PGL Major: Kraków 2017, also known as PGL Major 2017 or Kraków 2017, was the eleventh Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship. It is the first Major organized by the Romanian organization PGL and it was held in Kraków, Poland from July 16 to 23, 2017. It featured sixteen professional CS:GO teams from around the world. Eight teams qualified directly based on their top eight placement in the previous Major, ELEAGUE Major 2017, while another eight teams qualified through the Offline Major Qualifier. The PGL Major was the fourth consecutive major with a prize pool of 1,000,000.
The playoffs consisted of eight teams. Astralis, Fnatic, Gambit Esports, North, SK Gaming, and Virtus.pro were returning Legends while BIG and Immortals were new Legends. FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere lost their Legends status after failing to advance from the group stage. The grand finals featured two underdogs: Gambit Esports, which defeated Fnatic and Astralis, and Immortals, which defeated BIG and Virtus.pro. The Major concluded with Gambit defeating Immortals 2–1 in a relatively close best-of-three series, marking just the third time a non-European team won a Major (the Brazilian Luminosity/SK roster won two Majors) and the first time an Asian team won a Major.
Format The format remained the same as the previous Major. The top eight teams from Atlanta 2017 ("Legends") were automatically invited to Kraków 2017. The remaining eight spots were filled by teams that advanced from the PGL Major Krakow 2017 Main Qualifier. The Krakow 2017 Main Qualifier was a 16-team Swiss-system tournament consisting of the bottom eight teams from Atlanta 2017, as well as eight teams promoted from four regional qualifiers. The top eight teams at the Main Qualifier, teams with three wins, then advanced to the Major as the "Challengers".
The group stage of the Major was also a 16-team Swiss-system group stage. The top eight teams at the end of the group stage, teams with three wins, advanced to the playoff stage and became the new Legends. Teams with three losses were eliminated, but earned an invite to the next Major's offline qualifier. All playoff matches were best-of-three, single elimination.
Map Pool The map pool was changed for this major. Dust II was taken out of the active map pool and Valve reintroduced Inferno, which had been taken out of the map pool and revamped.
The veto process was also changed for best-of-one games. One team decided whether to veto maps first or second. The team that vetoes first removed two maps. The second team vetoed three maps. The first team then chose one of the two remaining maps. The second team then chose the side it wanted to start on. The best-of-three veto process was unchanged. Each team first banned a map, leaving a five-map pool. Each team then chose a map, with the opposing team selecting which side they wanted to start on for their opponent's map choice. The two map picks were the first two maps in the best-of-three. The teams then each banned one more map, leaving one map remaining for the best-of-three decider if necessary.
Maps
Cache Cobblestone Inferno Mirage Nuke Overpass Train
Major qualifier Regional qualifiers Asia Minor A total of eight teams will compete in the Asia Minor. Two teams will be invited and the other six will qualify in their regional qualifiers. These teams include one team from East Asia, one team from the Middle East, one team from China, one team from Oceania, and two teams from the India & Southeast Asia qualifier. Teams
Renegades (Invited) (Invited) Flash Gaming (China) The MongolZ (East Asia) Team Spotnet (Middle East) Team Immunity (Oceanic) Signature Gaming (India + SEA) 7642 (India + SEA)
CIS Minor A total of eight teams will compete in the Commonwealth of Independent States Minor. The eight teams that participated in this minor all qualified through the closed qualifier. In the closed qualifier, twelve teams are invited and four teams qualify through an online open qualifier. Teams were separated into four groups of four and the top two teams moved on in each group to the closed qualifier. Two teams in the minor qualified for the main qualifier. Teams
Spartak Esports (CIS High) Team Spirit (CIS High) Team Spirit Academy (CIS High) Tengri (CIS High) Nemiga Gaming (CIS Low) pro100 (CIS Low) Quantum Bellator Fire (CIS Low) Vega Squadron (CIS Low)
Europe Minor All teams in the European Minor were required to compete in a closed qualifier. In the closed qualifier, 8 teams were invited and 8 other teams qualified through three different open qualifiers. The teams will play in a Swiss system tournament and the top 8 teams move on to the closed qualifier. In the closed qualifier, the teams will be separated into two groups of four teams. Two teams from each group move on to a four team, double elimination playoff bracket. The top three teams advance to the main qualifier. Teams
PENTA Sports (1st–2nd) Team EnVyUs (1st–2nd) BIG (3rd–5th) iGame.com (3rd–5th) Team LDLC.com (3rd–5th) Ballistix Gaming1 (6th–8th) Team Dignitas (6th–8th) Team Kinguin (6th–8th)
1Fnatic Academy will play under the organization Ballistix Gaming just for the European Minor due to two teams not being allowed under the same organization.
Americas Minor Two teams were invited to the Americas minor. One team out of a pool of 512 from South America qualified for the minor. The last five teams came from the North American closed qualifier. In that closed qualifier, 8 teams qualified through the open qualifier and 8 more teams were invited. The top five teams moved on to the Americas minor. In the minor, two teams moved on to the major. Teams
Cloud9 (Invited) Immortals (Invited) Misfits (North America 1st–2nd) NRG Esports (North America 1st–2nd) compLexity Gaming (North America 3rd–5th) Counter Logic Gaming (North America 3rd–5th) Luminosity Gaming (North America 3rd–5th) paiN Gaming (South America 1st)
Main Qualifier Teams Atlanta 2017 Bottom 8
GODSENT Team Liquid mousesports OpTic Gaming G2 Esports FlipSid3 Tactics HellRaisers Regional Qualifiers
Renegades (Asia Minor #1) TyLoo (Asia Minor #2) Vega Squadron (CIS Minor #1) Tengri (CIS Minor #2) Cloud9 (Americas Minor #1) Immortals (Americas Minor #2) BIG (Europe Minor #1) PENTA Sports (Europe Minor #2) Team Dignitas (Europe Minor #3)
The main qualifier was a sixteen-team Swiss-system tournament format in which, after the first round, teams only played other teams with the same win–loss record. Each match was best-of-one, and no team played another team twice. All teams played until they had either won or lost three games: any team with three wins advanced to the playoff stage, and any team with three losses was eliminated. The qualifier was played in Bucharest, Romania.
The Ninjas in Pyjamas, after missing its first ever major at ELEAGUE and failed to be Legends for the first time at ESL One Cologne 2016, failed to qualify for the major qualifier and the European Minor after losing to Finland's iGame.com in the first round, losing to Sweden's Red Reserve in second round, defeating Sweden's Epsilon eSports in the third round, and losing to Turkey's Space Soldiers in the fourth round, failing to attend its second straight major.
Place Team Record Differential Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 mousesports 3–0 +21 Tengri16–1Inferno High matchGODSENT16–11Train High matchPENTA Sports16–14Cobblestone Qualified Qualified G2 Esports 3–0 +10 Immortals22–20Inferno High matchCloud916–11Cache High matchFlipSid3 Tactics16–13Nuke Qualified Qualified PENTA Sports 3–1 +21 OpTic Gaming16–14Train High matchTeam Liquid16–3Mirage High matchmousesports14–16Cobblestone High matchVega Squadron16–8Train Qualified Cloud9 3–1 +19 BIG16–10Cobblestone High matchG2 Esports11–16Cache Mid matchGODSENT16–11Train High matchFlipSid3 Tactics16–3Mirage Qualified BIG 3–1 +9 Cloud910–16Cobblestone Low matchTengri16–14Cobblestone Mid matchImmortals16–19Cache High matchTeam Liquid16–10Train Qualified Vega Squadron 3–2 +9 HellRaisers10–16Mirage Low matchOpTic Gaming16–10Train Mid matchTyLoo16–10Inferno High matchPENTA Sports8–16Train Team Dignitas16–5Inferno FlipSid3 Tactics 3–2 +1 Renegades19–16Train High matchHellRaisers16–4Overpass High matchG2 Esports13–16Nuke High matchCloud93–16Mirage Team Liquid25–23Mirage Immortals 3–2 −1 G2 Esports20–22Inferno Low matchTeam Dignitas16–13Cache Mid matchBIG9–16Cache Low matchGODSENT16–14Cobblestone HellRaisers16–13Overpass Team Liquid 2–3 −4 TyLoo22–19Inferno High matchPENTA Sports3–16Mirage Mid matchHellRaisers16–2Train High matchBIG10–16Train FlipSid3 Tactics23–25Mirage Team Dignitas 2–3 −5 GODSENT14–16Overpass Low matchImmortals13–16Cache Low matchTengri16–7Mirage Low matchRenegades16–14Mirage Vega Squadron5–16Inferno HellRaisers 2–3 −17 Vega Squadron16–10Mirage High matchFlipSid3 Tactics4–16Overpass Mid matchTeam Liquid2–16Train Low matchTyLoo16–11Overpass Immortals13–16Overpass Renegades 1–3 −1 FlipSid3 Tactics16–19Train Low matchTyLoo14–16Cache Low matchOpTic Gaming16–10Mirage Low matchTeam Dignitas14–16Mirage Eliminated GODSENT 1–3 −10 Team Dignitas16–14Overpass High matchmousesports11–16Train Mid matchCloud911–16Train Low matchImmortals14–16Cobblestone Eliminated TyLoo 1–3 −12 Team Liquid19–22Inferno Low matchRenegades16–14Cache Mid matchVega Squadron10–16Inferno Low matchHellRaisers11–16Overpass Eliminated OpTic Gaming 0–3 −14 PENTA Sports14–16Train Low matchVega Squadron10–16Train Low matchRenegades10–16Mirage Eliminated Eliminated Tengri 0–3 −26 mousesports1–16Inferno Low matchBIG14–16Cobblestone Low matchTeam Dignitas7–16Mirage Eliminated Eliminated
Broadcast talent Host Paul "ReDeYe" Chaloner Interviewer Scott "SirScoots" Smith Fluff Pala "Mantrousse" Gilroy Sen Commentators James Bardolph Anders Blume Henry "HenryG" Greer Daniel "ddk" Kapadia Auguste "Semmler" Massonnat Matthew "Sadokist" Trivett Analysts Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill Robin "Fifflaren" Johansson Joona "natu" Leppänen Jason "moses" O'Toole Janko "YNk" Paunović Observers Heather "sapphiRe" Garozzo DJ "Prius" Kuntz
Broadcasts All streams were broadcast on Twitch in various languages.
PGL TV IzakOOO 500Bros 99Damage BiDa Fragbite HitpointCZ ImbaTV Moreira Ogaming TV SpilerTV Starladder
Teams competing The top eight teams from ELEAGUE Major 2017 (Legends) were joined by the eight teams from the main qualifier (Challengers).
Legends
Astralis Virtus.pro SK Gaming Fnatic Natus Vincere Gambit Esports North FaZe Clan Challengers
mousesports G2 Esports PENTA Sports Cloud9 BIG Immortals Vega Squadron Flipsid3 Tactics
Arguably the biggest change of the teams in the major was the "French shuffle," which was led by Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt and Richard "shox" Papillon. NBK-. Kenny "kennyS" Schrub and, Dan "apEX" Madesclaire left Team EnVyUs for G2 Esports to join shox and Alexandre "bodyy" Pianaro; in addition, former G2 AWPer Édouard "SmithZz" Dubourdeaux moved to the coaching position. The remaining two G2 players, Cédric "RpK" Guipouy and Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom, left the team and joined Team EnVyUs.
Pre-major ranking HLTV.org rank teams based on results of teams' performances. The rankings shown below reflect the July 10, 2017 rankings, the last before the Major.
World ranking Place Team Points Move1 Peak2 Low2 1 SK Gaming 1000 1 4 2 FaZe Clan 623 2 9 3 Astralis 518 1 3 4 G2 Esports 474 4 16 5 Cloud9 427 1 5 14 6 Natus Vincere 295 4 4 10 7 North 294 2 4 8 10 Immortals 225 2 7 27 11 Fnatic 209 4 6 14 12 mousesports 200 12 17 14 Virtus.pro 181 3 2 15 15 Gambit Esports 177 1 7 15 17 BIG 127 1 17 27 20 PENTA Sports 106 1 19 52 23 Flipsid3 Tactics 76 1 16 53 24 Vega Squadron 74 3 21 56 1Change since July 3, 2017 ranking
2Peak and low since end of ELEAGUE Major.
Group stage