eUnited stands at a surprising sixth rank after MD2 with an opportunity to further solidify their playoff dreams, with Cloud9 in hot pursuit. We’ll see Rogue play with newest addition MSL for the first time as the league’s top five teams will be MIA due to tournament schedules.
eUnited came through MDL and more than half way through the Pro League season find themselves in contention for the playoffs already, standing on rank six with 21 points after 16 matches. On MD3 Relyks & Co. will even head into their matches as favorites against Envy and INTZ, with a chance, if everything goes perfectly and all four maps are won, to even overtake NRG in the standings.
Nobody predicted eUnited to be in playoff contention at the start of the season, and it is still a long way to go, a way that can also still head into the wrong direction. But seeing the young team perform to such a high standard, is refreshing to see, and should serve as motivation for all upcoming teams. I would argue that eUnited are still in the process of adjusting to Pro League and that there’s still a lot of room for improvement once nervousness gives way to comfort. This week will see them play four decisive maps in the process of deciding which way eUnited’s season is headed.
Grey and rainy Clouds
Cloud9 definitely didn’t expect to not be included in the top six this deep into the season. autimatic’s boys are facing Envy on MD3 and both maps are must wins if they want to keep their chances to qualify for Odense alive. Yes, C9 haven’t had a stable roster this season, with tarik leaving and Skadoodle heading into inactivity, but with such high calibre names on their side, they still won’t be happy with their results. Six are necessary this week to not lose sight of eUnited and the finals.
MSL going Rogue
One Dane leaves, another Dane joins. cadiaN and MSL have swapped teams and it will be exciting to see if Rogue can rebound now under MSL’s leadership. Rogue was one of the more promising teams before the swap happened and after cadiaN left, they fell apart completely. kRYSTAL was brought in temporarily and now with MSL in as the new leader, hope of course returns to the squad. A difficult season sees them on rank ten with 16 points after 18 games. Their goal will be to avoid relegation and then head into the next season with a fully formed, new identity. Let’s see what happens!
Don’t miss this week’s action!
Tune into ESL CS:GO’s Facebook channel to watch your favorite teams battle for a spot at the offline finals in Odense. If you want to watch the season finals, you can purchase tickets here.
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Season 8 of the ESL Pro League is brought to you by Intel, the City of Odense, Nvidia, Legion by Lenovo, Logitech, paysafecard, xfinity, MDL and YouTube.
