Complexity defeat Major champions: ESL Pro League week 2 recap

Another week has passed and the final two groups of ESL Pro League Season 19 have been played.

There were strong showings from the BLAST Premier Partner teams in attendance, five of them booked their spot in this week's playoff games and Complexity even managed to take down the reigning Major champions.

Let’s go over the action and the biggest stories from week two.

Struggles persist for ENCE and FURIA

When ENCE’s roster fell apart during BLAST Premier World Final 2023, questions were raised about whether the Finnish organisation could remain in tier one.

They signed a core of players from 9INE, and things started off brightly as they made the playoffs at their new home event, IEM Katowice 2024, but things have tailed off since then.

Former star player dycha still struggles to recapture his form from the Snappi days. With Kylar also seemingly slowing down, ENCE’s problems may soon not be limited to their longest-standing member.

Another team in Group C, FURIA, saw their own struggles continue at the event. Like ENCE they were denied playoffs, but despite beating ENCE and battling back from the 8th place decider to the 4th place decider, one of their losses is most worrying.

After recent controversy, FORZE attended Pro League with a mix team buoyed by smooya. Although there was talent within that team, FURIA still should have swept them aside, yet it was FORZE who were dominant as they won 13-7, 13-0.

2024 hasn’t been too kind to either of these teams thus far, and it doesn’t look like things will change anytime soon.

Complexity take down the Major champions

It was a surprise when NAVI won the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, but it’s no surprise that expectations were raised as a result of that victory.

The same can’t be said for Complexity, however, who potentially had lowered expectations in Malta thanks to comments made by hallzerk regarding his future before the event.

Still, both teams found themselves in the Group D final, and both teams had to face impressive teams to get that far in the first place. Complexity had to overcome PERA and HEROIC, while NAVI took down FlyQuest and BIG.

Complexity and NAVI are two teams with plenty of history, so there was reason for excitement when they were set to face each other. Fans weren’t let down by Complexity’s 2-1 victory - well, at least the NA fans weren’t.

A match in which Grim and EliGE shone despite b1t’s best efforts to stop them, Complexity battled back from a 13-8 loss in the opening map to win the next two 13-9, 13-9.

Liquid impress in Group C

Team Liquid had a slow start to the year but they impressed in Malta as they booked their second playoff berth in as many tournaments.

Wins against FURIA and Monte were enough to see them advance to playoffs, although they fell to MOUZ in the Group C final.

Still, despite this loss, Liquid will be happy with what they’ve shown thus far. Things are now starting to click for the team, and we’re beginning to see why there was so much excitement surrounding this roster upon its formation.

As for MOUZ, they continued to prove why they are one of the best teams in the world with their confident displays during the Group Stage. They won all three series they played with 2-0 scorelines, while Brollan continued his resurgence on the team with a 1.32 HLTV rating in those games.

Elsewhere in Group C, the final two teams to qualify were two relatively new teams, Monte and GamerLegion. The two teams have seen huge changes recently, with big names such as sdy and acoR departing, so they’ll be boosted by their strong performances.

The qualified teams from Group C are:

• Liquid
• MOUZ
• Monte
• GamerLegion

HEROIC fail to make the playoffs

One team who didn’t enjoy their time at ESL Pro League Season 19 is HEROIC. The team was denied playoffs after losses to Complexity, BIG, and NIP, and like ENCE, now sits in a difficult spot after a promising time to their start together as a team.

On the flipside, BIG will now be filled with confidence after strong performances during the Group Stage. The German organisation underwent massive changes recently following the additions of JDC and syrsoN, and while they may have started slow, they looked impressive as they secured advancement to the playoff stage.

Another team that has seen huge changes recently is FlyQuest, although their change was to the organisation they represent rather than the players on the roster. The premium team in Australia, they’ve struggled to take Australia back to its glory days in CS, but that might all be changing in their new colours.

FlyQuest qualified for the playoffs from the fourth-place decider, beating NIP in that match. Already a positive result for them, there are signs that suggest it might not be a flash in the pan, too, given the upward trend in INS ratings at big events.

The qualified teams from Group D are:

• NAVI
• Complexity
• BIG
• FlyQuest