Digging deeper into the Mid Bracket Final between Team Spirit and Natus Vincere in Group D of ESL Pro League Season 17
Despite suffering setbacks, CIS clans Team Spirit and Natus Vincere have managed to reach the brink of qualification to the Playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 17. Both teams fell victim to fellow CIS side forZe, who seem to be on a bit of a roll at the moment, and after Spirit beat Liquid and Na’ Vi took out Astralis and Rare Atom, the teams now sit face to face. This should be a brutal back-and-forth match, and if you’re interested in CSGO betting or just want to know more about the teams, this is the place for you.
Team Spirit
Spirit have been a “good” team for quite a long time now, winning smaller tournaments and occasionally troubling the big boys. Now they have a chance at making more waves with an appearance in the Playoffs of an EPL, and they have only one obstacle in front of them. It will be a high-pressure game as failure to qualify by beating their regional big brothers would mean having to face the likes of Astralis, Liquid, or Rare Atom in an elimination match, which are all possibilities Spirit will want to avoid.
Players
Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov
- HLTV Rating: 0.96
- Impact Rating: 0.99
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 69.9%
- Average Damage Round: 72.0
- Kills Per Round: 0.65
Boris “magixx” Vorobyev
- HLTV Rating: 1.05
- Impact Rating: 0.98
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 71.6%
- Average Damage Round: 70.8
- Kills Per Round: 0.65
Robert “Patsi” Isyanov
- HLTV Rating: 1.09
- Impact Rating: 1.16
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 69.5%
- Average Damage Round: 79.7
- Kills Per Round: 0.71
Pavel “s1ren” Ogloblin
- HLTV Rating: 1.03
- Impact Rating: 0.96
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 71.4%
- Average Damage Round: 71.2
- Kills Per Round: 0.66
Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov
- HLTV Rating: 1.20
- Impact Rating: 1.12
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 74.6%
- Average Damage Round: 76.8
- Kills Per Round: 0.76
Player to Watch
It’s not every day that s1ren gets to rock the scoreboard, but we’re going to go out on a limb and name him the player to watch on Spirit for this match.
Natus Vincere
Try as they might, Na’ Vi can’t seem to bring back their magical form from 2021. The talent is undoubtedly still present somewhere under the surface, but only one of their players seems to still be putting up the numbers on a regular basis, and their newest recruit’s performance is subpar at best and awful at worst. This isn’t to say that he’s a substandard player, but more like he’s either not fitting into the Na’ Vi setup at the moment or crumbling under the pressure of expectation.
Players
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
- HLTV Rating: 1.24
- Impact Rating: 1.35
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 74.0%
- Average Damage Round: 85.8
- Kills Per Round: 0.85
Denis “electroNic” Sharipov
- HLTV Rating: 1.09
- Impact Rating: 1.19
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 71.7%
- Average Damage Round: 82.6
- Kills Per Round: 0.74
Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
- HLTV Rating: 1.03
- Impact Rating: 0.87
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 73.1%
- Average Damage Round: 69.8
- Kills Per Round: 0.62
Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi
- HLTV Rating: 1.11
- Impact Rating: 1.10
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 72.0%
- Average Damage Round: 75.5
- Kills Per Round: 0.70
Andrii “npl” Kukharskyi
- HLTV Rating: 1.00
- Impact Rating: 0.97
- Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 70.2%
- Average Damage Round: 71.0
- Kills Per Round: 0.63
Player to Watch
Even though the GOAT has been in superb form at this event, we’d like for you to stray away from s1mple for a moment and focus on electroNic for this match.
ESL Pro League Season 17 Group D: Team Spirit vs Natus Vincere Predictions
It’s likely going to be a long and brutal game, but we’ve got Spirit coming out on top at the end of it. They have looked more consistent than the Ukrainians, and look like the more dangerous of the two. However, it’s not going to be without a struggle.
Maps
Na’ Vi and Spirit both love Overpass and Anubis, and we expect them to keep both. As for the decider, we’re going with Inferno.
Score
Map 1: Spirit to win with Na’ Vi >11.
Map 2: Na’ Vi to win with Spirit >10.
Map 3: Spirit to win with Na’ Vi
Top Fragger
Even though we’ve singled out s1ren as the player to watch on Spirit, we’re going with w0nderful as the top fragger for the Russian side and indeed the series as a whole.
Match Links
Either of ESL’s Twitch or YouTube channels can be your destination for watching the matches live, with coverage set to begin at 11:00 ET/10:00 CST/09:00 PT.
Check out our massive collection of CSGO content while you wait for Na’ Vi vs Spirit.
