After another busy week, with 36 total maps in EU and 18 in NA, Pro League Season 7 is racing towards the finishing line.
Some of the favorites are struggling tremendously in both regions. Most notably, FaZe has dropped out of the playoff ranks, and Fantic continue to struggle. At this point it’s likely we won’t see the Swedes in Dallas.
Cloud9 on the other hand leapfrogged forward in the standings and find themselves sitting on third place. SK did what they could to stay relevant in the playoff race, but it’s going to be difficult.
Let’s see who else saw action across both regions in more detail.
Europe
What a pleasant surprise having the Space Soldiers (13W-4Ö-1OTL), who qualified for Pro League through MDL, on top of the European division. The Turks continue to show impressive CS online as well as offline, and deservedly lead the league. They won three out of their four maps past week against Fnatic and North, and are a almost certain lock for the playoffs.
Following suit are the Ninjas in Pyjamas (12W-1OTW-4L-1OTL) on second place, after winning all four maps against FaZe and Na’Vi. dennis continues to impress as fragger and IGL. The Ninjas are almost certainly going to Dallas and I’m looking forward to seeing them confirm their form on LAN.
Na’Vi (11W-1OTW-6L) lost three out of four, dropping down to rank five. Even though Zeus suggested the attack on S1mple and flamie will make the team stronger, another possibility is that after hearing that S1mple in fact wanted to leave, it could have a negative effect on team morale.
FaZe (8W-8L-2OTL) have had an underwhelming start with Xizt. After splitting maps with North and losing to NiP, they are at risk of jeopardizing their strong start into the season with a tough schedule ahead, including matches against Fnatic, Space Soldiers and Hellraisers.
G2 (9W-1OTW-11L-1OTL) on the the other hand have fought their way back into the top 7. After losing both maps versus North, they picked up four in a row against LDLC and Team EnVy.
Check out the full standings of Pro League Europe below:
Match Of The Week Recap – Astralis vs. Fnatic
In the northern battle, the Danes came out on top of the Swedes. Ever since their victory at WESG China, Fnatic are in a severe slump and their Pro League season seems beyond salvageable, whereas Astralis look to be challenging for world number one status again after adding Magisk.
The two teams had their first rendezvous on de_inferno, a map I expected to go Fnatic’s way. JW’s boys started out on the terrorist side, and right from the start ran against the Danish wall. Device & Co. picked up the pistol and stormed off to a 6-0 lead. Fnatic managed to get back into it, picking up four rounds of their own, but towards the end of the half Astralis reclaimed dominance for a 10-5 lead. device, who dropped 26 frags, took over in the second half and helped Astralis to get the 16-9 victory.
Up next, de_overpass, which we might as well just call de_astralis after years of Danish dominance on it. gla1ve started out leading his boys on the more difficult terrorist side, but made it look easy. Astralis got the pistol and from there on out executed a fast paced, controlled style, not once allowing Fnatic to get back into it with 11 T-side rounds won. After the switch, Fnatic weren’t ready to bow out right away. Golden put up a good fight, but after some adjustments by the Danes the inevitable loss came at 16-9.
North America
Team Liquid (15W-1OTW-1L-1OTL) is demonstrating impressively how front running is done. With 48 points and rank one, their finals are guaranteed. Another five out of six maps against Splyce, Ghost and NRG won, clearly indicates that Liquid is number one in NA right now.
NA’s surprise team NRG (10W-2OTW-2L) only played against Liquid past week, splitting the series 1-1. They still square off against Renegades, compLexity, OpTic and Luminosity. They will be favored in each of those series, and we will most certainly see daps and his boys in Dallas.
Cloud9 (9W-5L-2OTL) finally seized control of their season, coming out victorious on all four maps against Luminosity and Dignitas. After losing Stewie and adding FNS in his stead, C9 look to compete in Texas after already failing to qualify for LAN in Season 6.
SK Gaming (7W-9L) had a patchy start with Stewie, but at least their hopes of making it to Dallas are still alive. They won four out of six maps past week against Splyce, OpTic and Ghost Gaming which puts them on rank eight. In the remaining matches against Dignitas, compLexity and Renegades, they cannot afford a single map loss.
Team Dignitas are still without a single map win. They have only played ten maps so far, which gives them twelve more to get that W!
See the full standings for Pro League NA below:
Match Of The Week Recap – Team Liquid vs. NRG Esports
NA’s two hottest teams clashed past week, and at least on the first map, de_train, the match delivered.
NRG started on the T-side and after winning the pistol round, got to a quick 4-0. Liquid then answered with four rounds of their, tying the score at 4-4 and taking control over the game, only allowing NRG two more rounds for the remainder of the half. In the second half, it seemed like a quick affair. Liquid won the pistol and six out of the first seven rounds for a lead of 15-7. Then NRG came back into it, stringing together eight rounds in a row to force OT, where they managed to get the W in double overtime.
On de_mirage it was always going to be difficult for NRG, as it is one of Liquid’s strongest maps. But nobody could have seen the degree of Liquid’s dominance coming. Starting on the T-side, nitr0 led his boys to a 14-1 halftime score. Closing it out on the CT side was a mere formality, and the match ended with 16-7 in favor of Liquid. nitr0 and Twistzz put on a clinic, both with a 1.55 HLTV rating.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand A site is gone#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/IWismNsWnr
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) April 5, 2018
Highlights Of The Week
DON'T DO IT TO EM @NAFFLY#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/phtHFPVnCl
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) April 6, 2018
What a flick by @fer#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/dAPosZlZCD
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) April 6, 2018
UNREAL 1vs4 BY @RUSH. @Cloud9 are firing on ALL cylinders#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/oag7xDZgT0
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) April 6, 2018
1 2 3@TARIK WITH THE SPREE#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/1EpzNx4ipi
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) April 6, 2018
WHAT WAS THAT @STEWIE?! #ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/28T1NQYtIF
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) April 6, 2018
OHHHH @Mixwell #ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/rs9wiCViEl
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) April 5, 2018
He opens and he closes! @k0nfigCS with the 4K to give @OpTicGaming the 16-2 win over @SKGaming on Train!
Onto Overpass#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/VCJ3u2cxMh
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) April 4, 2018
Don’t miss out on Week 6!
As always we will be returning with more EPL action from both regions on Tuesday.
Tune into the stream here, to watch your favorite teams battle for a spot at the LAN Finals in Dallas. 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.
