With the ESL Pro League back in full swing, the standings on the North American side of the equation are starting to materialize a bit. Against all odds, OpTic Gaming continues to climb the ranks to the top of the league, while everyone else watches the Green Wall run away in the standings.
OpTic Gaming (11-3, 33 points), after a shaky first couple of weeks, seems to have found a winning formula. With Adam "friberg" Friberg at the helm, OpTic went 3-1 on the week, taking down compLexity Gaming (2-8, 6 points) in a 2-0 sweep and then splitting with Renegades (7-5, 21 points) on the final day of the week. The one-two punch of in-game leader friberg and Emil "Magisk" Reif is working quite well for this team, with Magisk, in particular, looking pretty strong. He posted a 43/38 KD (kills/deaths) in the sweep of compLexity before coming up slightly short against Renegades with a 26/38 KD. The 16-8 loss against Renegades is a bit concerning, but OpTic still holds a hefty lead in the standings nonetheless.
Cloud9 (6-4, 18 points) needed a positive showing after a handful of up-and-down performances and put together a 4-0 mark for on the week with sweeps of both Ghost Gaming and Splyce. After struggling to gain traction early on, the team looks to be thriving under the guide of Tarik "tarik" Celik. In addition, former OpTic Gaming member Will "RUSH" Wierzba seems to have stumbled into a similar level of success that he found with the Green Wall. While it's true that the wins came against teams that are a combined 6-22 on the season, it was a confidence-building performance that has Cloud9 moving in the right direction.
While Cloud9 and OpTic had somewhat one-sided weeks, others weren't as fortunate. NRG Esports (8-4, 24 points), SK Gaming (7-3, 21 points), and Renegades all split their respective series on the week. SK's split was probably the most shocking of the week, as it got taken out 16-3 on Cache by Counter Logic Gaming (7-5, 20 points) on Tuesday. While SK took the next game 16-7 on Overpass, the loss was still a bit concerning for a team with such prowess. Speaking of CLG, however, with a 3-1 record on the week, the team is on the cusp of breaking into the top six.
Meanwhile, Immortals (3-9, 11 points) continues to crumble. Following the drama-fest that was the grand finals of DreamHack Montreal, which featured three Immortals players being late to the deciding series, the roster has been completely decimated. Vito "kNg" Giuseppe was cut from the team after the incident, and twins Lucas "LUCAS1" Teles and Henrique "HEN1" Teles are searching for different opportunities from the bench. In the meantime, coach Rafael "zakk" Fernades has stepped in to play in their stead, and things haven't worked out too well thus far. The team was swept by both Rogue (4-8, 11 points) and CLG, which has put the team in relegation range with just three weeks left on the season.
As the season winds down, OpTic Gaming has a stranglehold on the top spot, with Misfits, NRG Esports, SK Gaming, Team Liquid and Renegades rounding out the playoff-bound top-six. Week 5 will get underway with Splyce and SK Gaming facing off at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday.