Vitality's Triumph, Liquid's Progress And G2's Return - ESL Pro League Best Performances

ESL Pro League Season 16 has come to an end. Vitality has become champions by defeating Liquid in the final with a score of 3-2. However, Vitality is not the only team that performed well in this tournament. So what teams became the best in the ESL Pro League?

Complexity

It would seem that Complexity was eliminated from the tournament in the first round of the playoffs, which is not a bright achievement, but if you look at the team's history, you can say that this is an excellent result. Since ESL Pro League Season 14 last year, where the club finished 9th-12th, Complexity have failed at every tier-1 tournament they've come to. The same was true for tier-2 events. During the year, the new roster did not even make it to the top 6, which was a disaster for the organization. However, during the Player Break, the team signed Hallzerk, and if the team failed at BLAST Premier Fall Groups, they showed a solid result already at EPL S16. The team beat Astralis, HEET and also won on the map against MOUZ and FaZe. This is significantly better than all their performances this year. Of course, Complexity's problems are still visible, even from their average rating of 5.9. However, one cannot fail to say that the American team has improved compared to the first half of the year and can perform well at RMR and the Major.

Cloud9

Cloud9 performed as a top 5 team in the world. An almost perfect group stage and a victory over FaZe Clan, who destroyed all the teams in the first half of the year. At the same time, the team almost reached the final, losing to Liquid in a close confrontation. Cloud9 didn't compete in tournaments for two months and once again proved that they are ready to compete with the best teams in the world. Sh1ro entered the top ten players of the tournament, and the team continues to improve its structure. There are still minor bugs in the games that need to be fixed. However, Cloud9 is working on it and getting better with every match. And in combination with an excellent individual form (and their average rating at the tournament was 6.3), Cloud9 became one of the leading contenders for victory at the IEM Rio Major.

G2

After BLAST Premier Fall Groups, many laughed at G2 and their transfers. HooXi set anti-records, and jks did not cope with its role. However, even at BLAST, it has already become clear that the team has a plan and a structured game. And HooXi proved it at the ESL Pro League. It turned out that the new captain of G2 just needed time to make one of the best teams in the world out of five. G2 did not lose a single map in the group stage, given that their group included such teams as FaZe, BIG and Virtus.pro. HooXi (with an average rating of 5.8) has ceased to fail so openly, and jks (6.1) is effectively regaining his positions. At the same time, it cannot be said that G2 did not have a chance to win the EPL. The club performed very confidently in the playoffs, beating Natus Vincere, and their defeat in the semi-finals is more likely due to psychological factors. ApEX spoke about this in his interview. G2 are back in the top 5 best teams in the world and can claim first place in the world rankings.

Liquid

Liquid failed the first half of the year. Not a single good result in the tier-1 tournament before IEM Cologne, but as soon as they changed one player and signed YEKINDAR, the results immediately began to grow. First, reaching the playoffs of IEM Cologne, and now second place in the tournament, which was attended by all the best teams in the world. At the same time, second place was not easy, but also a very close confrontation in the grand final, which almost ended with the victory of the American team. At the same time, Liquid started the tournament very uncertainly, almost crashing out on the group stage. However, in the final match of the group, the team beat the strongest Cloud9 and left the group, which indicates the good endurance and will of the team. YEKINDAR was the perfect fit for Liquid. He is a good shooter and has amazing game sense, making the captain play more freely, as seen in the EPL. Will Liquid continue to perform at the same level? This will become clear only after the Major because many teams failed after such a resounding success. We hope that this will not happen with Liquid.

Vitality

Vitality surprised absolutely everyone. The French team showed a perfect game in the group stage and did not lose a single map in the playoffs until the grand final. After signing Spinx, apEX said that the team is now complete and ready to win tournaments. At BLAST Premier Fall Groups Vitality failed to show a decent result, but already at EPL S16, it became clear what apEX was talking about. The team started to work like clockwork, and ZywOo, as the team leader, showed the best game of the year. However, this was also a problem for Vitality because often the sniper was the only player on the server, and the team lost such maps. But each player played his role perfectly in the rest of the matches. This is evidenced by the average rating of the team - 6.3. At the same time, the ZywOo score was 7.4, which is an unattainable result. Even Magisk, the most criticized, returned to its near-peak level with a rating of 6.3. Besides a great game, Vitality also showed endurance in a tough BO5 final where all five maps were played. If the team remains at the same level, it will get into the top 2 of the IEM Rio Major.

Outcome

Four out of 5 teams from this material are the leading contenders for victory at the IEM Rio Major. While FaZe and Natus Vincere are in decline, and the first two places in the world ranking are empty, these teams must occupy these places, and for this, they need to continue training and prepare for future tournaments. The team that continues to develop after the result at the ESL Pro League will take place in the top two, and this will be one of these clubs.