ESL Pro League Season 17 Group D Preview: Team Spirit vs Astralis

Taking a look at what should be the most hotly-contested battle in the first round of ESL Pro League Season 17 Group D, Team Spirit vs Astralis

Set to run simultaneously alongside the match between Natus Vincere and forZe, this match between Team Spirit and Astralis promises to be a cracker. Both teams are quite evenly matched, and with Astralis’ much-awaited return to EPL, this time with their freshly-returned prodigal son in tow, the match should be the most-watched game in the first round by some way. Here’s everything you need to know about the match along with our predictions, and for those looking to wager on aspects of it based on the info here, here’s a great place to bet on CSGO.

Team Spirit 

If the CSGO universe only consisted of mid-level teams, Spirit would undoubtedly be one of the frontrunners. Often punching well above their supposed weight and usually on the lower side of Tier 1 than anywhere below, Spirit are a strong side that has seen some great moments in recent times, including a top-8 finish at last year’s Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major. Although Astralis will be a tough opponent, Spirit seems prepared and has it in them to win this battle.

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: 1.15
• 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: 71.4
• 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

With a fantastic 1.20 rating, w0nderful is our player to watch on Spirit. The young Russian AWPer has been steadily improving since joining Spirit, and this could be the tournament that takes him from being a good player to one of the greats.

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Astralis

With the all-important Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz back in their ranks, Astralis are clenching their teeth in preparation for a return to the big leagues, but fans have seen the Danish giant’s plans fail before, and will be wary of having heightened expectations. Nevertheless, the team has a powerful roster with a mix of incredibly successful veterans with a tiny bit of youthful talent. As long as Astralis can keep their nerves together — which has been an issue in recent times — they can win against not just Spirit, but literally any opponent.

Players 

Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth

• HLTV Rating: 1.01
• Impact Rating: 0.96
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 72.1%
• Average Damage Round: 74.4
• Kills Per Round: 0.66

Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander 

• HLTV Rating: 0.98
• Impact Rating: 1.04
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 70.0%
• Average Damage Round: 74.4
• Kills Per Round: 0.66

Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz

• HLTV Rating: 1.16
• Impact Rating: 1.28
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 71.3%
• Average Damage Round: 80.4
• Kills Per Round: 0.78

Benjamin “blameF” Bremer

• HLTV Rating: 1.23
• Impact Rating: 1.23
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 74.0%
• Average Damage Round: 85.8
• Kills Per Round: 0.77

Christian “Buzz” Andersen

• HLTV Rating: 1.04
• Impact Rating: 1.04
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 69.8%
• Average Damage Round: 75.0
• Kills Per Round: 0.66

Player to watch

Even if we told you otherwise, most of you’d be backing dev1ce anyway, so that’s also who we’re going with. blameF is also a strong contender, but there’s something about the legendary sniper coming back with a bang that just screams destiny, and we’re all for it.

Predictions 

It’s going to be a difficult battle, but we think the Danes are going to take this. Not without a struggle, though, so 2:1 to Astralis.

Maps 

Spirit has an excellent recent record on Overpass, and we reckon they’ll go with that since Astralis will most likely ban Anubis first. The 4-time Major winners will be going for Nuke since Ancient will probably be taken out by their opponents. The decider, as is often seen, will likely be Inferno

Score 

Map 1: Astralis to win with Spirit <13.

Map 2: Spirit to win with Astralis >9.

Map 3: Astralis to win in Overtime.

Top Fragger

It’ll be a tough fight between dev1ce and blameF, but the latter will most likely be slightly ahead overall.

Match Links

Head on over to Twitch and YouTube to watch the match. Coverage begins at 11:00 ET/12:00 CST/13:00 PT on March 15.