ESL Pro League Season 19 main takeaways

ESL Pro League Season 19 closed its curtains, crowning MOUZ as back-to-back champions.

Their triumph came after sweeping Vitality in the grand final, putting a stop to Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut’s magnificent show.

With the event concluded, Strafe takes a look back at the event’s main takeaways and storylines.

MOUZ is not to be underestimated

MOUZ became a title contending team with a remarkable year so far. Following a semi-finals spot in BLAST Premier: World Final 2023, the team impressed at the biggest stages so far in 2024 during IEM Katowice and PGL Major Copenhagen.

Although they were yet to touch gold, IEM Chengdu was a testament of their capabilities. A top 2 placement was the perfect motivation for Pro League.

In Malta, MOUZ came in as a defending champion, so expectations were high. Luckily, they prevailed and were heads above the competition, lifting the trophy for a second time in a row.

Young, but unstoppable!

Their dominance came off the back of Dorian “xertioN” Berman’s top notch performance throughout the event. To even be considered as the “legitimate” MVP by many figures who didn’t shy away in expressing their opinion.

With an average 1.31 K/D, 0.86 Kill per Round and 76.5% KAST (Percentage of rounds in which the player had either a kill, an assist, survived or traded), he was a force to reckon with.

A ship can never sail far without a solid captain. And MOUZ couldn’t ask for a better leader than Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek. On top of outsmarting his opponents, the Polish IGL racked up impressive numbers of his own as the second-best rated player within the team.

It’s no secret that his addition to the lineup was rewarding, since the last time the German organization won a high tier event was back in 2020 with Finn "karrigan" Andersen.

Despite joining only a few months ago, Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin became an important piece of the puzzle. Moreover, his impact hasn’t gone unnoticed boasting the highest KAST with a striking 80.5%.

MOUZ made the playoffs in every 2024 tournament so far, with a total of five.

• ESL Pro League Season 19 - Champion
• Intel Extreme Masters Chengdu 2024 - Runner-up
• PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 - Quarter-Finals
• Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2024 - Semi-Finals
• BLAST Premier: World Final 2023 - Semi-Finals

Complexity, saving NA one step at a time

Perhaps the PGL Major in Copenhagen was unfortunate for North America’s best team. But, they came into Malta swinging after reaching the playoffs.

This marks their first playoffs in six months, with the last being BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023.

With a big support from the CEO, Complexity rose to prominence to take down Heroic, Virtus Pro, on top of the Major winning team, NAVI.

Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski and his men were one of the only two teams to take a map off MOUZ. Surely, they ended up on the losing end. But, with a puffed pride.

Complexity’s own bald eagle roamed high in the sky with world class performances. “EliGE” ended the event with an ADR of 90 and 1.57 impact rating.

While some step up their game, others flop, like Ricky "floppy" Kemery. If you watched any of his matches, you’d notice a minimal impact and an underwhelming level.

Unfortunately, everything translates into stats, and a 0.57 KPR is not what will help Complexity achieve better results going further.

It’s safe to say that the team is like in the process of making a tasty pie, but missing an ingredient. And whether they need to change the recipe or not will be determined in Dallas.

"Proud of the team for putting on a good show this tournament where we exceeded our expectations".

- EliGE on X

Astralis looks promising under dev1ce

ESL Pro League Season 19 was Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz second event with Astralis as an in-game leader. Prior to this, the Danish AWPer led his team at IEM Chengdu where they finished 3rd-4th after losing tournament winner; FaZe Clan.

In Malta, Astralis carried with the same pace and managed to take down Eternal Fire and Team Liquid, on top of getting their sweet revenge against FaZe Clan.

Although they lost to Vitality, they gave them a run for their money following an electrifying series which went to overtime on the second map.

It’s clear that “devve” started to give a better face to his team compared to Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, who made them “less frightening”.

Under his leadership, Astralis frequently relied on flat 4-1 set-ups during their T side, limiting the impactful contributions of standout players such as Martin "stavn" Lund and Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard.

Yet, with dev1ce assuming the IGL role and br0 stepping in for blameF, a remarkable transformation took place. The team's tactics became more fluid, allowing the former Heroic duo to truly shine as they adeptly identified opportunities and controlled crucial rotations.

For instance, there’s quite the jump in numbers for both players when comparing their stats before and after the changes. A testament for dev1ce’s success so far.

ZywOo, relentless in Malta

We’re saving the best for last. Mathieu rocked the stage with a top notch performance, almost beating donk’s record for the highest rated in an event.

Regardless of what weapon he carries, he was a threat. Untouchable, indomitable and simply invincible. Unfortunately, MOUZ were the only team who could tame the beast.

With his MVP title in this event, “ZywOo” equaled dev1ce’s 19 medals, aiming for Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyljev record at 21.

The player is on another level. In fact, his best performance was against none other than FaZe Clan. A highlight machine coming on top of most duels and clutches, all while making it seem so easy.

The French superstar dropped two 30 bombs, in addition to countless clutches. Here are all the stats categories where he came on top.

What's next?

All eyes will be on the land of freedom starting from May 27th, for another pure dose of Counter-Strike at IEM Dallas. On top of the best teams in the world, Heroic will join the server with their new AWPer, while "donk" makes his return to S-tier tournaments. The event is shaping up to become the ultimate showdown, so be sure to tune in.

Featured Image Credits: ESL

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