Alongside the Brazilian side, steel’s Ghost astonishingly managed to book their tickets to Odense on MD2. A tight battle is forming between eUnited, C9, coL and INTZ for that sixth and final qualification spot. Envy cannot be envied with only 4 points in 14 maps
MiBR of course entered the season as one of only two clear favorites alongside Team Liquid. The latter are struggling somewhat to fulfil their duties, though playoff participation isn’t in jeopardy. The Brazilians on the other hand are comfortably taking care of business. FalleN’s boys leade the league with 49 points after 20 maps. MD2 has been spectacular for coldzera & Co. with spectacular beatings of Liquid and NRG. It will be truly exciting to see if MiBR is finally able to challenge Na’Vi and Astralis and reclaim former glory in Odense in December.
Ghost Gaming has to be the team of the season in NA. Nobody saw them on rank two with 43 points after 18 matches. And it’s not just that fact, but also the way they did it, making it look almost easy. steel has lead his boys to victories over the toughest opponents, dispatching of MiBR, Renegades and NRG with a 2-0 score. The big question looming over their heads is of course: what will happen on LAN? We shouldn’t expect too much, as making the finals is already a huge success and the EU juggernauts will be waiting in Denmark… but who knows, maybe they have more surprises in store for us.
The finals fight
eUnited, C9, INTZ and coL sit on ranks 6 through 9, separated by only two points, while the latter have a slight advantage with two less games played. Which of those four teams is going to make it thorugh is impossible to predict, but a tight race is guaranteed. Cloud9 definitely have the experience factor on their sides, but do they have the hunger, all these younger squads around them possess? Time will tell as we can sit back and enjoy watching the playoff race between these sides unfold.
No envy for Team Envy
There’s no way to sugarcoat the performance of SEMPHIS’ boys in EPL S8. Only one victory in 14 maps is unacceptable for a squad with veterans like reltuC, jdm64 and Nifty. The season is pretty much over for the new squad, direct relegation into MDL seems likely and an unclear future looms ahead.
ESL Pro League Season 8 returns next week 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 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.
