Strap in.

Trying to find a lead story in this stage was like trying to find hay in a haystack. There are more teams worthy of being a main story than not.

Should we talk about the map of the stage, Dust 2 between The MongolZ and G2? Senzu dropped 35 in regulation and malbsMd won two miracle clutches to keep that one going for what felt like hours, and it was a riot.

How about paiN going from 0-2 to 3-2, knocking out Virtus.pro who started off 2-0 in a deciding series? Once more, Dust 2 was remarkably entertaining, with FL1T’s over 100 ADR game being met with the twin beams of dgt and dav1deuS.

Should we talk about Team Liquid going 0-3? Though it was slightly predictable, and they put up an excellent fight against MOUZ, it’s still 0-3. They lost to Lynn Vision to kick it off, man.

Should we talk about FURIA’s new international roster going 3-0, with YEKINDAR getting to laugh at his old teammates going 0-3?

We could mention MOUZ surviving an 0-2 start with losses to VP and FaZe before sneaking through 3-2 despite getting massively outfragged by Legacy. We could talk about Legacy kicking it with the best teams in the world. We could talk about Aurora going 1-3 completely under the radar.

We could mention Spirit looking back to their best just in time for back-to-back Majors, or Vitality losing a map against Legacy. We could talk about how FaZe with s1mple are flying high in the 3-1 and now get to play on a stage again.

NAVI, too, seem much better than the last few months.

These playoffs are looking spicy. Spirit and FURIA went through 3-0, Vitality, FaZe and NAVI 3-1 and The MongolZ, MOUZ and paiN 3-2. The last team there slightly lets it down, but only slightly.

You could throw a dart at the list of games in this stage and you’re nearly guaranteed to hit a banger. MOUZ vs. Liquid was excellent, The MongolZ vs. G2 was super fun, NAVI vs. G2 was a good one too. This was a real joy to watch.

Man, we love Counter-Strike.

Onto the playoffs. We could not be more excited.

All times in CET. See your local time here.