ESL One New York begins tomorrow, September 15, so it's time for us to take a deeper look at the eight teams competing for $250,000 in the Big Apple and their chances to grab the shiny trophy come Sunday.

The post-off-season period full of LAN events hasn't stopped just yet. With the return of ESL One to New York, we have the next international tournament right at our door, alongside ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier's Group B.

The $250,000 event will gather eight teams, five of whom are in the top ten as per our ranking, plus the new-look Natus Vincere and Cloud9, as well as Envy.

For ESL One New York's format, on-air talent, schedule, and prize distribution, head over to our viewer's guide, which has all the information you need to follow the event. As always, we have also put together an in-depth preview to get you fully prepped up for the next three days of play in the Big Apple:

* Ratings used are from the past three months on LAN

Group A



Offline placings in the past three months 3rd ESG Tour Mykonos ESG Tour Mykonos 5th-8th DreamHack Masters Malmö DreamHack Masters Malmö 5th-8th PGL Major Krakow PGL Major Krakow 1st ESL One Cologne ESL One Cologne 1st ECS Season 3 Finals ECS Season 3 Finals 1st DreamHack Open Summer DreamHack Open Summer

SK's efforts of getting their confidence back came to no fruition last week at ESG Tour Mykonos. With many top teams missing, the Brazilians aimed to get back to winning ways, but a 2-0 defeat against Liquid in the semi-finals crushed their hopes.

With DreamHack Masters Malmö having gone awry at the beginning of September as well, when SK fell to their nemesis G2 despite looking fantastic for a 2-0 sweep, FalleN's side have failed to live up to the billing as clear favorites in both tournaments they have attended since the break.

No one is a clear favorite at ESL One New York

They should naturally be considered title contenders all the same, and still one of the main favorites, mainly because no other team has shown the consistency to snatch the No.1 spot away from the Brazilian side just yet.

For a team like SK, Group A should be more or less a formality. Envy have shown little improvement in an offline setting as we saw in Mykonos, and Cloud9 and Natus Vincere have yet to prove themselves.

To go further than the semis, which are bound to yield a tough match-up, SK will be looking at fer, who was a no-show in the aforementioned series with Liquid. If he and coldzera fire up as we know them to do, the sky is the limit.



Offline placings in the past three months 9th-12th ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 5th-8th DreamHack Masters Malmö DreamHack Masters Malmö 12th-14th PGL Major Krakow (4/5 of the current lineup) PGL Major Krakow (4/5 of the current lineup) 3rd-4th ESL One Cologne (4/5) ESL One Cologne (4/5) 2nd Adrenaline Cyber League (4/5) Adrenaline Cyber League (4/5)

After the Zeus-led squad finished in a respectable 5th-8th place at DreamHack Masters Malmö, losing a narrow series to NiP in the quarter-finals, Natus Vincere faced a tough group in ELEAGUE Premier and went out following losses to FaZe and G2.

ESL One New York will be Na`Vi's third event within a little over two weeks, which means they'll still be rough on the edges this weekend, unsure about their map pool as much as about everything else.

Na`Vi will be back in action after their short campaign at ELEAGUE Premier

Nonetheless, they're looking quite good in Group A. As mentioned before, Cloud9 are in a similar position, and it's likely the two will duke it out for the second spot in the group. Odds are the match-up is as 50-50 as it can get, so it'll largely depend on individual form.

s1mple remains the team's superstar, but everyone else is up and down; first and foremost it'll be up to flamie to step it up if Na`Vi are to advance to the playoffs. Anything further than that would be a bonus, considering Astralis and FaZe are the teams most likely to make it out on the other side.



Offline placings in the past three months 3rd-4th DreamHack Open Montreal DreamHack Open Montreal 9th-12th DreamHack Masters Malmö DreamHack Masters Malmö 9th-11th PGL Major Krakow (3/5) PGL Major Krakow (3/5) 2nd ESL One Cologne (3/5) ESL One Cologne (3/5) 3rd-5th PGL Major Krakow Main Qualifier (3/5) PGL Major Krakow Main Qualifier (3/5) 3rd-4th ECS Season 3 Finals (3/5) ECS Season 3 Finals (3/5) 7th-8th DreamHack Open Summer (3/5) DreamHack Open Summer (3/5)

Cloud9's new lineup's beginnings have not yielded the greatest results as of yet, with a group stage exit at DreamHack Masters Malmö being followed by a semi-final run at DreamHack Open Montreal.

That was to be expected from the new lineup, especially looking at the teams Stewie2K's men lost to at their first two events: North and SK in Sweden, Immortals and North again in Canada.

tarik and Stewie2K exchanged roles

Unless things changed again ahead of ESL One New York, tarik still holds the leadership duties, which in theory should have freed up Stewie2K, but the opposite seems to be the case right now.

With Stewie2K's role changed, he might need a bit more time to adjust; so far, he hasn't had much success against the better teams. Instead, it's tarik who seems to have profited from the swap, at least so far.



Offline placings in the past three months 7th-8th ESG Tour Mykonos ESG Tour Mykonos 13th-16th DreamHack Masters Malmö DreamHack Masters Malmö 1st DreamHack Open Atlanta DreamHack Open Atlanta 3rd-4th DreamHack Open Valencia DreamHack Open Valencia 4th Europe Minor - PGL Major Krakow Europe Minor - PGL Major Krakow

Envy were seemingly on the upswing when they made their way to three events via online qualifiers during the latter half of August, but their first two offline showings since then have resulted in early exits and disappointing performances.

The Frenchmen at least made things look competitive in Malmö, where they went out after close matches with G2 and fnatic; at ESG Tour Mykonos, they only showed up on one map against BIG.

EnVyUs' chances aren't looking good

nV's chances at ESL One New York are thus slim at best. The one thing going for them is that they will have a clearer idea of what their strengths are in the map pool than Natus Vincere or Cloud9, but having a more defined style than those two teams can just as well work against Happy's squad.

Both of those teams will have scouted what Envy like to do, but the same cannot be said from the Frenchmen, as Cloud9 and Natus Vincere are both new teams with new leadership. ScreaM & co. facing SK up first is most likely to end in tears, and beating both Cloud9 and Natus Vincere in best-of-threes is something a betting man wouldn't put money on.

Group B



Offline placings in the past three months 5th-8th DreamHack Masters Malmö DreamHack Masters Malmö 3rd-4th PGL Major Krakow PGL Major Krakow 3rd-4th ECS Season 3 Finals ECS Season 3 Finals 1st ELEAGUE Clash for Cash ELEAGUE Clash for Cash

Astralis haven't looked fantastic themselves after the off-season, finishing 5th-8th at DreamHack Masters Malmö with their second loss in a row to Gambit, who caught the Danes off-guard with a quick 2-0 series.

Luckily for them, Gambit won't be present in New York, but their group is a tough one, nonetheless. Everyone will pose a threat to Astralis, starting with Liquid who proved they can take on the best last weekend.

Astralis will be facing a tough group this weekend

If the Danes pass that test, they could meet either Virtus.pro, who are still a tough opponent on a good day, or FaZe, a somewhat unknown entity with a roster whose majority has a great track record against gla1ve & co.

Astralis should still be seen as favorites to make it out of the group, but it's by no means a formality as is the case with SK; expect the Danes to have to fight for their place in the playoffs.

Beyond that, device's team has a lot to prove. They lost their streak of top four finishes with their current lineup in Malmö and haven't won anything aside from the Clash for Cash since IEM Katowice, in March. ESL One New York could be a great opportunity for Astralis to get back in contention for the No.1 team in the world, with SK in shaky form and many of the others still trying to prove their worth.



Offline placings in the past three months 9th-12th DreamHack Masters Malmö DreamHack Masters Malmö 15th-16th PGL Major Krakow (3/5) PGL Major Krakow (3/5) 3rd-4th ESL One Cologne (3/5) ESL One Cologne (3/5) 2nd ECS Season 3 Finals (3/5) ECS Season 3 Finals (3/5)

The first month of FaZe's new lineup's existence has yielded a group stage exit at DreamHack Masters Malmö, where Gambit claimed their scalp, and a playoff spot at ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier thus far.

If we've learned anything from their first two events, it's that GuardiaN is in great shape (olofmeister isn't doing badly himself), and that the European squad still likes Mirage, which FaZe have played three times and won them all.

GuardiaN is in tip-top shape

karrigan's team's playstyle is a bit all over the place as predicted, but that might work to their advantage for the time being, as long as the players perform and their opponents can't scout much of their tendencies from the few matches FaZe have played.

Nothing suggests the individuals won't perform, which makes a playoff run likely for the star-studded lineup. Whether they place first or second in the group should come down to the Astralis match-up, which has historically been favorable for karrigan, and that should determine whether they'll play SK in the semis or not. If not, FaZe have a good shot at making it all the way to the final, come Sunday.



Offline placings in the past three months 2nd ESG Tour Mykonos ESG Tour Mykonos 5th-8th ESL One Cologne ESL One Cologne 9th-11th PGL Major Krakow Main Qualifier PGL Major Krakow Main Qualifier 5th-6th ECS Season 3 Finals ECS Season 3 Finals

After fairly uneventful several months following the addition of stanislaw and later Twistzz, Liquid finally lived up to their potential last weekend, at ESG Tour Mykonos.

Despite being praised for his leadership, stanislaw took a step back from the role and it instantly paid off. nitr0 has taken it upon himself to call the shots after the off-season, leaving the Canadian with a more comfortable position as a lurker.

nitr0's return to leadership allowed stanislaw to play a more comfortable position

A series win over SK is no easy feat, let alone a 2-0 sweep, but Liquid did it and it'll bring loads of confidence their way despite the loss to mousesports in the ESG Tour grand final. Now they have another tough challenge ahead of them in the form of Group B in New York, where they'll have to beat two of three giants, Astralis, FaZe, and Virtus.pro.

None of the match-ups is particularly favorable for the North American team, especially after they lost to Virtus.pro in Greece, but Liquid will not be fighting a lost cause; expect an exciting battle with EliGE at the helm.



Offline placings in the past three months 4th ESG Tour Mykonos ESG Tour Mykonos 13th-16th DreamHack Masters Malmö DreamHack Masters Malmö 3th-4th PGL Major Krakow PGL Major Krakow 15th-16th ESL One Cologne ESL One Cologne 1st Adrenaline Cyber League Adrenaline Cyber League 2nd ELEAGUE Clash for Cash ELEAGUE Clash for Cash

Virtus.pro's struggles continue. There isn't much to be said about their performance at ESG Tour Mykonos, where the Poles lost the semi-final series to mousesports, other than it being yet another sign of the team's baffling issues.

It turns out that Snax's short period as the team's in-game leader has come to an end as TaZ has taken the reins. Having the star call the shots was a questionable decision in the first place, and, to be fair, Snax's numbers at the last several events had dropped significantly.

The 24-year-old needs to be a superstar for Virtus.pro to come back from the grave, and freeing him up from the shackles of leadership is the first step towards bringing him back - and the team along with him.