What do you remember about Group A at ESL Pro League Season 17

Last week ended and Group A was officially closed. Following the results of five competitive days, the teams Cloud9, Outsiders, G2 Esports and fnatic managed to get into the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 17, while the teams Evil Geniuses, IHC Esports, MIBR and Eternal Fire completed their performances within the championship. However, the participants gave enough reasons for discussion, with which it is worth working. In general, we propose to go over each team and explain their reasons for success or failure.

Cloud9

Team Cloud9 became the strongest representative of group A. The first thing that caught my eye was the dramatic role reversal. If in Katowice buster played a pronounced defensive midfielder, now he was given the role of a lurker, with which he coped well. Another notable detail is the return of the form of HObbit, which showed the third rating. It makes no sense to talk about s1hro and Ax1Le, because these guys are on fire again.

In general, the change in the terms, no matter how silly it may sound, led to a change in the sum. Now the team turned out to be quite coherent and did not fail at late timings, which is a direct merit of the change in roles. Another important detail is confidence. By defeating G2 Esports, the team not only closed the "samurai" streak, but also believed in themselves. Moreover, Cloud9 managed to adapt to the situation, as it was in the last match against the Outsiders.

Thus, in two weeks, "cloudy" have done a lot of work on the bugs, and now the team does not look as bad as it was in Katowice.

Outsiders

To be honest, the Outsiders did not bring anything new to the championship. I will say more - the team was not even surprised by using a light mesh. But in the final match, the problems of the team became noticeably worse, which could not come up with anything against Cloud9, partly taking their Mirage card for free.

In other words, dastan's wards again showed a tough game that works with rivals like IHC Esports and fnatic. However, with those who act quickly and can adapt to the situation by changing the pace, the Outsiders again have problems. To put it bluntly, the team showed their real level, which brings victories, but does not allow them to be considered a favorite in conditional derbies. Well, it makes no sense to analyze the tactical delights of "JAME TIME", because the team did not show anything except for a couple of quick rounds.

G2 Esports

The main essence of G2 Esports has remained unchanged - the team still looks like the leader of the scene. Perhaps, the defeat from Cloud9 is an isolated case, because if the teams played again, the victory would surely go to the "samurai".

It is still worth noting the high individual form of G2 Esports players, although NiKo frankly did not finish his cards. And yet, the team coped with its task with a solid "four", since in the rest of the matches it acted as the first number and deservedly received a ticket to the playoffs.

And while G2 Esports leaves the impression of a coherent mechanism, which, despite one failure, still seems to be the main contender for victory in ESL Pro League Season 17.

fnatic

The most controversial team in group A, which was able to break into the playoffs only thanks to the heterogeneity of the opponents. In fact, fnatic was much weaker than all the competitors that turned out to be higher. On the other hand, keita's wards are actually stronger than MIBR, Evil Geniuses, IHC Esports and Eternal Fire.

And yet, the team is too slow and predictable, while the FASHR defense is a passing yard. The main message is that fnatic has reached the ceiling in this lineup, and the team will not jump above their heads. Moreover, with each match, rivals of the Eternal Fire level are getting closer to the team, which can play a cruel joke in the playoffs. Well, KRIMZ is still not doing its job, shooting only in places, like in that clutch on the Nuke map with the Turks.

Eternal Fire

The Turkish team showed a very good game in the group stage. And now Eternal Fire is approximately on the same level with fnatic, which was proved by two face-to-face meetings, when the team was close to victories twice. On the positive side, we can single out some kind of stability of the guys, who now close the conditional Evil Geniuses and IHC Esports without any problems.

However, Eternal Fire still lacks headroom against the favorites. Moreover, in the "big matches" the leaders were turned off, which largely predetermined the outcome of both matches against fnatic. Therefore, the Turkish team has room for growth, but even now the guys look much cooler than last season.

IHC Esports

A very controversial result of the performances of the Mongolian team. Perhaps the majority relied too much on IHC Esports after takeoff in Katowice, but now the team has regressed to the average and returned to its original position. Yes, in its current form, the team can cling to the map with opponents of the fnatic level, who themselves are experiencing problems and do not understand what game they want to play. However, objectively, the Mongols lack experience on the big stage, because in matches against favorites, and even MIBR, they have failures.

The only victory for IHC Esports came at Evil Geniuses, but the North Americans were the passengers there. However, it is definitely too early to say that we have received a strong Asian representative who will absorb the experience of TYLOO 2017-2018.

MIBR

The Brazilian team performed quite expectedly, since it did not pose any threat to the favorites, but they still won their matches. The main problem of MIBR is not even a lack of experience, but the lack of a clear game plan. Today the team plays like this, but tomorrow it swims and plays in a completely different way.

And the fact that Brazilians can win in series in their region, and as soon as they come to Europe and limit themselves to defeating IHC Esports, speaks of a serious crisis of ideas. It was obvious that MIBR would not become absolutely the worst in its group, but the result is obvious - while the team is not a competitor at all in such championships, and no dynamics are even visible.

Evil Geniuses

The main joke of the entire competitive scene right now. To be honest, I really do not understand why everyone is so critical of the functionaries of the organization. It is clear that populists are sitting in the leadership, but they are not the ones who enter the server and take five rounds per map. No, the only thing that the owners of Evil Geniuses can be reproached with is inflated wages, which in no way correspond to the level of the game.

However, all the stones should be thrown towards the players who are very addicted to their salary and believe in themselves that they don’t even try to fight. And what's the point if the organization gives free slots for four championships a year, and then you can roll the Cash Cup. In general, it makes no sense to analyze the game of the North American team, since, according to the logic of things, this line-up should no longer exist. Another point is that from here you need to take neaLaN with arms and legs, which is still at least something of itself.

Well, the main result of Evil Geniuses is reflected on the scoreboard - the team is now playing weaker than IHC Esports, and there is no getting out of this hole.

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 — $15,000
• 21st-28th place: MIBR and IHC Esports — $8,000
• 29th-32nd place: Evil Geniuses — $4,000

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