R6 EUL: BDS and NaVi Stay On Top

With quite some distance, BDS Esport and Natus Vincere are still holding onto the top spots of EUL. But finally, the Frenchmen have secured the lead on the tiniest of margins. A one point difference over NaVi means that they’re finally on top of the leaderboard. But will they be able to keep it that way in the weeks to come?

After a 7-5 victory over Empire, Rogue have narrowly secured an additional three points. For the team that had finished the 2020 Stage 2 with zero wins to their name, this is quite the turnaround. Pascal “cryn” Alouane does good work as the new fifth. Now Rogue actually have a shot at making one of the top spots. They have already beaten some of last year’s favorites, but BDS and NaVi are still waiting for them.

With their most recent result, Natus Vincere have unfortunately let go of the joint first place. While they did win versus VP, they did so in overtime and only got two points for their efforts. Meanwhile, BDS mounted a decisive 7-2 match over Secret. These three points have now helped them to an actual first place, but obviously this margin is easy to overcome for NaVi and the rest.

Vitality have beaten yet another strong opponent in the form of G2 Esports. Their 8-6 unfortunately doesn’t result in enough points to get out of the mid-portion of the leaderboard, but the French team shouldn’t be underestimated. So far, they have faced off against BDS, Rogue, Empire, and G2. This means that they have already completed most of their challenging league matches. Only at the end of Stage 1, when they can get their easy wins over TrainHard, Secret, and Cowana, will we see them garner the points that BDS have already collected.

Speaking of Cowana – they just finished a 7-0 game against TrainHard. The French team had no chance whatsoever. On the other side of the server, Georgi “GorgoNa” Stoyanov recorded a 1.99 rating with 11 kills. The last stat in particular might not sound like much – but to his credit, the match was as short as it could possibly have been!

THE TOP GUNNERS OF EUL

Stéphane “Shaiiko” Lebleu might be playing the best season of his life. Obviously, only four match days are behind us at this point. But so far he has been dominating the leaderboard with a 1.44 rating. Jack “Doki” Robertson and Byron “Blurr” Murray are closing in (albeit with considerable margin), after which Olivier “Renshiro” Vandroux and Ben “CTZN” McMillan follow suit.

The output of Andrey “m1loN” Mironov is particularly impressive considering that Virtus.pro are in 8th place right now. Secret are currently suffering from massive performance issues. Kevin “Prano” Pranowitz, who was one of the top prospects last year, disappointed with a 0.90 rating for the first four days.

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM MATCH DAY 5?

Vitality are up against Virtus.pro, an opponent they absolutely have to beat. Even though m1loN is playing the game of his life right now, his team just fails to make anything out of it. Cowana, who are currently sitting in fifth place, are being tested by Empire. Even though the Russian squad is at the bottom of the leaderboard, three out of their four matches were either 5-7 losses or ended in overtime.

After their 0-7 defeat, TrainHard are surely not in the mood for G2 Esports. The season’s top match will soon commence when BDS and NaVi enter the server. So far, the two trophy hunters have set themselves apart from the rest. But only one of these lineups can actually make first place. This means that we can look forward to a hotly contested fight between the two teams. Concluding the day, Rogue are facing off against Secret. Seeing Maurice “AceeZ” Erkelenz and his men play right now inspires very little confidence in Secret being able to achieve anything here.