Today marks the second day of the third season for the ESL Pro League. We will present you the results in our ongoing series of EPL recaps.?
On the second day of the season, we have an abundance of regional favourites along with an unusual amount of newly signed teams. Let's see what the match results were today!
EnemyGG vs. Renegades - Train & Mirage, 2 B01s
EnemyGG is a still-rising team that has been on fire recently, highlighted by their recent performance at the Americas MLG Minor Championships. Renegades, on the other hand, have been at the top of Australian CS:GO since they were signed by MonteCristo's organisation, and even some time before that. This match is a test for both teams, since Enemy has so much to gain while Renegades has so much to lose.
de_Train was an extremely momentum-heavy map. The first half started with a pistol round win by Renegades as terrorists, followed by 2 more points the Renegades. EnemyGG found their groove sometime during the fourth round, and proceeded to successfully defend the bombsites from getting blown up 8 times in a row. Renegades then finished the half on a high note by winning out the last 4 rounds, coming back for a very strong first half. The second half was much more one-sided, with EnemyGG only being able to pick up 4 rounds, until Renegades closed out the map with an overall score of 16-12. The highlight of this match was easily the incredible ace by Yaman "yam" Ergenekon.
de_Mirage went much better for EnemyGG than the previous map. It started out with a huge run in the very beginning, allowing EnemyGG to start their terrorist half with an 11-4 lead. This lead quickly turned into 15-6, when it was obvious that Renegades were not going to go 2-0. They did offer a bit of a fight, but it was too little and too late. The game ended with a score of 16-10 in favour of the Americans.
OpTic Gaming vs. Team AGG - Train & Cache, 2 B01s
"The Canadian civil war." The predominantely Canadian OpTic Gaming has been one of the most hyped teams in North America over the past few months. Hopping onto the scene with a great performance at the CEVO Pro League Finals, and more recently winning the Road to Las Vegas Finals, OpTic has a lot of eyes on them, even now when the hype is starting to die down. Team AGG on the other hand, aren't expected to leave such a huge mark on the scene, making them underdogs to the veteran team.
de_Train was just as dominant for OpTic Gaming, as de_Mirage was for EnemyGG. Just like on the previous map, the first half ended with a score of 11-4, in favour of OpTic Gaming. The game ended with a score of 16-10, in favour of the Canadians. This was almost a mirror of de_Mirage. There was no point in the match where Team AGG looked especially strong, or any point where OpTic Gaming looked weak in any way.
de_Cache was a very momentum-heavy map, similar to the first map of the day. It started with Team AGG securing 6 rounds in a row, making it seem like they were ready for revenge. OpTic Gaming then got themselves back together and won the next 8 rounds, showing everyone why they won the Road to Las Vegas finals, and the previous map. Team AGG was able to pick up the last round of their terrorist half, but the damage was already done. OpTic Gaming was leading the game by one point, with a score of 8-7, at the end of the half. The second half was much more one-sided, with Team AGG having a very weak counter-terrorist side. They were only allowed to pick up 4 more rounds before OpTic ended the game. The game was over with a score 16-11, meaning that OpTic is still the premier Canadian team.
Astralis vs. G2 - Inferno & Cache, 2 B01s
The first European match of the day features 2 teams who are famous for dissapionting fans. Astralis' most recent large-scale dissapointment was at the last Major, where they lost to the Ninjas in Pajamas. G2, on the other hand, have been under-performing ever since they were first signed to Titan, but have been given a bit of slack ever since losing Hovik "KQLY" Tovmassian due to being banned for cheating. Both these teams also happened to have recently joined new organizations.
Don't be fooled by the scoreline of de_Inferno. While Astralis was undoubtedly the better of the two teams, it could have been a much closer round if just a couple of things went towards the way of G2. The first half seems like it was a stomp to someone who didn't watch the match, with a recorded score of 11-4 in favour of Astralis at halftime. Quite a few of Astralis' wins were very close, and we could have very easily seen a more even scoreline, maybe 9-6 or 8-7 in favour of Astralis, at the end of the first half. That didn't happen though, and this relieved Astralis of a lot of pressure going into their terrorist half, making it a seemingly easy win for them. 16-10 in favour of the Danes.
de_Cache had a much closer first half than de_Inferno. It was very back-and-forth, which is arguably the most entertaining CS, and the half ended with G2 getting 8 rounds as counter-terrorists, leaving the other 7 for Astralis, making the score 8-7 at halftime. The second half went very differently. It started with a 5 round streak by G2. Even though Astralis interrupted this streak with a single round win, G2 continued to win every round until the end of the game, leaving us with a dominating 16-8 win against Astralis' fragile bombsite protection. Man of the map: Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom.
Virtus.Pro vs. FaZe Clan - Train & Mirage, 2 B01s
Day 2 ended with a rematch from Dreamhack Cluj-Napoca between the Golden 5 of Virtus.Pro, maybe the most consistent elite team ever, always hanging out around the best, but never being the best, and an exciting, unpredictable, and newly-signed FaZe Clan. This match might have the closest, most competitive results of the day. Let's find out.
The first pistol round of de_Train went in favour of FaZe Clan’s terrorist side, with a great B site take, followed up by a bomb plant. This set up the team morale for subsequent rounds, landing the European mix a whopping 7-0 lead early on. After this rather impressive performance by Faze, Virtus.Pro had just about enough, reminding their opponent why the team is considered to be one of the best in the world. The Poles recollected themselves mentally and secured eight rounds in a row, finalising the first half of the map at an 8-7 score on their counter-terrorist side.
Going into the second half, FaZe yet against took the pistol round; however. Virtus.Pro were able to secure a bomb plant, allowing for an early buy round. FaZe successfully defended against a force buy from the opponents, pushing the score to 10-8. At this point the Poles were able to make a full buy and managed to just about clutch the round out, securing a single round over the second half. FaZe maintained a stellar defence throughout the rest of the second half, closing out the match at 16-9.
de_Mirage already experienced a scoreline of 16-10 today, and it happened again to end the day. The third pistol round of the series, again, went in favour of the European mix, as Virtus.Pro were unable to successfully defend a planted bomb on A-site. The Poles did get a bomb plant, but could not land the crucial early round lead on their terrorist side. Five subsequent rounds were secured by FaZe, pushing the score to a rather concerning 6-1. It was rather unusual seeing the Polish roster perform rather mediocre on de_mirage, as the team is known for a phenomenal terrorist play on the map. After a fairly lop-sided 15 rounds, the score upon conclusion of the first half was 12-3 in favour of FaZe Clan’s counter-terrorist side.
The second half saw Virtus.Pro attempting to mount a comeback after a disappointing terrorist side. The Poles managed to secure the final pistol round of the best-of-two series and it played an important role in boosting their morale and confidence. They secured a further two rounds, pushing the score to 12-5 in favour of their opponents, but unfortunately for them, FaZe had other plans in mind, thrashing their defence and pushing the lead to a nail-biting 15-5. Despite the disappointment that comes with such a close score, the Poles composed themselves and step by step worked their way through rounds, peaking at 10-15. Following this impressive succession of wins, FaZe closed out the series with a 16-10 score, securing both maps against their opponents, Virtus.Pro.
