NiP and Team Vitality start EPL S18 with excellent victories

The first day of the ESL Pro League S18 was full of many emotions, as we had spectacular matches even though they all ended with a 2-0 score. However, we had expected results, such as Team Vitality’s 2-0 victory over ORKS. While NiP gave a blow on the table by crushing Astralis by 2-0.

As a result, we have Team Vitality and NiP will face each other in the Upper Bracket semifinal match of Group A. Meanwhile, ORKS and Astralis will play a do-or-die match in the Lower Bracket to fight for their stay in the tournament.

There is no doubt that this has only just begun and that many exciting days are ahead. However, after what we have seen in these first games, we can only be sure of one thing, and that is that the Tier 1 teams are stronger than ever.

Let’s see what happened in the Team Vitality, and NiP matches on this first day of Group A of the ESL Pro League S18.

Team Vitality sweeps ORKS

There is no doubt that Team Vitality are the clear favorite to win Group A and comfortably qualify for the playoffs of this EPL S18. Moreover, the team proved it at the tournament’s start, as they crushed ORKS by 2-0 (16-7 and 16-6). The Polish squad had many problems at the beginning of the tournament, but now they will have a second chance in the Lower Bracket when they face Astralis.

The series began in Mirage, the map pick of ORKS, where Team Vitality started their EPL S18 with an impressive and spectacular level of play, which led them to win the first half with a shocking score of 15-0. At the change of sides, ORKS dreamed of a historic comeback by winning 7 consecutive rounds, but the team had no margin for error and lost 7-16.

Then, on the second map, Nuke, things changed a bit, as Team Vitality could only win 9 rounds on their T-side to take the partial victory by 9-6. However, unlike the first map, Team Vitality stuck out their chest and displayed spectacular defense to take the 16-6 victory.

.@TeamVitality open up their #ESLProLeague Season 18 campaign with a 2-0 victory over ORKS!

16-7 Mirage
16-6 Nuke pic.twitter.com/PIlE1034si

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) August 30, 2023

NiP surprise by applying a clean sweep against Astralis

There is no doubt that the most anticipated match of this Group A was between NiP and Astralis, two revamped squads trying to rise to the top in the CS:GO competitive scene. Moreover, in recent tournaments, we have enjoyed victories on both sides, but on this occasion, NiP pulled out their caste and applied an excellent clean sweep to beat Astralis by 2-0.

It all started at Ancient, Astralis’ map pick, where NiP started their tournament run extremely well with a 9-6 first-half win. Then, at the change of sides, Astralis could win four consecutive rounds to put the score at 10-12. However, this remained there, as NiP won the last four rounds to take the victory by 16-10.

Then, on the second map, Inferno, things were practically a replica of the first match, as NiP again won the first half by 9-6, but this time on their T side. Astralis woke up at the beginning of the second half and got ahead on the scoreboard by 10-9. However, this only got NiP’s defense going, as they won 7 of the next 8 rounds to take the map victory by 16-11.

It’s a 2-0 sweep from @NIPCS in their opening match against @AstralisCS at #ESLProLeague S18 🙌

16-10 Ancient
16-11 Inferno pic.twitter.com/0vnVNgyiJf

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) August 30, 2023

Header: ESL