Week 2 of ELEAGUE is just around the corner and we will finally see some European talent take to the stage, in the form of two reinvigorated giants: Ninjas in Pyjamas and G2 Esports.

Joining them will be two domestic squads, OpTic Gaming and Selfless Gaming, the latter being the team who replaced TyLoo after they ran into visa issues.

theScore esports has a quick breakdown of each of the teams and what to expect from the group.

Ninjas in Pyjamas

PLAYER HLTV RATING (MAY 27) Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg 1.12 Adam "friberg" Friberg 0.95 Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund 1.13 Jacob "pyth" Mourujärvi 0.98 Richard "Xizt" Landström 0.99 Björn "THREAT" Pers*

Notable performances:

3-4 Esports Championship Series - Europe

3-4 ESL Pro League

1 DreamHack Masters Malmö

5-8 MLG Major Championship: Columbus

Since the start of the year, NiP went from being ranked sixth on HLTV in early January to eleventh in early March, then fourth nearing the end of May. A dramatic fall and rise in performance over the course of a few months.

The team’s recovery arguably is the sole responsibility of their coach Björn "THREAT" Pers, who has completely reformed many aspects of the team. The fruit these changes bore only reinforced NiP players' trust in their coach, resulting in a well-oiled Swedish magic machine.

With the fragging power of GeT_RiGhT and f0rest, combined with the mind of THREAT, NiP look to top the group.

G2 Esports

PLAYER HLTV RATING (MAY 27) Alexandre "bodyy" Pianaro 1.03 Cédric "RpK" Guipouy 1 Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom 1.1 Richard "shox" Papillon* 1.13 Edouard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux 0.95

Notable performances:

2 Esports Championship Series - Europe

2 ESL Pro League

1-4 MLG Major Championship: Columbus - Qualifier

3 ESL Expo Barcelona

G2 go into the group as one of the favorites, along with fellow European team NiP, though the Swedes will likely stand at the summit for the group while the Frenchmen will hold watch at the base.

G2 stand as the "gatekeepers" into CS:GO's Tier 1, meaning that if you ever hope to take on the international CS:GO scene, you start with G2. The same is true for making it through groups; Selfless, OpTic and maybe even NiP themselves will have trouble displacing them.

The Frenchmen gave the CS:GO world a strong sense of nostalgia during the ESL Pro League Finals. If shox and ScreaM bring out vintage plays in Atlanta, like they did in London, G2 very well may be the favorites and not NiP.

Selfless Gaming

PLAYER HLTV RATING (MAY 27) Michael "MAiNLiNE" Jaber 0.85 Mitch "mitch" Semago 0.97 Noah "Nifty" Francis 1.03 Skyler "Relyks" Weaver 1.02 TBD Steve "Ryu" Rattacasa*

Notable performances:

3-4 iBUYPOWER Invitational 2016 - Spring

Selfless are known for some of their unorthodox plays and have garnered some fans because of them, but their impact into NA CS:GO, let alone competitive CS:GO as a whole, has not been fully realized yet. As such, they are considered the weakest team in the group by a fair margin.

They’re also known as the team that housed Kenneth "koosta" Suen before he joined Team Liquid. Despite the loss of that star player, Selfless feel more united in their cause. However, unity is only a part of the puzzle that is competitive CS:GO. They will need more to take down either of the reinvigorated European squads in the group.

Their X-Factor may come in the form of their unannounced fifth member, as they currently only field four primary players. But their fifth could very well be a burden as well, we'll have to wait and see.

OpTic Gaming

PLAYER HLTV RATING (MAY 27) Damian "daps" Steele* 0.97 Oscar "mixwell" Cañellas 1.19 Keith "NAF-FLY" Markovic 1.09 Will "RUSH" Wierzba 1.11 Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz 1.01

Notable performances:

1 Americas Minor Championship 2016 - Cologne

1 ELEAGUE Road to Vegas

With their recent 2-1 victory over Tempo Storm at the Americas Minor Championship, OpTic have effectively secured a reign as AM's top Tier 2 team. It’s fitting then that they have been grouped with their next logical challenge, G2, the proverbial gatekeepers of CS:GO’s Tier 1.

The player to watch from the team is their Spanish import mixwell, who has by far the highest player rating in the group, even more than G2's or NiP's best, though much of this is due to the regions. Also included into mixwell's stats is some of his time on gBots eSports Club, since he only joined OpTic on April 13, and he's had multiple blowout performances in the Spanish CS:GO region, including an insane 2.66 rating game.

Inflated stats aside, it's through no small feat that OpTic took down Tempo twice during the Americas Minor. They'll need to step their game though, as they do not have a favorable record against European teams.