The hour ticks closer and closer to the moment that everyone has been waiting for. The ELeague playoff bracket is set to continue with what looks to be some quality Counter Strike action.

In here, I will attempt to take a look at the two matchups that have been drawn for the semifinals and give my thoughts on the teams involved in them.

Fnatic vs Natus Vincere

When the playoff bracket for ESL One Cologne 2016 was drawn it seemed to the casual observer that one side of the bracket was setup for another clash of the titans in the visage of a Natus Vincere Fnatic showdown. Sadly, that stellar rivalry was unable to play out on the grandest stage of them all as both teams found themselves quickly dispatched by their North American counterparts in Team Liquid. Luckily the story has been completely different during the ELeague playoffs, despite the best efforts of Cloud 9, and the Counter Strike community has found themselves preparing to witness what should be an absolutely stellar set between these two storied teams.

While this set is prepped and ready to be an absolute doozy it must be stated that neither of these teams are at the peak of their form. Natus Vincere no longer have the same old Guardian who was the best AWPER in the world to rely on, and in the case of Fnatic, the best player in the world no longer resides within their team.

That however is a tangential topic; the case at hand is still an extremely exciting matchup between not only two top ten teams in the world but also two of the most talented teams in the world.

Giving Natus Vincere’s roster a cursory glance is more than enough time to establish the fact that they have built a roster that is more than capable of giving it just as good as it gets. With big names like Guardian and Flamie complemented by skilled veterans like Edward and Seized, it becomes clear that this team has what it takes on paper in order to be the best.

In spite of all these beautiful factors going for Natus Vincere there still exists one relatively large problem. The fact is that this team has had what it takes on paper to be the best over the last 8 months, and yet they have continually failed to take that final step over the top.

As a matter of fact ever since Dreamhack Malmo it seems that Natus Vincere has regressed rather than grown. Players like Guardian and Flamie, who were at one point in this year top five players in the world at the same time, might arguably not even be the top duo on their own team the way their recent form has been. To make matters worse, it has also come to light over this past year that Natus Vincere struggle mentally in the biggest of stages; countless times have they failed to seal the deal in Grand Finals where momentum seemed to be going their way.

With all of these pesky problems riding on Natus Vincere’s shoulders, to most it would seem that this matchup should be an easy win for the Swedish side. Well -- as it turns out, the reality of the situation is much more complex, as the Swedish side are plagued with numerous problems themselves. The biggest problem that has reared its head for the Swedes has been the death of the Olofmeister that we used to know. At the beginning of the year, it seemed that nothing could go wrong for Fnatic. They won six tournaments in a row in a truly dominant fashion off of the back of the best player in the world, Olofmeister. Going into MLG Columbus, it seemed to the casual observer that this major title was already locked up in the trophy cases of Fnatic. The reality turned out to be extremely different from those expectations, Olofmeister came down with a wrist injury at the worst possible time, and ever since then, Fnatic have never looked the same.

Despite Olofmeister’s claims that ever since the return from the hiatus he has been 100% in terms of skill, it is clear that nowhere near the peak of his skill has managed to manifest itself into the server. Olofmeister’s fall has been precipitous; before the injury, he was the undisputed best player in the world. Upon his return, he has arguably been not even a top two player within his own team. This fall off has ended up hurting Fnatic’s chances to win tournaments by a significant margin; after all, losing a franchise player like this tends to do that.

Natus Vincere vs. Fnatic can be best summed up as the clash of two failing titans. After all, these two teams -- at one point -- were the two best in the world, and now they find themselves not having won a tournament in quite a bit of time. This matchup itself can swing in both ways. despite both teams’ past slumps, they both possess extremely skill heavy and deadly rosters that can beat any teams in the world. Yet even though the matchup can swing both ways in every scenario, there is a favorite no matter the margin. In this matchup, I see Fnatic as the favorites to claw through and battle their way into the finals.

Mousesports vs Virtus Pro

On the other side of the playoff bracket, the matchup that lies ahead is not even close to as exciting on paper. In more ways than just one, this match can be seen to be a complete mismatch; a team with a distinct lack of results like Mousesports has found themselves face-to-face with one of the most storied rosters in the game.

On one hand we have Mousesports, a roster with a distinct lack of firepower once you move past their main star, Niko. In Spite of that lack of firepower -- which tends to hurt them more often than not versus the best teams -- the main star of Mousesports is more than capable of putting his team on his back. In order to reach this far into the ELeague playoffs bracket it required exactly those kind of superlative performances from Niko. Despite Niko’s prodigious gun skill on display throughout this entire tournament, it feels like he might have finally met his match in the form of a red-hot Virtus Pro.

What can be said about Virtus Pro that has not already been said at some point in time? Virtus Pro themselves are one of the most storied rosters in Counter Strike history, and they find themselves once again close to reclaiming that type of form that makes them oh so deadly. At the major, Virtus Pro managed to finish with a top four spot, and in the eyes of most were the team to push the eventual champions the farthest. With Snax seemingly regaining his superstar form and -- once again -- spearheading Virtus Pro, this semifinals seems like it should be a relatively clean affair for Virtus Pro.

Mousesports have had a relatively tough road in order to reach this far into the tournament; they had to overcome extremely deadly teams like Faze and Astralis en route to the semifinals. Even though up until this point their struggles have been successful, largely due to immense solo man efforts from Niko, it still seems that this is the time when they meet their maker. This semifinal, while not on the same scale as a David vs. Goliath matchup, is a mismatch of quite a large proportion. If all fairs well and true then we should expect to see Virtus Pro in the finals of Eleague.