The review of ESL Pro League Season 12

South America

There was no intrigue at all in South America. BOOM Esports came to the tournament as the favorites, in which the pretty famous and very experienced players play, including boltz and felps who had been playing for, probably, the most titled Brazilian team MiBR (ex-SK Gaming). Boltz and his teammates’ path was a bit difficult. The first map of the upper bracket was over with a score of 2-0 in their favor but they lost the battle to Sharks Esports in the final of the upper bracket with a result of 1-2, after which they fought Havan Liberty with a score of 2-0 and made it to the grand final where received an opportunity to win a rematch. The team successfully realized this opportunity, having lost only 1 map in the final. BOOM Esports earned the reward in the form of $12,500 and 220 regional rating points for the first place.

The countries of Oceania

ESL Pro League Season 12 was carried out in the countries of Oceania just like in South America, providing the motto “No intrigues!”. ORDER and Renegades are the strongest teams in this region and there is no surprise that they have made it to the grand final. Renegades, by the way, successfully played the role of the killing machine and crushed all their opponents. The team came to the championship in such a good gaming shape that none of the opponents was able to win a map against Renegades. In the case of Chiefs Esports Club, there is no shape but we have a question to ORDER about their performance. However, they did not leave spectators without a show. In the final of the upper bracket, the Australians played the match, in which 40 rounds were played, and the teams needed the second overtime series to determine the winner. Renegades earned the money reward of $12,500 and 200 regional rating points.

Asia

TYLOO secured the title of the strongest team in China another time and Vici Gaming, in turn, saved the title of the team that tries to be the best in its region. However, no match was easy for TYLOO. The team was close to failure in every match and lost a map. As a result, AttackeR and his teammates earned $12,500 and 220 rating points.

North America

In North America, FURIA became the fury, which no one could control. The team made a statement about its extraordinary skills and the desire to win in the group stage. The team lost only two matches, having lost the fight to 100 Thieves and Chaos Esports Club. Having placed second in the standings of the group stage, the team guaranteed a spot in the upper bracket of the playoffs. There, it faced Evil Geniuses, for which FURIA Esports became kryptonite and the only insurmountable obstacle in the group stage. Just like in the group stage, EG was not able to win a map against FURIA and stepped down to the lower bracket where lost to 100 Thieves. The grand final with FURIA Esports and 100 Thieves was as uninteresting as it is possible. The first map was scored by FURIA due to they had managed to make it to the final match through the upper bracket. The second map was over with a score of 16-7 in the favor of FURIA and the third one was finished with a result of 16-10 in favor of the same team. In such a way, 100 Thieves disappointed their fans, first of all, with the loss in the final and, secondly, two 30-minutes maps were not the grand final everyone had expected. Not every viewer had expected to see a good performance by FURIA because Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves gathered all the attention here. FURIA Esports received the reward of $77,500 for the first place in the North American division.

Europe

And the most interesting, intriguing and truly entertaining events took place in the European division. Were you surprised? We were not too! It regards both the results of the championship and the other events, which happened at the tournament. We mean the drama with oBo and his desire to go home and the return of the legendary Danish captain, gla1ve.

Complexity Gaming played well in the group stage and placed second in Group B and made it to the playoffs. However, everything was not that bright for Complexity as it would look like at first sight. The 17-years-old oBo stated that he had not signed to live in Europe on a permanent basis, referred to bad living conditions and moved to the USA, having left his teammates to play as four. Fortunately, NaToSaphiX from Nordavind came to help them, however, the Dane was unable to bring enough impact to the team, due to which the team did not advance further than the second round of the final stage.

The opposite story happened with Astralis. In the case of Complexity, the story was about the sudden departure of the player with further consequences, the story of the Danish team told us about the beautiful return of the captain and his memorable impact to the team. The first match of Astralis with Lucas Rossander was lost in the battle with Complexity. Both played maps were over with a result of 19-17 and gla1ve said that he would like to have a more beautiful comeback to the stage. Generally, it happened this way after all. The rest of the matches were victorious and Astralis' result was the best one in Group B. The first try was also failed in the playoffs but the Danes did not give up and continued their victorious path. Having stepped down to the lower bracket after the match with Heroic, gla1ve and his comrades had to fight in the matches, which were becoming more and more difficult both in terms of the game and morale. Initially, they defeated the outsider Team Spirit without making efforts, after which they had a chance of retribution and bear Complexity Gaming, having won the rematch for gla1ve's lost debut in the group stage. Mousesports was the next opponent, which had been demonstrating positive results during the tournament. They also did not resist Astralis' pressure and finished their path at the tournament. In the battle for a spot in the grand final, they had to face Heroic, which had sent Astralis to the lower bracket in the first round, in the Danish derby. Gla1ve with his teammates successfully dealt with this objective and advanced to the final match where they were waited by the players from Natus Vincere who saved the title of the main favorite to prevail at the tournament. The match was very interesting, pretty intriguing and exciting, and also was full of interesting moments.

The first map was automatically counted to the Danes and the first played map was Dust 2. Natus Vincere defeated Astralis with a result of 16-12 there and moved to Nuke. Many teams started writing Astralis off but the last ones beat Natus Vincere on their favorite map with a score of 16-14. Many people thought that NAVI would win on Train and the business would be done but it went wrong. Gla1ve and his teammates prevailed in the first half with a score of 13-2, after which Natus Vincere made a cool comeback and made the match even. The teams needed two series of additional rounds to determine the winner. The map Train was over with a score of 22-19. The intrigue appeared not just on the map but in the match in general because the score was 2-2 after that moment and Overpass became the last battlefield for the finalists of ESL Pro League Season 12 Europe. Overpass is Natus Vincere's weak spot, which was shot by Astralis. The arrow hit the spot and the Danes achieved victory on the map with a result of 16-11 and the grand final was over with a score of 3-2 in favor of Astralis, as a result. Probably, dev1cd and his teammates began the new era of the Danish team. At least, fans of the team hope to see that.

Astralis has earned the prize of $99,000 for placing first at the championship. Natus Vincere, having held the second place in the group stage, has received the second prize of $54,000.