With another day of the ELEAGUE Major in the books, we saw the first round of eliminations alongside the first of many teams to qualify for a position in the playoffs.
The third day of the ELEAGUE Major has concluded, and with that, we saw two teams get eliminated, and two secure a position in the playoffs; with several others still fighting for not only progress, but survival. As we draw closer to the final day of group stages, we are finally beginning to see which teams are poised for success, and which ones will be heading home empty-handed.
Before we proceed to the recap, listed below is a table featuring the current standings of the teams prior to the day 3 matches:
| 3 wins - 0 losses | 2 wins - 1 loss | 1 win - 2 losses | 0 wins - 3 losses |
|---|---|---|---|
 Virtus.Pro |  Fnatic |  mousesports |  HellRaisers |
| Natus Vincere |  Team EnVyUs | GODSENT | FlipSid3 Tactics |
 Gambit Gaming |  North | ||
| Astralis | G2 Esports | ||
 SK Gaming |  Team Liquid | ||
| FaZe Clan |  OpTic Gaming |
Game One
Fnatic vs. mousesports - 6:9, 10:2 (16:11)
Fnatic and mousesports kicked things off at day 3 of the ELEAGUE Major in Atlanta on the fan-favourite Dust2, where both teams were competing for a chance to improve their record to 2-1. Fnatic were given the opportunity to show off their Terrorist side first, but struggled right out of the gate, and faced a quick 2-8 deficit. Fnatic began to string some rounds together thanks to an outstanding performance by Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer, and the half ended with mousesports ahead by just three rounds, 9-6.
Fnatic's momentum continued into the second half, and after a pistol round victory that came off of a magnificent three-kill by Simon "twist" Eliasson, the legendary Swedish crew were able to tie things up at 9-9. Fnatic didn't let up, and limited mousesports to just two rounds on their Terrorist half, and secured the victory 16-11.
Game Two
EnVyUs vs. GODSENT - 12:3, 4:0 (16:3)
EnVyUs and GODSENT went head to head on Cache on the third day of the ELEAGUE Major. In what was expected to be an exciting matchup, EnVyUs stormed out of the gate early to take the first pistol round on the Counter-Terrorist side, as well as the following two, to get out to an early 3-0 lead. GODSENT attempted to chip away at EnVyUs throughout the half, but they were unable to make any hedge way, and found themselves down 3-12 at the half. GODSENT could not find their groove with the change of sides, and gave up three straight rounds to hand the victory over to the Frenchmen, 16-3.
Game Three
North vs. HellRaisers - 8:7, 7:8, 4:0 (19:15)
The very first elimination match of the ELEAGUE Major featured North facing off against HellRaisers on Mirage. Tension was high from the get-go, with both teams trying to hang on and continue their tenure in Atlanta. North rolled through their Terrorist pistol round, and began to string together a few rounds before HellRaisers fought back to even things up at 5-5. The back-and-forth continued throughout the half, and would establish the narrative for things to come, as North came out of the first half on top, 8-7.
While HellRaisers came out swinging in the second half to take an 11-8 lead, their success was stifled by a few clutch round victories by the Danes, who evened things up at 11-11. With neither team able to pull ahead, the two squads found themselves at a standstill at 15-15, and on the fast-track to overtime. Ulimately, North's onslaught was too much for HellRaisers, who fell to 19-15, and were eliminated from the Major.
Game Four
Virtus.Pro vs. Gambit - 8:7, 8:3 (16:10)
Virtus.Pro and Gambit squared off in a best of one matchup on Train. The Polish squad took the Counter-Terrorist side first, and got off to an early 6-3 lead. Their advantage faltered slightly as Gambit began to gain their footing, and the Polish squad would go on to win only two of the final six rounds, finishing the half with an 8-7 advantage.
The second half was another story for Virtus.Pro; after winning pistol round, they gave up just two more rounds in route to a 16-10 victory over Gambit, lead by an outstanding performance from Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas. Gambit saw strong performances from both Abay "HObbit" Khasenov, and Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev, but their efforts were in vain, as they fell to 2-1 in light of their first defeat. By defeating Gambit, Virtus.pro became the first team to secure a playoff spot at ELEAGUE Atlanta 2017.
Game Five
Astralis vs. G2 Esports - 11:4, 5:1 (16:5)
Day 3 of the Atlanta ELEAUGE Major featured Astralis up against G2 Esports on Train, with Astralis beginning on the Terrorist side. The two teams went back and forth early on, trading pistol and eco rounds, before Astralis began to take charge. An exceptional performance by Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander propelled Astralis to an 11-4 lead going into the second half.
At this point, G2 appeared to be overwhelmed by Astralis' onslaught, and the Danish powerhouse used that to their advantage to assert their dominance over their foe, and hold G2 to just one round in the second half to take the 16-5 victory to go up 2-1 in the event. G2 will be left to regroup as they face elimination moving forward in the remaining days of group stages of the ELEAGUE major.
Game Six
Natus Vincere vs SK Gaming - 12:3, 4:0 (16:3)
In what was expected to have been a matchup for the ages, Natus Vincere headed to Dust2 to take on the Brazilian powerhouse SK Gaming in a playoff qualification match at the ELEAGUE Major. Natus Vincere took an early 5-1 advantage before the Brazilian team, lead by Gabriel "FalleN" Toldeo, were able to chip away at their lead. Natus Vincere quickly pushed back to ensure that SK Gaming were unable to string together back-to-back rounds, and finished the half up 12-3.
Natus Vincere went into the second half with confidence, which shined as the CIS squad faced a small amount of adversity in the first few rounds, but ultimately shut out the Brazilians to pick up an easy, albeit unexpected, 16-3 win, and a spot in the ELEAGUE Major playoffs. SK Gaming will head back to the drawing board as the group stages dwindle down and hope to secure their spot in the playoffs as well.
Game Seven
FaZe Clan vs. Liquid - 8:7, 7:8, 7:3 (22:18)
Liquid started off hot on Nuke as they took seven straight rounds and looked as if they had FaZe on their heels. However, the European mix had other plans, and went on an elusive run of their own to win eight rounds in a row, and take control at the half. FaZe continued their momentum into the second half to win the Terrorist side pistol round, but Liquid did not just lay down; after a series of round trades, Liquid took match point at 15-13. Liquid, however, were unable to finish off FaZe, as they gave up the final two rounds and found themselves in the familiar position of overtime.
If overtime wasn't enough of an indicator that both of these teams matched up extremely well against one-another, the opposing squads took it one step further and forced a second overtime. The second overtime, however, saw FaZe take control, as they won three rounds in a row on the Counter-Terrorist side, and the following Terrorist round, to take the victory over Liquid, 22-18, and improve to 2-1 at the ELEAGUE Major.
Game Eight
OpTic Gaming vs FlipSid3 Tactics - 5:10, 11:4 (16:13)
OpTic Gaming and FlipSid3 Tactics closed out the night on Train. With both teams facing elimination from the ELEAGUE Major, pressure was at an all-time high as the matchup began on Train. FlipSid3 Tactics began the bout on the Counter-Terrorist side, where they quickly cemented their footing by securing the first pistol round. OpTic, however, pushed back on the very next round with an eco victory, thanks to a stellar bombsight retake by Óscar "mixwell" Cañellas. After some back-and-forth action, FlipSid3 Tactics strung together a short stretch of success to finish out the half 10-5 over OpTic.
The second half saw FlipSid3 Tactics continue to excel in the pistol round meta to put OpTic on their heels early. OpTic, however, did not back down, and propelled themselves to a nine round win-streak to put some of the pressure back on FlipSid3 Tactics. FlipSid3 Tactics' attempts to adjust were fruitless as OpTic's turnaround proved to be too much for them to handle; as they fell to OpTic 16-13, and were eliminated from the event.
The match-ups and schedule for tonight were also revealed, they can be found below (all times expressed in CET, times are approximate as matches will start as soon as the prior finishes):
16:00 - North vs. G2 Esports
17:15 - EnVyUs vs. Fnatic
18:30 - mousesports vs. Team Liquid
19:45 - GODSENT vs. OpTic Gaming
21:00 - SK Gaming vs. Astralis
22:15 - Gambit vs. FaZe Clan
23:45 - TBD vs. TBD (Elimination Match 1)
00:45 - TBD vs. TBD (Elimination Match 2)
02:00 - TBD vs. TBD (Elimination Match 3)
