Virtus, NiP and CLG prevail at MLG Columbus

Not content with letting Team Liquid be the first US team to make it through the group stage of a CS:GO Major in nearly two years, Counter Logic Gaming repeated that feat during yesterday's decider matches at MLG Columbus. The team defeated an otherwise impressive-looking Gambit Gaming in a close 2-1 series.

Gambit had raised eyebrows at the event with their consistent performance, especially noteworthy since the squad hasn't made much impact previously. Their slow and lurking playstyle served Gambit well, but Counter Logic managed to outpace them with jdm64's superior aim and sniping.

CLG will face Team Liquid in the quarter finals today, which means the semifinals are guaranteed to have a US team in them. Regardless of what team reaches the semis, this has been a great tournament for North American Counter-Strike, as both teams will auto-qualify for the next Major.

Earlier in the day, Ninjas in Pyjamas beat Mousesports in the first decider match of the day. Much has been said about the fact that NiP were forced to play with their coach THREAT filling in for pyth, but the team has obviously made the most of the situation. First map was Cobblestone, a map that's usually bad Mousesports and one of NiP's best, and the Swedes unsurprisingly crushed their opponent 16-5 here.

Mousesports retaliated on Cache, winning it 16-12, but the Ninjas again dominated once again on the third and final map, Overpass - with THREAT even being the top fragger at one point during the match.

Ninjas in Pyjamas will face Natus Vincere in the quarters today, which will likely spell the end of their run this tournament. But given the circumstances, NiP has certainly done better than expected.

Fnatic predictably squashed FaZe Clan in their decider match, beating them 2-0. The two teams have similar play styles, but with the Fnatic players outmatching the FaZe squad on all fronts, there was only really one way this game could go. Remarkably, FaZe opted not to ban Cobblestone from the map pool, a map that the team never plays and has only ever had one official game on. Fnatic won that map, the second of the series, 16-6. They'll face Astralis in the quarterfinals.

Virtus.Pro faced G2 Esports in the final match of the day, a repeat of the opening game in their group. The Polish team comfortably won the first map, Train, with a 16-9 score, but went on to lose the second map of the series, Inferno, with those same digits. Cobblestone ended up being the random pick for the final map of the series, a map which neither team has looked impressive on in recent months. That pick turned out to favor Virtus, who took a one-sided 16-7 win. VP will face Luminosity in the last quarter final, which will be played on Saturday.

Today's quarterfinals are scheduled to start at 15:00 BST / 16:00 CEST. Barring any delays, the tentative schedule looks like this.

15:00 BST / 16:00 CEST: Na'Vi vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
17:30 BST / 18:30 CEST: Astralis vs Fnatic
20:00 BST / 21:00 CEST: Team Liquid vs Counter Logic Gaming