Key takeaways from Group B at ESL Pro League Season 17
Elen StelmakhThe battles within group B at ESL Pro League Season 17 have ended, as a result of which the teams Heroic, MOUZ, FURIA and Movistar Riders made it to the playoffs of the competition. In turn, the teams BIG, sAw, Complexity Gaming and Imperial Esports remained out of work, having completed their performances within the championship. Since the group itself turned out to be unpredictable and brought many surprises, we suggest going through each of the participants and highlighting the main results of their performances.
heroic
As expected in advance, the best team in group B was Heroic. It cannot be said that the Danish team looked head and shoulders above all its competitors, but already at the start of the tournament, Xizt's wards proved their desire to get a ticket to the quarterfinals by defeating Movistar Riders. However, in the course of the group, Heroic did not gain, but slowed down.
First of all, it was noticeable in the difficult game against BIG, where the Danes almost lost, rebounding strongly on the situation. Moreover, in the grand final of the group, the team also had a hard time beating MOUZ, which only emphasizes the current state of the team. Thus, we can conclude that Heroic is still far from optimal conditions, but even in the current realities, the team has enough reserves to get victories.
MOUZ
A kind of discovery of group B was the MOUZ team. First of all, we remember the disastrous performance of the “mice” in Katowice, where they suffered two defeats and went home. Nevertheless, in two weeks, sycrone's wards have done a lot of work on the bugs, significantly adding to the stability.
The leaders did not let us down either, they looked great in victorious matches with SAW and FURIA. We can say that the team was a bit lucky with the rivals, especially against the backdrop of the final defeat from Heroic. However, the main result lies elsewhere - MOUZ managed to swim out of the storm in order to once again stand on a par with the teams claiming awards.
FURIA
The Brazilian team, despite the conditional third place in the group, clearly did not play enough for a ticket to the playoffs. Firstly, FURIA rebounded three times with victories over Imperial Esports, Movistar Riders and BIG, and everywhere the team looked worse than its rivals. Secondly, guerri's wards showed that the failure in Katowice was not an isolated example, but was the result of a terrible preparation for the season and a lack of a game plan.
Moreover, FURIA managed to score a toothless defeat from MOUZ in the upper bracket semi-finals, where the team failed in defense on Ancient. Thus, the Brazilian team, although it made it to the playoffs, will become the first contender for relegation. First of all, this is due to the weak play of the leaders, while clouds are still gathering over the drop.
Movistar Riders
So far, the main upset of this championship sends us to Movistar Riders. How many defeats the Spanish team has had over the past six months - it is much easier to count the number of victories. Nevertheless, the team came to the next tournament, where it had every chance to disgrace itself and again be left with nothing.
Moreover, after the opening match with Heroic, everything seemed to fall into place, but then Movistar Riders showed several cool matches, before getting the last ticket to the playoffs. It cannot be said that the Spaniards looked stronger than BIG or Complexity Gaming, but, unlike their rivals, they took advantage of their chances. Another question is that the team will have much less chances in the playoffs.
BIG
A story about how mediocre to lose chances and be left with nothing. The German team frankly failed at the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 17. Moreover, BIG was interrupted by strong matches with frankly mediocre performances, but somehow tried to maintain an average value and remain among the favorites.
First of all, the German team played very well against Heroic, where they could solve all the issues even on the second game day. However, the team then decided to take a different path, first losing to FURIA, and then releasing an actually winning game with Movistar Riders.
Moreover, it cannot be said that the problems of BIG lie in the latest changes in the roster, since the team has shown an unstable game before. The main reason for the failure of the team is the inability to use their ideas for their intended purpose. You can think of ten more options for entering the A site, but what's the point if you make a mistake again in the macro.
SAW
The most mysterious team in group B, which had some potential, but lost everything during the first matches. In fact, the Portuguese team had good chances to make themselves known, because over the past six months they managed to find a balance between experience and youth. But an unpleasant situation happened, which refers us to the lack of practice at LAN tournaments.
In general, SAW lost to itself, although it managed to score a rather controversial victory over Imperial Esports. But, judging objectively, it is still too early for the team to aim for such championships, since the number of marriages and controversial rounds makes you wonder.
Complexity Gaming
A tidbit for discussion, of course, is Complexity Gaming. The team that blew everyone away in Katowice, where they narrowly missed out on the playoffs, was quietly regressing towards the average. Moreover, the North American team from the very start of the group stage began to give alarming signals, since already in the first game against BIG they made so many marriages that they would last for years to come.
To be honest, the North American team played exactly as expected. First of all, the team is absolutely unable to control its economy, although on some maps Complexity Gaming tried to follow the example of the Outsiders and left to save four. However, the Tc wards, in fact, turned out to be weaker than all the others in the group. And if not that clutch from JT on Overpass, the Brazilians would have closed Complexity Gaming in one gate.
Summing up, the North Americans, with the exception of single maps, showed a terrible performance in the group. And one gets the feeling that after one good championship, the players of Complexity Gaming believed in themselves too much and returned to their original position.
Imperial Esports
If we put all the "buts" out of the bracket, then Imperial Esports has become the weakest team in group B. Yes, there is a worthy competitor in the person of Complexity Gaming, but the Brazilian team outdid even these guys. In general, the way the team played in the group stage clearly hints that this whole story with Last Dance should have ended after the major in Antwerp.
Now Imperial Esports has presented itself as the quintessence of the inability to keep a high pace for one single match. Moreover, the team does not have a clearly defined leader, since the team consistently turned off all those signers who were called to replace unstable retired stage stars.
ESL Pro League Season 17 runs from February 22 to March 26 in Malta. As part of the championship, 32 teams from the CIS, Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Oceania are competing for a total prize pool of $850,000, as well as tickets to IEM Cologne 2023 and BLAST World Final 2023 for the winner.
Intermediate results of ESL Pro League Season 17
- 1st place: $200,000 + 3,000 points + tickets to IEM Cologne 2023 and BLAST World Final 2023
- 2nd place: $90,000 + 2,000 points
- 3rd-4th place: $50,000 + 1,200 points
- 5th-8th place: $35,000 + 500 points
- 9th-12th place: $25,000
- 13th-16th place: $20,000
- 17th-20th place: Eternal Fire and BIG — $15,000
- 21st-28th place: MIBR, IHC Esports, SAW and Complexity Gaming — $8,000
- 29th-32nd place: Evil Geniuses and Imperial Esports — $4,000
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Elen Stelmakh is a creative individual dedicated to advancing gaming culture through articles and visual design. As a full-time EGamersWorld author and designer for a gaming website, Elen not only creates content but also infuses it with energy and creativity.