Astralis, Heroic and Natus Vincere opened Group D action with sweeps Wednesday at the ESL Pro League Season 15 in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Na’Vi defeated AGO, Heroic swept Complexity Gaming while Astralis took care of Evil Geniuses.
The 24-team Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event is divided into four round-robin groups in the opening stage. The winners from each group will advance to the quarterfinals while second- and third-place teams advance to the Round of 12.
All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five final on April 10. Ninjas in Pyjamas took Group A, going 4-1 in five matches, while last week FURIA Esports clinched the top spot in Group B. Movistar Riders claimed Group C, finishing 5-0.
The winner of the $823,000 event earns $175,000 and entry to the BLAST World Final 2022. That team will also garner 1,300 Pro Tour points.
On Wednesday, Na’Vi opened with a 16-1 rout on Dust II before winning a marathon match on Mirage, 37-34. Ukraine’s Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev led Natus Vincere with 86 kills and an astounding plus-38 kills-to-deaths differential.
Heroic beat Complexity, 16-9 on Ancient and 16-14 on Overpass. Casper “cadiaN” Moller led the all-Dane side with 56 kills and a plus-24 K-D differential. Canadian Justin “FaNg” Coakley had 44 kills for Complexity.
Astralis defeated Evil Geniuses 16-9 on Vertigo and 16-8 on Overpass. Kristian “k0nfig Wienecke led the all-Denmark team with 49 kills and a plus-17 K-D differential. American Vincent “Brehze” Cayonte had 40 kills for EG.
Group D action continues Thursday with three matches:
AGO vs. Complexity
Heroic vs. Astralis
Na’Vi vs. Evil Geniuses
Group D standings, with win-loss record and point differential:
1t. Natus Vincere, 1-0, +18
1t. Astralis, 1-0, +15
1t. Heroic, 1-0, +9
4t. Complexity Gaming, 0-1, -9
4t. Evil Geniuses, 0-1, -15
4t. AGO, 0-1, -18
–Field Level Media