ESL Pro League S9 group C day 1 recap

The first day of ESL Pro League group C has concluded, highlighted by a colossal upset where Luminosity bested MIBR with flying colours.

The first series of the day kicked off on Overpass, where Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko and his men commenced on the defence, accruing a solid early off lead off the back of a pistol round that subsequently transitioned into a 9-6 half. A consecutive pistol went in Natus Vincere's way, as well as an additional three, but Windigo answered with nine back-to-back of their own, placing the squad on map point. Natus Vincere clawed back two, forcing overtime, but it simply postponed the inevitable as Kamen "⁠bubble⁠" Kostadinov and co. walked away with a 22-20 victory.

Next was Train, where a comfortable T start for Natus Vincere set the pace for the entire map. A third consecutive pistol round set the economy up, allowing the favourites to force consistent economic upsets onto their opponents. This led to a 10-5 T half for Natus Vincere. Despite the predicament, Windigo did not falter, accruing a formidable amount of T rounds of their own. Only towards the latter portion of the series were the CIS representatives able to stabilize, closing the map 16-12.

Concluding the series was Dust2, and in line with the previous two maps it came down to double-digits. Windigo started on the T side but were unable to amass the crucial early momentum needed to dominate their opponents. After initial fallthroughs, Natus Vincere took the reins, concluding their CT side 9-6. The latter pistol went in the favourites' way, as well as two subsequent rounds, but much like on Overpass the ball was dropped, allowing Windigo a 14-12 lead. Fortunately for Natus Vincere they were able to refocus, closing out the final four rounds to produce a close 16-14 victory.

The second series of the day saw G2 take on fnatic, with affairs commencing on Nuke. The French quintet secured their CT pistol and the next two, followed by immediate retaliation from the Swedes in the form of four rounds. This would prove to be most of what fnatic would put up on the T side, as G2 walked away with all but one round, closing out at 10-5 on the defence. Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström and his men secured their CT pistol, as well as the following two rounds, but the momentum was squandered, allowing G2 a foot back into the map. A back-and-forth period ensued, favouring the Frenchmen, who ran out 16-11 winners.

Inferno followed, where fnatic had a dominant CT-side showing, securing a 5-0 lead off the bat. The teams exchanged two rounds each, shortly after which G2's T side fired up, seeing to six consecutive rounds victories of their own, trumping the earlier streak of their opponents at 8-7. The Swedes secured a consecutive pistol round, and dominated the initial portion of the latter half. G2 found their footing after early struggles and forced overtime, in which they would prevail after some highly-contested rounds.

The highlight of day one was the series between Luminosity and MIBR, where the underdogs breezed past the favourites with flying colours. The first map, Inferno, saw Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and co. cop the pistol, and despite an upset in round three, persevered to a 4-1 lead. This was the majority of what MIBR were able to pose on the CT side, as Luminosity accrued all but two of what was left to play to bag a 9-6 lead. MIBR secured the next pistol round, only for an immediate upset to take place, followed by seven back-to-back rounds from Luminosity to close Inferno at a dominant 16-7 scoreline.

Similar to the latter half of Inferno, MIBR secured the pistol. only to drop the ball in the following round. This created breathing space for Luminosity, who converted that into a 9-1 lead. After consecutive blunders, the favourites tapped into their experience and mental endurance, softening the round disparity to just 6-9 come halftime. In spite of developments that reminded of a comeback, Luminosity kept bringing the heat, and a T-side pistol victory kicked them further into the lead. Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles and co. extended their advantage to 14-6, vastly outperforming their compatriots, with the map ending with a 16-8 scoreline in LG's favour.

The final series of day one saw Cloud9 take down Envy, kicking off on Inferno. Maikil "⁠Golden⁠" Selim and co. opened the map on the CT side, amassing an immediate 4-1 lead. Envy occasionally popped up on the scoreboard, but for the majority of their T half they struggled, leading to a 5-10 deficit. After switching to the CT side, Jacob "⁠FugLy⁠" Medina and co. secured the pistol, only to conceded momentum after Cloud9's first rifle round. Envy clawed a single additional round prior to continued dominance from Cloud9 in the form of a five-round closer, concluding Inferno 16-8 in favour of the Swedish tactician's men.

Mirage turned out to be the concluding map of day one, as Cloud9's dominance continued. The ferocity translated onto their CT side on the map, allowing for a dominant 10-1 start. Envy retaliated in four concluding rounds of their T side, closing the first half with a 5-10 deficit. The latter pistol went in favour of Josh "⁠jdm64⁠" Marzano and company, but problems persisted after the second round, allowing the leaders to stamp their authority even more. Four rounds was all she wrote for Envy, as a dominant Cloud9 closed the first day of matches with a 16-11 map score.

Day two of group C matches will continue this evening, seeing to further action between the eight contestants from Europe and the Americas. Natus Vincere and Luminosity will square off against G2 and Cloud9 for spotless 2-0 records, while fnatic and Envy will looks to improve their less-than-satisfactory start at the expense of Windigo and MIBR.