ESL Pro League: A Deep Group-C Recap

ESL Pro League Group Stage keeps on giving, with Group C concluding last night. Group C finally gave us a team that went 5-0, demolishing all that stood in its way.

Much to the dismay of Gambit and Liquid fans, it wasn’t their team that got the pleasure of the 5-0. Unexpectedly, Spanish fans sure have a reason to knock themselves out in a bar tonight.

Group C was surely not as entertaining as Group B, but it had its own flavors of emotions and stories. With the Gambit squad playing as Players, and Liquid trying to rediscover their old selves, Group C was packed with quite a few storylines. And of course, I’m here to lay it out for you.

Before that, two things: I will refer to Team Players as Gambit, interchangeably. And two, here is how the table looks:

1. Movistar Riders
2. Players (The Gambit Squad)
3. Team Liquid
4. BIG
5. GODSENT
6. Party Astronauts

Movistar Riders have shockingly secured a Quarterfinals place, with BIG having to bow out of the tournament earlier than they would’ve liked. So here’s what happened!

Movistar’s Fantasy Ride

Though it was hard to predict that a team outside of the Top 20 would become the first in ESL Pro League to go 5-0, it was easy to think that one of these three would pull out a miracle. After all, does CS:GO even make sense without a splash of uncertainty and weirdness?

The Spanish team started their journey against GODSENT. They won the match 2-1, winning their own map picks before settling the tie on Mirage. It was a good match between Number 23 and Number 28, but it did not emanate anything that screamed that these Spanish players would ride their way to the very top.

A simple match. Defaults. Basic. No omens to what was to come.

The next three matches for Movistar Riders were against Gambit (playing as Players), Liquid, and BIG. Quite a lot on the plate, right?

The last match was against the weakest team of the bunch, a match Movistar knew they’d win. So ideally, winning one of the three matches against Gambit, Liquid, and BIG would secure them a Playoffs seat.

I was expecting them to lose against Gambit and Liquid and then fight BIG for the third place.

Defenestrate my predictions.

5-0.

No respect.

Movistar Riders vs Gambit. Movistar were 14-12 down and on the cusp of losing their map pick of Inferno. But they put on a good defense and pushed their efforts over the line by winning 4 in a row. 14-16; Gambit had conceded an upsetting loss, thanks to a great performance by mopoz.

The next map was Gambit’s pick of Mirage and their attacking side came out guns blazing. A great 11-4 first half meant that Movistar had no choice but to look ahead to the third map for some hope. They did win the pistol and converted the following two, but couldn’t win a single round after the big guns came out. A demoralizing 16-7 loss for the Spanish, but they had to keep their heads up and look forward.

Ancient was the deciding map, and Gambit rushed to a 6-0 T side lead. Movistar Riders could see their loss on the horizon, but thanks to a great turnaround, they won the following 9 rounds in a row. A 9-6 CT-side first-half win meant that ALEX and co. were still very much in the game. Gambit crumbled after that, winning only 3 of the 10 rounds in the second half.

Movistar Riders had shut down the CIS side and claimed a famous victory in Dusseldorf, which all but finalized their Playoffs place in the second round itself.

The next match was against Liquid, and the overall atmosphere was quite relaxed. Determined, but not stressful. Movistar narrowly lost the first map 16-14, and had to play on Liquid’s Mirage to stay in the game. And play they did. A shocking 13-2 CT-side first-half meant Movistar had rattled the American boys. Liquid did fight back, but it was simply too late.

The deciding match was taken to overtime, where Movistar Riders finally slayed another giant by winning it 4-1. SunPayus and his AWP were the MVP of the match.

Movistar had already qualified, and the matches against BIG and Party Astronauts were just formalities. One win here was enough to secure first place in the group since they had defeated both Gambit and Liquid.

They won against both, of course. Triple overtime against BIG, crazy 12-3/13-2 first halves against Party, and a lovely brawl with nothing to lose ensued in the final two matches.

SunPayus won a total of two MVPs, with mopoz and dav1g winning one each.

Movistar Riders had ousted the likes of ENCE and Entropiq to create the sweetest storyline in ESL Pro Leauge Group Stage so far. No, but seriously, that ENCE run against FaZe, Vitality, and Virtus Pro was legendary. Movistar’s Gambit, Liquid, and BIG surely come close.

5-0 en EPL ?? pic.twitter.com/WctlGLaFbd

— David (@dav1gCS) March 27, 2022

BIG vs Liquid

This was one of the most important matches of the group, even before it began. It was clear from the start that Gambit, Liquid, and BIG will be the golden three of the group. But as trends suggest, one of them will definitely falter. There’s always an unexpected run from a “small” team. Lower ranked team, to be polite.

And when that team, Movistar Riders, in this case, came to dethrone one of these teams off their Playoffs place, it was one of BIG or Liquid to go out. Gambit were just too strong on paper than anyone else to not even qualify for the Playoffs.

And that meant that the third place was either for BIG or for Liquid. Whoever would win that matchup would practically qualify for the Playoffs.

As it turns out, BIG vs Liquid was scheduled in the very first round!

Love me an amazing story like that.

Liquid won the tie 2-0, bolstering their chances of qualifying heavily. They did this thanks to a relatively strong defensive side. They won their two CT halves 10-5 and 8-5. Their T sides were 6-6 and 7-8 respectively, meaning the two teams were equal in their attacks.

Dust 2 and Mirage were the two maps played, and hence, it’s not surprising that it’s the AWPer that performed the best: oSee. It was a great and close matchup, and it’s unfortunate that the Germans had their fate sealed from Day 1.

.@TeamLiquidCS close out their first series of #ESLProLeague 2-0 against @BIGCLANgg!

16-11 Dust II
16-12 Mirage pic.twitter.com/EL7AlyPXBZ

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 23, 2022

If you are a Liquid fan and were feeling great about this section, I’m sorry to disappoint you for what’s coming next.

Team Liquid’s Mediocrity

Team Liquid. The American dream for half a decade. The hoarders. Not anymore, of course.

Team Liquid qualifying for the Playoffs was an expected result. A 3-2 here was barely a surprise. They were good, but we saw nothing from them that suggested that they’d go deep into Playoffs.

They defeated BIG in the first round, which practically decided that they were going to qualify for the Playoffs already. It was a nice 2-0 win, and it felt promising. oSee’s performances were a sight for sore eyes, and his MVP was quite expected, despite NAF and EliGE’s own shows.

Liquid also 2-0ed GODSENT and Party, and only narrowly lost to Movistar.

But the fifth round was the real one. Though they had qualified for the Playoffs already, a match against Gambit was never to be taken lightly. It’s a chance to prove yourself against the best, and see where you stand against them.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I know that a tactical tryhard in the fifth round is a minus, a negative. But still, you have to play stuff right. Be at your physical and mental peak. Do not goof up defaults. Test and strengthen your fundamentals.

Liquid lacked all of that. oSee was the only player who was half interested and half effective in the match, with every single of the rest disappearing like a dad out for milk.

Liquid lost the first map, their own pick, mind you, 16-1.

16-1.

That was a rough shake-up call for the Americans, and to credit them, they did step it up individually in the second map. They had 18-9 First Kills in the second half, as opposed to 2-14 in the first. But that wasn’t nearly enough, as they had no ideas on their T side.

A mediocre performance, even for the second map.

Team Liquid is good. But they need to step up more.

Players round out #ESLProLeague group C with a 2-0 over @TeamLiquidCS and lock themselves in 2nd place in the group.

16-1 Dust II
16-11 Overpass pic.twitter.com/OxS65gyvpy

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 27, 2022

Gambit/Players is Back?

Gambit/Players has undoubtedly been a top team for quite a while now. But just like NaVi, they are mentally suffering too from the war. That showed in Katowice Playoffs, as both teams quit the tournament by losing 2-0, instead of playing against each other in the Grand Finals.

Gambit is not even allowed to play in ESL Pro League. This squad had to distance themselves from the Russian organization and play by themselves as “Players”.

These are tough times for all people involved, but these players in the squad of six are professionals. They are at the top of their fields, and they have the mental fortitude to power through these tough times.

Their victories here in Group C seem to be a promise of a brighter future. The rise of a team beaten down by things out of their control.

The win against Liquid must induce the roster with a lot of confidence, and though it wasn’t a 5-0 they wished they could’ve gotten, Gambit is still doing well enough given the circumstances.

The Playoffs will surely tell us the complete story, but before that, NaVi’s own performances in the upcoming Group D will tell us more.

Gambit is almost completely Russian. But NaVi is a grimmer breed. There are three Russians and three Ukrainians in NaVi. Three men suffering from the stress of their country being invaded, and the other three sitting quietly, apologetically; no reason. The only apes to blame are the politicians in Russia, and the whole world but these few are suffering.

The NaVi players are known for their mental strength, but will they be strong enough to put this grim new reality behind them and focus on their jobs at hand? I sure hope that’s the case, for that’ll be quite a statement to the world.

Let’s hug each other a few more times.

That's all for #ESLProLeague Season 15 group C! Check out the final standings below! ?

? @Movistar_Riders
? Players
? @TeamLiquidCS
#4 @BIGCLANgg
#5 @GODSENT
#6 @Partynauts_GG

We have just one more group coming up before playoffs! ?

Group D starts March 30th! ?️ pic.twitter.com/F6e2x7KUSU

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 27, 2022

Group D has some great teams, and I definitely expect it to be as entertaining as Group B was. NaVi, Heroic, Astralis, COL, and EG, all have the potential to make it to the Top 3. Heroic and NaVi could have a tussle to decide who’s Number One… if NaVi shows up. With how Gambit played in Group C, I think it’s fair to assume that NaVi will play well too.

There can’t be an “unexpected” storyline here, given Astralis, EG, and COL are all fairly weaker than Heroic and the classic NaVi. All three of them will fight for third place in the group.

We have Astralis vs EG in the very first round, and that means that the loser of this match has a very good chance to not qualify. The winner will have a late matchup (Round 4 and 5) against COL, and most probably, COL will lose, given their performances this year.

My prediction is that Heroic will be Rank 1, with NaVi coming in at second place. The winner of Astralis vs EG will be third.

And of course, CS:GO wouldn’t be fun if it was so predictable.

So let’s sit back and enjoy the final group of ESL Pro League.

Cheers.