We're halfway through ESL Pro League Season 18, but the tournament still has a lot of surprises in store. All the eyes have been on Heroic for the whole week, and our most negative predictions came true. It's been the first time in 2023 when the world's second team hasn't even qualified for the major's playoff stage. Read about the other Group B highlights in our article.
Overall rating
Rating of entry fraggers
A sudden discovery of the North American CS is that HexT is Evil Geniuses's only bright spot. His results are only good on paper, as HexT's ACM3 rating rarely rises above 1.10 in a competitive environment. Thus, we would rather focus on prosus since BIG is a stable average team. The young German has secured a place on the roster and has succeeded in his challenging role.
TeSeS had his worst tournament of this year, regardless of the role. This is one of the Norwegian team's many problems at the group stage.
Rating of riflers
We have rarely analyzed the rating of duos. Let's do it now. Frozen and siuhy from Mouz are the best in Group B, considering their average place. The fans can rejoice: the team's veteran keeps his momentum going, while the new captain shoots much more than the former one. The duo from Heroic with the average ACM3 1.43 also has nothing to regret: the guys tried to make the best use of each moment, and most of the facepalm rounds weren't caused by their actions.
The audience award goes to tabseN. Captaincy has benefited the German more than arT from FURIA. TabseN also tops the captains' rating, which we will publish once we get all the results.
Rating of supports
Passive players are still in the lead, just like last week. Krimbo and NertZ have far outstripped their Group B opponents, while the German is close to the 2023 record for rounds without kills. Ironically, Rooster's support set the abysmal record in the current meta and the current rating. The Australians have shown the worst performance at the ESL Pro League for the second time.
Despite the recent comments about the adaptation difficulties, Jimpphat has successfully demonstrated decent stats for a debutant.
Rating of AWPers
ENCE's AWPer keeps proving he is his team's X factor. Records are out of the question, as Alvaro is far even from the Group B leaders. However, he unexpectedly distinguished himself: KAST% is not popular among AWPers, but SunPayus and torzsi have succeeded here. Little by little, saffee, whose career after FURIA was rejected by the community for some reason, is adapting to the new team. Although the Brazilian left the tournament, he has demonstrated his independence from the star riflers.
Group C matches start on Wednesday, September 13, at 17:00 (UTC+3). The eight teams include such stars as Natus Vincere and FaZe. The former plays against the group outsiders — 5yclone — in the first match.
