ESL Pro League Season 17 Group D: Team Liquid vs ATK Preview and Predictions

Will the last season’s runner-up bounce back or will the potent underdogs strike? Find out when Team Liquid battle ATK in Group D of ESL Pro League Season 17

The first round of ESL Pro League Season 17’s Group D is out of the way, and it’s been an absolutely insane first day. Every single match subverted expectations, including two massive upsets, one blowout where the match was supposed to be a close one, and a highly competitive match which was supposed to be a one-way street. Despite these setbacks, we’re back with our next set of predictions for the match between American giants Team Liquid and South African underdogs ATK, so if you’re planning to bet on CSGO or just want to know, read on.

Team Liquid

It’s nothing new for Liquid to lose the supposedly easy first match of a big tournament, but to lose so massively to a barely-known team has quite possibly shaken the American side to their core. This won’t be easy to recover from, but should Liquid be able to, it’ll make them stronger than ever. If you’re a fan, the good news is that the third-ranked team in the world has managed such comebacks in the past. Last season they lost to both Eternal Fire and FURIA in the Group Stage before going on to reach the Grand Final.

Players

Nick “nitr0” Cannella

HLTV Rating: 0.99
Impact Rating: 0.98
Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 71.1%
Average Damage Round: 70.7
Kills Per Round: 0.66

Player to Watch

With a stellar performance already having come out of YEKINDAR, we now move on to EliGE. The legendary rifler pops off for his team often, and we think today will be his day to put up some big numbers.

ATK

The South Africans showed great resolve to give ENCE a run for their money despite being far below in the rankings. They displayed a fearless, fluid brand of Counter-Strike that we can’t wait to see more of. The team seems to love the big stage, and looks like they’re learning a lot from their experience. They might not be able to overcome Liquid, but they will not be rolled over and trodden on regardless of what their #77 rank may suggest on paper.

Players

Gareth “MisteM” Ries

HLTV Rating: 1.04
Impact Rating: 1.06
Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 68.8%
Average Damage Round: 75.2
Kills Per Round: 0.68

Jonathan “b0denmaster” Bodenmalm

HLTV Rating: 1.08
Impact Rating: 1.12
Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 69.5%
Average Damage Round: 73.1
Kills Per Round: 0.69

Player to watch

While CacaNito was undoubtedly good yesterday, we’ll be putting our money on Swisher today after being thoroughly impressed by the youngster.

Predictions

Liquid will most likely get back on their feet and beat ATK 2-0. It’s still highly likely that what happened yesterday was just a bad day at the office for them.

Maps

Liquid will probably pick Mirage while ATK go with Anubis, with the decider likely being good old Inferno.

Score

Map 1: Liquid to win with ATK <10.

Map 2: Liquid to win with ATK <12.

Top Fragger

EliGE has been the top fragger too many times on too many maps in too many matches for us to ignore his skills. We predict him to top the charts at the end of play.