ESL Pro League Group D in bullet points

The quick and easy way to learn about every team in Group D.

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— 21-14 map record since the player break, playing almost exclusively top-20 teams

— Currently in fine form, having won IEM Cologne and come within a single round of making the Gamers8 final

— One of the best CT teams in the world right now (59.6% win rate), but struggling somewhat on T side (48.8% win rate)

HooXi on the battle with Vitality for No. 1 spot: "When it comes to consistency, they definitely take the crown, that’s why they are number one. When it comes to peak level, if every team in the world is on their top form, then we are the best team in the world."

On peaks vs. consistency: "I would much rather have the peaks that we had at Katowice and Cologne than having made a final or two extra, and not having a trophy. I think ENCE and Heroic would agree if you asked them (laughs)."

On how EPL's relaxed atmosphere hurts G2: "When there are a lot of fans in front of us in an arena environment, we get that extra 10% we need… I think it would be an advantage for us if ESL Pro League didn’t have this cosy vibe (laughs)."

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— 8-6 map record since Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov arrived during IEM Cologne - with four of those losses coming against ENCE and Vitality

— Ax1Le has struggled in new roster, with his rating dropping to 1.08 compared to 1.18 for the year overall - LAN rating after three games is 0.88

— Significantly better T-side winrate (50.9%) than CT (44.3%) since Ax1Le returned to the lineup

groove on Cloud9's growing pains: "We have some problems because when you are creating such a roster with a lot of stars, we have a lot of voices and a lot of opinions. HObbit and sh1ro assisted nafany with shotcalling before, now electroNic, also Perfecto. Sometimes it's [easier] to have one or two star players and make a very good team."

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groove: "We have some problems because we have a lot of stars and a lot of voices"

On Ax1Le's struggles in the new lineup: "When you come to restructure about 60-70% of the game, the players who showed their best results can't do it anymore. They have to adapt to the new style. We've spent a lot of time on discussions, not playing but on finding the correct decisions, and that is why sh1ro and Ax1Le can't show their best in my opinion, because they are not fully focused on the game,"

On the team's expectations for ESL Pro League: "We just want to play and test our tactics, our playstyle. For everyone the [goal is] first place, of course, but now we understand that we have to work really hard because we didn't show the results we expected. Now we are just focusing to show our best. That's it. We know we have to work harder and harder."

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— 24-14 record since the player break, during which Nikolay "⁠mir⁠" Bityukov was brought into the team

— Unsettled roster recently, benching and then un-benching David "⁠n0rb3r7⁠" Danielyan twice, once due to injury, before eventually removing Aleksei "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev

— One of the best T-side teams in the world right now (57.8% win rate, top 30 filter)

n0rb3r7 on latest addition mir: "mir is playing a bit like the 'space' role, but I think he needs more experience at big tournaments, like Pro League and Gamers8, because he was inactive for almost two years."

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n0rb3r7: "We prepared the same as for Rio, maybe 140 hours in the last two weeks"

On recent chopping and changing within the roster: "After Katowice I injured my right hand, putting me out for some time. I waited for five months on the bench, then I won a tournament, then it felt like I was on the bench again."

On Virtus.pro's preparation for ESL Pro League: "We prepared the same as for Rio, maybe 140 hours in the last two weeks."

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— After beating FaZe and G2 in promising start with the new lineup, map record has fallen to 7-12

— Will play at least first game at EPL without Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov, with coach Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele standing-in

— Woeful T-side win rate with the new roster (41.2%)

Rainwaker on Liquid's current underwhelming form: "I would say we are getting better, we can feel it in practice, but we are still not showing it in officials. In my personal view I am not showing what I show in practice."

On how Liquid will approach playing without Patsi: "I think YEKINDAR and daps want to change some stuff for this match specifically, because Patsi was playing entry and going first most of the time. So let’s say YEKINDAR will be doing that, and daps will take most of YEKINDAR’s roles, at least that’s what I think."

On whether playing with daps will prevent Liquid making playoffs: "I wouldn’t say our goals will change, we will give our best with daps in our first game and see what happens. The hard part is that we didn’t even put in any practice with daps."

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— One of the breakout teams of 2023, but form has waned recently - only sport a 16-17 map record since the start of IEM Cologne Play-in

— Considered one of the world’s best Vertigo teams - boast a 47-10 record overall this year, and an impressive 14-3 record against top 20

— Thought to be a "best-of-one team" due to their map pool, but they have recently massively improved on Ancient (won four of last six), previously their problem map

hades on his team's recent waning online form: "It can be… maybe not motivation, but because we have played a lot of tier one tournaments, we have a slightly different attitude in online tournaments right now."

On how his team can take the next step: "We’ve started to work with a mental coach, so we are trying to improve the mental side of our game. We also fixed quite a few mistakes and reactions that we have done in a lot of games. I think we just need to start off well, because we always have tough opponents, and we always get really close, but we can never get those one or two rounds at the end. The second we manage to close off a game, I think it will come naturally."

On where the ceiling might be for 9INE: "I honestly think we can even be this dark horse team, which can do a lot of upsets and potentially win something, but I don’t think it will come soon. I think it will come once we start to improve and start to get those wins more often."

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— Results have not improved in the new season despite Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski being a clear improvement over Justin "⁠FaNg⁠" Coakley

— Of all international opposition faced since adding EliGE, they have only taken maps from Ninjas in Pyjamas - losing to fnatic, Astralis, Vitality and OG

— Current core has only twice reached the playoffs of a LAN event with Complexity, a record stretching back to April 2022

Grim on his team's preparation ahead of EPL: "We had a two-week bootcamp at the Kinguin facility in Poland. That bootcamp was really nice, I think we've been playing our best CS since we made the team, so I'm really happy with how that bootcamp went and I'm excited to see if we can show that here in the matches."

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Grim: "We've been playing our best CS since we made the team"

On the team's struggle to improve results since adding EliGE: "For us, even just adding one new player, and especially someone like EliGE who knows a lot about the game and has a lot of stuff to bring, it's going to take a while to implement and add new concepts that we didn't have before. Everyone is getting used to it, getting on the same page, and learning how EliGE wants to play and what he likes to do."

On what we can expect from Complexity in Malta: "I'd say that I expect a better Complexity here. We've been playing pretty well in scrims, so as long as we can bring it into the matches just expect more from us."

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— 44-22 map record since current lineup came together in May

— Have struggled to turn their solid map record into results - took second in CCT South Europe Series 4 in May, but nothing notable since

— Have only played two Big Events in recent years - the last two iterations of Pro League

woxic on his recent return to the roster: "I feel much better now because of what we talked about at the start [of the team], that I need to have freedom and make the game-changing calls. If I peek something, and if I get a kill, I can make a call off of that and these kinds of things."

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woxic: "I need to have freedom and make the game-changing calls"

On his return to Big Event play: "I miss it, this is my place. I'm showing much more emotion and impact, and everything goes much better for me. I like to be in competition, but when you are in competition with teams below the top level, it's not as exciting as this one."

On his team's goals for the event: "Firstly, we want to make the playoffs. Depending on the results we get in the group, I think we can go to the final or even win the tournament if we reach the playoffs. Our biggest opponent is ourselves."

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— Arguably the best team in Asia right now - have only once placed worse than third in a regional event, and won the last two.

— The team has never played an international LAN - they now have IEM Sydney and the CS:GO Asia Championships on the horizon

— Boast 100% win rates on Overpass and Anubis in the last three months

Lynn Vision coach Dai "Gum" Yifei on his team's chances in Malta: "Well, we saw 5yclone just lost and got eliminated from going to the playoffs. 5yclone is a big opponent in China for us, we always trade games with each other, which means it’s going to be quite hard for us to actually compete in Europe with these top teams."

On lack of international opportunities for his region: "We have two players who have never been outside of China, this is their first time, and in their first time they will play against top teams!"

On Lynn Vision's goals for EPL: "The goal coming here is to learn from the European teams and to know how much we lag behind them, so we can actually realize how to improve, learn the direction to improve."

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