The results of the group stage of ESL One Cologne 2019

Who has disappointed?

ENCE, MIBR, Fnatic, and mousesports

These teams can’t be called weak and the result, which has been shown by the above-mentioned teams, can be called unexpected in a bad way.

For example, ENCE placed 13th-16th, while they hold the 2nd place in the world rate. The Finns started losing their positions and they will need to work more to return to the high-class competitive level.

MIBR held the 13th-16th place too but this can be explained with the coming of a new player in the face of LUCAS1 who, by the way, performed pretty well. The replacement of felps on Lucas Teles was for a reason and MIBR will probably be able to show something worthy soon. It’s worth to notice the fact that they lost a match to BIG. There, they were leading on the third map with a score 12-3 but after moving to the attack side on Train, the game was not on their side and the match was brought to overtime where BIG crushed their opponents and advanced to the next round of the lower bracket, having finished MIBR’s participation in the competition.

Fnatic defeated MIBR in the first round of the upper bracket without efforts and made it to the next round where were faced by Astralis who were ready to fight. The Swedes won only one round on the first map, 6 rounds on the second one, after which stepped down to the lower bracket. There, they nicely fought against Team Vitality, having brought each map to overtime where lost. Vitality was too strong and due to this, Fnatic finished their performance, having placed 9th-12th in the standings.

mousesports is a pretty strong team, whose roster includes very young players. Natus Vincere became a sticking point for the Europeans and beat mousesports twice: in the upper bracket first and then, in the final of the lower bracket. As a result, mousesports placed 7th-8th, which is good too, however, many viewers expected to see the roster in the final stage.

Who has performed mediocre?

Heroic, FaZe Clan, FURIA Esports, BIG, MVP PK, and Renegades

The above-mentioned teams played just the way they had been expected. All the teams were not able to pass the group stage and to make it to the playoffs. Heroic plays on a good level but still is not ready to compete with Tier-1 rosters, FaZe Clan consists of experienced players but they are in a bad shape. FURIA Esports, in turn, has proved one more time that it is the best team in Brazil and MVP PK and Renegades were the outsiders of the event. BIG can also be called an obvious underdog, however, the roster showed a nice result at ESL One Cologne the last time and reached the final with the audience support.

Who has pleased with his performance?

Team Liquid, Astralis, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Natus Vincere, Team Vitality, and NRG Esports

Team Liquid has proved one more time that it has the proud title of the best team in the world for a reason.

Astralis, in turn, showed their intentions on a comeback, destroying their opponents in tatters in the group stage. They lost only four rounds in the first map with BIG and, playing against Fnatic, they were not able to win only one round on the first map, while they finished the game on the second map with a score 16-6. They were leading with a score 12-3 in the final against Ninjas in Pyjamas and brought the match to overtime, being unable to resist the pressure of the Swedes, where achieved victory with a score 19-16. Everything was way easier on the second map and they achieved victory with a score 16-8.

Ninjas in Pyjamas managed to create synergy with their newcomer Plopski and, despite the viewers’ skeptical expectations, performed pretty well and entered the top 6 already. They beat the players from Team Vitality in the first match and they defeated the representatives of Heroic in the second match. NiP made a good fight to NiP in the final of the upper bracket and brought the game to overtime, while the score was 3-12 in the favor of their opponents. Despite this, they were defeated both on the first and the second map and now, they will have to play in the quarterfinal against Natus Vincere.

Team Vitality advanced to the quarterfinal but their way in the group stage was rocky and very difficult. The most interesting not only with Team Vitality but at the tournament, in general, can be called the match between Vitality and Fnatic. Both maps were brought to overtime in the match for advancement to the final of the lower bracket and gave a lot of experience to fans of both sides. The French were not able to resist the players from NiP in the first match, after which advanced to the playoffs through the lower bracket, having prevailed over such opponents as ENCE, Fnatic, and Heroic. Now, Vitality will play with NRG Esports in the quarterfinal.

NRG Esports played very well and their last match against Liquid made a lot of viewers and bettors feel nervous. The Americans started playing well with their new teammate in the face of stanislaw who came on daps’ place. Now, NRG will fight Vitality for getting to the semi-final. The Americans entered the top six and guaranteed themselves a minimal money prize in the sum of $11,000. This result can be called good with the player who joined the team right before the tournament.

Natus Vincere managed to surprise all viewers in a good way. BoombI4 joined the team and no one knew what to expect from Kirill Mikhailov. Some representatives of the community thought that this esportsman will not be able to help NaVi to improve their results, while the other part of the community was sure that he will. It’s too early to make loud statements but we can see at the moment that the team hasn’t become worse after the transfer of BoombI4 to Natus Vincere.