PGL Major Krakow preview: The Favorites (3/3)

It has been six months since the ELEAGUE Major, and now it is that time again as we are approaching PGL's first Major, which is taking place at Krakow's Tauron Arena from July 16-23, with the popular Swiss format in use for the group stage during the first four days.

Eight Legends, who earned their spot by placing in the top eight at the ELEAGUE Major, and eight Challengers, who came from the Main Qualifier at the beginning of July, are now ready play at the prestigious event. 

We separated the 16 teams into three groups as usual, based on their recent results and, incidentally, our ranking: the Underdogs, the Mid-tier, and the Favorites. Here's what those three groups look like:

Underdogs	Mid-tier	Favorites
BIG	G2	SK
PENTA	Cloud9	FaZe
FlipSid3	Natus Vincere	Astralis
Vega Squadron	North
	Immortals
	fnatic
	MOUZ
	Virtus.pro
	Gambit

As a comparison, here's what EGB.com's, the Major's partner, betting odds are as of July 15:

Team	Rate	Ratio
SK	2.766	32.54%
Astralis	3.946	22.81%
FaZe	7.785	11.56%
G2	10.909	8.25%
Cloud9	19.190	4.69%
Natus Vincere	21.687	4.15%
fnatic	23.077	3.90%
MOUZ	27.607	3.26%
North	28.939	3.11%
Other teams	15.707	5.73%

We've already released the first two parts of the series of previews ahead of the Major, covering the four Underdogs, and the nine teams of the Mid-tier.

As we enter the last 24 hours before the Major kicks off, we take an in-depth look at the top three teams, SK, FaZe, and Astralis, who are considered Favorites at PGL Major Krakow:

SK (#1)	Age	Rating 2.0	Highest placing at Majors
Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga	25	1.26	Winner (2x)
Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David	22	1.23	Winner (2x)
Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo	26	1.17	Winner (2x)
João "⁠felps⁠" Vasconcellos	20	1.11	Rookie
Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo	22	1.00	Winner (2x)

Offline placings in the last three months
1st	ESL One Cologne
1st	ECS Season 3 Finals
1st	DreamHack Open Summer
3rd-4th	ESL Pro League Season 5 Finals
1st	IEM Sydney
1st	cs_summit

SK feature four of the 13 players holding multiple trophies, with both of them coming from 2016's Majors, MLG Columbus and ESL One Cologne. The core members have also always made the Major playoffs, with six in a row for FalleN and fer, five for coldzera, and three for TACO.

Only felps is coming into PGL Major Krakow as one of the 16 rookies, as he got signed by SK after the ELEAGUE Major, where he couldn't play due to competing in that Major cycle with another team (Immortals).

After being forced to field a stand-in in Atlanta, Portuguese veteran Ricardo "⁠fox⁠" Pacheco, and still managing a semi-final finish, the Brazilians return to the Major map in full force. With five trophies from the last six events plus a third-fourth place at the ESL Pro League Finals, where coldzera went missing in the G2 semis (relative to his inhuman consistency), there is little doubt SK are the number one favorite.

coldzera is the only two-time Major MVP

The Brazilian side has a clear advantage over the second Favorite, FaZe, as they won two of their last four grand finals over the European side and one semi-final (four matches in a row and eight out of ten maps since IEM Sydney). When it comes to Astralis, the two have not met each other nearly as often, but SK have an upper hand there as well, with the last series and best-of-one going their way, albeit by the slightest of margins (28.5 rounds played on average across four maps).

The only match-up which SK have struggled with recently are G2, who won four out of the last five maps in their rendezvous' (including the aforementioned 2-0 series in Dallas) and thus pose a threat to FalleN's squad's task to bring home their third Major.

Why follow SK at the Major: A triumph at the PGL Major Krakow would confirm the Brazilians as the undeniable best team in the world, who would be making history by winning three out of the last four Majors, as well as six out of the last seven events.

FaZe (#2)	Age	Rating 2.0	Highest placing at Majors
Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač	20	1.22	Group stage (4x)
Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard	22	1.13	Semi-finals (Cluj '15)
Fabien "⁠kioShiMa⁠" Fiey	22	1.02	Winner (2x)
Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli	25	0.99	Runner-up (Katowice '15)
Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen	27	0.95	Semi-finals (2x)
Robert "⁠RobbaN⁠" Dahlström (coach)

Offline placings in the last three months
3rd-4th	ESL One Cologne
2nd	ECS Season 3 Finals
2nd	IEM Sydney

The two most decorated and experienced players on FaZe, karrigan and kioShiMa, have both been to nine out of ten Majors, as the in-game leader missed only DreamHack Winter 2014, when he departed the Danish scene for a short period of time to join up with mousesports, and the Frenchman was left out in the cold by EnVyUs ahead of MLG Columbus.

As the last standing member of the original Kinguin roster that went on to join G2 before transferring to FaZe, rain has attended seven, two of which from his days in the Norwegian London Conspiracy/LGB lineup. Thanks to his time in Ninjas in Pyjamas, allu sits at four, just like NiKo who has yet to advance from the groups at a Major after four attempts with mousesports.

As the PGL Major Krakow nears, FaZe set their sights on their best showing at a Major so far, as they belong to the trio of Favorites that are expected to duke it out between themselves for the title.

The pioneers of international rosters are looking to make history

karrigan's squad has been fantastic ever since the Bosnian superstar boosted the team's firepower. As one-time champions, three-time runners-up, and one-time semi-finalists with this lineup, FaZe are the second Favorite of the Major, on paper. They've been within arm's reach of being the best team in the world for months, and yet someone snatched it away, the someone being SK.

karrigan has been able to figure out Astralis, over whom FaZe hold a perfect record from their last two series (4-2 in maps), but the European mixture fell to FalleN's squad in two finals and one semi-final. For FaZe to reach the highest step at the Major, they should be hoping for Astralis to take down SK in the playoffs, because, at this moment, it doesn't seem likely FaZe will be able to break their curse against the Brazilians.

Why follow FaZe at the Major: FaZe have always been the pioneers of international lineups, and now they're looking better than ever to become the first of their kind to win a Major.

Astralis (#3)	Age	Rating 2.0	Highest placing at Majors
Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz	21	1.15	Winner (ELEAGUE '17)
Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye	19	1.13	Winner (ELEAGUE '17)
Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth	21	1.09	Winner (ELEAGUE '17)
Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen	24	1.09	Winner (ELEAGUE '17)
Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander	22	1.04	Winner (ELEAGUE '17)
Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen (coach)

Offline placings in the last three months
3rd-4th	ECS Season 3 Finals
1st	ELEAGUE Clash for Cash
3rd-4th	IEM Sydney

The Danish powerhouse are one of only two teams (alongside Virtus.pro) that have stuck to the same core throughout all 10 Majors, as device, dupreeh, and Xyp9x are heading into their 11th.

PGL Major Krakow will be gla1ve's seventh, after he attended the first four under three different banners and went missing until he stood in for Astralis at ESL One Cologne 2016 in place of Kjaerbye, who is the youngest player to have ever played at a Major (at 16 years old during DreamHack Winter 2014 with Copenhagen Wolves).

The defending Major champions have put all of their focus on this next week, having only attended three events in the last three months (one of which being the Cash for Clash, one best-of-three versus Virtus.pro). 

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Astralis are looking to join fnatic and SK as back-to-back Major champions

Astralis stayed at home and practiced in hopes of getting in the best shape they possibly can in time for the Major. It's just a matter of time before we find out whether prioritizing this heavily will pay off or not — after all, SK have grinded for months now, traveling from event to event, and managed to stay on top, and perhaps even improved throughout that period.

If anything, the break from offline events will help the Danes figure out how they need to approach FaZe, who have been a pain in their side at a few events, as well as the aforementioned Brazilians, both of whom left loads of data behind them from the tournaments they've played recently. That will not be the case for Astralis, who could have something up their sleeves for the Major, new setups, defaults, and strategies that the other Favorites may not have seen.

Why follow Astralis at the Major: As defending champions from the ELEAGUE Major, Astralis are looking to become the third team to have won back-to-back Majors alongside fnatic (ESL One Katowice and ESL One Cologne in 2015) and SK (MLG Columbus and ESL One Cologne in 2016).