WINNERS League Season 3 has finally arrived.
With that, fans can watch some of the hottest up-and-coming teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive face off. Some of them, like the New England Whalers, are looking to prove themselves in the NA division as they enter the next tier of CSGO competition. Others, like returning champions Swole Patrol, are looking to reestablish themselves as serious threats with a new roster.
The situation looks similar in the WINNERS League EU division, as familiar faces make their return while a new crop of challengers approaches. Some, though, might find it more difficult than last season.
WINNERS League Season 2 Main Division winner Vexed Gaming, for example, was promoted and made their debut in the Invite Division. While they performed well, they were ultimately defeated by Smoke Criminals.
There is already a lot of high-quality Counter-Strike to look back on, but here are the highlights of Season 3’s first week.
The most impressive performance of the week goes to Nemiga Gaming, who took BIG Academy to task on Inferno in Group A. The Belarusians only allowed BIG to scrape together five total rounds as Nemiga hit the gas and didn’t look back. Igor “lollipop21k” Solodkov’s ridiculous 2.56 K/D ratio helped his team pick up right where they left off last season, where they waltzed into playoffs with a 6-1 record.
On the other side of the pond, fan-favorite Mythic picked up their first win of the season against Oceanus Gaming in an overtime affair on Dust 2. Erik “fl0m” Flom dropped 37 kills across the map to drag Mythic to the 19-round mark in Group A.
Swole Patrol started off strong with a win over LiViD Gaming, despite an uncharacteristically underwhelming performance from Braxton “swag” Pierce. Instead, it was the rest of Swole Patrol that picked up the slack, with the other players finishing with similar K/D ratios. Even more surprising was how good the team looked, considering Jake “kaboose” McDonald, Collin “wrath” McSweegan, and Chad “Oderus” Miller only joined the team in the past two weeks.
Despite LiViD’s loss, the team showed promise. While the game’s 16-6 score might suggest it was a rout, the team was just a moment or two away from making this a nailbiter. It’s just the first week, so look for them to find their footing in their next WINNERS League Season 3 matchup.
This hasn’t been a great year for Brazillian esports, but if INTZ Esports can come out of the gate strong in Season 3, they’ll be in a great position for a big year. Veteran players Gustavo “yel” Knittel and Lucas “DeStiNy” Bullo have the combined firepower to push through lesser teams, and they’re set up magnificently this week against Ascent Esports. That said, INTZ might want to watch out for Brandon “Bewbie” Roberts, as LiViD learned last week.
The game is currently set to take place on November 14
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