Movistar Riders send Complexity to last chance bracket

The Spanish team bounced back with a 2-0 against Complexity after a dismal opening loss to HEROIC in ESL Pro League S17’s Group B.

Movistar Riders and Complexity both came into the second day of play at ESL Pro League Seaosn 17 Group B needing a victory for different reasons, the Spaniards to recover from a rout at the hands of HEROIC and the North Americans after letting a victory slip between their fingers against BIG. The lower bracket match went the way of Galder "⁠bladE⁠" Barcena’s men in the end, however, as they exploited Complexity’s weak CT sides on Vertigo (16-8) and Ancient (16-13).

Movistar Riders, who were carrying a seven Vertigo loss streak since September 2022, decided to pick the map against Complexity, who had a 1-3 record in the past three months. The gambit paid off and the Spaniards set the tone from the beginning of the map, destabilizing the North American team’s defense and constantly keeping them in check economically.

The key play of the half was provided by Alejandro "⁠mopoz⁠" Fernández-Quejo Cano in the 13th round, when he walked out of a smoke in an A site afterplant situation to flank, and kill, the two remaining CTs. That sent Complexity on a save and the Spaniards went on to hit double digits at the switch, 10-5. Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou and company took the pistol and followed it up twice, but crumbled once Movistar Riders pulled out rifles, winning six in a row to a 16-8 victory.

mopoz, with a 1.51 rating, was the key to Riders’ victory

Complexity were really banking on a good showing on Ancient, their pick, a map that they beat BIG on amply in the opening day while the Spaniards lost it one-sidedly to HEROIC. The map took its expected course as Movistar Riders’ defense was full of holes and Complexity exploited them all the way to a 10-0 lead. mopoz, who had been so brilliant on Vertigo, went completely missing, although in the end Riders finally sorted themselves out and put up four on the board to keep a slim glimmer of hope alive.

The North American side then crumbled on the defense after losing the pistol round, allowing Riders a lot of control of the pace and gain easy access to sites after simple trades. mopoz, who had gone missing, went from last on the board to topping it with 27 kills and 98.8 ADR in the 0-10 to 16-13 comeback. "We just played a very solid T side, but the main thing is that as CTs they didn’t propose a lot, they didn’t take a lot of space, and they let us play everywhere in the map," the match MVP said in the post-game interview. "In that way, it’s their fault."

Taking out a Complexity team that has been showing signs of progress in early 2023 is a massive result for Riders, who only recently beat Spirit and Sprout in best-of-three series at CCT Malta Central Europe Finals, their first series wins dating back to November 2022.

The Spaniards remain in the Group B lower bracket and will face the loser of the MOUZ vs. FURIA series that will take place at 16:00 . Despite accruing two losses, Complexity are not out of the running in the triple-elimination Pro League, and they will play the loser of the Imperial and SAW lower bracket match at 19:30 .

ESL Pro League Season 17Best of 3

Movistar Riders

Matchpage

2

0

2nd March 2023

Complexity

16

Vertigo

8

16

Ancient

13

Movistar Riders	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Alejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo Canomopoz	53 - 33	+20	100.6	69.8%	1.51
Alejandro 'alex' Masanetalex	33 - 29	+4	73.3	79.2%	1.18
Antonio 'MartinezSa' MartinezMartinezSa	34 - 29	+5	69.9	71.7%	1.12
David 'dav1g' Granado Bermudodav1g	31 - 37	-6	72.5	79.2%	0.98
Pere 'sausol' Solsona Saumellsausol	29 - 34	-5	63.9	73.6%	0.98

Complexity	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Håkon 'hallzerk' Fjærlihallzerk	41 - 33	+8	83.2	66.0%	1.16
Michael 'Grim' WinceGrim	38 - 36	+2	72.6	69.8%	1.14
Johnny 'JT' TheodosiouJT	31 - 35	-4	67.2	69.8%	0.93
Justin 'FaNg' CoakleyFaNg	31 - 38	-7	77.8	62.3%	0.93
Ricky 'floppy' Kemeryfloppy	20 - 41	-21	50.3	56.6%	0.61