In the group stage of the ESL Pro League Season 21 Play-in, we are set to witness an exciting match between GamerLegion and NRG. GamerLegion comes to the tournament in good form, having recently successfully qualified and already shown good play with their new lineup. On the other hand, there's NRG, who are performing well in America and now have the opportunity to showcase themselves in Europe, and they will most likely take advantage of this chance. In this material, we will analyze the current state of the teams, possible map pool, and provide a prediction for the match outcome.
Current Form of the Teams
GamerLegion has been showing decent results lately. The team confidently passed the Play-in at IEM Katowice 2025, performed well in the group stage, but stopped just short of the playoffs, losing to Spirit. At the BLAST Open Lisbon 2025 qualifiers, they couldn't advance further, losing to PARIVISION. However, in the IEM Dallas 2025 qualifiers, GamerLegion looked confident, securing two wins without issues. Their average rating for the month is 6.1.
Date
Team
Score
Opponent
February 10, 21:00
GamerLegion
2 - 1
Metizport
February 10, 15:00
GamerLegion
2 - 1
Hesta
February 8, 12:00
GamerLegion
0 - 2
PARIVISION
February 4, 19:45
GamerLegion
1 - 2
Spirit
February 4, 14:30
GamerLegion
2 - 0
Astralis
NRG consistently performs well in the American region. They hold the 8th place in the VRS for America and are successfully competing in the ESL Challenger League Season 49: North America with 8 wins and 4 losses. Recently, the team qualified for IEM Dallas 2025 and won the CCT Season 2 North American Series 4, earning $10,000. The average rating for the month is 6.4.
Date
Team
Score
Opponent
February 14
NRG
0 - 2
M80
February 13
NRG
2 - 0
Excertius
February 13
NRG
2 - 1
Nouns
February 12
NRG
2 - 0
BOSS
February 12
NRG
2 - 0
Marsborne
Map Pool
GamerLegion will likely remove Dust2, which they have avoided 23 times. Nuke might also be banned, where their win rate is only 41% over 17 games. As their pick, they will most likely choose Mirage (61% win rate, 28 games) or Ancient (63% win rate, 16 games).
NRG will probably ban Ancient, which they haven't played in 19 matches in a row. Their strongest maps are Inferno (79% wins) and Mirage (76% wins). A possible choice could be Anubis, which they have picked 23 times, winning 61% of the matches.
Map
NRG Winrate
M
B
Last 5 Matches (NRG)
GamerLegion Winrate
M
B
Last 5 Matches (GamerLegion)
Train
100%
2
9
W, W
0%
0
2
L, L
Dust II
35%
15
28
P, P, L, L, L
25%
4
28
P, P, L, L, L
Mirage
22%
21
8
W, L, W, W, W
54%
28
6
W, W, W, L, W
Nuke
20%
19
3
P, P, L, W, W
47%
17
13
P, L, P, P, W
Inferno
16%
14
4
W, W, P, P, W
63%
16
11
W, L, L, P, W
Anubis
11%
23
9
W, L, L, P, P
50%
16
9
P, P, W, W, P
Ancient
2%
24
19
W, P, L, P, P
56%
18
11
W, L, L, W, P
Match Prediction
Despite NRG's consistent results, GamerLegion has experience in top tournaments and has already proven their competitiveness against strong opponents. Their map pool looks reliable, and on Mirage and Inferno, they have every chance to put up a fight.
Prediction: GamerLegion 2-1 NRG
The ESL Pro League Season 21 will take place from March 1 to 16 in Stockholm, Sweden. 24 teams will compete for a prize pool of $400,000. Follow the schedule, match results, and tournament progress at the link here.
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