The second annual edition of ELEAGUE Premier is set to start this Saturday in Atlanta. With a $1.000.000 prize pool and 8 elite teams attending, an event which will close the semester for most pro players.

Now, between those 8 teams, which ones are the most interesting to follow this week? Let’s take a look in the top storylines coming for ELEAGUE.

Cloud9 tries out an international mix

Always seen as a full North American team, Cloud9 is now mixing things. The team who was in disarray after Stewie2K’s transfer finds themselves in the same situation as Tarik left the squad.

To replace those Stewie, STYKO who also played for C9 back in ESL One Cologne is back. Alongside him, Golden, ex-FNATIC IGL will be replacing Tarik.

In Cologne last week, C9 had a very short time to practice with STYKO. This time they had a bit more comfortable schedule, although things are more difficult now. What can Golden add to this team?

Back in FNATIC, Golden performances weren’t amongst the best for sure. They won IEM Katowice 2018 and WESG 2017 Finals but there was dependent on star players to make things happen.

Cloud9 however don’t have the firepower of KrimZ nor Flusha available here. Different than Autimatic who has been the rock-solid star of C9, RUSH and Skadoodle aren’t as reliable.

ELEAGUE will be a place to try out things for Cloud9 as they explore the option of an international squad. Will Golden show something promising? We might see the Swede with C9 in the upcoming Major.

Astralis looks for a return match while Na’Vi wants the top spot

In Cologne, Natus Vincere took the pavements of a new era off Astralis. The Danish squad who looked unstoppable couldn’t hold ‘s1mple’ squad when it mattered the most.

Coming into ELEAGUE, Astralis is looking for a rematch. The Danish squad lost to the opposition in the semifinals of Cologne and were sent back home.

As mentioned before, Na’Vi and Astralis rivalry is reaching its climax. ELEAGUE Premier 2018 being the event to close the season is important for both. Winning it will provide a confidence boost in the upcoming player break.

Na’Vi of course doesn’t want to lose their momentum to Astralis. Winning here would probably prove them as the best team for the time being.

Back in May, Astralis lost IEM Sydney 2018 to FaZe and came stronger than ever in the following event. Can they repeat that and beat Na’Vi this time? It will be exciting to see what Gla1ve has been preparing to face their rivals at ELEAGUE.

FaZe is back with its full roster

After six events playing with stand-ins, FaZe Clan is back with its full roster. Olofmeister announced that he’s back from his personal break and will be at ELEAGUE with his team.

FaZe now will be heading straight back to the competition for the 1st place in the world rankings. However, things won’t be that simple now with a fully confident Na’Vi and an eagerly Astralis fighting for the spot.

In ELEAGUE, FaZe is in the same group as Na’Vi, setting a game between those two sooner than later. In this highly-probable encounter, FaZe will be truly tested and so will be Olofmeister form post his break.

We know however that even with stand-ins, FaZe were challenging both Astralis and Na’Vi. Now with olof things will get even more exciting.

Made in Brazil, with imports from the US

Stewie going to the MiBR squad months ago was a big surprise for most fans. This week an even bigger surprise hit the CS:GO scene as Tarik also joined the team, replacing Boltz.

While Boltz being benched was clearly in the plans for MiBR, Tarik being added caught people off guard. In Cloud9, Tarik was an essential player who brought some much-needed firepower. More than this, he was the leader when the team won the Major earlier this year.

In MiBR, Tarik can add a new layer of tactics for the team at the same time he brings some fragging power. Boltz although a capable player, was being misused in FalleN’s game plan and his bad performances were a result of this.

Coming into ELEAGUE, MiBR should look for the most superficial problems to solve these in the player break. They can’t misuse a player like they did with Boltz now. Their opponents should be aware of the possible return of the Stewie and Tarik duo. Back in Cloud9, they were really explosive and turned rounds in their favor and they can do the same here.

ELEAGUE Premier 2018 will be the last event before the player break in August

While August will still have some online tournaments and IEM Shanghai with a couple teams amongst the top 20, the elite squads will be taking a break. Teams like MiBR and Cloud9 will be preparing for the final semester of 2018 with their new players. Astralis, Liquid, Na’Vi, FaZe, Mousesports and other will be in the grind to fight for the top 3 rankings in the world.

The action returns on August 24th for MiBR and August 29th for the rest of the top 10 teams with DreamHack Masters Stockholm. Who do you think that will make the best of this break? And who will take the $500.000 1st prize in ELEAGUE? Tell us!