Before our first matches at ELEAGUE we thought it would be a good idea to tell you more about the tournament and time of our matches.

What is ELEAGUE?
ELEAGUE is a professional Western esports league for Counter Strike: Global Offensive, with a prize pool of $1,4 million. The most notable thing is that the finals of the group stage play-offs and the most important elimination matches will be shown on a famous American TV channel.

Why is it so interesting?
The organizers decided to go big from the very start, and make their tournament not as one more ordinary event with a big prize pool, but as a show that American viewers are very familiar with. Just look at this fun advertisement with a legendary baseball player Shaquille O'Neal, which embodies the spirit of the tournament.

This advertisement was noted by all famous American media, and every following week of ELEAGUE attracted a lot of attention from the journalists. The fact that the final matches in one of the groups competed in viewership with the final NBA match that happened at the same time, means a lot for the CS:GO pro scene.

Who do we play with?
In our group we play with the Polish team Virtus.Pro, our recent rival from the ESL One Cologne Team EnVyUs and an American five of complexity.

What format is used?
Matches in the group stage are divided in two parts: round robin and play-offs. The winner of the finals of the group stage gets bye to the ELEAGUE finals. Those teams who finished second will have one more chance to get there through qualifiers, where 2 more play-off spots will be at stake. Two teams which won 3rd place and got the most points will also take part in the qualifiers.

When do we play?
Gambit will play its matches in the round robin stage on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first game will be a match-up against our old rivals  Team EnVyUs. On Wednesday Gambit will close the day with its matches against Virtus.Pro and  complexity right after it. Play-offs will be held on Thursday. If we manage to advance to the finals of the group stage, the decisive match of it will be held during the night from Friday to Sunday, at 3:00 AM CEST.

Gambit's schedule:
June 28th, 20:20 CEST  Gambit vs  Team EnVyUs, BO2
June 29th, 20:20 CEST  Gambit vs  Virtus.Pro, BO2
June 29th, 22:40 CEST  Gambit vs  compLexity, BO2

Commentary of our coach:
"The seeding is fine, let’s call it "a working group". We are getting ready for an intense fight. We prepared for ELEAGUE and ESL One Cologne on our bootcamp, and we are doing everything possible to improve our skills. Our spirit is high. We are trying not to get sad after the losses in the online tournaments, we will work on it after the LANs. Root for Gambit."

What do we need to do to advance further from the group stage?
To get to play-offs, the team needs to win in the final match of the group stage. The loser of the match will participate in the "last chance" qualifiers. But a team that got third also has a chance - as for now, teams that are counting on getting it are SK Gaming and mousesports, with 4 points each. So, to continue our fight we will need to win at least 4 maps during the group stage, or to advance to its finals.