The ESL Pro League Season 17 playoffs are now halfway to the end, and in the previous days, giants like G2 and Liquid managed to leave the tournament. And today, we will talk about the quarterfinals between a couple of the strongest teams in the world: Heroic and NAVI. The former easily won first place in group B. At the same time, the Ukrainian club started with a loss to FORZE and difficult victories over Astralis and Rare Atom but still accelerated enough to at least guarantee itself 5-8 place in the tournament. But will this be the end of the "yellow-black" championship? In an exclusive comment for Cover.gg, Olexander HomeR Lysenko explained why the outcome of today's bo3 is not as clear-cut as it might seem at first glance.
The current team form
If you look at the team statistics of both teams for the last six months, the difference in the rating of the teams is slight: 6.1 against 6.2. But if it is based on the data for the previous 15 matches, then the difference will be more significant: 6.0 in NAVI versus 6.3 in Heroic. The NAVI game often resembles a shaky house of cards, but at least npl is gradually finding his ways to perform greatly.
With Heroic, despite the advantage in numbers, everything is more complex. Their last match at EPL S17 was on March 5 in group B, and such a break can play a cruel joke on the Danes.
The main conclusion of the NAVI games at the ESL Pro League is the more complex the opponent, the better the team performs. While there are difficulties against teams like 00NATION, teams of the Spirit and Outsiders levels are blown to pieces.
On the other hand, we haven't seen Heroic for three weeks. As practice has shown, it is difficult for teams to get into the playoffs after such a break. A lot depends on the training and condition of the Danes, about which we can only guess.Alexander HomeR Lysenko
Map veto
The statistics on individual maps show a significant advantage in favor of Heroic almost everywhere except Ancient, which NAVI will surely take first. The Danes have the privilege of choosing at least between the strong Overpass and Inferno. Taking Nuke or Mirage would be a more risky venture since Natus Vincere has recently improved their game on these cards.
Prediction from HomeR
Regarding maps, I would expect Ancient from NAVI and Inferno from Heroic. Considering the recent results, I expect a 1:1 score and a close decider. As for the final opinion, NAVI has already won several difficult matches. Therefore, I think they have every chance to emerge victorious from this meeting.Olexander HomeR Lysenko
The NAVI vs. Heroic match will start at 8:00 PM Kyiv time, after the end of the second quarterfinal between FaZe and FORZE, which starts at 4:30 PM.
Remember that the schedule, detailed match statistics, and results of EPL S17 can be found on the event's page.
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