The warm-up for the Major is almost over.

With the PGL Astana Group Stage behind us, we’re beginning to see where most teams stand heading into the biggest tournament of the season - well, most teams except Astralis, of course.

3-0

No surprises in the undefeated pool.

Team Spirit stuck to their usual game plan: donk go kill. Honestly, it was fun at first, but it’s getting boring. Can he just have one bad map, please.

As for The MongolZ, they’re back in the Playoffs after their IEM Melbourne run, this time over slightly tamer opposition in FURIA, MIBR, and NAVI. Still, it’s a solid sign for the Mongolian boys. Now let’s just hope they don’t choke on stage again. We’re looking at you, Senzu.

3-1 & 3-2

Here’s where things start to get interesting.

Nothing too shocking with NAVI, Astralis, Aurora, and FURIA making it through. Sure, none of them are exactly in peak form - some are even in the early stages of rebuilding - but even in a rough state, they should still be ahead of teams like current Virtus.pro, 2014 Virtus.pro (a.k.a. G2 without the being good part), ODDIK, and HOTU.

Now, guess who else made it through? That’s right, that “mediocre international lineup” just went from the open qualifier all the way to the Playoffs, carried by sjuush playing the best CS of his life. They called him a madman… and they we’re right.

NIP managed to climb from #169 to #24 in just three months, and they’re not showing signs of slowing down. Their journey shows that the VRS can work as intended – though it definitely helps when you’ve got a big org funding your trips to every event with a few points up for grabs. Still, it’s proof that the ladder can be climbed.