The CS GO Season is moving towards the Eleague Boston Major which will take place in January 2018. With a big prize pool of $1 million, this event is sought after, not only for the money but also the prestige of having won a CS GO Major. It’s a prestige that still evades some of the best teams in the world such as Astralis. But as we move closer to the Major, we have to look back into the past season to properly understand how the teams have evolved since the last one.

In this article we will be taking a glance backwards to see how the teams have fared since the last major. PGL Krakow 2017 was held in July, almost six months ago and was followed by several teams making big roster changes.Teams like NaVi, Faze changed their roster significantly since the last major which altered the entire esports landscape.

There have been several online and offline tournaments since August 2017. As we try to analyse the team’s’ performances post the last major, we will look at only the LAN tournaments with a prize pool of more than $250,000. These include most of the premier LAN events with multiple international teams in attendance. Our findings are based off the statistics on HLTV, a reliable statistics website which is widely used in the community.

There have been a total of eight LAN tournaments played with prize pools over $250,000. We have purposely excluded smaller LAN events and online tournaments as we are using data from International LANs with a prize pool above $250,000 only. Faze are way ahead of the rest of the teams with a total prize winnings of $1,087,457.

This is largely helped by the amount & top heavy prize money format of the Eleague CS GO Premier 2017. Faze have earned almost 46% of their total prize money from the Eleague Premier 2017.But in terms of titles, Faze are tied with SK Gaming. Faze have won three events while SK have won three as well. The top two teams in the rankings have equally split up three events each with the remaining two events going to NIP and G2. Surprisingly, the team third in prize money, Astralis have not won a single tournament in the timeframe.

These statistics have to be considered along the fact that SK Gaming had a roster change very late into the season. Astralis played the end of the season handicapped without one of their best players, Device. However most of Faze’s tournament wins have been in the early part of the season, when all the teams were a lot more stable.

The tournament placements and standings show the rise and ebb of the teams throughout the season. Faze started out the tournament strong and ended with a win during ECS Season 4 finals. There have been changes in the lineups for Astralis and SK Gaming, both of whom might not be playing with their full strength at the Major.

Faze

The Star Studded team was formed when Faze signed new players post their PGL Krakow Major performance. They signed Olofmeister on 20th August, 2017 just a few days after announcing Guardian to be replacing Allu. The team was truly filled to the brim with talent and there were high expectations from them. With a lineup consisting of exceptional and flamboyant players Faze was a threat without having played a single match.

They started off their campaign by winning ESL One New York 2017. By defeating Astralis, Liquid on their way to the trophy, this was the first time that we saw Faze win their way with the new roster. They went on to win their very next tournament, Eleague CS GO Premier. Eleague CS GO Premier with a prize pool of $1 million, had the biggest prize pools after the PGL Krakow Major.

Over the next few weeks, Faze had to battle a resurgent SK Gaming and face a surprise loss against NIP at IEM Oakland. However they have always maintained a top three finish in almost all their tournaments ( except Dreamhack Malmo and EPICENTER ). They have been one of the most consistent teams in the scene and are one of the prime contenders for the upcoming Major.

SK Gaming

SK Gaming came out of PGL Krakow after being knocked out in the quarterfinals by Astralis. The team was struggling in achieving the same level of performance as we have seen from them throughout the year. Despite this, they were able to win Blast Pro Series in late October. But with other plans already in motion, we saw SK Gaming sign Boltz on loan from Immortals and benching felps.

The Brazilian team has been upfront about their performances. They have made roster changes in the past when they felt they are not the best team in the world. Following the roster change, SK Gaming came in at a decent 3-4th place finish at IEM Oakland. However one of their biggest disappointments would be their inability to qualify for ECS Season 4 LAN finals as they were only able to come 5th in the online league.

The absence of the Brazilians from ECS LAN definitely showed in the ease with which Faze advanced to the finals. They obviously had to fend off a spirited match from Mouz in the finals.SK’s absence was definitely felt in the tournament which saw several teams ease through to the finals. Post felps’ departure, SK have won Blast Pro Series and EPL Finals at Copenhagen. These two tournaments featured many of the top teams in CS GO and SK proved their worth yet again.

Due to the roster lock rules, SK will have to play with Felps in their team for the upcoming Major. While he promises to give the major his best effort, SK Gaming will definitely be weakened without their regular roster.

Astralis

Astralis have always been the team that is the challenger to the best team. The lineup has a lot of potential, but they have not been able to consistently maintain a Number 1 position at the very top. The season following PGL Krakow is a very mixed bag for the Danish roster. They have been able to secure only three Top 3 finishes in the tournaments in between. The team has been very inconsistent as can be seen from multiple group stage exits.

Of Course they have been facing several problems recently with their star player Device having taken ill. There is also a question of his availability for the upcoming Major. Astralis have had to play with multiple stand-ins such as Dennis, Pimp etc. This has definitely affected not only their results, but also their practice for the major.

These top three teams are all contenders to win Eleague Boston Major. SK Gaming have had an upswing in their results post the roster change. But they will be playing with Felps instead of boltz due to Eleague rules. One cannot count out Astralis without Device as they have capable players in their lineup. The Eleague Boston Major is probably the first major without a clear favorite for the trophy.