ESL Pro League Season 18 Group A Review | The Movistar Shock

ESL Pro League Season 18 Group A has come to a close, with one major surprise result in the Upper Bracket. With 16 matches of competitive CS:GO played over the past week, there’s plenty to discuss.

Let’s delve into the results before Group B gets underway tomorrow!

Upper Bracket

The Upper Bracket of ESL Pro League Season 18 Group A saw Vitality progress as winners, as predicted. On paper, they were by far the EPL Groups best team, and should always have progressed. It’s a positive sign that they’re showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.

Meanwhile, Movistar Riders provided the huge shock of Group A. They secured their place in the Playoffs by beating FURIA and GamerLegion, a respectable run for any team. In our ESL Pro League Season 18 preview, we had Movistar Riders as a fodder team here, alongside ORKS and Grayhound. They may have lost to Vitality in the EPL Groups Upper Bracket Final, but there’s certainly no shame in that. We can’t wait to see if this is just a purple patch for the team, or the signs of a great roster emerging.

Lower Bracket

Astralis were the team to make it out of the Lower Bracket. An opening loss to Ninjas in Pyjamas left them in a dire situation, but a straight sweep against ORKS, GamerLegion, and FURIA was an impressive show of resilience. So far, the star of the show has been blameF, who has found some great individual form in Malta. Staehr is beginning to look right at home, too, which is huge for the Danes.

Astralis’ Buzz said pre-tournament that he wasn’t sure the format of ESL Pro League benefitted the team, but here it was clear not being in the Last Chance Bracket took the pressure off. It still feels like we’re learning where the ceiling is for this Astralis roster,  and it should become more clear as we move into the Playoffs.

Last Chance Bracket

Finally, things are looking up for FURIA. The addition of FalleN and chelo has been a slow burn so far, with the team struggling to make much headway against, well, anyone. An opening EPL Groups defeat against Movistar Riders had the Brazilians fearing it was more of the same. However, they fought well throughout the Lower Bracket, only losing in the Final to Astralis.

Once down to the Last Chance Bracket, FURIA beat Grayhound and GamerLegion without dropping a map. They might not be ready to take on the big boys just yet, but there were signs that things are beginning to come together for the team. KSCERATO looks back to his scintillating best, and when he’s awake on the server, FURIA can beat anyone. We had FURIA down to qualify from ESL Pro League Season 18 Group A, and it’s good to see they haven’t disappointed.

Group B of ESL Pro League begins tomorrow, kicking off with Heroic vs. Rooster and BIG vs. Monte.