Weekly Re-Peek: Week 2

We are two weeks in and the groups are already starting to shape up! A few teams have started to step ahead of the pack with 2-0 starts, while other groups keep it even. Either way, this week we've seen some of the closest series of ESL Impact so far. So strap in, and let's take a peek! 😎

And as always, here's your quick overview in video format!

Europe

One of the most exciting match-ups of the week was Astralis facing up against NAVI Javelins. And it started with a bang! Astralis looked in control on their map pick of Ancient, with the whole team contributing to an incredible 11:0 start - on the T side no less! Though NAVI were able to find 8 rounds, Aurora's CT performance proved too strong, finishing with 26 kills and a 2.17 K/D.

Despite a good start on the CT side of Vertigo for Astralis, it was a one-way affair from round 7 onwards, with NAVI taking their map pick 16:4. Moving onto the decider of Mirage, the momentum was thoroughly with the Javelins, and vicu spearheaded an incredible CT side, putting on a highlight-worthy AWP performance, and ending the game with a 28-8-3 KDA - a full 10 kills above the next player!

In Group A, Nigma Galaxy were on a whole other planet in their match-up against Entropiq Queens. The tournament favourites barely lifted an eyebrow in the opener of Ancient - likely quite happy that the Queens picked into one of their favourite maps! Entropiq opened up with the first two rounds, but then it was all NGX, and Tory in particular shone with 20 kills on the CT side alone.

Moving onto their map pick of Inferno, Nigma Galaxy started off with an 8:0 lead before Entropiq could fight back. Taking the pistol off an 11:4 half pointed to potential for a Queens comeback, they would only find one more round. But what a round it was, with pavlla pulling off an unthinkable 1v5! That would be all they would be allowed, as Kat led the charge on both sides of the server, ending the 22 round game with 32 kills.

NIP looked refreshed after their trial by fire against NGX in Week 1, but NOFEAR5 had no interest in playing nice this week. Elizabeth and Victoria made Dust II their playground, and though NIP put up a competitive first half, NOFEAR5 took the pistol and the following 4 rounds on their CT side, which proved a hill to high for the Ninja's to surmount. Vertigo would also start well for NOFEAR5, and NIP's T side struggled against the defence. Losing the pistol in the second half had NIP further on the back foot, but they managed to find a great run of rounds, helped significantly by back to back 1v2 rounds by ASTRA and pullox. At 12:13 the NIP resurgence unfortunately ended, and NOFEAR5 were able to close the series 2:0.

In the season preview, I called NOFEAR5 the silent contender the group, but boy are they making some noise now! They've kicked off their season start with a 2-0 run, tying up with the tournament favourites Nigma Galaxy, and they've done it with style. Just check out this double no-scope from Victoria! Already impressing, the big test looms this coming week when they will clash with the titans of NGX.

The final match-up of Europe was the Group B match between BIG Equipa and MostValuablePlayers. The former continued their great performance from Week 1, with new addition Mariam and AWPer Zana shining on both maps. A 5:0 start on the CT side set the tempo for BIG, reaching 10 rounds before the half. The individual heroics of MVP AWP Potya were not enough to prevent BIG taking the opener.

MVP looked more confident on BIG's map pick of Nuke than they had the week prior against the NAVI Javelins. After an incredible 7:0 start from BIG on the T side, MVP struggled to hold them off, with the score favouring BIG 11:2 before MVP found their form. An excellent run of 8 consecutive rounds put the comeback in reach before BIG were able to quell the tides and close the map 16:10. Who said Nuke was CT sided anyway?!

Both Group A and Group B in Europe sit with two teams on 2-0 and two on 0-2. With four weeks left to play, there's still plenty of time for the teams yet to find a win to bounce back. Week 3 is going to be pivotal for these teams, as in both groups the 0-2 teams will be matching up against each other (NIP vs Entropiq Queens and Astralis vs MVP).

South America

After almost dropping Dust II in Week 1 against Black Dragons, FURIA looked refreshed on the map pick of w7m esports this week. Olga in particular had a field day, consistently the stand out performer for FURIA on this - and really, any - map. The T side was a struggle for both teams, with w7m managing 5 rounds in a row off the half. An incredible 1v4 clutch from Izaa marked the turning point and FURIA ran away with the map. w7m were already on the ropes going into FURIA's stomping ground of Mirage, where the favourites only conceded 2 rounds. In the interview afterwards, OLGA also revealed that IGL duties had been returned back to Izaa, though it didn't seem to stop her fragging out!

Black Dragons also had a much better time around on Dust II this week, wracking up an impressive 13 CT rounds. Unlucky for Parabellum on the receiving end! Inferno looked to be a better outing for Parabellum, picking up the pistol and converting without issue. Once the guns came out it was all Black Dragons, who looked poised to repeat Dust II after a 7 round streak. Parabellum regained their composure for a 9:7 scoreline after winning the second pistol. Unfortunately, it would take until 14:9 before Parabellum could get on a decent run, getting up to 12 rounds before Black Dragons finally found map point and were able to close the series and secure their first win this season.

In Group B, INDEPENDENCE started strong on the T side of Dust II (there's no escaping Dust II in this region!) and secured 8:7 at the half against B4 Esports. But before you could say "Dust II is T sided" the B4 squad, led largely by an impressive AWPing performance from yungher, ran away with the game, clutching out at 16:11. Despite losing the pistol on Inferno, the attacking prowess of B4 allowed them to reach 11 rounds at the half, which proved too difficult for INDEPENDENCE to retaliate against, though Dudi gave it her best effort, ending the map tied second on kills at 21.

The MIBR and EndGame match-up gave us our first three map series of South America. Vertigo, the map pick of EndGame, proved too lofty a height to reach as they only gained 2 rounds on their T side. LyttleZ had a field day for MIBR, with 28 kills in 21 rounds, and half of them with the AWP. Map 2 of Nuke proved much more competitive. A back and forth early game would tie the score at 9:9 in the second half, where EndGame were able to make a flawless run to an early map point. A 1v1 clutch from chjna4q would keep MIBR in the map, who went on a run themselves to threaten overtime. EndGame were able to dig deep at the final hurdle in round 30 to close their opponent's map pick. On the decider of - you guessed it - Dust II, MIBR had had enough, taking only 20 rounds to finish the series. Arkynha was dominant with 28 kills, but a special shout out to josi for pulling off a 1v4 Ace clutch in the mix!

At the end of Week 2 we find ourselves in a similar situation to Europe, where EndGame and INDEPENDENCE will be facing each other in the coming week which will leave one team sitting on 0-3 at the halfway point of the season.

North America

Over in the North America, the closest series of the season took place between Valkyries and Saints. And you wouldn't think it looking at how Inferno started! The map pick of Saints did not go well for them, finding just 2 rounds on their T side. With only 3 rounds needed for the victory, it should have been too easy for Valkyries to close out, but Saints put up a heroic hold on the defence, reaching double digits before the end. The unstoppable force of Galy broke through eventually, with an Ace, a 1v4, and finally a 1v2 to take the map, ending on 33 kills in total.

Overpass would be the map that never ends, in what can only be described as a back and forth brawl. With four late rounds in a row coming down to 1v1 clutches, overtime seemed inevitable, and going into it Valkyries found 18 first, before Saints equalised for double OT. In the second OT Saints were flawless, with lisa ending the map on 39 kills - just shy of the 40 bomb! The decider of Vertigo followed a similar script, an even affair until buhnny was the salvation the Saints needed coming in with a 1v3 and an ace. Valkyries gave them a scare with 6 rounds to reach 13:14, but the Saints stood their ground and closed out the series 2:1.

Our other Group A match-up saw CLG Red take on Reversal. A strong early start by Reversal on their pick of Inferno signalled good signs of things to come, but once the score reached 5:5 it would be flawless from CLG Red to find map point. BiBiAhn did most of the heavy lifting for the NA juggernauts, but a special mention to PixelleParfaite on the Reversal side for keeping toe-to-toe with CLG Red, ending the map second on the scoreboard at 20 kills. Ancient would prove too much for Reversal to handle, with 2 of their 4 rounds coming down to 1v1 clutches from PixelleParfaite (seriously, a player to watch!). BiBiAhn continued the dominance from down under, with 27 kills in 20 rounds of play.

Coming into Group B, Please Send Bocks were toted as one of the favourites of the group, alongside Evil Geniuses. Losing to the latter in their opening game, the Bocks found redemption in Week 2 against Hot Flash. Starting on Inferno, Hot Flash took the second round force on their map pick, but unfortunately that would be 1 of only 2 rounds they would find against the Bocks. Vanessa finished the map with an almost 6.0 KD and 23 kills! On the map pick of PSB of Overpass it was much the same story. A good individual performance from Janky wasn't enough for Hot Flash, and Please Send Bocks found a comfortable first win of the series. The clip below is a good summary of how this game played out 😁

Unfortunately technical issues meant that ECHO had to forfeit the first map of their series against Evil Geniuses. They were resolved in time for Dust II to be played out, the pick of EG. ECHO would concede the pistol and second round on the CT side, but responded with the following 2 rounds to even things early. A 1v1 clutch from milk would set EG on the path to victory, finding double digits at the half and then proceeding to not drop a CT round. The young prodigy of empathy combined with the veteran experience of milk in a double whammy to secure EG the win, and their place at the top of their group.

In perhaps a surprising twist, NA stands as the most wide open region going into Week 3, with only two teams sitting at 2-0 - CLG Red and Evil Geniuses. It's no surprise to see these two a step ahead, but with 2 teams in each group on a win a piece, it remains anyone's game!

The standings going into Week 3 look as follows.