After a grueling week of edge-of-your-seat action in week four of the European ESL Pro League, it was no surprise that the fifth was just as intense. In last week’s recap, we recommended that you looked out for one series in particular: Team EnVyUs versus Natus Vincere. While the two-map series didn’t turn out to be quite as exciting as previously predicted, with Na’Vi closing out both maps 16-11 and 16-7, it did make for some interesting changes to the season standings.
Below you can find a roundup of the standings, some of the best highlights from this week’s action and more - check it out!
Standings
At the end of week four, Astralis led the European region by six points - ahead of Ninjas in Pyjamas, Fnatic and G2 - after their tremendous run, with five wins out of a total six matches played. This week, the standings don’t look too different at the top of the table, with the four teams between third and sixth place battling it out for a spot in the top four receiving an invite to the ESL Pro League Season 3 offline finals.
Below you can find the updated ESL Pro League Season 3 standings at the end of week five.
Click to enlarge
Highlights of the week
Ex6TenZ just wants it to be over already
In the first map of the week in their two-map series against SK Gaming, FaZe faced no issues - so in the twenty-first round Kévin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans took matters into his own hands and rushed his struggling opponents. The Belgian eliminated four out of the five opponents to close out the map.
No holding back by @g2ex6tenz as he just rushes @SKGaming! #CSGO #ESLProLeague https://t.co/J1uicM2Jgz https://t.co/7o3wtt4aYP
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 15, 2016
Around the world with GeT_RiGhT
Stuck in a 1v2 situation against world number one Fnatic, Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund is quick on his feet as he executes a full rotation of the B bombsite on Inferno to catch his opponents off guard while they are defusing the bomb.
.@GeT_RiGhTcs goes around the world to clutch an insane round! @NiPGaming #CSGO #ESLProLeaguehttps://t.co/KURDTERvFP
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 16, 2016
Easy as one, two, three
Nikola “NiKo” Kovač again features in this week’s highlights as he adds another ace to his compilation of clutch plays and elite performances throughout his career against eighth-place side SK Gaming.
.@SKGaming GETS ACED BY @mouzniko! @mousesports #CSGO #ESLProLeaguehttps://t.co/tVpkp17Lah
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 17, 2016
Calm, cool and collected
With seconds to go in the thirteenth round of their first match against the German mousesports, Mikail “Maikelele” Bill has the AWP in hand with one of his two remaining opponents defusing the bomb. The rest is history.
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ WHAT WAS THAT?! @FaZeMaikelele @FaZeClan #ESLProLeague https://t.co/s04cBAgfXS
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 19, 2016
“That’s a flick and a half”
It looked like the round was going in favor of the newly completed EnVyUs lineup as they put Egor “flamie” Vasilyev into a 1v2 situation, but it wasn’t to be for the French team. The Russian player lands two kills to close out the round, including one of the best frags the season has seen so far.
WHAT A FLICK @flamiecs @natusvincere #CSGO #ESLProLeaguehttps://t.co/KY8j4mlXe9
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 20, 2016
Team of the week
G2 Esports are unquestionably your team of the week, with the same results as Astralis from the preceding one. The French side accumulated a total of fifteen points with a week five record of five wins and one loss. The lineup’s only dropped map came in an unexpected fashion from tenth-place team Dignitas, who defeated G2 16-10 on Cache - their only win of the week.
There were no further issues in their other two matches, with them successfully completing the series 32-18 against SK Gaming and 32-23 versus FaZe.
The four top teams from each region will qualify for the ESL Pro League Season 3 offline finals later this year. G2 Esports only just fit inside that threshold at third place, tied for points with Ninjas in Pyjamas, who sit at second. With that said, out of the whole group and region, the G2 side has participated in more matches than any of the other eleven teams, thus meaning, that in order to qualify, the lineup will need to complete their remaining matches with limited faults.
Tune in to the short but sweet week six!
Although week six of the European ESL Pro League will only be played across two days, there will still be plenty of action-packed gameplay and further potential changes to the top of the leaderboard. One series to look out for is Astralis versus Ninjas in Pyjamas as the two teams attempt to keep their invite to the offline finals firmly in hand.
For all the latest news about the ESL Pro League, make sure to keep an eye on ESL CS on Facebook and Twitter.
