The dominance of Team Vitality and the success of outsiders. Results of groups A and B at ESL Pro League Season 19
Initially, when watching ESL Pro League Season 19, it seemed that everything would be quite simple. Based on the seeding before the tournament and the format, it was quite expected that only the favorites would make it to the playoffs, and outsiders had no chance of snagging even the last slots. But in reality everything turned out to be wrong. From groups A and B, 3DMAX and TheMongolz unexpectedly managed to make it to the decisive stage. The rest of the list of playoff participants turned out to be quite predictable: Astralis, Team Vitality, Virtus.pro, G2 Esports, FaZe Clan and BetBoom Team. However, the past matches still presented a lot of surprises and interesting confrontations, which we will discuss in this material.
Confident Astralis and Team Vitality
As expected, after failing in the playoffs of PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, Team Vitality played the ESL Pro League Season 19 group flawlessly. Mathieu ZywOo Herbaut’s roster scored clear victories with a score of 2:0 over the Sharks, BetBoom Team and TheMongolz. The team proved that it is too early to write it off, and sixth place in the HLTV rating is only a temporary phenomenon. Team Vitality is ready to continue to fight for the titles of the largest tournaments, and the team’s sniper will amaze everyone with his individual statistics. Compared to the other favorites from Groups A and B, the team looks like the main contender for the championship in ESL Pro League Season 19.
Astralis showed the same confident result. Contrary to low expectations and disappointing forecasts, the team played better under the leadership of Niсolai device Reedtz. For the second tournament in a row, Astralis pleases fans and continues to progress. Eternal Fire, FaZe Clan and 3DMAX were unable to compete with them and were beaten with a score of 2:0. The main test will await the team in the playoffs, but the performance shown in the group already inspires confidence in a good result. Moreover, the team went straight to the quarterfinals and the path to the grand final will be much easier.
Virtus.pro is still difficult
Contrary to expectations, the strengthened Virtus.pro lineup with Denis electroNic Sharipov was not able to immediately show the level that the fans were waiting for. The team still needs time to rebuild the game for a new player and become a truly strong team. However, all the problems of the Virtus.pro roster did not prevent them from reaching the playoffs, albeit with great difficulties. The debut match with the updated roster looked quite simple on paper, but the team could not cope with fnatic and created a lot of problems for themselves, for example, a meeting with FaZe Clan in the lower bracket, which sent VP to conquer the Last Chance Stage. However, Virtus.pro coped with the task: it took revenge on fnatic and closed SAW, and both matches ended with a score of 2:0. The playoffs for VP will start from the first round, which will allow you to test new ideas and play with a new player. The team clearly does not have the task of winning the first tournament after Denis electroNic Sharipov joined and can experiment in search of a suitable style and tactics.
G2 Esports is on the verge of failure
After a confident victory over TYLOO, it seemed to everyone that G2 Esports would continue to show a good game while Ilya m0NESY Osipov was in prime form, but this turned out to be completely wrong. Against TheMongolz, even the team’s main player was unable to show absolutely nothing and played one of the worst matches of his career. This defeat could be attributed to a bad day and a simple accident, but the adventures of G2 Esports did not end there. Then the team lost to one of the main outsiders M80 and went to conquer the Last Chance Stage, from which they emerged with great difficulty. The team gave the map to Team Falcons and almost repeated this trend in the rematch with M80. Not only G2 fans, but also the team members themselves were disappointed with their performance in the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 19. They still have a chance to redeem themselves in the playoffs, but it will be quite difficult to do so.
Strong averages
It’s very strange to see the world’s top 1 team FaZe Clan in this category, and also on the same level as BetBoom Team. But after the vacation, the team naturally lost its position a little and left the group only in third place. This does not yet guarantee failure in the playoffs; Finn karrigan Andersen has proven many times that the group stage means absolutely nothing for his team. However, FaZe was unable to counter Astralis with anything, and after an easy victory over Virtus.pro in the lower bracket, they gave up the map to Eternal Fire in the losers’ final. The team will start the playoffs from the very first round, which will only be good; FaZe Clan will have time to play out and get into the same shape that they had before the well-deserved vacation.
Sometimes it is enough to make one spot replacement to achieve results. It was this scenario that helped BetBoom Team gain a foothold in the tier-1 scene. Together with Kirill Magnojez Rodnov, the team is finally showing good results in online tournaments, but the most important thing is getting into the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 19. On its way, the team only failed against Team Vitality, which was quite predictable. The squad beat M80 twice and turned out to be stronger than Team Falcons. It’s still difficult to talk about the status of playoff favorites, but BB Team will be able to force a fight on some teams.
The main sensations of groups A and B at ESL Pro League Season 19
Both groups had their share of sensations. It’s funny that they turned out to be absolutely identical: the teams that were supposed to finish in one of the last places entered the playoffs from second place. Unexpectedly for everyone, 3DMAX and TheMongolz, who did not look like formidable opponents in the last tournaments, will play in the decisive stage. Of course, Virtus.pro’s defeat to fnatic in the debut match played a big role in the success of the French, which made it possible to have an easier match for the winner, but the winners are not judged.
TheMongolz slot turned out to be more deserved. The Mongols destroyed Team Falcons and G2 Esports. If the game with the super team Danny zonic Sorensen turned out to be tense, then it was amazingly easy to close Ilya m0NESY Osipov and it was not difficult at all. The meeting with G2 ended with a score of 2:0 with one-sided maps in favor of TheMongolz.
This is only the first eight teams that will play in the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 19. Groups C and D are already in full swing, in which there are also teams that have the ambitions of champions and will pose serious competition to the existing playoff participants. They can also give new sensations; we can see even more unexpected teams that will compete for the title of the 19th EPL season. One thing is for sure, an interesting playoff awaits us, where almost every team can win, with the exception of obvious outsiders who are capable of creating a beautiful show, but they will not be able to go far. ESL Pro League Season 19 could end with another FaZe Clan domination, a new trophy for Team Vitality, a hugely successful debut of the new Virtus.pro roster, or give us a more unexpected result, which will be influenced by teams from the last groups.