The ambitious Team Falcons project has finally been fully revealed as the Saudi-backed team announced the five players, that will play in the green jerseys from now on.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"teams/Falcons/falcons_five_mq4wwh","originalWidth":1296,"originalHeight":1728,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg"}]

Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer and Mohammad "BOROS" Malhas were already signed, while Emil "Magisk" Reif has been linked with a move to the organization for some time. The real surprise in today’s announcement was the two ENCE players Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia and Pavle "maden" Bošković. Both of them were rumored to join Heroic, where their former coach Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha was announced earlier today.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"ence-confirm-sunpayus-maden-departure","isNewTab":false}]

Instead, they joined their former in-game leader Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer, who can now continue the work alongside coach Danny "zonic" Sørensen to prepare the team for next year.

Magisk

SunPayus

Maden

Snappi

BOROS

The Finnish Organization is looking into a bigger rebuild than first intended after they said goodbye to in-game leader Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer and coach Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha last month. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"gla1ve-confirmed-new-igl-ence","isNewTab":true}]

Today ENCE announced another two departures from the team. Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia and Pavle "maden" Bošković has left the team.

Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia has been bought out of his contract, while Pavle "maden" Bošković's contract is set to expire. Both players have been linked with a move to Heroic, where their former coach Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha was announced earlier today.

Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander and Jakub "kuben" Gurczyński who joined the team to replace Snappi and sAw will now have to make a total rebuild of the roster, where also Guy "NertZ" Iluz is rumored to be leaving for Heroic as well. 

ENCE

Heroic

IEM Dallas ended triumphantly for ENCE, who secured their first big title in four years. As always the MVP of the tournament was given to one of the finalists. Here ENCE's Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia stood out with a stellar performance in the Grand Final and overall in the tournament. This was the first MVP medal won by SunPayus. 

Statistically, the Spanish AWP'er was only the second-best player in the tournament though. Astralis' Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz played eight maps with an average rating of 1.42! This marks one of device's best tournaments in history, which is even more impressive given the fact, that Astralis actually lost four of the eight maps that they played in Dallas.

1. {cflag:DK} device (Astralis) - 1.42 rating

KAST (Percentage of rounds in which the player either had a kill, assist, survived, or was traded):

1. {cflag:DK} device (Astralis) - 1.59 rating

The next tier-1 tournament in the tournament calendar is BLAST Spring Finals in Washington, which starts on Wednesday.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"cs-go-tournament-calendar-2023","isNewTab":true}]

device

Astralis

We have gathered the most viewed clips of CS:GO on Twitch in 2022, and it seems like you guys actually prefer to rewatch other things than just insane highlight plays!

Top 10 most-watched Twitch CS:GO clips of 2022:

An interview with Qikert turned into a pure Twitch drama with KRIMZ attracting all the attention in the background!

[twitchClip:RockyShakingCroquetteKappaClaus-bZU3TM8cf_q3WgEC]

2. xQc's epic play on Cache - 386.741 views

One of the most popular streamers in the world, Félix "xQc" Lengyel may not be the best CS:GO player in the world, but he can still deliver one of the most entertaining clips of the year!

[twitchClip:ShySavoryWerewolfTTours-gtkYnILCafbYWyMJ]

3. Do you have any difficulties communicating in English? - 319.072 views

Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia chose the savage way of answering this question at ESL Pro League 16! 

[twitchClip:SlickSteamyPeafowlCorgiDerp-ofLQiHSVwaUT5-wf]

4. What's wrong with Brollan's arm? - 256.453 views

Twitch users were left astounded by the posture of NIP's Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin during an interview. That looks painful!

[twitchClip:DeafAggressiveCobblerBlargNaut-MEkTkl1uVstNvJ2f]

[twitchClip:SolidFlaccidKoalaTF2John--UiIhKHRJtfP5rNo]

6. Everybody loves a good kiss, right? - 220.118 views

We all thought this would be another lovely kiss from the audience, but this turned out to be on another level...

[twitchClip:SilkyFaithfulGrasshopperPipeHype-_I1qsl1jagXfkLUl]

7. Finally an actual highlight clip! - 200.338 views

s1mple's 4K against OG from BLAST Lisbon is the first gameplay clip from a competitive match on this list.

[twitchClip:VivaciousCorrectOrangePJSugar-qdhHIzXjNsJcTfqp]

Another s1mple clip. This time on Overpass with the AWP!

[twitchClip:ZanyAgitatedTildeGivePLZ-YsIN-lyBQQi315iw]

9. TACO plays with a chicken and IHC - 178.351 views

In one of the calmest clutches of the year, Epitácio "TACO" de Melo takes his time playing with a chicken before eliminating Techno4K from IHC.

[twitchClip:AltruisticHonorableGerbilTinyFace-hfbfZ5rZYiYdDahr]

10. m0NESY's unreal clutch on Inferno - 175.202

In his fourth official match for G2, m0NESY gave a hint of what was to come for the exceptional skilled Russian, who ended the year on top with an MVP award at BLAST World Finals. 

[twitchClip:SavoryPleasantTildeShadyLulu-gcLBbwygwBuSLTq8]

KRIMZ

s1mple

m0NESY

TACO

Brollan

For the first time since May 2021, ENCE has been crowned champions of a tournament.

Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer and his men won CCT North Europe Series 2 with a 2-0 victory against HAVU. ENCE took home $22.000 for winning the online tournament.

ENCE had to work hard for victory after losing the first halves on both Ancient and Dust2. On Ancient it was an excellent CT half from {cflag:ES} SunPayus, {cflag:DK} valde, and {cflag:ME} Maden that helped ENCE recover to force the match into overtime. Here ENCE came out on top and won the map 19-17 after a stellar ace from Maden.

[twitchClip:GoodPolishedRadishANELE-OIp5zuxjO9OUCT06]

HAVU made a nice recovery on Dust2 and took an 11-4 lead into the second half. But here they crumpled once again allowing ENCE to find a way back into the match. Again it was the duo of Maden and valde who turned up big for ENCE. It ended with a narrow 16-14 win for ENCE, who won the tournament after being directly seeded into the playoffs.

HAVU can cash in $10.000 for second place.

valde

HAVU

Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer and his men from ENCE are just one step away from securing a spot in the Champions Stage at the IEM Rio Major, following an impressive 2-0 victory over Team Vitality that avoided them an exit from the event. This means that if ENCE win their next matchup which is tomorrow, they will lock in a spot in the top eight of the IEM Rio Major, where the likes of FURIA, Cloud9, Outsiders, and fnatic are already waiting.

After ENCE’s huge victory over the world’s No. 1 team in Team Vitality, Pley.gg caught up with ENCE’s captain, Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer for a post-match interview, in which he did not just comment on the victory, but also the impact that Alvaro “SunPayus” had in their win. The 23-year-old Spaniard delivered an exceptional performance in the elimination match, which saw him finish on the top of the overall scoreboard with a 60-31 K/D and 1.51 Rating. Over the two maps, SunPayus also had an impact rating of 1.70, 27 AWP kills, and 15 Opening kills.

In the interview, the 32-year-old Danish in-game leader also revealed that giving the Spanish AWP’er fewer responsibilities in the future was a priority in order to fully utilize the talented sniper.

Watch the full interview with Snappi right here:

ENCE got off to a fine start at the European RMR tournament with a 16-8 win against HEET in the opening round.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"ence-heroic-secure-comfortable-victories-first-round-group-b","isNewTab":true}]

The new AWP'er on the team, Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia performed excellently with a 1.47 rating during the match. After the win, in-game leader Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer told the desk at ESL how the integration of the new Sniper has been.

- SunPayus requires a lot more space which is a good thing because I want my AWP'er to roam around the map a lot. So we kind of had to find ways to integrate him moving around both on T and CT-sides wherever he wants.

You can hear the full answer on the integration of SunPayus on ENCE here.

[twitchClip:SmoggyFuriousPieBibleThump-Er9ZhnVQB56cebX8]

Earlier this year when Valdemar “valde” Vangså was on the bench at OG and Astralis were struggling to find a decent form, rumors emerged about a potential transfer between the rifler and the Danish top team.

As history shows, the move never happened with valde joining forces with Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer on ENCE instead. However, in an [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yIyLnYmT-g","isNewTab":true,"text":"interview"}] with Duncan “Thorin” Shields, valde opens up about the Astralis rumors, which apparently wasn’t far off.  

[slugORMA:{"slug":"thorin-heroic-should-buy-device-let-cadian-rifle-instead","isNewTab":true}]

You can watch the entire interview with valde and Thorin in the video down below: 

valde was unveiled as a new ENCE member two weeks ago alongside the powerful AWPer Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia. Here the new duo is set to replace the void from Lotan "Spinx" Giladi and Olek “hades” Miskiewicz, who got transferred to Vitality and benched respectively. The new-look ENCE squad will get their debut on the 14th of August at ESL Pro League Season 16. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"snappi-textbook-way-thinking-economy-is-very-much-wrong","isNewTab":true}]

Movistar Rider has announced their replacement for SunPayus by signing Antonio "MartinezSa" Sánchez. The spot was left open after Movistar Riders announced on August 11th that the Spanish AWPer will part ways with Movistar after some impressive results such as winning ESL Challenger Valencia and a semi-final spot at IEM Cologne. Movistar Riders will hope to have MarinezSa ready and set for ESL Pro Leauge Season 16 which is in late September. 

How good MartinezSa is, is yet to be seen. But for now, he is averaging 0.83 rating, and 0.64 kills per round in the past three months playing for VELOX. VELOX just lost two of their main players and one of them was MartinezSa. Their current rank is 193 on the HLTV world list. 

MartinezSa

Movistar Riders

Movistar Riders have confirmed through their Twitter, that SunPayus is no longer a part of the starting lineup. The departure of SunPayus was expected after several rumors have linked the Spaniard with a move to ENCE.

SunPayus joined Movistar Riders after they wanted to have a full Spanish-speaking lineup in August 2021.

SunPayus proved himself as a key player to the Movistar Riders averaging a 1.16 rating over 208 maps, which is above his former teammates with the closest being Alex with a rating of 1.08. The Spanish AWPer used his big talent and great performance to reach some notable achievements as winning the ESL Challenger Valencia and reaching the semi-finals at IEM Cologne 2022.

Where the Spanish AWPer will continue his journey is yet to be announced.

ENCE has started the hunt for a new Sniper for their team. Today the Finnish Organization announced, that they will be parting way with Aleksander "hades" Miskiewicz.

- "It's always hard when changes are being made. Benching hades is a tough decision, but one that I think needs to be made at this time. Hades showed good progress and development as a player but for the direction we are going for, we need a change, Eetu “sAw”

Saha, coach of ENCE explains in a press statement.

It has especially been at the bigger tournaments, that the Polish AWPer has been underwhelming for ENCE. 

Movistar Riders' Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia has been mentioned as a possible candidate as a replacement.

hades

Meanwhile, we have asked Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen to take a closer look at how Movistar Riders managed to upset one team after the other in the Play-in and Group Stage of IEM Cologne.

Movistar Riders will face Team Liquid in the Quarter-Finals of the event. Here Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia and Alejandro Fernández-Quejo “mopoz” Cano are needed in their prime form to allow the Spaniards to continue in the tournament. With their win at ESL Challenger Valencia, there will be absolutely no reason to underestimate the Spanish team, who had won eight matches in a row before losing 2-1 to NAVI in the Group Final last Sunday.

mopoz

You have probably been sleeping under a rock if you have not heard about Movistar Riders. The all-Spanish roster has been steadily improving their game since they entered the tier-1 scene of professional CS:GO and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. After an impressive performance at the IEM Cologne 2022 Play-In event, Movistar Riders have just managed to take down G2 in their first Bo3-series at the main event of IEM Cologne 2022. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"movistar-riders-off-great-start-iem-cologne-2022","isNewTab":true}]

Playing a major role in the recent success for the Spaniards is star player "SunPayus". Scoring the highest rating in their brawl against G2 and continuing his scarily high level of consistency, "SunPayus" is a name to look out for at the IEM Cologne 2022 event for sure. We had a talk with him after their victory against G2. When asked about his role as an AWP'er within the Movistar Riders, the Spanish star had the following to say: 

To hear what teams "SunPayus" think are the 2-3 best right now in the world of CS:GO, as well as how he sees the rest of Movistar Riders' IEM Cologne 2022 campaign, you can watch the exclusive interview posted down below: 

Whilst NiP and Heroic had their Scandinavian brawl, G2 and Movistar Riders teed up for a battle of their own. G2 were, of course, the heavy favorites going into the Bo3-series, with one of the most star-studded rosters in the entire world. Whilst G2, on paper, might be stronger, however, you should never rule out the Movistar Riders. Having just come from a successful Play-In event to secure their spot at the main event, Movistar Riders are known for never giving up and they definitely didn't against G2. A close battle on Vertigo, followed by a confident performance on Inferno were enough to see the Spaniards move past G2 and take home their first victory in just two maps. 

The first map of the Bo3-series was picked by Movistar Riders and saw things kick off on Vertigo. In addition to being one of, if not the best map for the Spaniards, it is also a map that G2 have struggled on as of late and it seemed the perfect pick for the Movistar Riders to get off to a great start against the G2 giants. And it was. Despite starting on the arguably more difficult T-side of Vertigo, Movistar Riders came flying out of the gate. With "SunPayus" continuing to prove his weight worth in gold, the Spaniards closed out the first half of Vertigo with a 9-6 lead. The second half, although very close, was also in the favor of Movistar Riders. Little separated the two teams, however, it was ultimately the Spaniards to come out on top and take home Vertigo at the scoreline of 16-12.

The second map of the brawl between G2 and Movistar Riders took place on Inferno and was, of course, picked by the boys of G2. With the sheer firepower within the G2 roster, facing them on Inferno is always a scary prospect. It didn't seem as if Movistar Riders were scared, however, as they continued their momentum from Vertigo and got off to a great start to their CT-sided half of Inferno. Once again securing a 6-9 lead before switching sides, Movistar Riders had the upper hand. Despite losing the pistol-round, the T-sided performance from Movistar Riders proved just as potent as their CT-sided performance. Cohesive team play from the Spaniards had G2 looking desperate at times and at the scoreline of 16-12 it was Movistar Riders to upset G2, take home the victory, and secure a great start to their IEM Cologne 2022 campaign. 

[twitchClip:PluckyGleamingCucumberLeeroyJenkins-2mL2ys80NPO58MEB]

16-12 (Vertigo) | {cflag:ES} SunPayus - 1.45 Rating / 22-8 K-D / 73.1 ADR

16-9 (Inferno) | {cflag:ES} mopoz - 1.41 Rating / 23-14 K-D / 81.7 ADR

: {cflag:ES} Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia - 1.41 Rating / 41-21 K-D / 79.7 ADR 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"teams/Movistar Riders/20211010_Stephanie-Lindgren_IEM-Fall-2021_Movistar_Riders_fe34ob","originalWidth":5338,"originalHeight":3003,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Stephanie Lindgren - ESL","alt":"Movistar Riders, CSGO"}]

G2 Esports

I'll bet that you couldn't mention five Spanish top-tier CS:GO players, at least not until Movistar Riders entered the professional CS:GO scene for good. Peaking at #12 in the world earlier this year, Movistar Riders have become a name that no opponent should brush over without preparing for a tough and longstanding fight. 

The Spaniards proved themselves once again at the just-finished ESL Challenger 2022 event on home-turf in Valencia, Spain. The boys of Movistar Riders managed to make it all the way to the Grand Final without dropping a single map on the way there. Despite losing a single map in the Grand Finals to Outsiders, it was the Spaniards who were able to lift the trophy in the end. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"movistar-riders-lift-trophy-esl-challenger-valencia-2022","isNewTab":true}]

But how come Movistar Riders seemed almost untouchable at the ESL Challenger event? Well if you look at the numbers there is an obvious explanation. Not one, not two, but three of Movistar Riders' players managed to make it into the top five highest-rated players at the event. 

The star of the Spanish show, "SunPayus" managed an impressive 71.0% percent success in opening duels alongside being the most dangerous AWP'er at the entire event with 0.43 AWP kills per round. 

The talented AWP'er, however, didn't stand alone. With "alex" giving a masterclass in how to remain consistent throughout all matches at a scarily high level, as well as "mopoz" securing the highest impact rating at the event of 1.41, it is no surprise that Movistar Riders ended up taking home the trophy in Valencia, Spain. 

If you missed the Grand Final between Movistar Riders and Outsiders you can watch the highlights from all three maps down below: 

ALEX

The last semi-finals spot at Pinnacle Cup IV was on the line when Movistar Riders and Isurus went head-to-head. 

The match kicked off on the Riders' pick of Mirage, and the Spaniards picked up a comfortable 6-1 T side lead off the back of a "SunPayus" that was completely off the charts. But as he slowed down so did his team, which allowed a resurgence from Isurus who went to halftime only one round down.

The second half looked a lot worse for the South Americans who had an extremely hard time getting through the defense of the Riders. They only managed to put two more rounds on the board, as they struggled with the economy from a lack of bomb plants.

The Movistar Riders got off to an amazing start on Isurus' pick of Nuke. The Europeans took an 8-0 CT-side lead, and it looked like the series would be over very soon, but unexpectedly Isurus returned the favor by getting right back into the game with the last seven rounds of the half.

The Riders' who have struggled on the Nuke T side as of late delivered an impressive offensive performance in this half. They managed to keep Isurus down to only four CT-side rounds, and with great contributions from the entire squad, they secured the series at 2-0.

Movistar Riders - Isurus 2-0 | Pinnacle Cup IV

16-9 (Mirage) | {cflag:ES} SunPayus - 1.74 Rating / 26-11 K-D / 109.7 ADR

16-11 (Nuke) | {cflag:ES} SunPayus - 1.55 Rating / 26-11 K-D / 89.4 ADR

MVP: {cflag:ES} Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia - 1.64 Rating / 52-22 K-D / 99.2 ADR

Isurus

There is little as satisfying as watching an ace unfold in competitive Counter-Strike. Managing to take down every single opponent is no task to be laughed at, no matter the circumstances that led up to the ace. Whilst it is by no means easy getting an ace, some players are able to make such a challenging thing look as easy as nothing, one of these players is "SunPayus" from Movistar Riders. 

When facing Astralis in the quarter-finals of BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2022, Movistar Riders found themselves in a favorable position after having forced the Danes to take an eco-round. Whilst little was expected from the Danish eco-round, "SunPayus" made sure to entertain us. 

After getting the first pick down mid on Inferno, he positioned himself in the 'library' position on A-site. There he didn't need to wait long before his next opponent showed face. Peaking around the corner, three Astralis players were quickly picked apart by the AWP of "SunPayus" before the fourth player was decapitated by his secondary firearm. 

Take a look at the smooth and satisfying ace from "SunPayus": 

The Bo3-series between Astralis and Movistar Riders is currently underway, you can watch the Bo3-series LIVE right here down below: 

The BLAST Premier Spring Showdown consists of a Bo3 single-elimination bracket, which means that every match is life or death. The winner will take one of the remaining two spots at BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022.

Here we give you a run-through of the teams, that we have placed in different brackets; Favorites, Contenders, and Outsiders.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/stavn_r1t2qd","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2304,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

 is the only team to be featured in the favorites category because that is exactly what they are: The favorites. Heroic has consistently been a top ten team for more than a year now, and most recently they secured Legends status at the PGL Major Antwerp by beating Na'Vi and going undefeated at the RMR. Heroic is on paper the best team right now.

Player to watch: {cflag:DK} Martin "stavn" Lund has been delivering at a superstar level in 2022 where he rates as the third-best player in the world. The 20-year-old star rifler is the key to success for Heroic.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/spinx_1_j2kvs2","originalWidth":1920,"originalHeight":1080,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

started the year slowly with a disappointing result at IEM Katowice but has slowly gotten better and better. The addition of "Maden" has made them a force to be reckoned with which they showed with a great performance at ESL Pro League. ENCE are looking good but they still need a bit more consistency to become a favorite.

Player to watch: {cflag:IL} Lotan "Spinx" Giladi is the x-factor for ENCE. He is what they need to take down the best of the best, as he has shown that he can outperform ANYONE if he gets in the zone.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/es3tag_1_uczusa","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2731,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Stephanie Lindgren, BLAST"}]

's performance as of late has surprised no one. They have done some good work but can never really seem to finish the job. The addition of "Brollan", who is considered by many to be the best Swedish player, has elevated the squad and given them hope for the future.

Player to watch: {cflag:DK} Patrick "es3tag" Hansen, the jack of all trades, has taken up the role as the team's main AWP'er, and he will have to perform consistently for the Ninjas to win.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/k0nfig_pi3zec","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2731,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Michael Konkol, BLAST"}]

 just barely qualified for the major after taking down HEET. After acquiring "Farlig", the four-time Major-winning organization has looked a lot more dangerous, and they have an incredibly high skill ceiling. When everything is flowing for the Danes they can take down anyone, but they often have trouble delivering consistently over a series or tournament.

Player to watch: {cflag:DK} Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke needs to become the walking death-machine that he was when he first joined Astralis. When he is ON his impact can be felt around the world.

come into this tournament with something to prove. The Spanish squad went 5-0 in the Group Stage of ESL Pro League taking down teams such as BIG, Players (Cloud9), and Liquid, but fell short as soon as they hit the playoffs. This is their opportunity for revenge!

Player to watch: {cflag:ES} Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia has consistently been the best performing Spanish player, and he is definitely one to look out for!

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/jabbi_kquoke","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2304,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

has had the same roster for nearly a year now and the results they have shown have been very varied. The team recently secured Legends status at PGL Major Antwerp by going undefeated at the RMR, but just a month prior they lost a Bo3 against the relatively unknown team Bluejays. When they play their best game they can take down even the giants, but the lack of consistency makes it very hard to place this young Danish squad at the very top.

Player to watch: {cflag:DK} Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard is the future of the Flames and has shown that he has superstar potential. He finished the Europe RMR with a rating of 1.40, edging out players such as "sh1ro" and "NiKo".

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Bad_News_Eagles_unwwhk","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

 recently made history when they qualified for the upcoming Major, but they will have to perform at an even higher level to take the Spring Final spot. The Kosovar team has performed at a good level in 2022 and has won the majority of their matches, but they have yet to actually beat a tier 1 team. They will have to do something spectacular to win an event with such a high percentage of great teams.

Player to watch: Flatron "juanflatroo" Halimi is the most explosive player the Eagles have available, and he will have to play at his absolute top level if the Kosovars are to succeed in their quest.

 is a very unknown quantity. The Asian-based team is currently ranked #99 in the world and has yet to be tested against the European scene. NKT are definitely the underdogs, but what it would be if they won!

Player to watch: {cflag:MN} Gan-Erdene "dobu" Batbold has performed admirably over the last three months where he averages a 1.20 rating. "dobu" has shown moments of explosive and electric plays, and will have to continue to do so to carry his team who he has only played with for two months.

Wednesday 16.30: ENCE - Copenhagen Flames

Thursday 16.30: Astralis - Movistar Riders

dobu

juanflatroo

stavn

Jabbi

es3tag

k0nfig

Spinx

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Bad News Eagles

Copenhagen Flames

Whilst it may not come as a complete shock that Natus Vincere topped their group and did so by going undefeated against their opponents, it came as a surprise that the Spanish roster by the name of Movistar Riders managed to do the same. Going undefeated through any group stage is impressive and doing it against the likes of Team Liquid, Players (Gambit), and BIG is unheard of if you are still a somewhat unfamiliar contender within the Tier-one scene of CS:GO. Nevertheless, that was exactly what Movistar Riders managed. 

Spearheaded by the team's superstar "SunPayus", Movistar Riders have already proven to everyone within the scene that they are no joke when it comes to collecting results against some of the biggest names in CS:GO altogether. They will look to carry on their impressive run at ESL Pro League Season 15 when taking on ENCE in the Quarter-finals of the event. 

But how did the Spanish riders manage to go undefeated in their group as the only team besides NaVi? With somewhat unimpressive stats in multiple aspects of the game, Movistar Riders seem to have something quite special about them, something that now has to be respected by their upcoming opponents. 

The first match of the day at EPL saw the flying 3-0 Movistar Riders take on the struggling 1-2 BIG. Sitting at the number four spot in Group C prior to the match, BIG desperately needed to win this win to keep their playoff dreams alive. But they would have to get through the flourishing Movistar Riders who had already taken down everyone who stood in their way, including big names such as Team Liquid and Players (Gambit).

The Movistar Riders chose to play Nuke as the first map, and they got off to a great 3-0 start on the T-side. The rest of the half was a bit of a disappointment for the Spanish squad, as they created a flurry of excellent situations for themselves but were unable to capitalize on a large number of them, giving BIG a halftime lead of 9-6.

The Germans extended their lead by winning three rounds straight out of the break but were heavily punished by “SunPayus”, who had a massive impact in the second half, as soon as he could purchase the AWP. This led the Spanish squad to map point, but BIG were able to take round 30 cleanly and send the match into overtime.

The close affair continued after regulation as the three overtimes were needed before the Riders were finally able to close it down and take their map pick at 25-23.

The action continued on Vertigo, BIG’s map pick, where the Riders got off to an extremely hot start on the CT-side, putting BIG completely on the backfoot. “dav1g”, in particular, was popping off, swatting the Germans away like flies. BIG surprisingly were able to bring it all the way back and went to the break with a tiny round deficit at 8-7.

The second half continued in the same close fashion as the first. BIG looked very good in situations, but the majority of rounds fell in favor of the Spanish squad who were just a couple of steps ahead.

The Movistar Riders stole away BIG’s map pick at 16-11, and are now 4-0 while the Germans take another loss and are now 1-3.

BIG – Movistar Riders 0-2 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group C)

23-25 (Nuke) | {cflag:ES} SunPayus – 1.49 Rating / 46-29 K-D / 94.0 ADR

11-16 (Vertigo) | {cflag:ES} alex – 1.50 Rating / 24-15 K-D / 97.9 ADR

MVP: {cflag:ES} Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia – 1.42 Rating / 64-41 K-D / 88.7 ADR

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	0	6
Maps count	0	15

SunPayus

Player stats

Articles mentioning SunPayus

Falcons announce Magisk and ENCE duo

ENCE confirm SunPayus and Maden departure

Top performers at IEM Dallas: SunPayus awarded MVP

Video: The 10 most watched CS:GO clips on Twitch in 2022

ENCE lift the trophy in $50.000 tournament

Snappi: I see SunPayus as our main star going forward

Snappi on SunPayus: He requires a lot more space

valde reveals: I have been close to joining Astralis on multiple occasions

MartinezSa to Movistar Riders

Movistar Riders part ways with their main AWPer

ENCE confirms benching of hades

How did Movistar Riders take down G2 and Vitality?

SunPayus: It's quite easy for me to read tier 1 teams

Movistar Riders off to a great start at IEM Cologne 2022

Why Movistar Riders dominated ESL Challenger 2022

Movistar Riders get past Isurus

Highlight: SunPayus turns Astralis into a shooting gallery

BLAST Premier Spring Showdown Europe Preview

How did Movistar Riders go undefeated in their group?

Movistar Riders continue Group C domination

Follow Pley