Ninjas in Pyjamas and Fnatic are reminding us of the early CS:GO years. The legendary Swedish teams are top of the standings of groups A and B in the ESL Pro League Season 11 with not much left to go.
Na’Vi remain in dire straits despite first win
Fnatic took hold of first place in Group B not without the help of Natus Vincere. The Swedes did their job versus North but needed Na’Vi to beat forZe in order to occupy the top. The IEM Katowice champions desperately needed the win themselves having lost their first pair of games at ESL Pro League Season 11. In a match that was way too close for comfort Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and co. scrambled to a 2-1 victory and remain with a legitimate shot of advancing from the group.
Finally, the other team that could have gone 3-0 – BIG, also failed to do so. Complexity, who were in the same 0-2 boat as Na’Vi before the game, steadied their course with a 2-1 win that came in the final round of regulation on map No. 3.
This leaves Fnatic, BIG Clan and forZe tied at two wins and one loss. The Swedes have the best round differential, however, which gives them temporary leadership prior to round 4.
Astralis catching up in Group A
Ninjas in Pyjamas’ group is a step ahead currently. With a single round of play to go, the Major-winning organization is leading the pack, albeit only by round differential following their first loss in the group at the hands of Team Vitality.
In the meantime, Astralis gathered steam and are now level with the Swedish and the French with a 3-1 record. The Danish machine did not allow the two bottom-feeders ENCE and GODSENT to cause any surprises and are now in a comfortable position to advance and even win the group.
The remaining schedule
Today is the final day of separation between the groups. Round 4 of Group B matches will commence with the Fnatic – forZe derby at the top, followed by BIG Clan – North, and the pick of the day – Natus Vincere and Complexity’s deciding battle that will throw one of them out of contention.
Tomorrow both groups will be in action to decide the final standings. Group C is going to enter the fold on Wednesday, March 25. Here’s a little something if you wish to check out what happened previously in Season 11.
