With the conclusion of another championship weekend in the ongoing CS:GO Champions League, Team Virtus.Pro.CS from Poland maintained its place at the top of the table. However, it has been going tough for the Polish team with opponents that were once lagging behind closing the gap now and Virtus.Pro.CS’s once dominant position coming under some considerable threat.
Coming to the ratings table, Virtus.Pro.CS could only manage to gain a solitary point in as many as 5 matches, moving to 1303 points. Although the number one spot held by the team from Poland is under threat, the team still holds the number 1 position in the league table, 2nd position in the EU, and 5th position in the world. Moreover, the Polish team’s win ratio is still the best amongst all the teams in the group, with 4 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss in 6
games played.
CS:GO Champions League: A Quick Summary of the First Week of May
Although it can be argued that Virtus.Pro.CS is still the dominant force in the CS:GO Champions League, teams once lagging behind others have managed to up their game and climb up the table. Thus, Virtus.Pro.CS must keep showing the resilience that has become a hallmark of the team. In the next round of Round Robin matches, Virtus.Pro.CS faced off with Team.Dignitas.CS.
Being mixed performers at best, the Danish team is ranked 7th in the world and 5th in the EU West rankings. However, showing that on paper was not all that mattered; the Danish team managed to surprise its Polish rivals by managing a 1-1 draw. Playing de_cache, Virtus.Pro first elected to be Counter Terrorists and won the round quite comfortably with a score of 12 to 3. As the teams switched, the dominance of Virtus.Pro continued and they held off their opponents with a score of 4 to 4. The overall score of the game was Virtus.Pro.CS 16 and Team.Dignitas.CS 7.
The next game of the 2 round match was played at de_mirage. Here, Team.Dignitas managed to surprise the opponents with a dogged performance, losing the first half but coming to win the second half with remarkable dominance. Playing as CT’s first, Virtus.Pro.CS managed to win the round quite easily with a score of 10-5. However, as the two teams switched, Team.Dignitas showed quite a liking for the CT round and won the game with a score of 11-1.
Moving down the table to 2nd place, Team.Property CS has been having a hard time lately and things do not seem to be getting any better for the Swedish team. Although the team is currently ranked number 2 at the Champions League table and had a 1-1 draw against Team Hellraiser on April 13th in last Champions League game, the team’s performance elsewhere has not been satisfactory at all. The last 5 matches the Swedes have played have resulted in 4 losses and 1 draw.
Perhaps the biggest letdown of the Champions League tournament has been the performance of Natus Vincere. Ranked 4th in the world and 1st in the EU East rankings, Natus Vincere has been languishing at the 6th place on the table. The team’s performance elsewhere too has been unpredictable. While the team from Ukraine had a remarkable month of April with 16 wins and only 5 losses, the team’s start to the month of May has not been good with 2 losses and 1 victory in 3 games.
Rules and Prize Money:
The CS:GO Champions League includes comprises of a total of 10 teams and a single group. The top 6 ranked teams progress on to the Play-Offs. The teams ranked 1st and 2nd at the end of the group stages get to play in the 2nd round of the Play-Offs. In the Play-Offs, 6 teams compete with only the top 3 making it. The teams progressing to the Grand Finale play 5 matches in a best of 5 scenario, with a 1 map advantage.
The prize pool for the event is a $30,000; however, individual team pay-outs have not been revealed as yet.
Rankings:
Coming to the world rankings, Team Solomid is still ranked number 1 in the world with a rating of 1474 points. The team’s recent performances speak for themselves. The start to the month of May has been great in particular with 3 wins in a row and a total of 4 wins and 1 loss in 5 matches played. Still ranked second is the Swedish team Fnatic with a rating of 1394 points. The Swedish team too has had a great start to May with 2 wins in a
row and a total of 4 wins and 1 loss in 5 matches played. Lastly, in third place is Ninjas in Pyjamas with a rating of 1351 points and their start to May has been a mixed bag at best. The team has so far played 5 matches in May and won 3 and lost 2.