ESL One New York's 8th 'CS:GO' spot goes to OpTic Gaming
Finally, all eight teams are locked in for ESL One New York's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament.
OpTic Gaming upset Cloud9 in the final round of the North American qualifiers Tuesday night, clinching the final spot at ESL One New York Oct. 1 and 2. OpTic will be competing against SK Gaming, G2 Esports, Team Liquid, Virtus.pro, Na'Vi, Fnatic and Astralis for a piece of the $250,000 prize pool.
Cloud9 underperformed in the qualifier match against OpTic, with most players playing well below their typical level. Cloud9 is currently the top-ranked North American team in ESL Pro League, racking up a 23-1 record, including two wins over OpTic in August. OpTic is currently sitting in third with a 14-6 record and faces some tough competition this weekend.
SK Gaming is a favorite alongside Na'Vi. SK Gaming's Fer has returned to play following an unrelated surgery, bringing SK's dominant lineup back to full force. SK Gaming won the last major, ESL One Cologne, and has been tearing through the North American Pro League division after Fer's return.
Na'Vi has been performing well recently with its newest player S1mple, whose departure from Team Liquid has dropped the team from a top spot in North America. If Na'Vi can get some early leads and hold onto them, they could feasibly cruise to the finals in New York. It's a team stacked with talent, but when they start to lose they start to fall apart.
Astralis, G2 Esports and Virtus.pro are also strong contenders at ESL One New York, although consistency is their biggest issue. The finals will likely come down to SK Gaming facing one of these teams, Na'vi or OpTic.
The competition starts at 11 a.m. ET both days and will be played live at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and broadcast live on Twitch. The finals are scheduled to start around 7 p.m. ET.
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