ESL Pro League S19 Group B Favorites

Group B of ESL Pro League S19 features at least four excellent teams who will fight hard to advance to the playoffs.

Fortunately for them, half of the eight competitors qualify for the next stage, and elimination requires three defeats instead of one or two because the format is triple-elimination with an upper bracket, a mid bracket, and a lower bracket.

Here’s a brief analysis of the four favorites in group B of ESL Pro League S19.

G2 Esports

IEM Chengdu SEMIFINALSSSSSSSS ✅ pic.twitter.com/wAiCtpQRzN

— G2 CS (@G2CSGO) April 12, 2024

Since the launch of CS2, G2 Esports have consistently been a top-six team that can reliably reach the playoffs. Once they get there, they often win against the lesser teams but lose against the top contenders.

This year, they finished 5^th – 6^th at BLAST Premier Spring Groups, 5^th – 6^th at IEM Katowice, 3^rd – 4^th at PGL Major Copenhagen, and 3^rd – 4^th again at IEM Chengdu.

The strongest G2 players are NiKo and m0NESY. Both of them are in the top 10 globally and last year they were actually in the top 5. When they play their usual game, their opponents usually lose. But in some cases, they cannot do that because they’re obstructed by a highly skilled team.

At ESL Pro League S19, G2 are expected to either win group B or finish in the top four. Their most challenging opponent will likely be Team Falcons. In the first match, they will need to defeat TYLOO, which shouldn’t be that hard. But the match against Falcons will test them.

If they beat both teams (assuming, of course, that Falcons win their match against The MongolZ), G2 will likely face Team Vitality in the upper bracket Final.

Team Vitality

Back to defend our title 🐝

See you at Riyadh this summer https://t.co/0DMejsf7cb

— Team Vitality 🐝 (@TeamVitality) April 16, 2024

For ZywOo and his teammates, this upcoming tournament is very important because it gives them the opportunity to start reestablishing their dominance. Vitality ended 2023 on a high note, winning both BLAST Premier Fall Final and BLAST Premier World Final.

In 2024, they’ve only had one big failure so far. It happened at IEM Katowice, where they finished 13^th – 16^th. At BLAST Premier Spring Groups they won. At the Copenhagen Major they finished 3^rd – 4^th.

This is a team that has ZywOo, the number one player in the world last season, and Spinx, who finished 2023 in 5^th place at the individual level.

Everything seems to indicate that Vitality will either win group B of ESL Pro League S19 or finish 2^nd. But even a top four result would be sufficient for them to qualify for the playoffs.

Vitality will start the tournament with a match against Sharks Esports and then face either BetBoom Team or M80 in the upper bracket semifinals. This favorable scenario should allow them to easily qualify for the upper bracket Final and secure, at the very least, a spot in the Round of 12.

Team Falcons

Falcons are adding another asset to the coaching staff.

Please welcome @TrochuCS as our official assistant coach. #FalconsAreHere pic.twitter.com/qOF6vWumiY

— Falcons Esports (@FalconsEsport) April 2, 2024

Team Falcons have a lot to prove right now. They are one of the teams that were supposed to qualify for the Copenhagen Major but didn’t. They’re also one of the teams that made massive investments last year in an attempt to build a world-beating roster.

Zonic was signed as the team’s new coach, and his prowess is well-known at this point. Winning half a dozen Majors is not something that anyone can do. But now he wants to do it again with a roster that has the potential to do it. What’s required is a lot of work to make it happen.

More recently, Falcons signed dupreeh, and in doing so they reunited the deadly Danish trio: zonic, Magisk, and dupreeh. These three people were part of many Major triumphs. First they won with Astralis and then with Vitality. Now they want to conquer the world with Team Falcons. It will be challenging but not impossible.

This organization has already won big tournaments in Dota 2, proving that it knows how to manage highly skilled competitors. In the case of their CS2 team, they have everything they need to start winning. Almost the entire lineup is Danish. The two exceptions are maden and SunPayus.

At this point, both of these players are well-known because they were part of the ENCE roster that won IEM Dallas last year and then played in the Grand Final of IEM Cologne and Gamers8.

Falcons will face tough opposition in the groups of ESL Pro League S19, but they certainly have what it takes to win.

The MongolZ

VICTOIRE 2-1 ✅ VS. ATOX 🇲🇳

12-16 Inferno 🔥 (ATOX)
13-5 Mirage 🌴 (The MongolZ)
13-9 Nuke ☢️ (Decider)

CHAMPION NATIONAL 2024🏆🇲🇳

FÉLICITATIONS THE MONGOLZ 🥳

— The MongolZ FR 🇫🇷🇲🇳 (@TheMongolzFR) April 14, 2024

The MongolZ took the world by surprise at the end of last year, when they went from being ranked 50^th globally to being ranked 20^th. Then, in just three more months, they climbed to number 16.

Because their roster is entirely from Mongolia, nobody knows who the players are. All we know is that they qualified for PGL Major Copenhagen and finished 15^th – 16^th. This was a great result for a team that used to be completely unknown just a few years ago.

But now that they tasted success, they probably want more of it. However, winning against the likes of Falcons won’t be easy. What should encourage MongolZ fans is the fact that this team is now on a massive winning streak, having won their last 13 matches.

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