Team Vitality rallied from a map down to defeat Natus Vincere on Saturday and remain unbeaten in Group A at ESL Pro League Season 16 in Malta.
In other action, Fnatic beat Team Spirit and Ninjas in Pyjamas earned their first win, 2-0 over Endpoint.
The $835,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event features 24 teams vying for a $175,000 first prize and a berth in the BLAST Premier World Final. Only the Season 16 champion will clinch a spot in the $1 million Final set for Dec. 14-18 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The Pro League teams are divided into four groups for the initial round-robin phase. The four group champions will advance to the playoff quarterfinals, while the teams that come in second and third in each group will move on to the playoffs’ Round of 12.
All matches in the group stage and the playoffs are best-of-three until the best-of-five final on Oct. 2.
On Saturday, Vitality found themselves in a hole after losing 16-10 on Inferno. However, Vitality roared back with a 16-14 win on Mirage and the clincher, 16-12 on Overpass. Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut of France powered Vitality with 75 kills and a plus-27 kills-to-deaths ratio. Oleaksandr “s1mple” Kosyliev of Ukraine had 75 kills and a plus-18 differential for Na’Vi.
Ninjas defeated Endpoint 16-7 on Vertigo and 19-15 on Inferno in overtime. Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin led NiP with 48 kills and a plus-19 K-D differential.
Fnatic bested Team Spirit 16-11 on Nuke and 16-9 on Mirage. Fredrik “roeJ” Jorgensen led Fnatic with a plus-six differential and Dion “FASHR” Derksen of the Netherlands led the squad with 39 kills.
Group A action continues Sunday with three matches:
–Natus Vincere vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas
–Team Vitality vs. Team Spirit
–Fnatic vs. Endpoint
Group A concludes on Sunday with Groups B, C, and D to follow in subsequent weeks.
ESL Pro League Season 16 group standings, with win-loss record, score differential and points:
Group A
1. Team Vitality, 4-0, +24, 12 points
2. Natus Vincere, 2-2, +12, 6 points
3. Fnatic, 2-2, +22, 6 points
4. Team Spirit, 2-2, +7, 6 points
5. Ninjas in Pyjamas, 1-3, -37, 3 points
6. Endpoint, 1-3, -28, 3 points
Group B (Sept. 7-11)
FaZe Clan
G2 Esports
BIG
Outsiders
MIBR
FTW Esports
Group C (Sept. 14-18 )
ENCE
Heroic
Astralis
MOUZ
Complexity
HEET
Group D (Sept. 21-25)
Cloud9
Movistar Riders
Team Liquid
FURIA Esports
Evil Geniuses
Eternal Fire
–Field Level Media
