The 8 'Counter-Strike' teams facing off in the ELeague Major playoffs this weekend

The primary Counter-Strike: International Offensive Main of the yr is nearing its finish and solely eight groups are left in probably the most thrilling and prestigious tournaments in CS:GO historical past.

The ELeague Main playoffs kick off this Friday and run via Sunday, that includes Na'Vi, Virtus.professional, SK Gaming, Fnatic, Gambit Esports, North, FaZe Clan and Astralis battling via the single-elimination bracket to be topped the best CS:GO group on the earth.

These eight groups have already earned the title of "Legends" and routinely qualify for the subsequent Main after rising from the 16-team preliminaries, however they nonetheless have extra preventing to do to inch nearer to the grand finals happening on the Fox Theatre in Atlanta,  taking residence the most important piece of the $1 million prize pool. After this week's preliminary matches, a couple of groups stand out as robust contenders for the title.

We're breaking down precisely how every staff is wanting within the Main and the way they've carried out at current tournaments to get a greater concept of how this week goes to go down. Take a look at our team-by-team preview of the ELeague Main playoffs under.

Na'Vi

If there's one clear stand out from the ELeague Main's preliminaries, it is Na'Vi. Over three matches towards Mousesports, Workforce EnVyUs and SK Gaming, Na'Vi solely gave up 12 rounds, coming into the Main with a completely dominating efficiency that hasn't been seen since their championship run at ESL One New York in October. 

Each member of the five-man squad has been on hearth this week. So long as the group can keep cool beneath strain and keep in management like they've been, Na'Vi might have this Main within the bag. The group hasn't carried out very persistently since Oleksandr "S1mple" Kostyliev joined in August, nevertheless it looks like it is discovered its footing on the ELeague Main. 

Virtus.professional

Though the Polish squad additionally made it to the ELeague Main playoffs on the Three-Zero win streak, the workforce did not do it fairly as convincingly as Na'Vi. After shut wins towards OpTic Gaming and G2 Esports, VP secured its spot towards Gambit Wednesday. Regardless of its path to the playoffs, you possibly can by no means rule out Virtus.professional.

Virtus.professional has seen two first place finishes prior to now six months — ELeague Season 1 and DreamHack Bucharest — however the majority of its different event finishes have not been something to put in writing house about. If they will get the gang behind them and have interaction the well-known Virtus.plow — a time period their followers coined for his or her means to succeed most once they're on a roll — the lads might see themselves profitable their first Main since March 2014.

SK Gaming

The SK Gaming roster is the two-time reigning Main champion, having torn by way of the previous two Majors with exhilarating aptitude. The workforce made it to the ELeague Main playoffs with wins towards HellRaisers, FaZe Clan and favourite Astralis, solely dropping one recreation to Na'Vi, proving that this can be a group that is hungry for a 3rd title.

Because the ESL Cologne Main in July, although, first place finishes have utterly eluded the (principally) Brazilian group. SK has positioned within the prime 4 of a number of tournaments however have not been capable of shut out necessary wins close to the finals. The squad has welcomed Ricardo "Fox" Pacheco to combine issues up and push all of them the best way to the finals, however a scarcity of apply time with the Portuguese participant could also be a detriment to SK's success.

Fnatic

Fnatic scraped its means into the ELeague Main playoffs, beginning with a loss towards G2 after which three wins towards North, Mousesports and Workforce EnVyUs. Their shut wins do not precisely show that the brand new roster is snug with one another on a regular basis however present they've sufficient particular person talent to compete on the prime.

Between August and November, Fnatic shuffled its roster a lot that the staff hasn't had an opportunity to catch its breath. The Swedes have not had a strong event putting since their second place end at ELeague Season 1, and the workforce is not anticipated to vary that on the Main. With rumors floating around that Fnatic is reverting all these modifications and going again to its previous roster after the Main ends, do not anticipate a number of dynamite from this workforce.

Gambit Esports

Gambit is the darkish horse of the ELeague Main, touchdown wins towards North, Godsent and FaZe Clan this week and solely dropping to Virtus.professional earlier than making it to the playoffs. If Gambit did not qualify based mostly on their top-eight end on the final Main, the staff might not have even made it to the preliminaries this time round contemplating their failure to qualify at a handful of premier tournaments all through 2016.

Two of Gambit's prime gamers, Ivan "Spaze" Obrezhan and Dmitry "Hooch" Bogdanov, left in October and Gambit hasn't had sufficient time to really feel out their new squad. The workforce gained DreamHack Winter in November, however the competitors additionally wasn't very robust.

North

North, previously the roster of Group Dignitas, certified for the playoffs after wins towards HellRaisers, G2 and Godsent, which adopted losses towards Gambit and Fnatic. Regardless of these losses, North have been wanting robust just lately and will go fairly far on the ELeague Main.

The members of North proved they seem to be a prime staff at Epicenter in October, beating each Na'Vi and Virtus.professional to take first place. Their nemesis seems to be SK Gaming, which North has misplaced to quite a few occasions at current tournaments. If North can keep away from SK within the bracket, they've a shot on the prime.

FaZe Clan

FaZe Clan landed wins towards FlipSid3 Techniques, Staff Liquid and Workforce EnVyUs to make it to the ELeague Main playoffs, however misplaced to SK Gaming and Gambit. The workforce is not among the many easiest to make it to the Main however they've undoubtedly upset strong groups earlier than.

FaZe Clan has been on the upswing because it signed Finn "Karrigan" Andersen in October, giving the workforce a wanted increase in current tournaments, however not fairly sufficient to land in first place. FaZe has managed a number of current top-four finishes however nothing that means they might come out on prime at this Main.

Astralis

Astralis got here into the ELeague Main as one of many favorites to win, however had a troublesome time in preliminaries. Astralis misplaced to Godsent and SK Gaming however beat out G2, Group Liquid and OpTic Gaming to make it to the playoffs, led by some superb performances from its latest members Markus Kjærbye and Lukas "Gla1ve" Rossander.

The Danish workforce has probably the most success lately out of all of the groups within the Main, having gained ECS Season 2 and taking second at ELeague Season 2 in December. If the squad can study from its losses and keep cool underneath Main strain, Astralis nonetheless has a great shot of going all the best way.

We're in Atlanta for the event and shall be reporting on all the most effective performs and match outcomes. 

ELeague is owned by Turner Broadcasting, which is also an investor in Mashable.