ESL Pro League Group B preview

ENCE and HEROIC will be the favourites to make the playoffs, but which two of Monte, MOUZ, and BIG will join them?

ESL Pro League continues on September 6 with Group B, and once again we are presented with a fascinating mix of teams that are set to do battle for a spot in the playoffs. Things are perhaps a little bit more clear-cut in this group compared to Group A as there are two clear favorites and a three-team pack following behind.

ENCE and HEROIC are almost certain to make it out of this group, but they arrive in Malta under different circumstances. The question for ENCE is whether or not they can win an elite tournament and put pressure on Vitality at the top of the rankings, whereas for HEROIC, the question is whether or not their dip in form is temporary, or something more concerning.

As for those likely to battle it out for the remaining two playoff berths, they are all young teams with something to prove. MOUZ made some bold choices in the off-season, opting to bring Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek back to the organization, but have played precious few officials since. This is a stark contrast to Monte, who have been grinding online games like they always do, and BIG, who have also made sure to get a solid amount of official gametime under their belts.

MOUZ: do the young guns need more time?

Things were looking fairly rosy for MOUZ after their first three matches after the player break, during which they reunited with ex-academy starlet siuhy and promoted another academy product, Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo. The European squad rocked up in Germany for IEM Cologne and opened their account with a best-of-one win against The MongolZ, albeit a slightly labored one that needed a Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás hard-carry to get them over the line in overtime. Next, they handily dealt with Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-0, and they continued their strong showing by taking out Natus Vincere 2-0, with Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman, David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský and Jimpphat showing their worth in these two series.

It was looking rosy until MOUZ played Vitality and Astralis, with torzsi opining in an interview with HLTV that his team “crumbled” against the latter. It was a return to reality for the young MOUZ roster as they were convincingly dismissed 0-2 in both series, with the Vitality matchup proving that siuhy and co. were some way off the better sides in world Counter-Strike.

The biggest problem for MOUZ? We have barely seen them play since. Sure, they won a meager Thunderpick online event prior to Pro League, but the only notable team they defeated was BIG. torzsi is split on whether or not this will hurt his side, saying, “We were thinking about this because we are too young, we need to experience how we play in officials… yeah, we wanted to play more officials,” but then going on to state, “I don’t think it will hurt us that we didn’t play too much, because teams cannot know what we prepared.”

It would be reasonable to expect MOUZ to be slightly behind the curve compared to the likes of Monte, who have played an inordinate amount of official games since the player break. It is doubtful that MOUZ would have benefitted from a light schedule so soon after the player break, and history has taught us that playing too few officials can certainly hurt a team’s form. Fortunately for the European combine, although their group sports two favorites, ENCE and HEROIC, there isn’t any other team present that should frighten them too much. Monte and perhaps to a lesser extent BIG will be fighting with them for the remaining playoff spots, but the rest of the teams will be relatively easy pickings for MOUZ.

Monte: the grinders are back with a new style

Monte have been a menacing force in the online scene ever since their inception as a team mid-way through 2022, and they translated their impressive form to the LAN environment in style at the BLAST Paris Major. Their run to the top eight in France earned them a rise to No. 10 in the world rankings, and the young squad were in a prime position to make themselves a fixture in the tier-one scene.

Unfortunately for Monte they had their clear star player, Mohammad "⁠BOROS⁠" Malhas, stolen away from them in the player break by Falcons, and their performances haven’t been quite so dominant since. In their intense online grind they still reach the later stages of the majority of tournaments they play, having recently secured a string of top-four finishes in events like Pinnacle Cup V and a second-place finish in CCT North Europe Series 7, but this run is short of the consistent victories they were taking in these events with BOROS. Alexander "⁠br0⁠" Bro, despite being “very good for our atmosphere” according to Volodymyr "⁠Woro2k⁠" Veletniuk, was never going to be able to fill the shoes of a player as explosive and skilled as the aforementioned Jordanian. Instead, the squad has adapted their playstyle.

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Woro2k: "I'm never tired of playing officials, I could play three matches a day"

Speaking at IEM Cologne, Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev stated the team has a more structured approach now, concluding that the changes have made it “much easier on T side than it was before right now.” The fresh approach seems to be bearing fruit as the majority-Ukrainian side progressed from the Play-in without much fuss, and took a convincing 2-0 victory over GamerLegion in the main event. HEROIC and Cloud9 proved to be too much for Monte’s newly-changed roster, although in both games they were still competitive and had chances to take at least a map victory. When asked if the team, with their new playstyle, could get to the level they were at with BOROS, Woro2k was confident: “I think we are already on that level, maybe we can even play better.”

It is safe to say then that, up to this point, Monte have shown that losing BOROS was not the disaster that some expected it to be. Yes, their results have taken a slight dip online, but not to a drastic level, and their latest second-place finish in CCT suggests they are improving those results with time. Woro2k fully expects his team to qualify for the playoffs at EPL. Now is the time for Monte to justify that expectation.

BIG: can the Germans punch above their weight?

The leading light of German CS pulled the trigger on a complete revamp of their squad in the player break, dropping three of the players that they finished the previous season with. The signing of Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski certainly seems a promising move in the right direction, but promoting a couple of academy players to the main roster, rather than pivoting to an international lineup, underwhelmed many in the community.

Since the player break, BIG have set about proving their commitment to German players was the right move, taking two promising wins at BLAST Spring Groups over OG and Astralis and putting together a solid resume of online results as well. Their early IEM Cologne Play-in elimination can be brushed off as it was played without mantuu, and once you discount that event, BIG’s form looks fairly impressive, particularly considering their most recent showing, a victory in CCT North Europe Series 7. Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa believes the extra game time the team has garnered through online events is a huge boon, saying, “It's even better practice to play these online tournaments than just practicing because you just learn more from it.”

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Krimbo: "For me, it wasn't a problem to speak English"

There have been some teething issues, namely the matter of in-game leadership. Elias "⁠s1n⁠" Stein was intended to be the new IGL for the team, freeing up Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz from some of the burden of leadership and calling, but the squad quickly found out it was too much to expect from the academy graduate, according to Krimbo. Thus, tabseN has taken back the reins. They have also had to deal with switching their communication to English, although Krimbo reckons this has not been an issue for his side. “It wasn't any problem to speak English and it's kind of natural to me. Because you play FPL and FACEIT, with international friends, and talk a lot.”

BIG have every chance to make their way through this group, particularly considering the unimpressive state of some of their opponents. Should things go as expected, ENCE and HEROIC will make it out with ease, and so BIG can be expected to battle with MOUZ and Monte for one of the final two spots available. Krimbo and mantuu performing to a high level will be key in making that happen.

Heroic: the highest standards are the hardest to meet

The Danes of HEROIC seemed to come out of the player break firing on all cylinders, as they cruised through their BLAST Fall Groups bracket with apparent ease, dropping a single map in tight fashion to Natus Vincere. Since then, however, results have not been quite so kind to the No. 2 team in the world, as they were comfortably dispatched by Astralis in the first round of the IEM Cologne playoffs, and were bested by ENCE to finish 3-4th at Gamers8.

So incredibly high is the standard that HEROIC have set for themselves, that Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller feels the team “are currently not playing up to the level that we're supposed to and that we're capable of.” The storied IGL feels that there are two main reasons for this: “a small dip in individual form from more or less all of us” and “not all playing to our philosophies and principles.” René "⁠TeSeS⁠" Madsen stated at BLAST that HEROIC want to end CS:GO as the best team in the world, and their recent performances have been short of the level required to do that.

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cadiaN: "We're not all playing to our philosophies and principles"

Still, HEROIC shouldn’t have much trouble making it out of this group. The only serious threat is ENCE, who some argue are the second-best team in the world right at this very moment, and even if HEROIC do lose to the European combine, they should still make it out of this group with no trouble. Anything less would be a disaster, or “really freaking bad,” to use cadiaN’s words.

ENCE: can they charge their way to the top of the mountain?

By the reckoning of some, ENCE are the second-best team in the world right now, and that assertion is made with good reason. The European squad are surpassed only by Vitality in terms of recent tournament results, and their win at IEM Dallas showed they are capable of getting over the hump and winning trophies. The main caveat is that the Dallas final was played against MOUZ, whilst ENCE found themselves wanting against truly elite sides in their most recent finals appearances, against G2 and Vitality. ENCE should be feeling positive upon reflection about their performance against Vitality, however, as they certainly had their chances to win the second map and take the series 2-0. Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz said of ENCE’s Gamers8 performance that “I think that we showed really good CS. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t show it in the grand final, but I think we know how to fix it for the future.”

Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha have built themselves a marvelous reputation over the last year or two with ENCE, thanks to their knack for taking raw talents and molding them into elite tier one players. Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García’s progression on T side has been remarkable in his short time with the team, and NertZ has already shown his propensity for putting up big numbers and finding miraculous plays when they are needed. Combine all of this with the immense experience of Snappi, and his impressive T side calling, and you have a potent force in the upper echelons of tier one.

For ENCE to really cement their claim to be the second-best team in the world, they need to win a final against a properly dangerous opponent, someone like Vitality, G2 or HEROIC. They could very well do that in Malta at ESL Pro League, but first they must pass the hurdle that is Group B. This should be a hurdle that ENCE vault over with ease, and who knows, perhaps NertZ and company can make the first steps toward delivering on his belief that they can take the No. 1 spot from Vitality.