amazingxkcd Profile Blog Joined September 2010 GRAND OLD AMERICA 15736 Posts Last Edited: 2016-10-06 21:14:12 #1 Onwards to Columbus

The qualifier for the MLG CS:GO Major Championship is this weekend, February 26-28 in Columbus, Ohio. Sixteen teams have been drawn into four groups, with two from each qualifying for the $1,000,000 tournament to be held at the end of March. The bottom eight from Cluj-Napoca and eight teams qualifying from various regions across the globe face off for a chance to play in North America’s first CS:GO Major.



The spotlight is focused on the home teams as they make their bid to defend America against the invading European sides. Here is a look at the state of CLG, TL, and SG as they prepare for their first test in Columbus.





The qualifier for the MLG CS:GO Major Championship is this weekend, February 26-28 in Columbus, Ohio. Sixteen teams have been drawn into four groups, with two from each qualifying for the $1,000,000 tournament to be held at the end of March. The bottom eight from Cluj-Napoca and eight teams qualifying from various regions across the globe face off for a chance to play in North America’s first CS:GO Major.The spotlight is focused on the home teams as they make their bid to defend America against the invading European sides. Here is a look at the state ofCLG,TL, andSG as they prepare for their first test in Columbus. Counter Logic Gaming

At the GEC LAN in early February, CLG came out swinging in the group stage showing their prowess on Overpass, taking the map twice off EnVyUs and knocking out Flipside. This was good enough to net them a spot in the playoffs where they faced the newly christened G2 line-up and managed to dispatch them in three games before falling 0-2 to Dignitas in the semis. They outplaced their NA brethren Cloud9 at the event and also looked like the sharper squad overall.



Aside from online EPL games, the only other notable showing of the team was the online qualifier for DH Malmo where they fell to Team Liquid’s new lineup 0-2, denying them a top 2 placing and forcing them into a final face-off against Cloud9 to decide the final North American team to qualify for the main event. They won the series 2-0 on the back of two strong CT halves against C9, 10-3 on Cache to close out a 16-12 win, and 12-3 on Cobble that led to a 16-3 stomp that ended the series.



Overall, CLG look to be playing much better with the addition of Jacob "FugLy" Medina and the rise of Josh "jdm" Marzano as a true AWP threat. Their choice of Overpass as a home map makes sense with this in mind, as it plays perfectly into the team’s strengths of solid CT sides anchored by their strong sniper. Unfortunately, if they don’t manage their economy well and jdm is unable to wield the big green gun, the team struggles to make up for the loss of firepower as they have no superstar-level rifler to fall back on.



CLG were slated to play the Mongolz team that qualified from Asia at the Columbus quals, but visa issues have thrown that plan out the window, and they are now facing the second place team from the NA Minor, Splyce. They are heavy favorites over this relatively untested squad despite the best-of-1 nature of the series. In the winner’s match, they will face the victor of Vexed and SK. Neither team is particularly impressive even in their regional scenes, so it would be hard to imagine CLG failing to take care of business.



At the GEC LAN in early February, CLG came out swinging in the group stage showing their prowess on Overpass, taking the map twice offEnVyUs and knocking outFlipside. This was good enough to net them a spot in the playoffs where they faced the newly christenedG2 line-up and managed to dispatch them in three games before falling 0-2 toDignitas in the semis. They outplaced their NA brethren Cloud9 at the event and also looked like the sharper squad overall.Aside from online EPL games, the only other notable showing of the team was the online qualifier for DH Malmo where they fell to Team Liquid’s new lineup 0-2, denying them a top 2 placing and forcing them into a final face-off against Cloud9 to decide the final North American team to qualify for the main event. They won the series 2-0 on the back of two strong CT halves against C9, 10-3 on Cache to close out a 16-12 win, and 12-3 on Cobble that led to a 16-3 stomp that ended the series.Overall, CLG look to be playing much better with the addition ofJacob "FugLy" Medina and the rise ofJosh "jdm" Marzano as a true AWP threat. Their choice of Overpass as a home map makes sense with this in mind, as it plays perfectly into the team’s strengths of solid CT sides anchored by their strong sniper. Unfortunately, if they don’t manage their economy well and jdm is unable to wield the big green gun, the team struggles to make up for the loss of firepower as they have no superstar-level rifler to fall back on.CLG were slated to play the Mongolz team that qualified from Asia at the Columbus quals, but visa issues have thrown that plan out the window, and they are now facing the second place team from the NA Minor,Splyce. They are heavy favorites over this relatively untested squad despite the best-of-1 nature of the series. In the winner’s match, they will face the victor ofVexed andSK. Neither team is particularly impressive even in their regional scenes, so it would be hard to imagine CLG failing to take care of business. Team Liquid

Coming into the Major qual, TL is in an odd position on many levels. Most obviously, they have been forced to play with the player they just removed from the lineup at this event. Due to Valve’s rules, they are unable to field their current fifth (more on him later) due to him having qualified for the qualifier with a different team. Many other players that would have been options also don’t wish to play with the team, because if they qualify for the Major, these players would be ineligible to compete at the following Minor, no matter what team they are actually on.



On top of that, the team is also relatively untested. Their only games this year have been in online matches of dubious meaning. They had a disappointing showing with adreN in the IEM X WC, losing 2-1 to rising team Tempo Storm. They recently 2-0’d CLG in the Malmo quals with their current official lineup, but that says nothing about the shape of the team going into the qualifier given the situation. Even with their former teammate as a stand-in, it’s tough to gauge their chances. As of now, Nick "nitr0" Canella and James "GBJames" O'Connor are sharing calling duties, but will that hold true given that Eric "adreN" Hoag was their IGL?



TL is slated to play HellRaisers, a team that at one time took many Bo1s off of better teams. Should TL beat them, they would then likely face a dangerous mousesports lineup. Without their dedicated AWP talent, they could have a hard time dealing with the explosive Chris "chrisJ" De Jong. If they fall there, they would either rematch HR or face YP in a bo3. It’s unlikely that they lose either of those series, but the room for error seems small.



Coming into the Major qual, TL is in an odd position on many levels. Most obviously, they have been forced to play with the player they just removed from the lineup at this event. Due to Valve’s rules, they are unable to field their current fifth (more on him later) due to him having qualified for the qualifier with a different team. Many other players that would have been options also don’t wish to play with the team, because if they qualify for the Major, these players would be ineligible to compete at the following Minor, no matter what team they are actually on.On top of that, the team is also relatively untested. Their only games this year have been in online matches of dubious meaning. They had a disappointing showing with adreN in the IEM X WC, losing 2-1 to rising team Tempo Storm. They recently 2-0’d CLG in the Malmo quals with their current official lineup, but that says nothing about the shape of the team going into the qualifier given the situation. Even with their former teammate as a stand-in, it’s tough to gauge their chances. As of now,Nick "nitr0" Canella andJames "GBJames" O'Connor are sharing calling duties, but will that hold true given thatEric "adreN" Hoag was their IGL?TL is slated to playHellRaisers, a team that at one time took many Bo1s off of better teams. Should TL beat them, they would then likely face a dangerousmousesports lineup. Without their dedicated AWP talent, they could have a hard time dealing with the explosiveChris "chrisJ" De Jong. If they fall there, they would either rematch HR or faceYP in a bo3. It’s unlikely that they lose either of those series, but the room for error seems small. Selfless Gaming



Selfless Gaming have had perhaps the most storied road to this Major qual. Their run through the NA Minor was a spectacle. As Enemy at the time, they went 6-0 in maps to win the event as a relative unknown team when compared to the more established Winterfox, and Optic Gaming lineups. Even more surprising, not a single team reached double-digit round score on any map against them. The event served as a breakout for the NA kennyS: Kenneth “koosta” Suen. He had a 1.67 rating from HLTV throughout the tournament, reaching 2.03 in the finals against Splyce.



Unfortunately for the future of this team, he now plays for Team Liquid. However, due to the previously discussed rule, this will serve as a strange going away party for the young sniper, as he rejoins his teammates to complete what they started at the Minor. Making it to the Major seems like quite a tall order given the group draw.



Luckily, SG faces the other weaker team in the group first, Flipside. Flipside in recent times have looked quite weak. Their showing at GEC was nothing to be happy about, going out in groups without winning a map. SG certainly have a decent chance to win this game, and might even be favored to do so.



To get out of the group, SG are going to have to beat one of G2 or TS, something that seems quite unlikely. G2 are a top-10 team in the world, and easily the favorites to make it out of the group. TS is certainly the more beatable team, but have bested better NA teams like CLG, C9, and TL recently. It’s hard to imagine SG overcoming either team unless they have a fortunate bo1 map draw and play far above what’s expected of them.









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Selfless Gaming have had perhaps the most storied road to this Major qual. Their run through the NA Minor was a spectacle. AsEnemy at the time, they went 6-0 in maps to win the event as a relative unknown team when compared to the more establishedWinterfox, andOptic Gaming lineups. Even more surprising, not a single team reached double-digit round score on any map against them. The event served as a breakout for the NA kennyS:Kenneth “koosta” Suen. He had a 1.67 rating from HLTV throughout the tournament, reaching 2.03 in the finals against Splyce.Unfortunately for the future of this team, he now plays for Team Liquid. However, due to the previously discussed rule, this will serve as a strange going away party for the young sniper, as he rejoins his teammates to complete what they started at the Minor. Making it to the Major seems like quite a tall order given the group draw.Luckily, SG faces the other weaker team in the group first, Flipside. Flipside in recent times have looked quite weak. Their showing at GEC was nothing to be happy about, going out in groups without winning a map. SG certainly have a decent chance to win this game, and might even be favored to do so.To get out of the group, SG are going to have to beat one of G2 or TS, something that seems quite unlikely. G2 are a top-10 team in the world, and easily the favorites to make it out of the group. TS is certainly the more beatable team, but have bested better NA teams like CLG, C9, and TL recently. It’s hard to imagine SG overcoming either team unless they have a fortunate bo1 map draw and play far above what’s expected of them.Writer: Yamato Editor: Amazingxkcd CSS: FO-nTTaX Graphics: DearDave The world is burning and you rather be on this terrible website discussing video games and your shallow feelings