Jan 26, 2020; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Los Angeles OpTic Gaming battles Chicago Huntsmen during the Call of Duty League Launch Weekend at The Armory. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Ninjas in Pyjamas won in three maps Saturday to remain undefeated in ESL Pro League Season 15 action.
Fnatic and Entropiq also earned victories in Group A action.
The 24-team event is divided into four groups. All teams will play each other once in the group stage. The winners from each group will advance to the quarterfinals while second- and third-place teams advance to the Round of 12.
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 Saturday, NiP defeated LookingForOrg 16-7 on Nuke but lost 16-14 to Overpass. NiP clinched with a 16-5 rout of Ancient. Sweden’s Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora and Love “phzy” Smidebrant led NiP with a plus-12 kills-to-deaths differential. Plopski had a team-high 58 kills.
Fnatic had to rally to beat MOUZ, losing the first map 16-9 on Nuke. Fnatic rebounded with a 16-10 win on Inferno and 16-8 on Mirage. Britain’s William “mezii” Merriman led Fnatic with 62 kills and a plus-15 K-D differential.
Entropiq also had to rally to get by G2 Esports. G2 took the first map. 22-20 on Vertigo in overtime. Entropiq then took Dust II 19-17, also in overtime, before edging G2 on Nuke, 16-13. Kazakhstan’s Viktor “Lack1” Boldyrev led Entropiq with 81 kills and a plus-10 differential. G2’s Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov had a monster day, finishing with 85 kills and a plus-19 differential.
Group A action continues Sunday:
G2 vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas
Fnatic vs. Entropiq
L4Org vs. MOUZ
Group A standings, score differential:
1. Ninjas in Pyjamas 4-0, +63
T2. Fnatic 3-1, +11
T2. Entropiq 3-1, +12
T4. MOUZ 1-3, -18
T4. G2 Esports 1-3, -15
6. LookingForOrg 0-4, -63
–Field Level Media