With the conclusion of ESL Pro League Season 17’s Group stage, we can safely say it’s been the craziest few days of CS:GO in a while. As ESL Pro League Group D was topped by forZe and ENCE, with NAVI and Liquid slipping through by the skin of their teeth, it’s been a strange watch.
There’s plenty to discuss, so let’s take a look at the highlights of Group D.
Liquid struggled. Credit: Helena Kristiansson/ © ESL
The GOAT is Back
While NAVI didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory, s1mple’s performance was back to his usual GOAT standard. We mentioned earlier in our ESL Pro League Group D preview that NAVI needed s1mple to step up. And step up he did, often taking the team by the scruff of their neck and carrying them to victory.
It initially looked like one of those tournaments for NAVI after they lost their opening game to forZe. However, the close defeat would age well as forZe went on to 3-0 their way through Group D. Driven by s1mple’s performance, NAVI went undefeated through the lower bracket from that point on. Truthfully, they never looked in danger of leaving the tournament early, but even they’d say it wasn’t their finest hour.
Ultimately, s1mple can’t do it all, and if NAVI are to have any chance at winning ESL Pro League, they’ll need to see more all around from their roster of stars.
Liquid Must Improve, Fast
Liquid will be making an appearance in the playoffs of ESL Pro League, but they can’t be happy about how they got there. After the first match, a defeat by Rare Atom, it seemed as though the excuses for already beginning for Liquid. YEKINDAR publicly attacked the team’s preparation for the tournament, and he almost looked checked out.
After losing to Team Spirit, they dropped to the Last Chance phase of the group. They got their revenge on Rare Atom and defeated an Astralis roster, whom the less said about, the better. We get the sense that an unfortunate draw could’ve seen Liquid exit ESL Pro League Group D, and there’s a lot for the team to work on.
With playoffs beginning on 21st March, there’s next to no time for them to fix any massive problems. It could work to their advantage though. Many of the best CS:GO teams who played earlier in the tournament like Heroic and G2 will be slightly rustier, whereas Liquid are coming off the back of an intense few days of Counter-Strike. All they can hope for is that they’re able to play themselves out of any poor form they might be in.
Rare Atom: A Glorious Failure
ESL Pro League Group D was the story of the underdog. Rare Atom were the ultimate underdog, winning hearts and minds by smashing Liquid 2-0 in their opening match. It was their peak moment, losing every other match before crashing out, but it was fun while it lasted. Winning their first map against NAVI, there was even a moment when it looked like they might go one step further.
The fact that they lost every other match does a disservice to their overall performance. Each team they lost against, ENCE, NAVI, and Liquid, all eventually qualified, so it’s down to an unfortunate draw that they found themselves on an early plane home from Malta.
There was a lot to like about Rare Atom, and are worth keeping an eye on going forward. JamYoung and Kaze in particular provided some of the most exciting moments for fans of the majority-Chinese roster.
The ESL Pro League Playoffs begin on 21st March.
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