Sprout, OG, Vitality, Astralis succeed On First ESL One Cologne Playday

The Germans of Sprout have been able to set themselves on top of the world’s #1 team, BIG Clan. Meanwhile, OG worked through multiple overtimes in order to defeat NiP. Vitality won their domestic encounter with Heretics and the new players of Astralis impressed against Fnatic.

SPROUT 2-0 BIG

When these two teams last met, Sprout delivered an upset victory at ESL Meisterschaft. But that was a small, domestic tournament. At ESL One Cologne, the best German team should have been prepared to win against Sprout. Instead, they were unable to achieve a single map victory. Tizian “tiziaN” Feldbusch and Nils “k1to” Gruhne didn’t get into the game at all, allowing Sprout to run away with 16-12 and 19-16 victories on Mirage and Nuke, respectively.

OG 2-1 NIP

Today, OG worked incredibly hard to get into the Upper Bracket of ESL One Cologne. On Inferno, they were down 11-14. Mounting a comeback, they brought the map into overtime, finally winning on a 19-16 scoreline. On Inferno Nicolas “Plopski” Gonzalez Zamora was the absolute playmaker. With 27 kills, he allowed NiP to confidently take the second map. Heading to Mirage, OG were unable to find their form on the CT side. They ended the first half being down 5-10. On the T side, however, they finally got their act together and slowly grinded NiP out. Reaching overtime, they once again battled for a late victory. In the end, OG set themselves on top at 22-19. Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså was the most impactful player on the server with 93 kills total.

VITALITY 2-0 HERETICS

The French derby was perhaps the least interesting match of the day. For Vitality, all went according to plan. They got Dust2 and Overpass, two of their most-played maps. Returning from the player break, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut was also in top form. Joined by Richard “shox” Papillon, the two players swept Team Heretics away. 16-13 and 16-8 victories sealed the deal and sent Team Vitality to the Upper Bracket.

ASTRALIS 2-0 FNATIC

ESL provided us with a banger match to end the day. At the moment, Astralis are arguably the most interesting team to watch. After years of playing with the exact same lineup, health issues now forced them to completely rethink their team composition. Settling for two young players, the team how have to prove themselves again. Today, they have already made great strides in that direction. On Nuke, they dismantled fnatic for a 16-5 victory. Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen and Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen teamed up to demolish the fnatic defense. Fnatic should be applauded for not faltering on the the second map. They kept themselves in the game and brought it to overtime. There, unfortunately, Astralis got the better of them. Again, Bubzkji was the top poerformer on the Danish team. Already, they are performing incredibly well and look to be a legitimate title contender.

Tomorrow, we will see the rest of the playing field square off against each other. Natus Vincere will be taking on mousesports, Complexity are looking to defeat MAD Lions. FaZe Clan will be locking horns with Heroic and meanwhile, MIBR will fight for success on European soil against G2 Esports.