ELeague semifinals preview: Fnatic vs. Na'Vi, Virtus.pro vs. Mousesports
There are only four Counter-Strike teams left in the first season of ELeague: Fantic, Natus Vincere, Virtus.pro and Mousesports. On Friday, they'll be battling it out in Atlanta for a spot in the grand finals and their piece of the $1.4 million prize pool.
The action is kicking off with Fnatic and Na'Vi on Twitch and Twitter at 5 p.m. EST, then Virtus.pro and Mousesports will play at 10 p.m. on Twitch, Twitter and TBS. If you're in the Atlanta area, the matches are being played at the Cobb Energy Center.
Each team's journey to this point has been a long one, besting teams in the group stages, the last-chance qualifiers and the playoffs, leading two completely different matchups ahead of the finals.
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Fnatic vs. Na'Vi
The first semifinals match may be the most even match up of the week. Both teams took the top spot in their respective group stages, and while Na'Vi edged out Cloud9 by a small margin in the quarterfinals, Fnatic dominated Team EnVyUs 2-0.
The key to Fnatic's success in this tournament has been the return of Olofmeister one of the best CS players in the world. Olofmeister came back to the team in June after recovering from a wrist injury, putting the team back on track to be a top contender. Pair Olofmeister's rifling and AWPing skills with Krimz's uncanny ability to clutch wins, and Na'Vi has a pretty tough opponent.
Fnatic doesn't have it easy, though. Na'Vi is fielding someone who may be considered the best AWPer currently playing the game: Guardian. Guardian is backing up a great team that has just been lacking consistency this season. As long as Na'Vi can keep its cool against Fnatic and not miss key shots, it's going to be a close match.
Virtus.pro vs. Mousesports
While Virtus.pro and Mousesports don't make for the most even match up, it's definitely going to be an interesting one. Both teams did not win their group stages, instead advancing to the playoffs by beating out six other teams in the last chance qualifiers. The playoffs saw both teams dominating their opponents though, each coming out with 2-0 wins to bring them to the semis.
Virtus.pro is a decorated team that has been playing together for a long time, fielding possibly the best mix of players in modern CS. Each player has his strengths: Neo's grenade placement, PashaBicep's ability to play any position, Snax's AWPing, Byali's rifling and clutch plays.
The only two things setting Virtus.pro back are its captain, Taz, and the lack of a star player. Taz has not been performing consistently in ELeague, putting up unimpressive numbers in many of the team's match ups so far. But the team is still getting wins and if Taz can break his recent slump, Virtus.pro could easily take a spot in the finals.
Mousesports, on the other hand, is the underdog in the ELeague semifinals. The team did not even make it to the finals in their group stage, but were invited to the last chance qualifiers, and managed to take down both G2 Esports and Faze Clan for a spot in the quarterfinals. In a big upset, Mousesports knocked out Astralis, thanks to some amazing plays from Nex, Niko, Denis and ChrisJ, putting them up against Virtus.pro.
While Mousesports used to heavily rely on Niko, arguably one of the top CS:GO players in the world right now, the rest of the team is really starting to pick up the pace. Mousesports recently acquired veteran coach Kassad in June and it looks like he could prove to be exactly what the team needed to push them to more wins.
After the semifinals on Friday, the winning team from each game will face off in the finals Saturday, July 30, at the Cobb Energy Center in Atlanta. The finals start at 4 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on Twitch, Twitter and TBS.
ELeague is owned by Turner Broadcasting, which also is an investor in Mashable.
