ELEAGUE Group B recap

The second week in ELEAGUE Season 1 hosted Group B which consisted of the veteran ninjas Ninjas in Pyjamas, the surging G2, the Spanish tarik's OpTic, and Selfless who recently added Connor "⁠CONNOR93⁠" Glover to their ranks.

G2 started their campaign with two 16-12 victories against Selfless. Cédric "⁠RpK⁠" Guipouy had a total score of 53:38 on two matches while Skyler "⁠Relyks⁠" Weaver's 110 ADR and 1.35 rating showing did not suffice.

Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon & company took on Ninjas in Pyjamas next, winning 16-9 on Train and 16-12 on Dust2. Adil "⁠ScreaM⁠" Benrlitom's 25:11 score and 1.50 rating in the first match wasn't as remarkable as shox's 36:16 score and 1.82 rating on Dust2. Also, G2 secured the #1 seed after beating OpTic twice.

One of the two favorites of the group Ninjas in Pyjamas faced OpTic in their first matches and the Swedes came out ahead in both matches. Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund led the way on Cobblestone with a 1.61 rating and Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg took charge on Train as he posted a 30:17 score and a 1.54 rating.

f0rest stepped up once again, this time against Selfless as he contributed to two match wins with an average 1.29 rating and a total of 47:28 score and the Ninjas clinched the second place with these victories.

Two North American teams, OpTic and Selfless, battled it out for the #3 seed in the last matches of group play and OpTic triumphed as they won 16-1 on Cobblestone and 16-14 on Mirage. Oscar "⁠mixwell⁠" Cañellas and William "⁠RUSH⁠" Wierzba showed off on the first map with 1.93 and 1.69 ratings, respectively. A dynamite 35:18 score and a 1.71 rating by Relyks on Mirage was not enough and his team finished the group dead last with zero points.

The first semi-final was quite straightforward as G2 won the best-of-three series 2-0 and allowed Selfless to get ten rounds in total. While ScreaM totally dominated the series with a 49:18 score and a 1.84 rating, Selfless players had ratings ranging from 0.53 to 0.77.

The second series which was between Ninjas in Pyjamas and OpTic was much more enjoyable. Cobblestone was a 16-3 blowout in favor of OpTic while Overpass was dominated by Ninjas in Pyjamas who picked it up 16-2. The last map was a classic as Ninjas in Pyjamas came back and won the match 16-14, advancing to the group final thanks to f0rest who posted a 1.31 rating and a 57:41 score.

The group final was also dominated by f0rest as he put up a 1.38 rating and a 43:27 score in the 2-0 victory against G2. The highest rating a G2 player posted was 0.91 as they lost 9-16 on Cache and 3-16 on Train. On the other hand, all the Ninjas showed up and the lowest rating among them was 1.07.

Group B MVP: Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg

The man, the myth, the legend! f0rest led all the players with a 1.19 rating and had the most multi-kill rounds with 24.3%. He won the most clutches and had the second best AWP kill/death ratio as he was second only to Edouard "⁠SmithZz⁠" Dubourdeaux. With GeT_RiGhT looking like his vintage self in 2016, Ninjas in Pyjamas already made great strides and if f0rest can perform closer to how he did in Atlanta, the Ninjas will only become stronger.

Final standings of Group B:

1. – Ninjas in Pyjamas: 10 points (4p GS + 2p SF + 4p GF) + A spot in the ELEAGUE playoffs
2. – G2: 8 points (6p GS + 2p SF) + A spot at the Last Chance Qualifier
3. – OpTic: 2 points (2p GS)
4. – Selfless: 0 points

*GS: group stage – SF: semi-finals – GF: grand finals

Selfless have been eliminated from ELEAGUE while OpTic still has a slim chance of making it to the Last Chance Qualifier as the two third-placed teams with the most points will earn a spot.

ELEAGUE will continue next Tuesday with Group C and you can visit our tournament page for more information.

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