It’s all to play for across the European and North American standings at the conclusion of Week 7

With a variety of results, and unsuspecting performances across the European and North American region, we are all still slightly unsure as to which teams will definitely be competing at the ESL Pro League Season 5 Finals in Dallas, Texas later this year. Although nothing is confirmed, I can imagine we’ll be seeing the likes of Cloud9 and SK Gaming from NA, and European powerhouse, Astralis.

In a recap of Week 7, you will find an in-depth summary of the league standings across both regions, our favourite plays from the week, as well as look back at our all important Hot Matches of the Week.

Europe

Standings

At the conclusion of Week 7, it is Astralis that takes the top position in the European ESL Pro League standings, ahead of Natus Vincere, after taking down HellRaisers 2-0 in their series with a 16-9 win on de_overpass, and a close 16-14 map win on de_mirage. With that, the Danish side sits at the top of the league with a total of 36 points from 18 matches, leaving themselves with a 12-6 win/loss record.

As previously expected, and much like the most recent weeks, although Astralis leads the European region, there is a number of teams that is chasing the poll position, or just a spot generally within the qualification zone. For the lineups that are within the qualification zone, there is a maximum of six points, or two map wins, between the top of the leaderboard and their position so, depending on some of the upcoming matches, it could be a completely different leaderboard by the end of Week 8.

It is worth mentioning that the once struggling side, G2 Esports, has shot up into seventh place with a total of 30 points, putting them on the edge of receiving an invite to the offline finals in Dallas, Texas. The French ‘super team’ is currently tied with FaZe and Fnatic, but the side has two games in hand on Fnatic so could definitely have a major impact on the final standings.

The battle at the bottom still continues, but we have a new face in the mix. After a promising start after the ‘French Revolution 2.0,’ Team EnVyUs have fallen off the face of the earth, only winning three out of their last 13 matches, which really isn’t the type of performance you expect from this high calibre team. With this poor performance, Envy have found themselves in 12th, and if they stay in that position, they will have to compete to retain their spot in the Pro League. Will they be able to turn it around?

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

Hot Match of the Week - Recap

For this week’s European Hot Match of the Week, we recommended that you tuned into the battle between the mixed European side, mousesports, and Team EnVyUs, a side that originally looked to be in a positive position considering the changes that the lineup had been through.

Playing as the Terrorists on de_cbble, mousesports got off to a good start from their initial pistol round win, which they were fortunately able to extend to a 3-0 lead. The Team EnVyUs lineup did manage to fight back a few rounds in a back and forth situation with their opponents, but it was indeed mousesports who held a strong 10-5 lead going into the second half of the first map. The second half got underway with another pistol round win for mousesports, but this time, nV didn’t let it get away from them, fighting right back with some ridiculous pistol kills from Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom.

With that upgraded pistol round win, Benrlitom and the rest of his side fought back another few rounds, now only trailing three rounds. Unfortunately though, from that point forward, mouz didn’t allow any room for Envy and quickly closed out the first map 16-8.

Knowing they had to win at least one of the maps in the series, Team EnVyUs pushed hard in the pistol round of de_nuke, and it worked out, taking an initial 1-0 lead. From that point on however, the situation for the French side slowly got worse and worse, as moux instantly bounced back with multiple round wins of their own. As the teams switched sides at the end of the half, mousesports had a commanding 12-3 lead over their suffering opponents.

The second half got underway, and mousesports looked like they were going to seal the win in very quick fashion, but Team EnVyUs showed so much resilience even when everybody else though they were out of it. Unfortunately though for Envy, it just, and I really mean just, wasn’t enough as mouz closed it out 16-14. One more round for Envy, and it could have completely changed the outcome of the game with the teams having to compete through overtime.

Highlights of the Week

USP-TAPS

 

 

We can only dream of aim like this

 

 

CARRYgan makes an appearance

 

 

North America

Standings

At the end of another week of matches in the North American division, SK Gaming continues to lead the rest of the competition, ahead of Cloud9 and Team Liquid, who are both just a few wins away from taking the top spot in the NA region. With only two wins from four this week, the Brazilian side have extended their lead by three to 48 points from 20 total matches completed, leaving them still with a strong win/loss record of 16-4.

Similar to that of the European standings, it’s difficult to say at this late stage which sides will definitely be competing at the LAN finals in Dallas, Texas considering how close the points are between the teams within, and around, the qualification zone. Three out of the top eight teams in the Pro League currently sit on 33 points, including NRG Esports and OpTic Gaming, so it will be interesting to see which of those teams will be able to perform well in the few remaining weeks. With that being said, NRG and Renegades have, respectively, four and two games in hand, and I’m certain that will change things a bit for a number of teams within that all important area.

Below, you can find an updated look at the North America ESL Pro League Season 5 standings at the end of week seven:

Hot Match of the Week - Recap

In this week’s North American Hot Match of the Week, we recommended that you tuned into a highly anticipated Pro League battle between leaders, SK Gaming, and Cloud9, one of the only sides that continues to perform well in this format, regardless of their most recent results. This match was also a rematch of the ESL Pro League Season 4 finals, which Cloud9 won 2-1.

On the first map, de_inferno, the reigning Pro League champions, Cloud9, got off to a very quick start, with an initial win in the pistol round, eventually progressing to a positive 5-0 lead over the Brazilians of SK Gaming. However, SK fought back well, and managed to get a few rounds of their own, reducing the Cloud9 lead to 6-4. Although, it wasn’t long before C9 showed further promising signs, taking full control of the first half, and leading 10-5 as the teams switched sides.

The second half got underway on Inferno, and SK Gaming looked far from being out of the game as they sprung into action, winning the pistol round and the next three rounds to trail C9 by one. In the following rounds, something must have changed for Cloud9 as SK Gaming didn’t hold back, and subsequently went onto win 16-12, despite being down for the majority of the map.

The second map, de_cache, got off to a very similar start with Cloud9 again taking an initial lead over SK Gaming, this time the Season 4 champions lead SK Gaming 4-0 before they acquired their first round, but it wasn’t long before the match was all tied up at 5-5. At this point, it looked we really had a game on our hands between the two best sides in the North American division, and as the two teams switched sides, the scoreline was 9-6 in favour of the Brazilians.

The second half got underway with C9 winning their third pistol round of the series, and like with the click of a finger, the match was all tied up with the momentum switching in Cloud9’s favour. The momentum most certainly did take a massive swing as C9 started to dominate their opponents, only allowing one round to be lost out of the 11 that were played. The match concluded 16-10, and the series finished 1-1.

Highlights of the Week

Too ez for n0thing

 

 

When you just want it to end

 

 

Ending it in style

 

 

Week 8 is upon us!

Tune into ESL CS:GO YouTube channel to watch the best teams in CS:GO battle for their spot at offline finals in Dallas, Texas from June 3-4. If you want to watch the season finals live, you can purchase tickets here whilst they are still available.

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

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