Bulletpoints: ESL Pro League S15 Group D

With the last group of EPL about to get underway, we come back with the last of our short preview pieces, looking over the teams competing for the final three spots in the playoffs.

The final set of teams is finally going to see action at ESL Pro League Season 15 with Group D set to kick off on Wednesday at 12:30 . After three weeks of play, Natus Vincere, the number one team in the world will, at last, get into the server and try to defend their spot at the top of the Counter-Strike hill.

If the first three groups are anything to by, Group D will inevitably surprise everyone and continue to deliver the same level of entertainment and action, making us even more excited to see how this next week of play pans out!

Can NAVI bounce back at EPL?

From a new-look Astralis to a Natus Vincere team not at 100% of their form, this group has all the pieces in place to make a spectacle and give the group stage of EPL the ending it deserves before the playoffs. For North American fans this group will also allow them to see how two of the best teams from the region fair against some really tough opposition.

Natus Vincere (#1)

- Still ranked #1 in the world
- Favorites to advance to playoffs

After an exemplary 2021 which included Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev breaking the record for the most MVP awards in a year, an Intel Grand Slam, and finally a Major victory, Natus Vincere had seemingly conquered the Counter-Strike world. However, An imperfect start to 2022 at BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022 saw the Major champions lose to MIBR and Astralis, forcing Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov's squad to go through the last-chance match to qualify for the Spring Finals.

Natus Vincere showed much better form at IEM Katowice, but a really strong G2 was able to take them down in the semi-finals. Regardless of their form, Natus Vincere's quality is undeniable and with s1mple on the server, one can never count them out.

Heroic (#5)

- Good form coming into EPL
- stavn on fire

Heroic are in a good spot. Following a disappointing loss to K23 at the start of the year, the Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller-led squad has been able to bounce back and show some decent results. Most notably, the Danes claimed a semi-finals finish at Katowice with victories over Vitality, OG and Virtus.pro, only being eliminated by eventual winners FaZe. They now walk into EPL after having secured a top finish at Pinnacle Winter Series 3, taking home $40,000.

Read more

Heroic victorious in Pinnacle Winter Series 3

The individuals seem to be in good form too, with Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund displaying a 1.27 rating over the course of 2022 against top 20 opposition, by far the highest on the team. Taking both team and individual forms into consideration, Heroic will be fighting for more than just a spot in the playoffs, looking for a deep run and maybe even replicate their success from EPL S13.

Astralis (#11)

- Lucky out - Farlig in. Can the dynasty return?
- First look since IEM Katowice

The year has not panned out the way Astralis would have wanted. After ending 2021 on a relatively high note after debuting their new lineup with Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer and Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke, the Danes have struggled to get even close to anything resembling the dominance shown in 2018-19. Philip "⁠Lucky⁠" Ewald was never expected to replicate the numbers posted by Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz, and yet his performance never really matched the potential Astralis claimed he had, even losing the AWP to Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander at times. Not to mention the dire form that Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth has shown since returning to the roster full time.

The addition of Asger "⁠Farlig⁠" Jensen will go a long way in helping Astralis. A competent AWPer at FunPlus Phoenix, the 23-year-old will be able to cover some of the holes in the Danish roster, putting them in a much better position to return to title contention. EPL will be a crucial tournament for Astralis, coming right before the Regional Major Ranking events, as if they do not perform in Germany, they will have very little time to turn the ship around before their adventure in Romania.

Can gla1ve turn Astralis' fortunes around?

Complexity (#27)

- North America's second-highest ranked team
- Slowly but consistently improving

With an average age of 21.6 years, Complexity currently sits as the youngest of the top five ranked North American teams. Brimming with potential, the young Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou-led squad went a different way in the post-Major shuffle, assembling a young core of stars with long-term aims and capable of improving significantly.

A rough start to 2022 at Funspark ULTI 2021 Finals and BLAST Premier Spring Groups quickly turned for the better, with the team reaching the semi-finals of ESL Challenger February (only losing to eventual winners Virtus.pro) before cruising to the finals of PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Americas RMR NA Open Qualifier, defeating Liquid to take the top step on the podium.

Evil Geniuses (#48)

- Have not shown their ceiling
- CeRq and Brehze need to step up

Evil Geniuses's rebuild in the post-Major shuffle has so far proven the many who had labeled the project as "underwhelming" right. Given, the small sample size for this North American squad does not really help in nailing down a final verdict, but it seems like the team is miles away from being able to contest titles.

It all lays on the shoulders of Tsvetelin "⁠CeRq⁠" Dimitrov and Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte. The two longest-standing members of the squad and the ones you might label as "star players" have been in shambolic form in 2022, actively keeping Evil Geniuses down. For this squad to succeed, the two players need to regain even a fraction of the form they showed in years past.

CeRq will be the difference-maker for Evil Geniuses

AGO (#137)

- Relatvely new roster with mwlky and ultimate
- Not in great form, having lost six out of seven matches in 2022

This is a different squad than the one that qualified to EPL all the way back in October 2021 by winning ESEA Premier Season 38 Europe. The poles have since lost Miłosz "⁠mhL⁠" Knasiak to MOUZ NXT and benched Szymon "⁠kRaSnaL⁠" Mrozek, and to replace them came Łukasz "⁠mwlky⁠" Pachucki and Roland "⁠ultimate⁠" Tomkowiak, but the squad has yet to replicate their 2021 success.

AGO have an arduous task ahead of them. Clearly coming into Group D as huge underdogs, it will be difficult for them to get anywhere near close to a playoffs position, but as the previous groups showed, we really cannot take anything for granted.