Week 9 of the ESL Pro League Season 5 sets us up for an incredible final week across Europe and North America

The conclusion of Week 9 in the ESL Pro League has set us up perfectly for a thrilling week of edge-of-your-seat action as a number of teams still look to claim their spot in the season 5 finals in Dallas, Texas. As it stands, from the European region, North and mousesports have received their invites, whilst only SK Gaming from North America have secured their position in the offline finals. It’s really coming down to it, and in reality, anything could happen.

In the recap of Week 9, you will find an in-depth review of the league standings in both regions, Europe and North America, as well as a look back at our Hot Match of the Week, featuring Astralis and G2 Esports.

Europe

Standings

At the end of the penultimate week of action, North again head to the top of the European ESL Pro League standings, ahead of second place lineup, mousesports, after big wins over Team LDLC and Ninjas in Pyjamas, both ending with 2-0 series wins. With those results, it put the Danish side at 51 points from 24 matches played, and cementing their spot in the ESL Pro League Finals this Summer.

The second place side of mousesports also secured their spot at the ESL Pro League Season 5 finals in Dallas, Texas this past week in spectacular fashion with wins over HellRaisers and Natus Vincere which included a 16-0 win on de_mirage over the CIS side. For the rest of the teams in, and around, the qualification zone it’s getting rather tight with only a few points in it - G2 Esports and Astralis do seem to be the next favourites to claim their spot in the offlines finals, sitting on 42 points a piece.

At the conclusion of this week, the bottom of the table has got even more interesting with four teams tied for 27 points, putting themselves in 10th-14th place. It’s going to be difficult to say which teams will be playing in the relegation matches, but we could almost certainly confirm that Team Kinguin will be the sides that faces instant relegation. With that being said, they do still have six maps to play in the final week against Fnatic, Heroic, and LDLC.

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

Hot Match of the Week - Recap

For this week’s European Hot Match of the Week, we recommended that you tuned into an intense battle between the number one team in the world, Astralis, and G2 Esports, the French side that had bursted into the top section of the Pro League standings after an abysmal start to their campaign.

The first map, de_train, got off to an incredible start for the G2 Esports side as they were able to quickly rack up a few rounds, leading the Danish side 4-0. The domination continued as the French lineup quickly found themselves in a situation where they were on a flawless streak of 12 rounds won without a single round lost. Astralis won the 13th round, but it didn’t mean much as G2 led Nuke 13-2 as the teams switched sides.

The second half got underway and it instantly seemed that the two sides had switched roles from the first half with Astralis building up a comeback. Before we knew it, it was 14-10 and we really had a game on our hands, but despite everything they had worked for in the second half, it wasn’t enough as G2 just managed to close out the match 16-12 despite an incredible first half performance.

 

 

The second map in the series, de_cache, got off to a very similar start to the first map, with G2 taking a swift 4-1 lead over their competition. That lead continued to increase at a ridiculous rate, with G2 taking every opportunity to help secure another three points over their opponent. At the end of the first half, the French ‘super team’ again led Astralis 12-3.

The second half got underway with it looking likely that it was going to be a quick win for G2, but just like the first map, Astralis fought back like any major champion would do a dropped the deficit to only seven rounds. However, with the lead that they had, and the way that they were currently performing, G2 held them off and sealed another six points from the series with a 16-9 win on Cache.

 

 

North America

Standings

At the end of Week 9, the North American region continues to be led by Brazilian side, SK Gaming, who have acquired a total of 51 points from 21 matches played, giving themselves a record of 17-4. With their 16-11 win over NRG Esports, SK were the first North American side to claim their spot at the offline finals. Their Brazilian counterparts, Immortals, and the ‘NA Kings of Pro League,’ Cloud9, currently sit behind SK in second and third with 48 points from 22 games each.

The rest of the table at the qualification zone sits in a very tight position with only a few games left to play in the final week, and just a few points difference between going to Dallas for the season finals, and watching the action from home. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out for Team Liquid, NRG, Misfits, OpTic Gaming, and Counter Logic Gaming.

The bottom of the table remains in a similar situation to last week as it’s game over for Rush, Winterfox, and former Selfless Gaming side, The Foundation, with a combined points total of 18 after 61 matches played. The Foundation still have a few games in hand over the two other sides, but how much of a difference will that really make considering how they have been playing throughout the season? I really don’t think it will change anything.

Below, you can find an updated view of the North American ESL Pro League Season 5 standings at the end of week nine:

The final week is near!

The final week of the ESL Pro League returns on Tuesday, May 9 with teams from across Europe and North America taking a break from online competition to compete at IEM Sydney 2017.

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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