnatic, and SK Gaming) were first seeds
  • Teams that placed 5th-8th place at the previous Major (Natus Vincere, Gambit Esports, FaZe Clan, and North) were second seeds
  • Teams that placed first in the main qualifier (mousesports and G2 Esports) and the top two teams that placed third based on their seeds going into the major qualifier (BIG and Cloud9) were third seeds
  • The remaining teams (Immortals, FlipSid3 Tactics, PENTA Sports, and Vega Squadron) were fourth seeds

In the first round, first seeds played a randomly drawn fourth seed, and second seeds played a randomly drawn third seed. After this round, teams were randomly drawn against other teams with the same record (e.g., 1–0 teams against 1–0 teams, 0–1 teams against 0–1 teams). The eight teams to win three (out of a possible five) games were granted "Legend" status and an automatic invitation to the next Major.

Place Team Record Differential Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5
1–2 Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 3-0 +21 mousesports
16-10
Inferno 		High match
G2 Esports
16-6
Cache 		High match
Virtus.pro
16-11
Train 		Playoffs Playoffs
Germany BIG 3-0 +15 FaZe Clan
16-8
Inferno 		High match
Cloud9
16-11
Inferno 		High match
SK Gaming
16-14
Inferno 		Playoffs Playoffs
3–5 Brazil SK Gaming 3-1 +16 PENTA Sports
16-13
Inferno 		High match
Astralis
16-8
Inferno 		High match
BIG
14-16
Inferno 		High match
Immortals
16-9
Overpass 		Playoffs
Denmark North 3-1 +9 Cloud9
12-16
Mirage 		Low match
PENTA Sports
16-9
Mirage 		Mid match
mousesports
19-15
Cobblestone 		High match
Virtus.pro
16-14
Mirage 		Playoffs
Denmark Astralis 3–1 +6 Immortals
19-17
Overpass 		High match
SK Gaming
8-16
Inferno 		Mid match
Fnatic
16-14
Nuke 		High match
G2 Esports
16-6
Inferno 		Playoffs
6–8 Poland Virtus.pro 3-2 +18 Vega Squadron
16-2
Nuke 		High match
Fnatic
16-11
Cache 		High match
Gambit Esports
11-16
Train 		High match
North
14-16
Mirage 		Cloud9
16-10
Train
Brazil Immortals 3-2 +17 Astralis
17-19
Overpass 		Low match
Vega Squadron
16-6
Train 		Mid match
Natus Vincere
16-10
Overpass 		High match
SK Gaming
9-16
Overpass 		FlipSid3 Tactics
16-6
Train
Sweden Fnatic 3-2 +7 FlipSid3 Tactics
16-12
Mirage 		High match
Virtus.pro
11-16
Cache 		Mid match
Astralis
14-16
Nuke 		Low match
Natus Vincere
16-12
Mirage 		G2 Esports
16-10
Overpass
9–11 United States Cloud9 2-3 -4 North
16-12
Mirage 		High match
BIG
11-16
Inferno 		Mid match
G2 Esports
17-19
Cobblestone 		Low match
mousesports
16-11
Train 		Virtus.pro
10-16
Train
Commonwealth of Independent States FlipSid3 Tactics 2-3 -12 Fnatic
12-16
Mirage 		Low match
Natus Vincere
9-16
Train 		Low match
FaZe Clan
16-10
Mirage 		Low match
PENTA Sports
16-13
Train 		Immortals
6-16
Train
France G2 Esports 2-3 -22 Natus Vincere
16-14
Overpass 		High match
Gambit Esports
6-16
Cache 		Mid match
Cloud9
19-17
Cobblestone 		High match
Astralis
6-16
Inferno 		Fnatic
10-16
Overpass
12–14 Commonwealth of Independent States Natus Vincere 1-3 -5 G2 Esports
14-16
Overpass 		Low match
FlipSid3 Tactics
16-9
Train 		Mid match
Immortals
10-16
Overpass 		Low match
Fnatic
12-16
Mirage 		Eliminated
European Union PENTA Sports 1-3 -11 SK Gaming
13-16
Inferno 		Low match
North
9-16
Mirage 		Low match
Vega Squadron
16-14
Mirage 		Low match
FlipSid3 Tactics
13-16
Train 		Eliminated
European Union mousesports 1-3 -11 Gambit Esports
10-16
Inferno 		Low match
FaZe Clan
19-15
Train 		Mid match
North
15-19
Cobblestone 		Low match
Cloud9
11-16
Train 		Eliminated
15–16 European Union FaZe Clan 0-3 -18 BIG
8-16
Inferno 		Low match
mousesports
15-19
Train 		Low match
FlipSid3 Tactics
10-16
Mirage 		Eliminated Eliminated
Russia Vega Squadron 0–3 -26 Virtus.pro
2-16
Nuke 		Low match
Immortals
6-16
Train 		Low match
PENTA Sports
14-16
Mirage 		Eliminated Eliminated

Playoffs[]

Bracket[]

BIG and Gambit received the top seeds and played a randomly selected opponent among Virtus.pro, Immortals, and Fnatic. BIG received Immortals and Gambit received Fnatic. Among SK Gaming, North, and Astralis, two randomly selected teams from this pool would go on to face each other and the teams would be SK Gaming and Astralis. The remaining two teams, North and Virtus.pro, were paired together.

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 2
Sweden Fnatic 0
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 2
Denmark Astralis 1
Brazil SK Gaming 0
Denmark Astralis 2
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 2
Brazil Immortals 1
Germany BIG 1
Brazil Immortals 2
Brazil Immortals 2
Poland Virtus.pro 0
Denmark North 0
Poland Virtus.pro 2

Quarterfinals[]

Gambit Esports vs. Fnatic[]

Casters: James Bardolph & ddk

Gambit–Fnatic Vetoes
Map Vetoes
Gambit Esports BAN PICK BAN
Mirage Cache Train Inferno Cobblestone Nuke Overpass
Fnatic BAN PICK BAN
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports vs. Sweden Fnatic Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 16 Train 14 Sweden Fnatic
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 16 Inferno 12 Sweden Fnatic
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports – Overpass – Sweden Fnatic

SK Gaming vs. Astralis[]

Casters: Anders Blume & Semmler

SK–Astralis Vetoes
Map Vetoes
SK Gaming BAN PICK BAN
Nuke Cobblestone Cache Overpass Inferno Train Mirage
Astralis BAN PICK BAN
Brazil SK Gaming vs. Denmark Astralis Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Brazil SK Gaming 12 Cache 16 Denmark Astralis
Brazil SK Gaming 6 Overpass 16 Denmark Astralis
Brazil SK Gaming – Mirage – Denmark Astralis

BIG vs. Immortals[]

Casters: HenryG & Sadokist

Immortals–BIG Vetoes
Map Vetoes
Immortals BAN PICK BAN
Nuke Overpass Cobblestone Inferno Mirage Cache Train
BIG BAN PICK BAN
Germany BIG vs. Brazil Immortals Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Germany BIG 19 Cobblestone 17 Brazil Immortals
Germany BIG 7 Inferno 16 Brazil Immortals
Germany BIG 14 Train 16 Brazil Immortals
Germany BIG vs. Brazil Immortals Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Germany BIG 19 Cobblestone 17 Brazil Immortals
Germany BIG 7 Inferno 16 Brazil Immortals
Germany BIG 14 Train 16 Brazil Immortals

North vs. Virtus.pro[]

Casters: Anders Blume & Semmler

North–VP Vetoes
Map Vetoes
North BAN PICK BAN
Train Overpass Cobblestone Nuke Cache Inferno Mirage
Virtus.pro BAN PICK BAN
Denmark North vs. Poland Virtus.pro Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Denmark North 9 Cobblestone 16 Poland Virtus.pro
Denmark North 10 Nuke 16 Poland Virtus.pro
Denmark North – Mirage – Poland Virtus.pro

Semifinals[]

Gambit Esports vs. Astralis[]

Casters: James Bardolph & ddk

Astralis–Gambit Vetoes
Map Vetoes
Astralis BAN PICK BAN
Cobblestone Mirage Overpass Inferno Nuke Cache Train
Gambit Esports BAN PICK BAN
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports vs. Denmark Astralis Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 16 Overpass 10 Denmark Astralis
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 8 Inferno 16 Denmark Astralis
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 16 Train 12 Denmark Astralis

Immortals vs. Virtus.pro[]

Casters: Sadokist & HenryG

Immortals–VP Vetoes
Map Vetoes
Immortals BAN PICK BAN
Nuke Overpass Inferno Mirage Cache Train Cobblestone
Virtus.pro BAN PICK BAN
Brazil Immortals vs. Poland Virtus.pro Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Brazil Immortals 16 Inferno 5 Poland Virtus.pro
Brazil Immortals 16 Mirage 11 Poland Virtus.pro
Brazil Immortals – Cobblestone – Poland Virtus.pro

Finals[]

Casters: Sadokist & HenryG

Gambit–Immortals Vetoes
Map Vetoes
Immortals BAN PICK BAN
Nuke Mirage Cobblestone Train Cache Overpass Inferno
Gambit Esports BAN PICK BAN

AdreN was named the MVP of the tournament.[37]

Kazakhstan Gambit Esports vs. Brazil Immortals Scores
Team Score Map Score Team
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 4 Cobblestone 16 Brazil Immortals
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 16 Train 11 Brazil Immortals
Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 16 Inferno 10 Brazil Immortals

Final standings[]

The final placings are shown below. Each team's in-game leader is shown first.

Place Prize Money Team Seed Roster Coach
1st US$500,000 Kazakhstan Gambit Esports Boston 2018 Legends Ukraine Zeus, Kazakhstan AdreN, Kazakhstan HObbit, Kazakhstan mou, Russia Dosia Ukraine kane
2nd US$150,000 Brazil Immortals Brazil boltz, Brazil HEN1, Brazil kNg, Brazil LUCAS1, Brazil steel Brazil zakk
3rd – 4th US$70,000 Denmark Astralis Denmark gla1ve, Denmark dev1ce, Denmark dupreeh, Denmark Kjaerbye, Denmark Xyp9x Denmark zonic
Poland Virtus.pro Poland Snax, Poland byali, Poland NEO, Poland pashaBiceps, Poland TaZ Poland kuben
5th – 8th US$35,000 Sweden Fnatic Sweden flusha, Sweden dennis, Sweden JW, Sweden KRiMZ, Sweden olofmeister Sweden Jumpy
Brazil SK Gaming Brazil FalleN, Brazil coldzera, Brazil felps, Brazil fer, Brazil TACO
Germany BIG Germany gob b, Germany keev, Germany nex, Germany tabseN, Serbia LEGIJA Austria kakafu
Denmark North Denmark MSL, Denmark aizy, Denmark cajunb, Denmark k0nfig, Denmark Magisk Denmark ruggah
9th – 11th US$8,750 United States Cloud9 Boston 2018 New Challengers United States Stewie2K, United States autimatic, United States n0thing, United States Skadoodle, Canada shroud United States valens
Commonwealth of Independent States Flipsid3 Tactics Ukraine B1ad3, Russia electronic, Ukraine markeloff, Finland wayLander, Russia WorldEdit
France G2 Esports France shox, France apEX, France bodyy, France kennyS, France NBK- France SmithZz
12th – 14th US$8,750 Commonwealth of Independent States Natus Vincere Russia seized, Ukraine Edward, Russia flamie, Slovakia GuardiaN, Ukraine s1mple Ukraine Andi
European Union mousesports Netherlands chrisJ, Germany denis, Spain loWel, Czech Republic oskar, Estonia ropz Ukraine lmbt
European Union PENTA Sports Germany kRYSTAL, Estonia HS, Poland innocent, Finland suNny, Finland zehN
15th – 16th US$8,750 European Union FaZe Clan Denmark karrigan, Finland allu, France kioShiMa, Bosnia and Herzegovina NiKo, Norway rain Sweden RobbaN
Russia Vega Squadron Ukraine jR, Russia chopper, Russia hutji, Russia keshandr, Russia mir Russia Lk-

Post-Major Ranking[]

The first HLTV.org ranking after the PGL Major came out on July 24, 2017.[38]

HLTV.org Post-Major Ranking
World Ranking
Place Team Points Move†
1 Brazil SK Gaming 1000 Steady
2 Denmark Astralis 607 Increase 1
3 European Union FaZe Clan 524 Decrease 1
4 Kazakhstan Gambit Esports 505 Increase 10
5 France G2 Esports 463 Decrease 1
6 Brazil Immortals 411 Increase 5
7 United States Cloud9 396 Decrease 2
8 Denmark North 349 Decrease 2
9 Poland Virtus.pro 309 Increase 6
10 Commonwealth of Independent States Natus Vincere 277 Decrease 3
11 Sweden Fnatic 262 Increase 2
14 Germany BIG 266 Increase 3
15 European Union mousesports 221 Decrease 3
20 European Union PENTA Sports 111 Increase 1
21 Commonwealth of Independent States Flipsid3 Tactics 111 Increase 4
24 Russia Vega Squadron 72 Steady

†Change since July 17, 2017 ranking

Showmatch[]

A showmatch was played before the final set between Gambit Esports and Immortals. The rosters were decided by the community on Reddit's CS:GO community (r/GlobalOffensive). The community was to decide teams among twelve personalities, but it was determined that the casting duo Daniel "ddk" Kapadia and James Bardolph were to be captains and choose their teams.[39]

Team Bardolph12-16Team ddk
James Bardolph United Kingdom
HenryG United Kingdom
Izak Poland
natu Finland
sapphiRe United States		 Cache United Kingdom ddk
United States moses
United Kingdom Mantrousse
United States Prius
Serbia YNk
Casters: Fifflaren & SPUNJ

References[]

  1. ^ "AdreN wins PGL Major MVP award". HLTV. July 3, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  2. ^ "The PGL 2017 Krakow CS:GO Major". Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Blog. March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  3. ^ Mira, Luis (March 15, 2017). "PGL to host Major in Krakow". HLTV.rog. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  4. ^ Donnelly, Joe (February 6, 2017). "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive moves Dust2 out of rotation in favour of revamped Inferno". PVPLive. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  5. ^ "PGL Asia Minor Championship". PGL eSports. April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  6. ^ "Asia Minor - PGL Major Krakow 2017". HLTV.org. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  7. ^ "CIS Minor - PGL Major Krakow 2017". HLTV.org. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  8. ^ "Tournament Information – PGL Europe Minor Championship". PGL eSports. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  9. ^ "Fnatic Academy to play as Ballistix in PGL EU Minor Championship Event". Ballistix Gaming. June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  10. ^ –, Zescht (June 12, 2017). "FNATIC ACADEMY TO MINOR AS BALLISTIX". HLTV.org. Retrieved June 12, 2017.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Europe Minor - PGL Major Krakow 2017". HLTV.org. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
  12. ^ Mira, Luis (April 22, 2017). "PGL reveal Americas Minor qualifiers". HLTV.org. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  13. ^ Gares, Sean (May 12, 2017). "Sean Gares on Twitter: "I am unable to attend the NA minor on the 8th (wedding :D), so I cannot play in the minor qual & minor at all. We will be using @RelyksOG!"". Twitter. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  14. ^ Stubbsy, Mike (June 5, 2017). "MISFITS BENCH SHAHZAM FOR THE MINOR". Boomeo. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  15. ^ Lewis, Jarek (May 15, 2017). "KNg to replace fnx on Immortals". Slingshot eSports. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  16. ^ "Americas Minor - PGL Major Krakow 2017". HLTV.org. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  17. ^ Lewis, Jarek (January 18, 2017). "DeKay: JW and flusha plan to rejoin former Fnatic teammates after ELEAGUE Major". Slingshot eSports. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  18. ^ Hutter, Kristine (February 5, 2017). "felps joins SK Gaming, fnx moves to Immortals". The Score eSports. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  19. ^ Smet, Piet (March 20, 2017). "Team Dignitas Announces 2017 CS:GO Lineup". Team Dignitas. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  20. ^ Lewis, Jarek (May 15, 2017). "KNg to replace fnx on Immortals". Slingshot eSports. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  21. ^ Deason, Ross (February 8, 2017). "North CS:GO Makes a Roster Change by Signing aizy from FaZe". Dexerto. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  22. ^ Ibañez, Gregory (February 9, 2017). "CSGO: Niko Officially Signed with FaZe Clan". PVPLive. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  23. ^ Robichaud, Andrew (March 21, 2017). "Dignitas returns to CS:GO with RUBINO". TSN. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
  24. ^ –, Spark (April 13, 2017). "Mousesports CS:GO squad brings in Ropz". KillPing. Retrieved July 1, 2017.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Te, Zorine (April 12, 2017). "Mousesports signs ropz to CS:GO team, Spiidi moved to bench". Yahoo!. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  26. ^ Burazin, Zvonimir (January 29, 2017). "OSKAR RETURNS TO MOUZ, CHRISJ BENCHED". HLTV.org. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  27. ^ Spiers, Freya (March 12, 2017). "STARIX LEAVES NA'VI". Topmid E-Sports. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  28. ^ Bishop, Sam (May 11, 2017). "Starix joins the Team Spirit roster". Gamereactor. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  29. ^ Crosby, Anthony B. (February 2, 2017). "The French CS:GO Roster Shuffle (G2 and EnVyUs)". Hollywood. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  30. ^ Gonzales, Dennis (January 2, 2017). "gob b, tabseN, LEGIJA form BIG, buyout nex and keev". The Score eSports. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
  31. ^ Nordmark, Sam (January 3, 2017). "Gob b, legija, and tabseN form new CS:GO team". Dot eSports. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
  32. ^ Hitt, Kevin (March 9, 2017). "PENTA Completes Their CSGO Roster for 2017 After Signing Three". Dexerto. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  33. ^ https://www.hltv.org/ranking/teams/2017/july/10
  34. ^ https://www.hltv.org/ranking/teams/2017/july/10/details/6137
  35. ^ https://www.hltv.org/ranking/teams/2017/july/10/details/5752
  36. ^ https://www.hltv.org/ranking/teams/2017/july/10/details/5988
  37. ^ Mira, Luis (July 23, 2017). "ADREN WINS PGL MAJOR MVP AWARD". HLTV.org. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  38. ^ https://www.hltv.org/ranking/teams/2017/july/24
  39. ^ Petrescu, Diane (July 15, 2017). "PGL Major Krakow Showmatch - Vote who you want to see play!". Reddit. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
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