After considerable success in the previous iterations, the third season of Esports Championship Series has been confirmed and the online league kicked off on April 14. The tournament, organized by FACEIT, features a $1,500,000 prize pool; 50% is utilized to ensure player and team stability, while the remaining $750,000 will be given out in prize money.

A total of twenty teams, ten for the European region and ten for the North American one, will compete in the online league from April 14 to June 8. The tournament will follow a round-robin format, where all teams must face each other in two best-of-one series. Only the top four teams will earn the right to participate at the LAN event, held at SSE Arena, Wembley in London, UK, from June 23 to 25. Teams placed in the top eight will also receive a direct invite to ECS Season 4.

The online league is composed of eight weeks of games. To ensure you won’t miss any of the action, we will cover each one and provide a comprehensive recap. In today’s report, we will take a look at what happened during week six, from May 23 to 25. You can find the replays of each day at http://youtube.com/faceit.

Summary of the previous weeks

 

European League – Day 1

  • fnatic vs. Astralis – Train 1:16 (1:14; 0:2)
  • Astralis vs. fnatic – Inferno 8:16 (7:8; 1:8)
  • Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. GODSENT – Inferno 16:12 (7:8; 9:4)
  • GODSENT vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas – Cache 16:14 (3:12; 13:2)

The sixth week of ECS S3 started with a fight between Astralis and fnatic – currently, they hold the 1st and 3rd place respectively in the EU league. The two teams encountered each other numerous times in the past year, but if we consider 2017 only, Astralis is clearly the victor: they triumphed in five games out of six.

The only defeat happened on de_train, one of the maps selected for today’s games. The win rate of both teams on this map in 2017 is around 55%. Astralis seeked and obtained revenge with a brilliant 16:1 match. They showed an insurmountable defense as Counter-Terrorists, dropping only a single round in the first half. Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen was the man of the match scoring 1.18 kills per round, an average damage of 135.8, and a 1.61 rating.

Astralis’ win rate on de_inferno was 66.7%, but fnatic boasted an astonishing 80%. They demonstrated their skills during the Terrorist side, won 8 to 1, and tied the series with a final victory 16 to 8. Robin “flusha” Rönnquist contributed to the team’s victory with 24 kills, 1 per round on average, and a 1.57 rating.

Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson defeated the remaining opponents who dared to approach the bomb, and even survived the explosion.

Afterwards, two swedish teams entered the battlefield, Ninjas in Pyjamas and GODSENT. They have  a similar score in the league, holding the top 8 position. There are a total of 8 games in their match history, and NiP has the lead with 6 victories – in particular they dominated the only two games played in 2017. No team retained a considerable lead in today’s fights, that ended with just a handful of rounds in favour of the winner.

NiP won on de_inferno scoring 16 to 12. We must point out that GODSENT’s win rate on this map has been horrible in 2017: they won only one game out of 5. None of the players excelled in rating, but Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg had an important role in the victory with his 25 kills and 106 average damage per round. He also obtained a 89.3% KAST, which indicates the percentage of rounds in which the player either had a kill, assist, survived or was traded.

On de_cache the situation was even more balanced, and ultimately GODSENT won 16:14. Once again f0rest was the MVP, and this time with an exceptional kill count of 32 – two more than Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson, who was the best killer for GODSENT.

In the highlight you can have a look at NiP’s defense on de_inferno – they killed all opponents that rushed from mid with a formidable spray.

 

European League – Day 2

  • fnatic vs. mousesports – Train 16:10 (12:3; 4:7)
  • mousesports vs. fnatic – Nuke 17:19 (11:4; 4:11) (2:4)
  • Virtus.pro vs. Team Dignitas – Train 16:5 (10:5; 6:0)
  • Team Dignitas vs. Virtus.pro – Inferno 16:6 (10:5; 6:1)

Fnatic took part also in the battles on day 2. Their opponents, mousesports, were in the top 5 with 18 points. In 2017, the two teams encountered each other a total of six times, and fnatic won all the matches, losing only a game on de_cache. The expectations of the fans have not been disappointed: Fnatic obtained a complete victory in the series, and acquired a total of 30 points with a 10-4 score – as many as the first placed Astralis.

On the first map, de_train, fnatic earned the advantage during the first half, scoring 12 rounds as Counter-Terrorists. Mouz’s CT-side wasn’t shabby, but they needed a spectacular performance to comeback. The MVP was Dennis “dennis” Edman with 26 kills, 1 per round on average, and a 1.43 rating.

Mouz’s win rate on de_nuke was negative, and fnatic only played a match here in 2017, which resulted in a defeat. Both teams did their best during the CT-side, scoring 11 rounds each, so the game went in overtime. Here, fnatic snatched the victory with a 4 to 2 score. All the Swedes had an equal impact on the final result, while on mouz we can notice the excellent work of Tomáš ‘”oskar” Šťastný. He killed 31 enemies and obtained a 1.25 rating, 0.26 more than his average.

In the highlight below, oskar protected the A-bombsite on de_train by killing four opponents with his AWP.

Virtus.pro and Team Dignitas ended the dances in the EU league – the latter are currently the worst ranked team in the ladder. There are no games in the history between the two squads. Virtus.pro displayed an underwhelming performance recently, dropping from the 2nd to the 4th rank on HLTV.

VP dominated the first match on de_train scoring 10 rounds as CT, and then obliterating dignitas’ defenses as Terrorists, bringing home the victory 16 to 5. Paweł “byali” Bieliński had all the rights on the title of MVP: he scored 30-9, obtained an awe-inspiring 2.35 rating, and a 134.4 ADR.

The situation was reverted on de_inferno, one of VP’s worst maps: the have a 25% win rate in 2017, with a 4-12 score. Team Dignitas won 10 rounds as Terrorists, and had the upper hand on the second half scoring 6-1. It is hard to elect a best player for this game because both teams had multiple capable soldiers.

Filip “NEO” Kubski won a 1vs2 clutch that granted VP the 10th round on de_train.

 

European League – Day 3

  • Astralis vs. mousesports – Nuke 20:22 (9:6; 6:9) (5:7)
  • mousesports vs. Astralis – Mirage 7:16 (5:10; 2:6)
  • G2 Esports vs. fnatic – Cobblestone 16:8 (8:7; 8:1)
  • fnatic vs. G2 Esports – Train 14:16 (11:4; 3:12)

The final day featured a battle between Astralis and mousesports. They clashed against each other only twice in 2017, scoring a tie – instead, in 2016 Astralis resulted victorious 3 to 1. Mouz had a negative win rate on de_nuke in the past months, while both teams had positive results on de_mirage, particularly Astralis with more than a 80% win rate.

The first game, on de_nuke, was a real surprise as everyone expected Astralis to seize a firm victory. It was a very close match in which each team exhibited a strong Terrorist side – ultimately mousesports won in overtime scoring 7:5. Tomáš “oskar” Šťastný literally decimated the enemy team: he scored 42 kills, 1 per round on average, and a 1.45 rating.

The Danes tied the series with an one-sided victory on de_mirage. They claimed 10 rounds as Counter-Terrorists, and finally won the game scoring 6:2 in the second half. Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth was the MVP with a 21-8 score and 1.52 rating.

Chris “chrisJ” deJong had a crucial role on de_nuke. While his teammate distracted Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander, he continued defusing the bomb and brought the game in double overtime.

Finally, we had G2 Esports versus fnatic. Considering all the games between the two teams, fnatic is the winner with a 19 to 15 score – in 2017 their record is 5-1. De_cbble is considered a great map for G2 as they have a 13-4 score here in 2017, but fnatic won the previous four confrontations against them on this battlefield.

Today, G2 decided to finally break this lose streak and to claim victory on de_cbble. The first half saw a mild 8:7, but once the sides swapped G2 dominated scoring 8:1 as Terrorists. Richard “shox” Papillon and Nathan “NBK-” Schmitt  shared a rating around 1.40, and killed 22 and 23 enemies respectively.

Both the teams had a positive win rate on the second map, de_train. They displayed a great defense as CT, and finally G2 won with a difference of only one round in each half – 16 to 14. The top killers of each team – with 27 – were Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson for Fnatic and NBK- for G2.

Dan “apEX” Madesclaire claimed the round by killing four enemies – even a double flash didn’t stop him!

At the end of the sixth week we still have Astralis at the top of the European ladder with 33 points, but fnatic is just behind with 30. FaZe is undefeated 8 to 0, but they will play more games in the next days. At the bottom of the league there are four teams with a similar score, so they all still have a chance to qualify for the next season of ECS. The official standings are available here.

 

North American League – Day 1

  • SK Gaming vs. Counter Logic Gaming – Overpass 16:10 (6:9; 10:1)
  • Counter Logic Gaming vs. SK Gaming – Cache 15:19 (6:9; 9:6)
  • Immortals vs. Renegades – Overpass 19:16 (9:6; 6:9) (4:1)
  • Renegades vs. Immortals – Postponed due to technical issues

The first day in the North American league featured a clash between SK Gaming and Counter Logic Gaming. They both have a respectable number of points in the ladder, but their HLTV rank is drastically different: the Brazilian team has an awesome rank of #3, while CLG is only the 16th – still, they improved it in the past months, moving from the 40th position in February.

SK Gaming had optimal results in both de_overpass and de_cache in the past three months, while CLG only showed a win rate higher than 50% on the latter. The first game ended with SK as victor, scoring 16 to 10. They had an almost perfect gameplay on the T-side, obliterating their opponents with a 10:1 score. The man of the match was Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo with 23 kills, 102.2 ADR, and a 1.43 rating.

On de_cache the game was extremely balanced, but in the end SK prevailed again. They won 19 to 15, and this time the player who contributed the most to the victory was Fernando “fer” Alvarenga. He earned a 1.41 rating and assassinated as many as 32 opponents – CLG’s Ethan “nahtE” Arnold was right behind with 31.

Below, Epitacio “TACO” deMelo’s defense of the B-bombsite on de_cache.

Finally, we had Immortals versus Renegades. If we considering their rankings and the actual placement in the ECS ladder, both teams aren’t in great shape. The match history between them puts Immortals in a position of advantage with ten victories out of eleven. Renegades only won their last game on de_cache, but failed elsewhere. Unfortunately, due to technical issues caused by the latest CS:GO patch, they could play only the first game of the series today.

Against all expectations, Renegades fought head-to-head with the Brazilians, forcing the game on de_overpass to overtime. Here the tide of the game changed, and Immortals won 4 to 1. Henrique “hen1” Teles dominated the battlefield with a 38-19 score, 116.7 ADR, and a solid 1.73 rating.

In the highlight below, you can witness the final round of the game, in which hen1 brought home victory scoring an ACE.

 

North American League – Day 2

  • OpTic Gaming vs. Renegades – Nuke 16:19 (5:10; 10:5) (1:4)
  • Renegades vs. OpTic Gaming – Cobblestone 14:16 (8:7; 6:9)
  • Team Liquid vs. Ghost Gaming – Cobblestone 19:17 (5:10; 10:5) (4:2)
  • Ghost Gaming vs. Team Liquid – Mirage 16:6 (9:6; 7:0)
  • Renegades vs. Immortals – Cobblestone 10:16 (6:9; 4:7)

OpTic Gaming defeated Renegades five times out of six in the their past encounters, losing only a match on de_mirage. The two teams occupy a drastically different rank in the NA league, but today Renegades amazed their fans with a splendid performance that tied the series 1 to 1.

Day 2 started with an overtime on de_nuke, one of Renegades best maps in 2017: prior this encounter they had a 5-1 record. Both teams got 10 rounds during the CT-side, but afterwards, Renegades claimed victory with a 4:1 overtime. The title of best player of the match went to a member of OpTic, Óscar “mixwell” Cañellas, who totalized 31-19 and a 1.38 rating.

De_cbble was also a good map for Renegades, while OpTic had a negative win rate. Despite the statistics, OpTic triumphed in a very close game that ended 16 to 14. Keith “NAF” Markovic was the best player with 26 kills and a 1.31 rating.

We featured NAF’s perfect kills with the Mag-7.

Team Liquid were one of the best performers in the NA league so far, and they clashed against Ghost Gaming, the only team with 0 points. The ex-Bee’s Money Crew have not been able to defeat a single opponent at ECS, and overall they lost 10 games out of 13 in May.

Ghost’s lose streak continued as Liquid claimed both games of the series. Honestly, Ghost forced Liquid to overtime on de_cbble, where the latter had a solid 20-6 score in 2017. Both teams scored 10 rounds as Counter-Terrorists, but finally Liquid won their 7th match at ECS 19 to 17. Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken and Nick “nitr0” Cannella both scored 33 kills for their team, obtaining a rating above 1.30, and a KAST of 80%.

De_mirage ended 16 to 10 for Team Liquid, and once again two players had a remarkable performance: Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski and nitr0, with 26 kills each.

Nitr0 won the overtime on de_cbble with a 1vs2 clutch.

The second match between Renegades and Immortals, which was postponed yesterday due to technical issues, was streamed by StarLadder. The replay is available on YouTube.

Renegades tied the series winning on de_cbble 16 to 6. They obtained a satisfactory 12-6 score on this map in the past three months, and today they proved their skills with a perfect Terrorist side. Karlo “USTILO” Pivac was the best player in this matchup: he scored a 1.51 rating, 104 ADR, and 81.8% KAST.

 

North American League – Day 3

  • SK Gaming vs. Team Liquid – Mirage 16:12 (9:6; 7:6)
  • Team Liquid vs. SK Gaming – Cobblestone 10:16 (4:11; 6:5)
  • Renegades vs. Ghost Gaming – Mirage 16:4 (13:2; 3:2)
  • Ghost Gaming vs. Renegades – Train 16:12 (12:3; 4:9)

SK Gaming and Team Liquid have a really close score in the NA league, while the overall performance according to HLTV is drastically different: the 3rd place against the 19th. Today, SK proved this difference by defeating Liquid in both matches. If we take a look at their past confrontations, SK is leading 5 to 4, but they fought each other only twice in 2017.

SK Gaming have an excellent win rate, above 80%, on de_mirage. The match was rather balanced, but SK won 16 to 12, particularly thanks to Fernando “fer” Alvarenga – his performance in this game was on a different level if compared to the rest of the team. Fer killed 31 enemies, scored a 1.61 rating, and had a solid 117.8 ADR.

De_cbble is a favourable map for Liquid, as they have a 21-6 record in 2017, but also the Brazilians are famous for their skills in this arena. An exceptional Terrorist side determined the victory for SK, who brought home the second game of the series with a 16 to 10 score. There isn’t a real best player as the team showed a high degree of cooperation.

In the highlight below, Team Liquid succeeded in blocking SK’s offensive on de_cbble.

The last match of the week saw Renegades against Ghost Gaming. The latter are at the very bottom of the ladder with 0 points, while the former hold the 5th position. The teams faced each other four times in 2017, and Renegades always emerged as the winner. Today, Ghost finally broke the curse by winning their first match at ECS!

De_mirage was the battlefield selected for the first game. Here, Renegades destroyed their opponents with a 16 to 4 score, thanks to a great CT-side. The MVP was Noah ‘Nifty’ Francis with a 1.74 rating and 22 kills – but, also Karlo “USTILO” Pivac had a positive impact on the team’s victory, with a 1.50 rating and a 20-10 score.

Ghost acquired the first three points of the season on de_train. They performed excellently on the T-side, scoring 12 rounds, and finally winning the game 16 to 12. Jason “neptune” Tran was the best player with 23 kills and a 1.28 rating.

Below, we highlighted Ghost’s great play with the Desert Eagle on de_train.

At the end of the sixth week, the top of the American ladder remains almost unchanged, only Counter Logic Gaming dropped from the 4th position to the 6th. Ghost Gaming finally won a game, but it is too late to obtain a better placement. You can find the official standings here.

The seventh week of Esports Championship Series S3 will take place from May 26 to 28, and will be aired as usual on YouTube.