R6 EUL: BDS Retain First Place

After the fourth match day, BDS Esport are still at the top of the European League. They confidently made it through and have retained their slim lead over Natus Vincere. But how long can they keep it that way?

Rogue kickstarted things with yet another beating – only they were on the receiving end. It was an easy feat for Empire to hand them a 7-3 loss. While Lucas “korey” Zwingmann managed to keep up, the rest of his team was unable to contend. Danila “dan” Dontsov secured a 1.40 rating with 10 kills and just 3 deaths.

In quick succession, the ex-TrainHard squad had to go up against BDS Esport. It was a sad affair for both sides. After all, TrainHard had only shut down a few days prior. The players’ future remains uncertain and so they arrived on the server being completely demoralized. Hardly anyone would be surprised by the outcome. A quick 7-2 on the part of Stéphane “Shaiiko” Lebleu and his men sent TrainHard to the second-to-last place of EUL Stage 2.

Cowana had similar issues with NaVi. Their victory on the second day of matches was promising, but since then, they haven’t been able to deliver at all. Natus Vincere, however, are on an absolute high. After their first map, they didn’t drop a single match and weren’t even close to losing at any point! In the case of Cowana, they only dropped three rounds before they had secured the maximum amount of points for the standings.

VIRTUS.PRO ARE STABILIZING, G2 AIMING FOR THE TOP

Virtus.pro are slowly experiencing an upward trend. On the first two maps, they only managed to collect two rounds, but on the third day they achieved a surprise 7-3 finish over Secret. Back then, we wondered whether this was just an upset, or whether it was indicative of Virtus.pro slowly getting back on their feet and back to the level that once brought them to the November Major. Yesterday, their 7-3 victory over Vitality sent a strong signal: Virtus.pro are back on track and want to shoot some heads!

Team Secret continue to struggle with their roster. Granted, G2 Esports weren’t the easiest opponents to go up against, but Peter “pacbull” Bull and his men have already beaten Natus Vincere! Their endless struggles have cost them their spot in the Top 4. Just a few days ago, they were close to the top, but now they’re down to #6 – with the trend clearly pointing downwards.

After their 3-7 loss to G2, they had to descend four entire spots in EUL. However, Jordan “Kayak” Morley and his boys have continued to rise in the rankings and are now in contention for the top spot. Alongside Team Empire, they are the only ones in reach of BDS and Natus Vincere.

WHAT WILL THE FIFTH DAY OF MATCHES BRING?

In short: Chaos! The EUL standings are already shaken up quite a bit, but the upcoming matches hold the potential to flip every single spot in the league. Empire are going up against Secret – for the former, this is a chance to get back to the top, for the latter, this is an opportunity to get back into the Top 4. Natus Vincere are facing off against Virtus.pro, who are more than just motivated to leave their initial issues behind. The duel between BDS Esport and G2 Esports will decide on the highest spots. The distance between the two is so small that even an overtime-loss on the part of BDS might actually cost them the first place.

Cowana Gaming and TrainHard eSport are on a shared three points. Both have the opportunity to break free of the middle of the pack, but Cowana are the only ones who have really shown to be capable of that. The same holds true for Vitality, who will have quite a demotivated opponent in the form of Rogue. The German players have to try not to fall into their old ways. Back in Season 1 Stage 2, they ended up without a single match win. Even though they’ve already recorded an overtime victory here, these two points are obviously not enough to achieve anything meaningful in EUL.