It was looking bleak ahead of Week 3 in Pro League for ANGE1 and his boys, but the HellRaisers managed to propel themselves into a promising spot thanks to an impressive run. Ex-Space Soldiers keep slim chances alive, even after a substantial decline of form, while North did enough to, barring any miracles, become the second Danish team to qualify for Odense.

After a botched start into the Pro League season, HellRaisers had the opportunity to turn things around on MD3, and that’s exactly what they did. woxic & Co. won seven out of the ten maps played against Fnatic, NiP, Na’Vi, Ex-Space Soldiers and AGO, catapulting them from the eleventh rank to a playoffs-eligible seventh. With three more matches and six more maps, this means the mainly CIS-mix will have plenty of opportunity to solidify their position – even a further climb in the rankings is not out of the question, G2 and mouz are well within reach, though the troop’s main goal will be to remain in the top 7.

ISSA, one of the year’s breakout players, has had tremendous impact in his team’s quest to turn things around, alongside woxic, who’s star in the CS-verse keeps on rising. With six losses in their first eight maps, HellRaisers looked all but out early on. ANGE1 then managed to lead his boys to nine wins in the subsequent twelve maps, and into playoff contention. If the boys can keep up their momentum, they will be an exciting team to watch during the finals in Odense.

Unarmed, ex Space Soldiers

After an impressive start into the season, where XANTARES and his fellow Soldiers won five of their first eight maps, including a hard-fought battle against Astralis that went into overtime twice and ended in a draw, the Turks have lost their winning ways. Last week, the still org-less team lost five out of six maps against North, HellRaisers and Windigo, putting them on a difficult ninth rank with 27 points in 20 matches. They can still qualify for the playoffs, but dropping into relegation isn’t out of the question either and is perhaps even the more likely outcome regarding their most recent form. MD4 will decide over the Turk’s fate and we hope to see them rediscover their tenacity from the start of Pro League.

North in the north

In an international phenomenon like esports, where tournaments are held all around the globe, there’s nothing more satisfying than competing in front of your own fans on home-turf. That’s what North is about to do, when it’s finals time in Odense, Denmark. A solid MD3, with four of six maps won, against mouz, Astralis and Ex Space Soldiers, sees cadiaN and his boys on rank four of the standings, with their playoffs ticket virtually secured. But North still have convincing to do. People are still sceptical of the cadiaN and gade move, and their lacklustre performance at IEM Chicago will only fuel those voices. Odense will mark a pivotal moment in this roster’s history – let’s see if the pressure to perform sees them rise to the occasion.

ESL Pro League Season 8 returns on Tuesday!

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.

For all the latest updates on the ESL Pro League, be sure to follow ESL Counter-Strike on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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.