Week 6 of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive EU ESL Pro League Season 5 saw a major makeover in the top five of the European standings. Mousesports dropped while Astralis and North rose to the top; G2 also sailed past its competition including a crushing victory over Fnatic. Here's how Week 6 played out.
Natus Vincere and HellRaisers kicked off the action Tuesday in a wild best-of-two series starting on Inferno. Natus Vincere had a solid performance during Game 1, stomping HellRaisers to the tune of an 11-4 lead at the half. Though Hellraisers made some noise in the second half, the CIS-based team closed the door for a 16-5 win. Natus Vincere looked to sweep HellRaisers in Game 2 with a quick 6-1 lead to open on Mirage, though HellRaisers struck back to nearly even the score at the half, down just 8-7. HellRaisers took the momentum and carried it over to the second half, eventually defeating Natus Vincere 16-11 for a Game 2 win, evening the series 1-1.
G2 came out red hot to start things off on Wednesday against Fnatic. G2 kicked off its match against Fnatic on Train with an alarming first half right out of the gates, stunning Fnatic with an electrifying 11-4 lead. Fnatic continued to struggle on the defense in the second half, unable to stop Kenny "kennyS" Schrub, who led G2 with a 31/9 KD (kills/deaths) and an impressive 118.9 ADR (average damage per round) through the first half. KennyS continued his highlight performance to help his team pick up an impressive 16-5 win. G2 continued its dominance Thursday, picking up another sweep over struggling LDLC.
Astralis continued to soar even higher in the ESL European standings Wednesday, taking over the second place position after a sweeping victory over Kinguin. Astralis started the series on Overpass where Kinguin struggled to get past the Danish defense, eventually ending the half down 10-5. Kinguin continued to struggle in the second half, unable to stop the Danish offense from overriding the bomb sites for a 16-7 Game 1 loss. Astralis powered its way through Game 2 on Cache on the offense registering a commanding 11-4 lead going into the second half. Though Kinguin showed some resilience early, Astralis remained in control and dominated the second half for a 16-9 Game 2 win.
Despite a series split with HellRaisers on Thursday, North still managed to climb atop the European standings. North got off to a rough start on Cache with the offense not able to get past HR's defense. However, late in the first half, the Danes came back to tie the game at 7-7 before taking the half 8-7. North continued its dominance into the early portions of the second half, though HellRaisers stood its ground and rallied back to shut down North 16-13. In Game 2, North struggled to keep HellRaisers down early on Mirage; however, they eventually broke out for a 9-6 score at the half. The Danes kept the series split in sight throughout the second half with HellRaisers winning only four rounds for a 16-10 Game 2 loss.
Now that Week 6 is in the books, new faces have emerged atop the standings with North, Astralis, and Natus Vincere rounding out the top three. Week 7 will resume April 11 at 1:00 p.m. ET after a bye week due to SL i-League StarSeries Season 3 Finals, which take place April 4-9.