ESL Pro League rolls on with the second group kicking off featuring an interesting spread of fringe top 10 teams, but with only one truly dominant team in Heroic. Here's a look at some players to target and fade heading into Group B of ESL Pro League Season 17.
Players to Targe
stavn
stavn and Heroic are massive favorites coming into Group B and it's not hard to see why. One of the top teams in the world Heroic simply seem to not make mistakes. This roster doesn't miss shots, they do not misposition, and they have starpower up and down the lineup. stavn is the one who finds his way into the blue this week with a 1.13 rating in the last three months, though it truly could be any member of Heoric, especially somebody such as the red-hot jabbi.
frozen
frozen's stats over the past three months are utterly absurd. A 1.27 rating and 0.78 kills per round in some of the toughest competition of the year is just laughable. The rifler is showing no signs of slowing down and is worth consideration in all formats as MOUZ look to compete with FURIA and Heroic for the top spot in Group B. frozen and co. should also have little-to-no issue with qualifying in the top four if nothing else.
Grim
Grim is one of the few North American players who has consistently shown up on the international stage and he once again finds his way into the blue. The rifler has a 1.20 rating in the past three months while also tallying 83.7 ADR. Grim and Complexity are certainly underdogs though they may have the ability to squeak into the top four with any upset win over a team such as BIG or MOUZ.
Players to Fade
mopoz
mopoz and Movistar Riders were one of the fastest rising teams of 2022. That all change with the departure of SunPayus. This roster is little more than a laughing stock at this point, with map wins seemingly impossible to find even in lower tier competition. There's no way to trust this roster and mopoz is the weakest individual member of an already struggling tream, in other words he bears no consideration outside of the most contrarian constructions.
arT
arT is the hyper-aggressive in-game leader of FURIA. When he's at his best arT pays dividends in a way few can, but unfortunately when he slips into a run of poor form he struggles for any sort of impact. The rifler will likely be a fringe option as FURIA face off against some stiff competition, competition that has plenty of tape to set up traps for the overaggressive arT to fall into.
k1to
k1to and BIG Clan lost their star AWPer, syrsoN, but have a ready replacement in the incredible hyped sniper from their academy - hyped. So far the rookie has lived up to expectations, though seemingly it's been k1to who has struggled alongside him, with his individual form dipping in recent matches. k1to and BIG have some tough matches in the early rounds, and a second round draw with Heroic could spell disaster for the Germans. Those factors combined with a 1.01 rating in the past three months send k1to into the fade category.
Stats courtesy of HLTV.org
