NaVi, Eternal Fire, FaZe and Heroic triumph ESL Pro League Group A

ESL Pro League Season 20 kicked off with a shy showing from the top dogs from Group A & B as they stumbled en route to the Playoffs. Despite reaching the elimination stage, FaZe Clan and Team Spirit who were expected to breeze past the competition came up short against their groups' surprises in Sangal Esports and MIBR.

As the action continues to unfold in Group B, let’s take on Group A qualified teams.

Background image: ESL, edited by Strafe

Group A Upper bracket - NaVi & Eternal Fire

FaZe Clan falling in their first series against Sangal gave Eternal Fire an easy ticket to the Round of 16 after taking down FlyQuest and later Sangal. The Turkish Dragons became hot contestants ever since reaching the CS2 PGL Copenhagen Major Playoffs. Since then, they claimed the CCT Season 1 Global Finals title as well as reaching the semifinals and grand finals of Skyesports Championship 2024 and BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 #2 respectively.

Similarly, NAVI with a strong foot on the game continued to impress without dropping a single map in their BO3s. Although their first matches played out against teams on life support, their series against Eternal Fire showcased their resilience as a squad with Justinas "jL" Lekavičius living up to his name as a Major MVP.

By securing a quarterfinals spot in Malta, NaVi are only three matches away from lifting their third trophy of the year and entering the Intel Grand Slam race. That, as long as they get their revenge on Team Vitality, whom by analyzing the current form of most teams is the only viable challenger for the title.

Group A Mid bracket - FaZe Clan

It’s a funny coincidence how they fell into the bracket that perfectly describes their recent showing. Ever since winning IEM Chengdu, FaZe Clan finished 5th-8th in five consecutive events with Team Vitality being their kryptonite in two separate events.

Despite the fact that it’s been almost a month since their IEM Cologne exit, there are no signs of improvement inside of the server, having lost to Sangal and dropping a map against Ninjas in Pyjamas. Consequently, the team will enter the playoffs with little to no expectations of coming on top which might be troublesome with the Perfect World Shanghai Major looming not far.

Group A Lower bracket - Heroic

Heroic is the weakest link from Group A heading into the Playoffs, especially with their poor performances having lost to Ninjas in Pyjamas and Sangal before getting their sweet revenge when it mattered the most.

Individually, the players seem to hold their ground in the numbers department, yet, they’re lacking inside of the server as a team especially with Abdulkhalik "degster" Gasanov reaching his fourth month in the Heroic jersey.

It’s no secret that ever since losing their Danish identity they’ve been stuck between a rock and a hard place which is evident from their tournament finishes in the last few months.

Except for a top four finish at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade #1, the current roster failed at meeting expectations, and from what they showed during the group stage, the trend towards their demise is imminent.

Group A final results

Image source: ESL

Be sure to catch the Playoffs to witness which of these teams will rise and fall in Malta starting the 7th of May on ESL's official Twitch & YouTube channels.

For real-time updates, follow the official ESL Counter-Strike account on X (formerly Twitter).

You can also track all the action on the official Strafe Android and iOS apps, as well as the Strafe website.

Featured Image source: ESL, edited by Strafe Esports

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