The 15th season of ESL Pro League kicked off today in Dusseldorf, Germany with Group A. ESL Pro League returns to LAN for the first time in 4 seasons, having switched to online in March 2020 in Season 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since then we have had 4 different winners as well with fnatic taking S11, Astralis winning S12, Heroic stomping Gambit with a stunning cadiaN clutch in S13, and NaVi dominating Season 14 of EPL.
Season 15 started with Group A teams G2 and LookingForOrg locking horns. G2 had to play with stand-in amaNEK as IGL Aleksib couldn’t travel after contracting COVID-19. They took on the Aussies, who are ranked #94 and are still without an organization, hence the name. Coming into the game as heavy underdogs, there was little LFO could do – unable to cash in on the fact that G2 were missing their leader.
G2 battered the boys from down under on their own map pick of Dust2, cruising through with a 16-5 scoreline. huNter-, m0NESY, and NiKo had 23, 24, and 21 frags respectively to make it easy for G2.
G2’s pick of Inferno was closer than expected, despite them having a strong T side with 9 rounds. Super-sub amaNEK outfragged everyone with 16 kills on the T side, showing he could do it all – IGL, AWP, support, and even become a coach if need be, as we saw at IEM Katowice when XTQZZZ contracted COVID-19.
LFO’s T side wasn’t a pushover though as they took the lead at one point, going up 10-9. It was close until the end of the half where G2 took control and comfortably closed out the map 16-12 as amaNEK put on a masterful 26-11 K/D with a 1.55 rating.
G2 go 1-0 up in Group A while LFO are down 0-1.
Recommended | Classic CS 1.6 maps that are missed in CSGO
