Heroic eliminate Evil Geniuses from playoff contention; NAVI edge out Complexity
The third day of play of ESL Pro League Season 15 Group D is done and dusted, with Complexity and Evil Geniuses both still unable to secure a victory. Evil Geniuses got set aside in their match against Heroic, barring the team from playoffs, while Complexity narrowly fell to NAVI, putting them in a precarious spot for reaching the playoff berth.
Evil Geniuses struggled to get started against Heroic on their map pick of Inferno. Falling quickly behind 0-6, the Americans were able to respond with their first round, which would be one of only three for the half. Heroic, off the back of a dominant defensive performance from Ismail "refrezh" Ali, were able to shut down most threats in the half. The few rounds that Evil Geniuses were able to convert came from either stellar individual plays or mistakes from the defense. With little spark on the offense, the half ended at a 12-3 scoreline for the Danes. Heroic continued their dominance on their offense by picking up the starting pistol and two consecutive rounds. With their backs against the wall, Evil Geniuses were able to respond with three rounds of their own before it all came crashing down. Heroic convincingly took the map 16-6, looking poised to continue their dominance on Nuke.
It was unexpected than, when Evil Geniuses kept the game close throughout the first half on their defense. Jumping out to their largest lead so far in ESL Pro League, Evil Geniuses went 5-0 ahead after winning the pistol round and saving themselves from a few close calls. Heroic, however, managed to climb back into the game as refrezh and Martin "stavn" Lund could not be stopped. The Americans had to finally concede the lead as Heroic came back to an 8-7 lead as the sides switched. After Evil Geniuses converted the second pistol round of the game, they once again looked to be in the driver's seat on the back of Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte's heroics. With the game inching closer at 11-10, Evil Geniuses started to falter and Heroic made sure to capitalize. Heroic were able to secure six out of the last seven rounds en route to a 16-12 victory, taking the series 2-0.
HEROICEvil Geniuses| HEROIC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ismail 'refrezh' Ali |
53 - 28 | +25 | 103.3 | 80.0% | 1.57 |
| Martin 'stavn' Lund |
43 - 26 | +17 | 90.9 | 82.0% | 1.40 |
| Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck |
34 - 31 | +3 | 71.5 | 68.0% | 1.11 |
| René 'TeSeS' Madsen |
31 - 29 | +2 | 75.7 | 76.0% | 1.09 |
| Casper 'cadiaN' Møller |
22 - 26 | -4 | 57.2 | 76.0% | 0.95 |
| Evil Geniuses |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov |
34 - 35 | -1 | 69.1 | 66.0% | 0.96 |
 Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte |
28 - 37 | -9 | 73.6 | 64.0% | 0.90 |
| William 'RUSH' Wierzba |
27 - 34 | -7 | 52.0 | 58.0% | 0.85 |
| Timothy 'autimatic' Ta |
31 - 38 | -7 | 65.3 | 56.0% | 0.80 |
| Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip |
19 - 41 | -22 | 55.8 | 54.0% | 0.62 |
For the final game of the day, Complexity squared off with CIS heavyweights NAVI. Complexity spent the first half of their pick of Ancient showcasing an unfortunate T-side, only managing to scrape together three rounds as NAVI picked up the other twelve to post a dominant lead at the half. Complexity kicked it into high gear on their CT side, thanks to good performances from Justin "FaNg" Coakley and Ricky "floppy" Kemery, allowing the North Americans to win nine of the first ten rounds of the half to bring the score to 13-12. Just as Complexity were about to even things up, NAVI found their footing and claimed the last few rounds that they needed, stealing away Complexity’s pick 16-13.
The first half of NAVI’s pick of Dust2 was also characterized by Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev and company putting up a tremendous lead. NAVI came out of the gates running with an absolutely suffocating T-side, only giving enough room for Complexity to snatch away three rounds. Complexity won the pistol, a necessary prerequisite for any hope of a comeback, but NAVI immediately snatched away the second round, looking to prevent a resurgence like the one Complexity showcased on the previous map. Ultimately, Complexity ended up doing exactly that, going on a nine-round tear to even out the scoreline 13-13. Just like on Ancient, Complexity were unable to get across the finish line, as NAVI finally shut down their streak to close out the map 16-14, winning the series 2-0 and locking in a playoffs spot.
Natus VincereComplexity| Natus Vincere |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev |
46 - 38 | +8 | 85.0 | 78.0% | 1.29 |
| Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy |
49 - 37 | +12 | 91.2 | 69.5% | 1.28 |
 Denis 'electroNic' Sharipov |
47 - 38 | +9 | 89.1 | 76.3% | 1.21 |
| Ilya 'Perfecto' Zalutskiy |
44 - 38 | +6 | 77.9 | 71.2% | 1.10 |
| Daniil 'headtr1ck' Valitov |
27 - 43 | -16 | 55.0 | 66.1% | 0.74 |
| Complexity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricky 'floppy' Kemery |
46 - 45 | +1 | 87.1 | 67.8% | 1.11 |
 Justin 'FaNg' Coakley |
46 - 40 | +6 | 70.1 | 71.2% | 1.09 |
 Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
40 - 46 | -6 | 82.2 | 66.1% | 1.00 |
| Paytyn 'junior' Johnson |
28 - 37 | -9 | 54.8 | 62.7% | 0.82 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
33 - 46 | -13 | 67.8 | 57.6% | 0.79 |
Although things look gloomy for fans of North American Counter-Strike, there still remains a glimmer of hope. Although Evil Geniuses is now unable to reach playoffs, Complexity still have a chance of reaching the next stage. Johnny "JT" Theodosiou's men will have to win their next two matches against Evil Geniuses and Astralis while hoping that Evil Geniuses take down AGO and that NAVI beat Astralis. These circumstances are North America's last hope for another team joining Liquid in the playoffs.
Complexity will be looking to take their first step towards reaching the playoffs with the following match slated to start tomorrow at 10:00AM:
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Complexity vs Evil Geniuses
