Disappointment for North America in final day of ESL Pro League Season 15 Group D
The final day of Group D of ESL Pro League Season 15 has drawn to a close, with Complexity missing out on a spot in the playoffs after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Astralis. Elsewhere, Evil Geniuses' disappointing run in Germany continued as they were bested 2-0 at the hands of AGO.
Although Evil Geniuses and AGO were already both eliminated from playoffs going into this match, there was still something on the line here, as if Evil Geniuses beat AGO, fellow Americans Complexity could theoretically reach playoffs by beating Astralis 2-1. If AGO won, however, Complexity would have to win 2-0 to move on to the next stage.
Unfortunately for Complexity, Evil Geniuses hardly had a chance on AGO’s pick of Dust2, as Maciej "F1KU" Miklas posted an obscene 2.27 rating, sweeping aside Evil Geniuses 16-11 with his 40 kills. Although F1KU did not replicate this stellar performance on the American’s pick of Inferno, the Poles still found themselves in the driver’s seat throughout thanks to good showings from Eryk "leman" Kocęba and Damian "Furlan" Kislowski. The duo spearheaded AGO’s T-side, propelling the team to another 16-11 victory, ending Complexity’s playoff lifeline.
Evil GeniusesAGO| Evil Geniuses |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte |
37 - 41 | -4 | 77.6 | 68.5% | 1.02 |
 Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov |
36 - 35 | +1 | 74.4 | 59.3% | 1.00 |
| Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip |
29 - 40 | -11 | 71.0 | 59.3% | 0.90 |
| Timothy 'autimatic' Ta |
28 - 38 | -10 | 50.2 | 70.4% | 0.82 |
| William 'RUSH' Wierzba |
24 - 43 | -19 | 58.8 | 57.4% | 0.67 |
| AGO |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Maciej 'F1KU' Miklas |
61 - 30 | +31 | 109.3 | 74.1% | 1.67 |
| Damian 'Furlan' Kislowski |
45 - 34 | +11 | 93.7 | 75.9% | 1.35 |
| Eryk 'leman' Kocęba |
37 - 29 | +8 | 67.0 | 79.6% | 1.19 |
| Roland 'ultimate' Tomkowiak |
32 - 29 | +3 | 58.0 | 79.6% | 1.03 |
| Łukasz 'mwlky' Pachucki |
22 - 33 | -11 | 53.6 | 70.4% | 0.86 |
The other game of the day saw Complexity face off against Astralis, with both sides fighting to secure their spot in the playoffs. The series kicked off on Complexity's pick of Dust2, where Johnny "JT" Theodosiou's men quickly ran up an early 5-2 lead on the back of a strong T-side effort. A brief exchange of rounds and a five-round spree by Astralis shortly thereafter ultimately saw this lead falter, however, with the Danes slowly clawing themselves back into the game before heading into their T-side with an 8-7 scoreline. Once the second half got underway, the map turned into a continuous back-and-forth affair, with both sides unable to break away from each other's clutches. Fortunately for NA fans, Complexity managed to come out on top on the defense, posting nine rounds to Astralis' six to steal away Dust2 16-13 and to lead the series 1-0.
The two teams then paid a visit to Astralis' pick of Nuke where the Danes quickly hit the ground running on the offense, drumming up an early 6-2 lead midway through the half. In a much-needed change of direction, Ricky "floppy" Kemery came alive towards the end of Complexity's CT-side, posting 16 kills to help the North Americans take the lead with an 8-7 score at the switch. Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander's men woke up once on their CT-side, opening the half with a five-round streak to surge ahead. A brief two-round addition to Complexity's tally did break up the Danish onslaught but Astralis then returned to their dominating performance, easily finding the remaining four rounds they needed to steal Nuke 16-10.
The third and final map of the series took place on Ancient which saw the two teams neck and neck for much of the first half. Despite this, the Danes began to pull ahead, adding the final four rounds of the half to the board to finish their CT-side 9-6 up. Astralis' strong performance towards the latter stages of the first half carried on once on the attack, seeing gla1ve's men find the first four rounds of the half to extend their lead. The Complexity squad did find their footing from then onwards, adding round after round as the North Americans began chipping away at the Danes' lead. Unfortunately, all this hard work was for nothing, and Astralis eventually clinched Ancient 16-14 to take the series 2-1 and secure their spot in the playoffs.
AstralisComplexity| Astralis |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer |
70 - 53 | +17 | 93.5 | 81.2% | 1.39 |
| Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke |
72 - 65 | +7 | 85.6 | 75.3% | 1.24 |
| Asger 'Farlig' Jensen |
57 - 52 | +5 | 65.9 | 77.6% | 1.08 |
| Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth |
47 - 58 | -11 | 73.9 | 75.3% | 1.01 |
| Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander |
50 - 57 | -7 | 63.8 | 68.2% | 0.96 |
| Complexity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricky 'floppy' Kemery |
67 - 51 | +16 | 83.0 | 78.8% | 1.21 |
 Justin 'FaNg' Coakley |
71 - 65 | +6 | 80.5 | 72.9% | 1.14 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
56 - 66 | -10 | 83.8 | 76.5% | 1.01 |
| Paytyn 'junior' Johnson |
50 - 55 | -5 | 58.0 | 68.2% | 0.91 |
 Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
38 - 64 | -26 | 55.7 | 61.2% | 0.71 |
The final standings for Group D are as follows:
1. 
NAVI - (Playoffs)
2. Heroic - (Playoffs)
3. Astralis - (Playoffs)
4. AGO - $19,000
5. Complexity - $12,500
6. Evil Geniuses - $6,000
With the group stages of ESL Pro League Season 15 now complete, only two teams from North America will be competing in the playoffs, namely Liquid and FURIA. Liquid will be starting their run from the Round of 12 with an opening matchup versus Heroic whilst FURIA have a ticket straight to the quarterfinals thanks to their first-place finish in Group B.
