Fantasy competition now open for ESL Pro League Group C & D

Start putting together Fantasy combinations to be in with a chance of winning the $10,000 Fall Season.

With the next two groups of ESL Pro League just around the corner, now is the time to start building Fantasy teams that will run up the points for you and help you climb the Fall Season leader boards. Considering the Fall Season has only just started and runs all the way to December, there is still plenty of time to start racking up points to give you a shout of winning the coveted $10,000 prize.

Not only do you give yourself the chance to earn points towards the Fall Season by enrolling in the Groups C & D Fantasy, you could also put yourself in the running for some fabulous skin prizes. Joining the HLTV x BitSkins money draft league gives you a shot at winning one of the following:

1. Huntsman Knife | Ultraviolet (Field-Tested)
2. M4A1-S | Dark Water (Field-Tested)
3. USP-S | Dark Water (Field-Tested)

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Introducing Fantasy game Fall Season with $10,000 on offer

Want to get an edge on your opponents? Below we take a look at some of the highest potential scorers from these two groups, as well as some offbeat picks that could garner the admiring looks of your peers when they score big and make you look like a Fantasy genius.

Heavy hitters

These players are on teams likely to win the majority of their matches, score well in multiple categories giving you options for which roles and boosters to use, and are consistent game to game. Heavy hitters are good bets for high scores every game, and will do the bulk of the heavy lifting in getting you to a high Fantasy score.

No list of heavy-hitting Fantasy picks would be complete without the current best player in the world, Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev. He will probably end up scoring the highest HLTV rating at the event, he will likely top the charts across a range of categories, and his team stands a good chance of going all the way. All of these factors make for a high-scoring fantasy pick, and s1mple is a good bet to be the highest of them all.

The fact s1mple would match well with a range of roles, as well as boosters, only add to his desirability as a pick. If we take a look back at IEM Cologne, s1mple would have performed well with the Main AWP role, Multi Fragger, Defender, Entry Fragger, Stathunter, Attacker, and Clutch King roles across most games. He is also a good shout for some of the tough-to-hit boosters, such as 30 bomb or Ace.

Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy is becoming somewhat of a rising star on Natus Vincere, with more and more people sitting up and taking notice of his performances. Cologne was another feather to add to his cap, posting an impressive 1.22 rating and filling that secondary star role ahead of Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov on his way to a winners medal.

b1t has a couple of categories that he will likely score well in game to game, which make him a perfect Fantasy pick. He usually scores well in terms of headshots, which makes him a good fit for the HS Machine role and the Aim bot booster. A high KAST means he will often pair well with boosters such as the Assist, Avenger or Bait boosters, but the Mister consistent booster is the ideal one for b1t.

This list would not be complete without a player from the second-best team in the world right now, Gambit. They are a safe bet for a top-four finish at a minimum, and their players will likely rack up some impressive stats on the way to that finish.

Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov is another rifler who has a multitude of categories he excels in. He will score well in terms of raw fragging, opening kills, headshots, assists; you name it, Ax1Le will probably have a game or two where he excels at it. This means you have your pick of what roles and boosters to use, very few will lead you astray!

Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken is a high fragging rifler who scores well in headshot and opening kill categories, which makes him a solid choice for a high-points workhorse. IEM Cologne was a good one for Twistzz and his team FaZe, and another successful run with many wins looks likely here at ESL Pro League.

The HS Machine, Multi Fragger and Entry Fragger roles could all fit well with Twistzz, and a range of boosters including Aim bot, Top of scoreboard and Clutch look like potential winners. Any boosters for a high fragging rifler have good chance of working out.

Differential picks

These are picks that require some very specific role and booster combinations to work, or are less consistent point winners than any of the heavy hitter picks. These are the types of players who round out a roster and separate the good from the great fantasy teams.

Yes, Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen will likely score pretty poorly statistically across most categories at this event. But he could also win a lot of games, making him a viable pick if used intelligently.

As mentioned, his team has a good chance to do well in the group, so the Leader role is almost necessary to get the most out of him. As for boosters, karrigan actually has a few that he will be able to make use of depending on the game. He scores high in opening kills so Bait or Assist look promising, Bottom of scoreboard will inevitably come good at some point, and Flash could also work for the man who scores best on FaZe in flashbang statistics.

The new boy for Ninjas in Pyjamas might seem a rogue pick, particularly when you have players like Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner on the team who have the potential to frag out and score high. However this is the differential picks section, and Linus "⁠LNZ⁠" Holtäng has a few key stats that make him a potentially solid points earner.

LNZ scored very highly in the support rounds category at IEM Cologne, and so assigning him the Support role is a no-brainer. He also scored well for flashbang usage, making the Flash booster a possibility along with the usual good support-player boosters such as Assist, Bait, or Bottom of scoreboard. The fact that LNZ will hit his role and booster bonuses regularly, and his team has a good chance of winning a chunk of their group games, makes him a solid pick.

Once a star AWPer, now more of a supportive element, Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo is still a good bet for your fantasy team. Liquid have a good chance of picking up a number of wins in the group, and the Brazilian has a few standout categories where he can pick up points.

As for role, FalleN could obviously take Main AWP, but could also work with the Leader role. Boosters are where some clever thinking can rack up points, as he stands out in a couple of key categories. Best pistol round is a solid choice, as FalleN boasted the best pistol stats for Liquid at IEM Cologne, and the Flash booster as he also topped the charts for flashbang usage in Germany. If all else fails, Bottom of scoreboard might come in clutch as FalleN will likely sit bottom of the pack for some of these matches.

You would be forgiven if you forgot Florian "⁠syrsoN⁠" Rische when you were thinking of an AWPer to put in your fantasy team, mostly due to BIG having an underwhelming first half of the year. Make no mistake that the German wielder of the big green gun could still rack up some impressive points.

syrsoN posted the joint highest AWP kills per round at Cologne, making the Main AWP role the obvious choice. What you might not realise is that he also posted a high number of multi-kill rounds at that event, making the Multi Fragger role another viable option. As for boosts, things like Top of scoreboard and 30 bomb are solid choices, but Mister consistent might be the best choice for a man who boasted 71.6% KAST across the IEM Cologne group stage.

Participants of the Fantasy game are required to abide by the Fantasy ruleset if they want to win the available prizes. Winners of the official HLTV x BitSkins league will be contacted via the email provided in their HLTV account, and must reply within one month to be eligible to receive any prize.