Here are the teams participating in the ESL Pro League Finals from the North American region:

• Team Liquid
• Luminosity Gaming
• OpTic Gaming
• SK Gaming
• Misfits
• NRG Esports

While Europe will have:

• Fnatic
• FaZe Clan
• Astralis
• North
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• HellRaisers

The Group Stages

The 12 teams will be divided into two groups with six teams each. The teams in the group stages will be playing a best-of-one series in a round robin format. The top three teams from each group will advance to the next round of the tournament. The first place in the group stages will secure a direct ticket to the semi-finals.

Let’s have a look at some of the matches from Group B of Europe.

North vs Ninjas in Pyjamas (ESL Pro League Season 6, December 06, Wednesday)

Same “OLD” NiP

A new competitive season of CS:GO is here. The teams have almost finalized their rosters in order to improve themselves from last season. The first major tournament for NiP is the ESL Pro League 6. The team had a decent year but not one to remember. They are still adjusting and trying to find a proper replacement for Adam “Friberg” Friberg. They didn’t make any changes to their roster and will continue to improve the chemistry of the side.

NiP needs to return to its former glory. They won three major titles last year and are currently struggling to make it to the knockout rounds. The experience is there on the side with Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg and Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund. Right now, all the team needs is to get back its rhythm.

North Going Strong

Compared to NiP, North has been making changes to its lineup. The team has replaced Emil “Magisk” Reif with Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså, a former Heroic star. North will be looking to build on the amazing performances they had throughout the year. The signing of valde shows they are moving in just the right direction.

Good Freshmen Year for North

North was founded in the first week of January 2017. They signed the former roster of Team Dignitas. Since then the team has displayed great performances, with good results to show for it. However, they are yet to lift a competitive title since their formation. North’s highest place this year was a runner-up finish to G2 Esports at the ESL Pro League Season 5 Finals. After the group stage exit at ESL, North reached Legend status for the second time in a row at the PGL. However, North was unable to reach the semifinals and lost 2-0 to the home team, Virtus.Pro.

If we look at both teams in terms of their past podium finishes, then NiP is the favorite. However, looking at their current performances, the Danish side of North is clearly better, with a much more stable roster.  The side of NiP is good on experience, but North is well-versed in adapting to the changing scenarios of the game. Lastly, looking at the last five head-to-head meetings between the sides, North won four out of those five.

Final Verdict

1-0 North

SK Gaming vs Misfits (ESL Pro League Season 6, December 06)

SK Looking for Redemption

After almost twelve busy but successful months, SK Gaming is facing their final challenge of 2017. ESL Pro League Season 6 Finals is the last chapter of the current year. The Brazilian team wants to close it out with a bang. At the previous version of ESL Pro League, they lost in the semi-final to the defending champions, G2 Esports. However, this time around SK Gaming will try to give an early Christmas present to themselves. The fans should also rejoice by heading into the holidays with yet another trophy. Also, the larger part of the $750,000 prize money would end up in SK hands.

Improved Misfits Squad

The French-American mixture of Misfits has shown promise recently. They finished second at the Americas Minor to keep the Major dream alive. At that event, it was 24-year-old François “AmaNEk” Delauney  who combined with the team’s youngster Hunter “SicK” Mims to form the power duo of Misfits. This means that the team’s streaky AWPer,  Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan, is no longer key to the squad getting wins. This gives Sean “seang@res” Gares’ side much-needed stability.

Nervous Against the Big Guns

At their second LAN outing in the last three months, at iBUYPOWER Masters, Misfits couldn’t make it past the groups. They managed to throw away a massive lead in the opener against Team Liquid. However, they still showed enough to make them an exciting team to watch in Odense.

Playing five maps against top-tier opposition at the ESL Pro League Finals will give the team much-needed experience, the lack of which cost them dearly in some LAN matches in the past. That is most likely what Misfits will have to settle with. Since, even with their stars in great form, they will struggle to find openings against the likes of SK, NiP, and North.

Final Verdict

1-0 SK Gaming