ESL Pro League S16 Group C results: MOUZ and Heroic in the lead, Astralis eliminated

Group C of ESL Pro League Season 16 ended with some very unexpected results. Unfortunately for Astralis, what happened here suggests that the team might fail to qualify for the IEM Rio Major.

The same result that Natus Vincere got in group A, Astralis got in group C: 2 W – 3 L. But the Danes weren’t as lucky, so they got eliminated. The result itself is not a tragedy. Even the world’s best teams have bad tournaments from time to time.

The bigger issue is that the qualifiers for IEM Rio Major are just two weeks away. And they will be tough. The Swiss System may look forgiving, but it’s not. Just two Bo1 defeats and you’re one step away from elimination. For a team that struggles to win event Bo3 matches, that’s a very stressful competitive format.

Group C results

At the start of this CS:GO tournament, Astralis were regarded as the strongest team in group C. But despite winning against MOUZ, who ended up winning the group, Astralis lost three matches that should have been relatively easy for them to win.

The opponents that bested them in this group were HEET, Complexity, and Heroic. Each time, one or more Astralis players had a poor performance. Unfortunately for the team, there’s no real constant in their games so it’s hard to attribute the defeats to anyone. All of the losses were a result of team errors and inadequacies, which the coach and the players will need to figure out and correct.

The two teams that played really well in this group were MOUZ and Heroic. Both of them looked like they had been on a long bootcamp in recent weeks. The coordination between the players was excellent and everyone seemed to know what needed to be done in each situation to maximize the chances of a win.

The big surprise in group C of ESL Pro League Season 16 was Complexity. It’s been a long time since we last saw Complexity play so well. If they can keep up this performance level, they will soon be regarded as the best team in North America after Team Liquid.

The two teams that were eliminated along with Astralis are ENCE and HEET. Both of them finished with identical records: 1 W – 4 L. However, in HEET’s case, the potential for improvement is high. The French squad started with bad losses but then adjusted their playstyle and won maps against Heroic and MOUZ. Not to mention the fact that they defeated Astralis! This team clearly has a bring future.

Header: Astralis