ESL Pro League,Counter-Strike,Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – ESL https://esl.com Feel the passion for esports Fri, 10 Jun 2022 14:37:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 https://esl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ESL-Favicon-green-512-150x150.png ESL Pro League,Counter-Strike,Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – ESL https://esl.com 32 32 The ESL Pro League heats up in Week 3 with big leaderboard changes in both regions https://esl.com/article/the-esl-pro-league-heats-up-in-week-3-with-big-leaderboard-changes-in-both-regions/ Thu, 16 Mar 2017 15:57:29 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2017/03/the-esl-pro-league-heats-up-in-week-3-with-big-leaderboard-changes-in-both-regions/ Take a look back at Week 3 of the ESL Pro League as we relive some of the best bits, recap our Hot Match of the Week, and review the updated season standings.

]]> After an intense week of action at IEM Katowice, there was no surprise that the same type of action transcended into week three of the ESL Pro League. This week, across both Europe and North America, there were a number of key matches that had the potential to drastically change the region’s standings, as well as a team’s season, and their overall chance of qualifying for the LAN finals in Dallas, Texas later this year.

In this week’s recap, you can find a roundup of the standings for each region, the best highlights from the three days of action, and a look back at the Hot Matches of the Week.

Europe

Standings

At the end of Week 3 of the ESL Pro League, mousesports remains at the top of the European standings with 21 points after eight matches played, leaving them with a 7-1 win/loss record. It’s great to see this side continuing to show that the loss of Nikola “NiKo” Kovač has not affected their results.

Now three weeks into the ten week playing season, the European region is beginning to really heat up with seven of the 14 teams on 12 points. As we get closer to the halfway point, it will be interesting to see where each team is sitting as we could begin to get a solid indication as to which teams we will be seeing in Texas, and which big names will be watching from home.

Below, you can find an updated look at the European ESL Pro League Season 5 standings at the end of week three.

Hot Match of the Week – Recap

Before we got underway with this week of action, we recommended that you should be tuning into the grudge match between Virtus.pro and Astralis for a repeat of the grand finals at the ELEAGUE Major 2017, and the semi finals at DreamHack Masters Las Vegas.

Unfortunately for Astralis, Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz was diagnosed with Hiatus Hernia so was unable to play on the night, but the match still went ahead as the sides coach, and former CS 1.6 professional, Danny “zonic” Sørensen, stood in. The two-map series began on de_inferno where the Polish veterans, Virtus.pro, took a demanding, and pretty much unrecoverable, lead going into the half as they led 13-2. As the second half began, there was no doubt that VP would come it victorious, but it wasn’t before Astralis managed to pile together a number of rounds. The map eventually concluded 16-8.

Although the second map in the series, de_nuke, concluded with the same result, it took a very different path to get to that point. The Danish side got off to strong start as they took the pistol round over VP, eventually turning into a nice 10-5 lead at the halfway point. Unfortunately, their five point lead quickly slipped away with a second half pistol round loss, and Astralis then found themselves battling as hard as they could to get the three points.

Despite their best efforts, it just wasn’t enough against the Virtus Plow as they clawed back, and took the game to overtime where they didn’t provide Astralis with any room to breathe. After four quick rounds, the match concluded 19-15, and Virtus.pro took the final three points from the series.

Highlights of the Week

That’s actually quite nifty

In their search for their first set of points of the ESL Pro League season, G2’s Richard “shox” Papillon pulls off this piece of magic to put his side on map point.

The Fnatic Saviours

In what was a must win round against Team LDLC, Fnatic found themselves in a 2v4 situation that seemed almost impossible to win. However, Fnatic’s saviours, Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson, and Robin “flusha” Rönnquist, came to the rescue and won the round. The Swedish veterans went onto take the map 16-13.

Pistol king

At IEM Katowice, we saw Nikola “NiKo” Kovač constantly ripping enemies heads off with Desert Eagle, and winning rounds that just shouldn’t be won. This time around, he’s doing it with the USP-S.

North America

Standings

In the North American standings at the end of Week 3, SK Gaming have climbed back up to the top of the leaderboard, overtaking Cloud9, after winning both maps from their match against Luminosity. The leaders currently sit at a total of 24 points, putting together a flawless 8-0 win/loss record.

Although there isn’t seven teams on the same amount of points like in the European standings, things are still getting to get tight in, and around, the qualification zone. With their 2-0 win over OpTic Gaming, NRG Esports have pushed themselves into fourth place, only six points behind the league leaders. This week, we also saw Renegades, Rush, and Winterfox, acquiring their first wins for the ESL Pro League.

Below, you can find an updated look at the North American ESL Pro League Season 5 standings at the end of week three.

Hot Match of the Week – Recap

In our North American preview of Week 2, we recommended that you should be taking a look at the match between the NA ‘Kings of ESL Pro League,’ Cloud9, and Brazilian side, Immortals, who now seem to be performing well with the former SK Gaming player, Lincoln “fnx” Lau. In the first map, de_train, Cloud9 got off to a great start as they found themselves with a 6-0 lead over their opponents. By the end of the half, however, Immortals did managed to fight back and only trail 8-7, giving themselves a solid chance at taking three points. Unfortunately for the Brazilians, their first round efforts were not good enough as C9 dominated the second half, and quickly took the first map 16-9.

On the second map, de_cbble, the two sides seemed to switch roles from Train as it was Immortals that started out with a 5-0 lead before Cloud9 managed to earn their first in the sixth round. C9 slowly started to put together a few rounds in a row, however, Immortals just managed to hold on, and at the end of the half, they led 8-7. Winning the second half pistol round, IMT put themselves in a position to close out the map and take three points from the two maps. With the utilisation of top level team tactics, and positioning, the Brazilian side took the map 16-8.

Highlights of the Week

Destruction

We’ve already shown this, but we just have to show it off again. The Immortals new recruit, Lincoln “fnx” Lau, rips off the heads of Cloud9 in a match that they went onto win.

Something a bit different

As the SelflessGG side trailed with Team Liquid on match point, they decided to pull something that was beyond unorthodox to see if they could begin to rally back. Catching the Liquid side off guard, the strategy did work, but there wasn’t enough momentum to get the rest of the rounds back.

Dat spray

After taking the first map in the series, de_cache, 16-9, NRG looked like they weren’t going to take their foot off the gas as the continued to dominate OpTic Gaming.

We’ll be back in a few days!

This week, there is no break form the ESL Pro League so we will be back on Tuesday with our preview of what is to come from the week, and of course, more great CS:GO matches.

As always, for all of the latest updates on the ESL Pro League, be sure to follow ESL Counter-Strike on Twitter and Facebook.

]]> Mouz and Cloud9 top Week 2 after a week away from online play https://esl.com/article/mouz-and-cloud9-top-week-2-after-a-week-away-from-online-play/ Thu, 02 Mar 2017 17:00:37 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2017/03/mouz-and-cloud9-top-week-2-after-a-week-away-from-online-play/ Take a look back at Week 2 of the ESL Pro League as we relive some of the best bits and review the updated season standings.

]]> After a fantastic opening week to the fifth season of the ESL Pro League, both European, and North American teams, took a break from online play to compete at DreamHack Masters where Virtus.pro took the US$200,000 first place prize. Unfortunately, due to a number of unforeseen circumstances, from cancelled flights to a temporary ESEA outage, some of the EU matches on Wednesday, and Thursday, were cancelled.

With that being said, the North American region didn’t let us down one bit, providing us with some great matches, and also filling the hole that was left empty by the lack of European matches.

Europe

Standings

At the end of Week 2 of the ESL Pro League, mousesports leads the European standings with 15 points after only six matches played, leaving them with a 5-1 win/loss record. To many in the community, this result comes as a surprise considering the recent departure of mouz star player, Nikola “NiKo” Kovač. Although we’re only two weeks into the season, and a plethora of matches away from knowing which teams will be travelling to Dallas for the LAN finals, we’ve got to believe that this German side will be a contender for a qualification spot.

Below, you can find an updated look at the European ESL Pro League Season 5 standings at the end of week two.

Hot Match to Watch – Recap

As previously mentioned, due to a number of unforeseen circumstances, some of the European matches on Wednesday, and Thursday, were cancelled, and will have to be rescheduled. Unfortunately, this included our Hot Match of the Week between Fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

On Tuesday night, we started to hear reports on a number of teams, including Ninjas in Pyjamas, having troubles with their return flight home from DreamHack Masters Las Vegas. After receiving further information in the morning of Wednesday, 22 January, we felt it was necessary to invoke a special and extraordinary circumstances ruling, cancelling the matches to a later date.

You can read more about the ruling, and the matches that were affected, here.

Highlights of the Week

You smart

In the first map of their match against Team LDLC, Heroic were only one round away from securing another three points. Utilising information from previous rounds, and overall great game knowledge, Heroic player Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså, sprays through a wall, and a door, to take some health away from his opponents. Being the persistent player that Bjørn Vangså is, he repositions himself and continues to spray, this time taking down two enemy players.

Rush B, don’t stop

A classic Counter-Strike matchmaking strategy made an appearance in competitive play as Swedish side, Fnatic, looked to get their first round on the board in a match against G2 Esports.

No NiKo? No problem

After the departure of Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, everyone was a bit sceptical as to how this mousesports lineup was going to perform without their beloved star player. However, when you have a player like Chris “chrisJ” de Jong filling the star player boots, then there really is no worry, especially when he’s doing things like this.

Stanislaw puts in the work

In their match against compLexity, Team Liquid new recruit, Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz puts in work with his pistol as he tries to tie up the second map in the series.

North America

Standings

Across the pond, it is the ESL Pro League Season 4 champions, Cloud9, that lead the North American standings with 18 points after six games played, leaving themselves with a 6-0 record. Considering how they performed over the past few months in an offline format, it shows that maybe Cloud9 really does like this Pro League thing.

At the bottom end of the table, and after two competing weeks, there is still three teams which are yet to win a single map in their ESL Pro League campaign. These teams are Rush, Renegades, and Winterfox. Already, only two weeks into the league, I think we can unfortunately start to count these teams out of qualification.

Hot Match of the Week – Recap

In our preview of Week 2, we recommended that you should be taking the time to tune into the match between Immortals and OpTic Gaming to see how the teams would continue to perform with their new rosters. Knowing that they had to take at least three points off OpTic Gaming, considering their upcoming matches, Immortals threw everything they could at the OG lineup, and by the end of the half, they were leading 9-6. Going into the CT side, there was an expectation that OpTic would swiftly tie up the match, but that was far from the case. By not giving OpTic any breathing room, IMT didn’t lose a single round in the second half, and quickly earned themselves the minimum of three points they needed from the two-map series.

The second map, well, what can I say, that was a bizarre change of pace. OpTic Gaming got off to a very quick start, establishing a strong hold on the Immortals side, which quickly led to a 10-5 half-time lead. Much like the first map, the trailing side, this time IMT, did not manage to obtain a single round, thus leading to the quick conclusion of the second map, and a 16-5 win for OG.

Highlights of the Week

DENIED

There’s no real way to describe what has happened here without giving away this little piece of magic from Kenneth “koosta” Suen.

It’s shroud’s turn to be nutty

With Cloud9 establishing a strong 8-1 lead in the second map of the series against Winterfox, Mike “shroud” Grzesiek decided to be “sneaky beaky like” in the B site on Overpass, thus allowing him to catch three of his opponents off guard, and eventually leading to another round win.

We’ll be back after IEM Katowice!

With IEM Katowice taking place between March 1 and March 5, the 28 teams will again take a break from online play to focus on their preparation, and travel to, the US$250,000 tournament. There are still some weekend passes available, so pick yours up now!

Taking the IEM event into consideration, we will make our return on Monday, March 6 with our preview of what is coming up in Week 3, before our YouTube livestream goes live the next day at 19:00 CET.

As always, for all of the latest updates on the ESL Pro League, be sure to follow ESL Counter-Strike on Twitter and Facebook.

]]> The ESL Pro League Season 4 champions have been crowned! https://esl.com/article/the-esl-pro-league-season-4-champions-have-been-crowned/ Fri, 11 Nov 2016 23:10:22 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/11/the-esl-pro-league-season-4-champions-have-been-crowned/ After five days of tough battles in São Paulo, we have our new ESL Pro League champions!

]]> Over the last couple of days, eleven of the best CS:GO teams from Europe and North America regions have been battling in the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo for the ESL Pro League Season 4 championship title. With a $750,000 prize pool on the line and a roaring Brazilian crowd, there was much to play for in the final ESL Pro League season of 2016. But only mousesports, Cloud9, SK Gaming and Ninjas in Pyjamas made it to the final day of the tournament and at the end Cloud9 were able to lift their first ever ESL Pro League trophy.

Semifinals

SK Gaming vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas

  • Map 1- Nuke: SK 10:16 NiP
  • Map 2 – Overpass: SK 16:7 NiP
  • Map -3 Cobblestone: SK 16:10 NiP

Mousesports vs. Cloud9

  • Map 1- Cobblestone: mouz 9-16 C9
  • Map 2 – Mirage: mouz 10-16 C9

Grand Finals

Cloud9 vs SK Gaming

SK Gaming managed to achieve exactly what they set out to do – be in the grand finals in front of their loyal home fans. For Cloud9, it would an incredible achievement to dethrone the reigning ESL Pro League champs, especially while they held home court advantage. But that’s exactly what the Americans did after narrowly losing the first map and dominating on Mirage and Dust II.

  • Map 1- Overpass: C9 17:19 SK
  • Map 2- Mirage: C9 16:6 SK
  • Map 3 –  Dust II: C9 16:5 SK

What a way to end the ESL Pro League for 2016 and what an incredible atmosphere in Brazil Thanks to the teams, players, fans and everyone who watched online. Next up, we’ll be getting ready for IEM Oakland, so don’t forget to secure yourself a ticket while they are still available.

And for all ESL Pro League Season 4 highlights, be sure to check out ESL CS on both Twitter and Facebook.

]]> SK Gaming and mousesports top their groups after ESL Pro League Finals group stage https://esl.com/article/sk-gaming-and-mousesports-top-their-groups-after-esl-pro-league-finals-group-stage/ Thu, 10 Nov 2016 15:59:23 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/11/sk-gaming-and-mousesports-top-their-groups-after-esl-pro-league-finals-group-stage/ Find out who advanced and who was eliminated after the ESL Pro League Finals group stage.

]]> Yesterday was the first day in front of the Brazilian home crowd in the sold out Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo and every team had a chance to showcase their skills en route to the ESL Pro League Season 4 trophy. Unfortunately we already had to say goodbye to five of the eleven teams after day three of the competition. Check out who made it past the grueling group stage.

Group A

In the shorthanded group A, only two teams had to fear elimination yesterday and Team Liquid’s fate was already sealed after a 0-3 start. But much to the dismay of the Brazilian fans, they saved their best for their last mast against Immortals where they eliminated the home town favorites in an incredible comeback after being 13-2 down.

At the top of the groups, both mousesports and Team EnVyUs finished with 3-1 scores, but the German organisation won the head-to-head matchup and therefore secured themselves a semi final spot.

The group A standings:

1 mousesports 3-1 62-47
2 Team EnVyUs 3-1 57-30
3 OpTic Gaming 2-2 47-38
4 Team Liquid 1-3 34-62
5 Immortals 1-3 39-62

Group B

After the shocking elimination of Immortals in group A, at the very least the home crowd was able to celebrate SK Gaming performance in group B, where they topped the standings after the last day of group play.

At the bottom of the table it was heartbreak for Team Dignitas, FaZe and NRG who got eliminated after day three. Team Dignitas were not able to keep up their impressive day one form, FaZe fell just short securing themselves an all important third win and NRG failed to record a win the hard-fought group B.

The group B standings:

1 SK Gaming 4-1 74-41
2 Cloud9 4-1 70-61
3 Ninjas in Pyjamas 3-2 71-63
4 FaZe Clan 2-3 61-75
5 Team Dignitas 2-3 59-65
6 NRG eSports 0-5 56-86

 

For the detailed match results in both groups, be sure to check out our group stage page on the ESL Pro League website.

The quarterfinals continue today at 14:50 BRST (18:50 CEST) with NiP vs EnVyUs, followed by OpTic vs Cloud9. Find out who will face mousesports and SK Gaming in the semi finals on our playoff livestreams. And don’t forget to follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook for the best highlights, match results and standings.

]]> Dominating performances by SK Gaming on day two of the ESL Pro League Finals https://esl.com/article/dominating-performances-by-sk-gaming-on-day-two-of-the-esl-pro-league-finals/ Thu, 03 Nov 2016 19:46:31 +0000 https://esl.com/blog/2016/11/dominating-performances-by-sk-gaming-on-day-two-of-the-esl-pro-league-finals/ Read up on how the groups are looking after day two of the ESL Pro League Finals group stage.

]]> Day two if the ESL Pro League Season 4 finals is in the books and the groups are starting to shape up. Check out which teams are in a commanding position to advance to the playoffs and which are in danger of being eliminated after the first day on the main stage today at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo.

Group A

After day two, both mousesports and Team EnVyUs remain undefeated, leaving them as joint first place teams in group A while Team Liquid failed to record their first map. With an 0-3 score after two days, Team Liquid are now out of playoff contention and can only play the spoiler in the arena tomorrow.

The complete results are as follows:

  • Immortals 4:16 OpTiC Gaming
  • Team EnVyUs 16:4 Team Liquid
  • Mousesports 16:10 OpTiC Gaming

Group B

To the joy of all Brazilian fan, SK Gaming turned up the heat on day two, winning both their matches. Nonetheless, anything is still possible in Group B, with no teams mathematically eliminated.

The complete results are as follows:

  • SK Gaming 16:2 FaZe Clan
  • Ninjas in Pyjamas 16:14 NRG eSports
  • FaZe Clan 16:7 Team Dignitas
  • SK Gaming 16:6 Cloud9

A lot can happen to the standings today, when the teams take their first steps onto the main stage in the Ginásio do Ibirapuera for the final day of group play. Who’s gonna secure their slot in the playoffs? Don’t miss out on any of the action by tuning into our main event livestreams, starting with Immortals vs mousesports at 12:00 BRST (16:00 CEST). And don’t forget to follow ESL CS on Twitter and Facebook for highlights, tournament updates and spicy memes!

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