The first day of the PGL Major Krakow 2017 playoffs is in the books. Six teams entered with hopes for glory, but only three -- Gambit Esports, Astralis, and Immortals -- qualified to play more Counter-Strike. Gambit Esports and Immortals' continued tournament run guaranteed that there will be at least one Cinderella story to root for in the semifinals.
The upset: Astralis against SK Gaming
On one end, SK Gaming entered the major as the perennial favorite. On the other, Astralis was long considered a team with potential to dominate the field, but repeatedly came short when the timing was at its most crucial. This was a clash between two of the top three teams in the world and only one looked the part. Astralis, despite its reluctance to play elite teams on Cache, took down SK Gaming on that map, 16-12. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz was the star of the show on the AWP. He hunted down SK Gaming members, took down solo duels against SK Gaming's captain, Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo, and carried his team throughout the set. It was as if a switch was turned on and Astralis forgot about its woes against the world's greatest Counter-Strike players and played its pace and execution the entire way. The second map was a wash, 16-6, behind dev1ce's 27 kills and the immaculate shotcalling on retakes and smoke executes from the rest of the team.
The run continues: Gambit Esports over Fnatic and Immortals over BIG
Immortals and BIG was a duel between which two high-potential teams that could break out and run through a major. Unfortunately for BIG, it was the Brazilians that took the ball and ran with it. The matches were close (an overtime on the first map and a 16-14 Immortals win on the final map), but it was Immortals' consistency that won over the set. BIG flashed greatness in the form of Nikola "LEGIJA" Ninić's 35-kill first map or Johannes "tabseN" Wodarz' heroics on the final map, but the reliance on individual outplay was too much. Immortals played like a well-oiled machine and the steady gun of Vito "kNgV-" Giuseppe made sure that its lead would stay theirs.
Gambit Esports survived Fnatic's patented isolation offense. Instead of letting the Fnatic aggressive rovers peak out and pick off its defenses, the team kept its composure and continued to play its slow tempo and pace. The occasional fast rushes on bomb sites made Gambit Esports hard to pin down, but it was patience that took down the legendary Fnatic squad. Rusterm "mou" Telepov was steady throughout the matchup providing his usual 20 kills and strong rotations. Fnatic will need to back to the drawing board to figure out how to truly solve its stagnant style.