This article is part of our CS:GO series.
All four groups are done and it's time for the ESL Pro League playoffs. With everything still to play for, the 12 best teams in the world are squaring off to decide the ESL Pro League Season 15 champions. At the time of writing two teams -- Fnatic and Players -- are already eliminated, so we will gloss over them. Otherwise here are some players to target and fade in the ESL Pro League playoffs.
Players to Target
s1mple
We don't always recommend the best players as they tend to carry heavy salaries that price their ceiling, not their consistent level. The problem with s1mple is... well no one knows what his ceiling is. If you thought a 1.2-1.3 rating over 2021 was his ceiling, well he has a 1.50 currently in ESL Pro League. His Impact rating? 1.60. s1mple's HLTV stat page is breaking the scales. It's impossible to overrate s1mple, in any match. s1mple has well-and-truly reclaimed his throne, and is the best player in the world.
Spinx
One of the surprises of Pro League, Spinx has been in immense form throughout, and with ENCE now securely in the top eight on the back of his dominance against Fnatic, he's looking like a fantasy target. Add to that the fact that Spinx got the luck of the draw and will take on Movistar Riders, the weakest of the No. 1 seeds. He has a 1.27 rating and on the softer side of the bracket there's every chance that just keeps going up. Spinx and ENCE won't face a top 10 team until the semifinals, against Heroic or Ninjas in Pyjamas.
b1t
Two players from Na'Vi? Am I getting repetitive? I'm not sure, but apparently if you want to be a top three player in the world there's a simple checklist. Let's check if b1t follows this list. Be Ukrainian? Check. Play for Na'Vi? Check. Use a '1' instead of an 'i' in the second letter of your name? Check. Oh yeah, being good at Counter-Strike helps too, and b1t most certainly has that last one down. The best rifler in the world is paired up with the best sniper in the world and the amount of space they create for each other is unmatched. b1t has a 1.29 rating, the highest non-s1mple rating left in ESL Pro League. This duo is unstoppable and as a stack their fantasy value is unmatched.
Players to Fade
drop
FURIA topped their group and have a clash with the winner of Entropiq vs. Astralis. THat's unfortunately not enough to avoid fading drop. The 18-year old has been poor throughout ESL Pro League averaging a 0.77 impact rating and 63.0 ADR alongside a miniscule 0.56 kills per round. Those sort of rate stats just don't translate to fantasy well. While he isn't a bad player and is crucial to the unique style of FURIA, he isn't a fantasy asset.
DeathZz
Another group winner in the red section this week, and it's DeathZz with Movistar Riders. Topping the group was impressive, but the clock always strikes 12 and the carriage always becomes a pumpkin once more. While it's unlikely that SunPayus turns into a pumpkin, that carriage isn't going to carry DeathZz much further in ESL Pro League. A match with ENCE is likely as far as Movistar Riders go, and DeathZz hasn't even been overly impressive in the matches they took over in the group stage. His 0.83 impact and 68.7 ADR have been especially poor, and with the form of Spinx and hades, it's hard to see that going unpunished against ENCE.
shox
The good? shox and Team Liquid made playoffs, giving North America a representative! The bad? A round one clash with Heroic. If, and this is a huge 'IF' Team Liquid upset the second best team in the world, they have Ninjas in Pyjamas waiting after that, fresh off the acquisition of Brollan, one of the brightest young talents in the world. shox hasn't been good individually, with a 0.95 average rating, 0.90 impact, and 63.3 ADR, and now he takes on two of the best teams in the world. While EliGE and NAF, or even oSee, might be worth targeting, shox just doesn't offer enough to fantasy managers.
Stats courtesy of HLTV.org
