The first week of ESL Pro League Season 13 has come and gone. Group A has played out all of their matches with Heroic, Complexity Gaming, and FunPlus Phoenix earning the playoff spots. Group B is currently underway and features powerhouse teams like Team Vitality and G2 Esports. Tons of fantastic Counter-Strike has been played so far. Let’s take a look at the top 10 plays of ESL Pro League Season 13 Week 1.
There has already been many amazing plays just one week into ESL Pro League Season 13.
10. Jks vs. Renegades – 4 USP Headshots on Banana
Our first play comes from Justin “jks” Savage of Complexity. With his team one win away from securing a playoff berth, jks opened up their match against his former Australian organization with a crisp USP 4K at the top of Banana defense.
Complexity took a dominant 12-3 lead that half and eventually closed out map one. Jks ended Inferno with a rating of 1.28.
9. K1to vs. Complexity – Cleaning Up on Dust2 B Site
By its third match against Complexity, BIG had a 0-2 record. The team needed to win this match or be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Nils “k1to” Gruhne was the right man for the job on the Dust2 B site entry.
BIG would keep its ESL Pro League dreams alive for the moment after their 2-0 sweep of Complexity. K1to was undoubtedly the match MVP with an overall rating of 1.82.
8. Poizon vs. OG – ACE with an AWP and Deagle
Complexity’s second match of Pro League came against OG. After a very tight overtime win in map one, COL wanted to have a bit more room to work with on Mirage. When a B site hit went off the rails, Valentin “poizon” Vasilev came in clutch to keep Complexity’s momentum going.
That round win kicked off a Complexity five-round win streak to end the first half up 8-7. It then comfortably closed out Mirage 16-10 to keep their flawless record.
7. Stavn vs. BIG – Waking Up the Crowd on Mirage
After taking its own map pick, Heroic had a very slow start on BIG’s Mirage. It was close to being out of the game entirely until Martin “stavn” Lund hit some banger headshots to breathe some life into the team.
Although Heroic ended up losing Mirage, stavn earned 24 kills in 23 rounds for a 1.49 rating. Heroic then took a 16-10 win on the tiebreaker of Vertigo to secure the match victory.
6. Tabsen vs. FunPlus Phoenix – Tabsen Takes the Initiative on B
Now with a 1-2 record, BIG needed to keep the wins coming. Its fourth match was against FPX, map one being their Inferno pick. After a 4-0 start for FPX’s T side, Tabsen decided to shut down his opponent’s B site attack before it was executed to break the FPX economy.
Unfortunately for BIG, it would lose the map in overtime by the slimmest of margins. Despite a great 74 frag and 91.3 ADR match out of Tabsen, BIG fell in three maps, ending their playoff hopes.
5. SuNny vs. Heroic – One Man Retake Defense
FPX’s match against the group favorite in Heroic would not be easy. After falling behind early on their Inferno pick, the FPX squad found themselves in a low economy post-plant defense on the B site. Their one rifle was in the hands of Miikka “sunny” Kemppi, who needed to find four Heroic members.
Although the round was a nice momentum shift, FPX couldn’t pull out its map against Heroic. After a closer 16-13 on Overpass, Heroic would maintain its undefeated record while FPX fell to 1-2.
4. Hampus vs. ENCE – ACE from Apartments
The Ninjas in Pyjamas fought ENCE in its second match. After two incredibly one-sided maps, it was onto the Inferno tiebreaker. Looking to secure a double-digit half from the T side, Hampus “hampus” Poser pulled off a perfect ace from the Balcony position in a 2v5 scenario.
The dominant half-time score was enough for NiP to complete a 16-7 finish, securing its first win of ESL Pro League and tying for second place in Group B.
3. Jks vs. Heroic – 15 HP Patience in Nuke B Site
The day five matchup between Heroic and Complexity would determine who earned the all-important first seed. With the maps tied at 1-1 and Nuke coming down to the wire, jks pulled out some of his usual magic. After taking down the first man on the back box, jks is left with only 15 HP to find the three remaining Heroic players on the retake defense.
This round brought Complexity within one of overtime. Unfortunately for them, Heroic would take round 30 and narrowly escape with a 16-14 victory. Although Complexity will have to start in the early playoff stages, it certainly looks strong.
2. Nexa vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas – Perfect Aim, Perfect Evasiveness on Mirage B
G2’s opening match of Pro League came against NiP. After taking the Ninja’s map pick, G2 was looking to close the series on its home turf Mirage. Despite NiP taking it to overtime, Nemanja “nexa” Isakovic remained completely composed in an ace on the B bombsite.
It would take two extra periods, but G2 managed to take down its opponent in two maps. Its Pro League campaign is off to a much-needed hot start.
1. Niko vs. FunPlus Phoenix – Demolishing while Dodging and Ducking
The final match of Group A between OG And FPX would determine who earned the final playoff spot and who went home. The first two maps were split down the middle, with Inferno being the decider. With FPX on a 12-9 lead, OG stacked the B site on a low economy buy fully intending to save if FPX pushed A. Instead, the sole remaining defender, Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen, found all five kills from Pit.
This massive momentum shift allowed OG to storm back and take a 14-12 lead. All it needed was one round for overtime and two to send them to the playoffs. Instead, FPX pulled off a four-round win streak to close out the game and take the third seed for themselves. Niko’s valiant effort wasn’t enough to win the match, but he did earn himself a shiny new contract with it.
Those were the ten best plays of ESL Pro League Season 13 Week 1! There is still much more Counter-Strike where that came from as the Group Stage continues with Group B’s conclusion and the start of Group C. Make sure to stay tuned at Hotspawn for more ESL Pro League coverage.
