ESL Pro League Season 3 - Week 1 Day 3 recap

The third day has come to a close and has brought us some exciting and very unexpected matches in both NA and EU.​

The NA division offered debuts of two new line-ups, as both compLexity and Team Liquid had new members to showcase. In the EU division, the veterans of Virtus.Pro, who lost twice yesterday to FaZe Clan, had to face Fnatic, whereas Na'Vi was to fight SK Gaming.

compLexity vs. Team Liquid - Cache & Dust2, 2 BO1s

This matchup was very exciting to watch because of the reasons mentioned above. While compLexity had to prove themselves yet again, as they switched out the majority of their roster, Liquid had to present their newest addition, Alexander ''s1mple'' Kostyliev, who will hopefully aid in fixing the teams issues.

de_Cache was the first map to be played. compLexity made the first rounds theirs very swiftly, but apart from very few additional rounds won in between, Liquid brought it back to an 8:7 half. coL, being under pressure now as terrorists, took over the second pistol round as well and Liquid, crumbling on the defence, gave only one round away as they rushed towards a swift and convincing 16:8 win.

de_Dust2 gave Liquid the opportunity to bounce back. Once again their opponents put themselves on top in the pistol round and got the first three safely. With only one round-upset, they also cashed in their next six, bringing it to nine in total. Fortunately Liquid was able to break their momentum and gain five for themselves, but the last round of the half went towards coL again. As the second pistol round did as well, Liquid were facing a brick wall. In order to break through it, Alexander ''s1mple'' Kostyliev, the recent addition to the team, broke the "thirty-bomb" and presented a 1.62 KDR. In the end they managed to very closely take the match 16:14.

NRG Esports vs. Enemy - Inferno & Mirage, 2 BO1s

An interesting game to watch since Enemy are attending the MLG: Columbus qualifier and NRG have yet to prove themselves.

On de_Inferno, the NA/EU mix did not put up that much of a fight. Enemy won both pistol rounds, thus already winning a major part of important rounds. They simply rushed towards the win, whilst NRG only managed to win seven rounds in between. As Fatih "gob b" Dayik put it on Twitter, they really did underperform.

On de_Mirage, NRG was bound to find revenge. The first half showed a general trend towards NRG at first, whereas in the end it was Enemy with an 8:7 lead. They managed to secure yet another pistol round, but NRG was just too strong on the T-side and eventually let them win only two additional rounds as CTs. NRG thus closed it out 16:10.

SK Gaming vs. Natus Vincere - Cobblestone & Train, 2 BO1s

You would assume Na'Vi to take this one with fair ease, as their recent performance has been stunning and has brought them a decent amount of high tournament placements. But bear in mind that SK took EnVyUs to overtime just two days ago, they should at no point be underestimated.

With de_Cobblestone first, SK made a stunning start and won seven rounds in a row on the CT-side. Natus Vincere then answered back with one round, but that was it for the half. 14:1 marked an incredible score for the Danes, and the upset did not seem so far out of reach. Natus Vincere recently won a match against Astralis in which they were behind 13:2, however would they be able to do that again? Six rounds in a row gave people hope, but SK ultimately stopped the Na'Vi train and ended them 16:7, a crushing victory considering SK are historically and statistically a much weaker team.

Everybody expected the CIS squad to answer back on de_Train, just as nV did when they reverted their previous near-loss into a brutal win on the second map. Their strong start on the T-side was proof that they had not tilted yet, but again SK stopped them cold and built a brick wall, not giving up any more rounds on the CT-side. They transferred this into the second half as well, taking over the pistol and the following two rounds, now looking at 14 in total. Natus Vincere tried everything they could to bounce back, but it took just two little rounds over the course of 10 to make the second map SK's own. 16:12 marked an absolutely unexpected start for the Danes.

Fnatic vs. Virtus.Pro - Dust2 & Overpass, 2 BO1s

There was no doubt Fnatic were the favourite coming into this matchup, as Virtus.Pro have demonstrated struggles in their recent matches against teams of various skills groups. But, as we all know, we can never write off the ''Virtus.Plow'' phenomenon that wreaks absolute havoc upon even the likes of Fnatic.

de_Dust2 saw some phenomenal plays coming out from the Swedish roster. The first pistol round was secured by Fnatic, however their momentum was cut short by a Virtus.Pro that force bought two Scouts and a few pistols, equalising the score at 1:1. This didn't sway the Swedes' focus, as they went on to secure seven consecutive rounds, landing them a cool 8:1 lead. The Poles managed to pick up a total of two additional rounds in the half, finalising it at 12:3. The second pistol round went in favour of Virtus.Pro. It provided the Poles with a second breath, allowing them to advance as far as taking a whopping aggregate of twelve rounds, however Fnatic weren't letting go of the win and closed it out 15:12.

Hopes were high for Virtus.Pro to take revenge on the Swedes on de_Overpass. An amazing hold on A site allowed the Poles to secure the first pistol round. They received a dose of their own medicine during the second round, when Fnatic decided to stick it out with a force buy, wrecking the defence on B site. No astonishing leads were secured over the first half, as it concluded at a very even 8:7 in favour of Fnatic's T side. The second pistol round saw V.P secure a bomb plant on A site, however their hold against four members of Fnatic failed, as the Swedes defused the bomb and secured the round for themselves. Subsequent to the pistol round loss, V.P were unable to penetrate the stoic defence for another three rounds, standing at a shaky 7:12 in Fnatic's favour. Ultimately the Swedes made a run for it, securing the match and both maps of the series, with a final score of 16:9.