Seven invited teams ( SK, Gambit, Liquid, MOUZ, Heroic, Virtus.pro and BIG), together with one who earned a spot through the qualifier (Envy) have made it to the holiday destination that will be hosting a CS:GO event from September 7-10.

SK are the prime candidate for the title

The tournament kicks off with a GSL-style group stage, with BO1s in the opening and winners matches, and BO3s for the rest. BO3s will be played in the semi-finals as well, with the final being a best-of-five clash.

Group A	Group B
SK	Virtus.pro
Gambit	Liquid
Heroic	Envy
MOUZ	BIG

SK and Gambit ending up together in Group A makes that group the tougher of the two, with Heroic and MOUZ hoping to upset either the No.1 ranked team or the current Major title holders to make it out.

On the other side, Group B is wide open, with a struggling Virtus.pro being the highest ranked squad. The Poles won't have an easy time, as Liquid, Envy and BIG are all looking to impress and potentially break into the top 10 on the back of a good placing in Greece.

Group A

SK (#1)	Age	Rating 2.0
Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga	25	1.20
Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David	22	1.19
Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo	26	1.12
João "⁠felps⁠" Vasconcellos	20	1.09
Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo	22	0.97

Offline placings in the last three months
5th-8th	DreamHack Masters Malmö
5th-8th	PGL Major Krakow
1st	ESL One Cologne
1st	ECS Season 3 Finals
1st	DreamHack Open Summer

SK arrive in Mykonos after two underwhelming quarter-final exits. The first one was at the Major in Krakow, where a Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz-powered Astralis took them out, and the second one was just last week at DreamHack Masters Malmö, where G2 managed an unlikely comeback to take the series 2-1.

With Gambit the only other team out of the top five present in Greece, ESG Tour looks like a perfect tournament for the Brazilians to bounce back and show some dominance. This event is actually similar to cs_summit Spring 2017 in that way, as SK arrived to the Beyond the Summit house in somewhat shaky form, but picked up the title over Gambit, starting a run that would see them win six out of seven events. 

fer is currently the best rated SK player, but that shouldn't take any focus off coldzera

FalleN's team has a bunch of things going for them at this tournament; fer is known to be dominant against lower-tier teams who can't deal with his relentless aggression, coldzera is, despite having fallen off a bit, still in impeccable form, and the tactical backbone is there, as well as a strong map pool. All in all, SK are set to have a strong showing at ESG Tour Mykonos 2017.

Gambit (#5)	Age	Rating 2.0
Rustem "⁠mou⁠" Telepov	25	1.14
Bektiyar "⁠fitch⁠" Bahytov	25	1.11
Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov	23	1.09
Dauren "⁠AdreN⁠" Kystaubayev	27	1.09
Mihail "⁠Dosia⁠" Stolyarov	29	0.99

Offline placings in the last three months
3th-4th	DreamHack Masters Malmö
1st	PGL Major Krakow (4/5)
5th-6th	DreamHack Open Summer (4/5)

The loss of Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko and the addition of fitch, who formerly represented Tengri, didn't have as big of an impact as people thought it would. Gambit had a good showing at DreamHack Masters Malmö, eliminating Astralis and FaZe from the tournament and finishing top four.

Most of the heavy lifting was done by mou, who is now showing some consistency to go with the high peaks he had made a name for himself with. Along with the AWPer, HObbit and the new addition fitch were able to step up, making up for AdreN's drop off, as the 27-year-old seems to be affected by the in-game leader role.

fitch had no issues adapting to the big stage

However, Gambit are still far from a complete team and have a lot to work on, as their wins were mostly based on getting the control of the match early on. That was made apparent in the match against North in Malmö, where AdreN and co. struggled to get a foothold in the match after a bad start to the game.

Yes, Gambit are the biggest favorites of the event after SK, but with a bunch of hungry teams in Mykonos, it wouldn't be too big of a surprise if they get upset by some of the lower ranked teams and exit the tournament early.

Heroic (#16)	Age	Rating 2.0
Jakob "⁠JUGi⁠" Hansen	20	1.16
Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen	19	1.12
Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer	27	1.07
Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen	21	1.04
Andreas "⁠MODDII⁠" Fridh	28	1.01
Henrik "⁠FeTiSh⁠" Christensen (coach)

Offline placings in the last three months
2nd	DreamHack Open Atlanta 2017 DreamHack Open Atlanta 2017
3rd-4th	DreamHack Open Valencia 2017
12-14th	ESL One Cologne

Since picking up es3tag, Heroic have finished 12-14th at ESL One Cologne 2017, 3rd-4th at DreamHack Open Valencia and 2nd at Dreamhack Open Atlanta. Even though the first placing looks like the worst on paper, Heroic recorded two 16-14 losses against elite opposition—North and FaZe—that eliminated them from the tournament.

That's why the 3rd-4th in Valencia is probably the most disappointing placing Heroic have had in a while, as their run was cut short by a defeat to Red Reserve. While most of the elite teams were at the Major or starting their vacations, Heroic attended DreamHack Open Atlanta, where they finished second to Envy, which made for a much more respectable run.

DreamHack Valencia was an underwhelming tournament for the Danes

An interesting development over the last three months is the uptick in Snappi's fragging. The team's in-game leader currently sits on a 1.07 HLTV rating, making him the third best rated player in Heroic behind the star duo of JUGi and niko.

It is to be seen if the same distribution will continue at ESG Mykonos 2017, where the Danes will face somewhat tougher opposition than they did at the DreamHack Open events. Kicking-off the tournament with a win against Gambit would be a great start, but with their chances to overcome SK looking pretty slim, the BO3 deciders and elimination matches are where Heroic will be looking to make a good impression to try to get out of the groups.

MOUZ (#17)	Age	Rating 2.0
Tomáš "⁠oskar⁠" Šťastný	26	1.16
Miikka "⁠suNny⁠" Kemppi	23	1.14
Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool	17	0.98
Chris "⁠chrisJ⁠" de Jong	27	0.91
Martin "⁠STYKO⁠" Styk	21	0.88
Sergey "⁠lmbt⁠" Bezhanov (coach)

Offline placings in the last three months
13th-16th	DreamHack Masters Malmö
12th-14th	PGL Major Krakow (3/5)
9th-11th	ESL One Cologne (3/5)
1st-2nd	PGL Major Krakow Main Qualifier (3/5)
5th-6th	DreamHack Open Summer (3/5)

After a tough group at DreamHack Masters Malmö, MOUZ find themselves in a similar situation at ESG Tour Mykonos. For chrisJ and co., the event in Sweden ended after just two maps and a single day of competition, leaving us without a good look at what the squad can do with their two new additions—suNny and STYKO. We'll hopefully have a better grasp of MOUZ after the event in Greece, which they open up with a BO1 against SK.

chrisJ won't have an easy time leading mouz in Mykonos

As of now, the European side are relying heavily on oskar, with no one else in the team able to finish DreamHack Masters Malmö with a rating above 1.00, which is—despite the squad still being in their early days—a worrying sign. suNny is expected to slot in as the star rifler of the team, with ropz in a more passive yet consistent role. ESG Tour Mykonos will show if they can transfer this plan to an offline environment.

Group B

Virtus.pro (#10)	Age	Rating 2.0
Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski	24	1.07
Jarosław "⁠pashaBiceps⁠" Jarząbkowski	29	1.06
Paweł "⁠byali⁠" Bieliński	23	1.04
Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski	30	0.97
Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas	31	0.91
Jakub "⁠kuben⁠" Gurczynski (coach)

Offline placings in the last three months
13th-16th	DreamHack Masters Malmö
3rd-4th	PGL Major Krakow
15th-16th	ESL One Cologne
1st	Adrenaline Cyber League
2nd	ELEAGUE Clash for Cash

Despite being the best-ranked team of group B, the Poles can hardly be considered favorites to make it to the playoffs. With four group stage exits in 2017 and the PGL Krakow Major, the only premier tournament they showed a decent level at in the past three months, Virtus.pro are in for a tough battle in Mykonos.

An overall lackluster showing in Malmö, where they lost to Natus Vincere and Renegades and picked up a total of 11 rounds, will give the rest of the teams of group B confidence that they too could best Snax and co. The fear factor the once mighty Polish Plow had going for them is out of the window now, and they will have to start collecting better results soon if they want teams to respect them as they used to.

Can Virtus.pro figure out a way to get back on track?

Considering the lack of a true favorite in their group—and elite teams in the tournament—, Virtus.pro have a chance to get back on track at the ESG Tour, but considering their 2017 track record, it makes more sense to bet against it.

Liquid (#11)	Age	Rating 2.0
Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken	17	1.15
Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski	20	1.11
Nick "⁠nitr0⁠" Cannella	22	1.03
Josh "⁠jdm64⁠" Marzano	27	1.02
Peter "⁠stanislaw⁠" Jarguz	23	1.02
Wilton "⁠zews⁠" Prado (coach)

Offline placings in the last three months
5th-8th	ESL One Cologne 2017
9th-11th	PGL Major Krakow 2017 Main Qualifier
5-6th	ECS Season 3 Finals

Adding stanislaw and Twistzz to a core of EliGE, nitr0 and jdm64, with the coaching of zews there to help them out—Liquid had all the ingredients to be the best North American team. Events were played out and some good results were achieved, but overall, the team didn't really leave a lasting impression.

The 5-8th placing at ESL One Cologne 2017 is probably the best result this roster has had, alongside a 3rd-4th at the ESL Pro League S5 Finals, more than three months ago, leaving North American fans underwhelmed. However, with the player break now behind us and much more time for stanislaw to train his troops, Liquid should have a decent chance of making a deep run in Mykonos and finally impressing.

stanislaw's addition didn't bring the expected results, at least not yet

A team featuring two prominent youngsters—EliGE and Twistzz—should be able to work their way out of the groups, and they have a good chance to take down anyone at the event, barring SK. They have been together long enough, they are fresh from the player break and they didn't attend Malmö, allowing them to learn about their opposition while not revealing any of the new things they might have.

If not now, then when will Liquid make their breakthrough?

Envy (#13)	Age	Rating 2.0
Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy	28	1.13
Adil "⁠ScreaM⁠" Benrlitom	23	1.13
Vincent "⁠Happy⁠" Schopenhauer	25	1.05
Alexandre "⁠xms⁠" Forté	20	1.02
Christophe "⁠SIXER⁠" Xia	26	1.01
Damien "⁠maLeK⁠" Marcel (coach)

Offline placings in the last three months
13th-16th	DreamHack Masters Malmö
1st	DreamHack Open Atlanta
3rd-4th	DreamHack Open Valencia
4th	Europe Minor - PGL Major Krakow
5th-6th	ESL Pro League Season 5 Finals

A 3rd-4th place in Valencia, where they lost to Ninjas in Pyjamas, and a victory in Atlanta was how Envy ended the season, stepping it up after a disappointing showing at the European Minor.

Following the break, Envy showed good form online, qualifying for multiple events—including this one. The fragging is still coming mainly from the former G2 duo of ScreaM and RpK, with the rest slotting in at different times. SIXER has picked up a notch, but he is still far from being a dominant AWPer or the star of the team, something that could be said for other snipers in this group as well: jdm64 and Kevin "⁠keev⁠" Bartholomäus.

EnVyUs will be looking to instill some confidence with a good placing in Mykonos

Virtus.pro are who Envy will open up the tournament in Mykonos against, with the Frenchmen hoping to pick up a win and shake off the memories from DreamHack Masters Malmö, where they were eliminated after two close 16-13 games.

The Frenchmen have a chance to make it out of the groups, and they will need at least that if they want to go into the ELEAGUE group stage matches or ESL One New York with any sort of confidence.

BIG (#15)	Age	Rating 2.0
Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz	22	1.41
Johannes "⁠nex⁠" Maget	25	1.11
Fatih "⁠gob b⁠" Dayik	30	1.08
Kevin "⁠keev⁠" Bartholomäus	25	1.06
Nikola "⁠LEGIJA⁠" Ninić	26	0.98
Alexander "⁠kakafu⁠" Szymanczyk (coach)

Offline placings in the last three months
5th-8th	PGL Major Krakow 2017
3rd-5th	PGL Major Krakow 2017 Main Qualifier
1st	Europe Minor - PGL Major Krakow 2017

Coming into their first LAN since the PGL Major Krakow, where they impressed by going 3-0 in the groups, makes it hard to assess how BIG will play. However, their strong tactical foundation, gob b's affinity towards finding and utilizing interesting tricks, and a bunch of time off mean that we could once again be positively surprised by the German squad.

The fragging prowess of the team's star tabseN, who currently sits on an absurdly high 1.41 rating, is something most of the teams at the event will have a tough time dealing with, but the contributions of nex and keev, two players who are prone to having more up-and-down performances, could be the deciding factors in BIG's Greek adventure.

Will gob b have a new trick up his sleeve in Mykonos?

Something that should be considered as well is that, unlike the rest of the teams at the event, BIG don't have any other events lined up after ESG Tour Mykonos, which should allow them to focus more on this competition and potentially earn a good placing.