Analytics of Group D participants at ESL Pro League Season 16
perepelovskyTomorrow, the final group D will start as part of the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 16. The last six participants, including Cloud9, Team Liquid, Movistar Riders, Eternal Fire, FURIA and Evil Geniuses, will fight for three spots in the playoffs.
Frankly speaking, three teams can be singled out in advance, which will apply for continued participation in the championship. However, we must not forget that there have been sensations in previous sextets, so Group D may also surprise many CS:GO fans.
In this article, we propose to run through each of the participants in Group B and try to understand which of them has a chance to go to the playoffs, and who - to go home and start preparing for other competitions.
Cloud9
The Cloud9 team is the first to see it. Attention to the team is riveted for more than a year. But if last season the guys still showed results, then the last few months can hardly be credited to the wards of the groove. However, Cloud9 are still making big advances given the roster's past performance.
However, after the victory at Intel Extreme Masters XVII - Dallas, the team began to play noticeably weaker, which was caused, first of all, by the lack of fresh ideas and fatigue. Now once again there is confidence that the team will rest and show their best game, especially against the backdrop of a relatively passing group, where there are more obvious outsiders.
Verdict: Cloud9 will make it to the playoffs with 9-12 points.
Team Liquid
We are moving to the North American region, where Team Liquid has been flourishing for several months now. The take-off point of the "liquid" was the YEKINDAR crossing, albeit a temporary one. However, with Marek, the team began to play noticeably stronger and more varied, which became noticeable already within the framework of Intel Extreme Masters XVII - Cologne.
From the recent Team Liquid took part in BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022, where they suffered only one defeat (from NAVI, which is not shameful), and after that they got two victories in Play-In and took the final 1-3 place. So the North American team rightfully claims to be the main violin in group D, where it has excellent chances to reach the quarterfinals directly.
Verdict: Team Liquid will make it to the playoffs, finishing first in Group D.
Movistar Riders
Perhaps Movistar Riders is the most controversial representative of the sextet. Yes, the Spanish team made a sensation within the framework of Intel Extreme Masters XVII - Cologne, where they reached the semi-finals, and after that they skyrocketed in the rating. However, it is worth remembering that after the team was left without its sniper, that is, the main star.
As a result, Movistar Riders came out of vacation and immediately reminded of itself from the times before Cologne, namely, it began to lose in every second match. Here you have a failure in the qualifiers for IEM Road to Rio 2022 for Europe, as well as failures in other qualifiers. And there are real fears that the Spaniards will no longer be able to create a miracle and surprise the audience, since there is enough competition in the group to be left out.
Verdict: Movistar Riders will not qualify for the playoffs with 3-6 points.
Eternal Fire
Eternal Fire is a very interesting exhibit, if you study the team against the background of other representatives of group D. Yes, in the summer the Turkish team decided to increase their experience by gathering the old guard of Space Soldiers. At the same time, woxic and the company managed to qualify for IEM Road to Rio 2022 for Europe by winning the third qualifiers.
From a very fresh Eternal Fire, she won the regional ESA Esports Supremes Fall 2022, and also made it to the ESL Challenger at DreamHack Rotterdam 2022. But for some reason, there are fears that the experience and old schooling will not help the team solve old problems, namely, poor teamwork in important matches. From practice, the Turkish team can lose several key rounds and crumble.
In general, psychology is the main obstacle to Eternal Fire on the way to a possible sensation. And the competition is such that it will be difficult for the team to fight with more status rivals in the sextet.
Verdict: Eternal Fire won't make it to the playoffs after scoring 3-6 points.
FURIA
The Brazilian team is constantly tangled around and around prize-winning places, but steadily stops two or three steps from the goal. However, FURIA always makes opponents uncomfortable with its aggressive style, which, although obvious, still many cannot get used to arT's decisions.
Once again, there is a feeling that the Brazilians will be one step ahead in principled matches for points. But if it will be hard to fight Team Liquid and Cloud9, then in the rest of the fights FURIA can count on points and, as a result, compete for a place in the TOP-3 of group D.
Verdict: FURIA will fight for the playoffs with 6-9 points.
Evil Geniuses
Rounding up the members of group D together with Evil Geniuses. Once again, we see changes in the composition of the "Evil Geniuses", but again nothing changes. This time the team moved away from the usual model of signing stars, but still did not play better.
Yes, the North American team made it to the IEM Road to Rio 2022 for America, but we must not forget about the weak level of competition in the region and in the qualifiers. The results of Evil Geniuses at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022 are much clearer, where the team once again lost all the matches and took the last place.
Something similar is to be expected this time, as the opponents will definitely be ready to take points from the "Evil Geniuses". And it seems that the main intrigue in Evil Geniuses is how many points the team will score in total.
Verdict: Evil Geniuses won't make it to the playoffs with 0-3 points.
ESL Pro League Season 16 runs from August 31st to October 2nd in Malta at the Salini Resort. 24 teams from Europe, CIS, North and South America compete for a total prize pool of $835,000. The winner of the tournament will receive the main prize of $175,000, as well as tickets to BLAST Premier: World Final 2022 and IEM Katowice 2023.
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