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Complexity earned their second win in the ESL Pro League Season 16’s Group C after cruising through HEET.
As a result of the victory, the American esports franchise became the first Counter-strike: Global Offensive team in Group C to garner six points.
Complexity’s first win in the event was against Astralis in the upset that kick-started their journey in the ESL Pro League Season 16. The win against their Danish counterparts was the NA team’s first against a European team since the start of the year.
Complexity carried on in the tournament and swept HEET with a 2-0 record during their second outing of the event. They notably scored 16-8 on the first map, Nuke, and 16-12 on Overpass.
Complexity’s victory revealed that they had improved significantly compared to their performance during the BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022, where they finished in last place.
HEET’s map pick was Nuke, and it saw Complexity easily beat the all-French team as a result of their almost perfect T side during the second half of the map. HEET had an early advantage in the round due to the efforts of Pierre “Ex3rcice” Bulinge and Aurélien “afro” Drapier. The players moved the team to a 6-2 lead in the first half due to impressive pushes to the ramp room and the A site.
Complexity were able to gain on the team after their star players, Håkon “hallzerk” Fjærli and Justin “FaNg” Coakley, found their rhythm on the defense. The two players went on to push Complexity ahead of HEET with an impressive 13-round winning streak in both halves, making the score 15-6.
Michael “Grim” Wince, who was also particularly outstanding in the game, joined FaNg and hallzerk as the players created a relentless trident of firepower, closing Nuke with a 16-8 scoreline. The player recorded a 2.58 rating at the end of the map.
Complexity’s win in the next map, Overpass, was significantly more closely contested than Nuke’s. As a result of two 2v4 round victories, the NA team could not get into the lead and ended the first half with an 8-7 score with HEET ahead. Ricky “floppy” Kemery and Ex3rcice were at the forefront in terms of fragging in their respective teams and finished with a 1.44 and 1.29 rating, respectively.
The second half of the map saw Complexity in top form as they won their third consecutive pistol round during the series. The French team were able to keep up with Complexity for a while, but ultimately fell back, resulting in an 11–15 score with Complexity in the lead.
Thomas Djoko” Pavoni attempted to give the team a lifeline with a decisive 3K on the B site using the Deagle, but hallzerk destroyed his plans. The Complexity player executed a triple kill during the last round and ended Overpass with a 16-12 scoreline.
As a result of their victory, Complexity will have the opportunity to snag one of the three available playoff positions in the EPL season 16 Group C. To get a spot, the NA team will need to win against MOUZ, Heroic, or ENCE.
On their part, HEET is still yet to achieve a map win and will remain at the bottom of Group C. The all-French team previously lost against ENCE and will likely not move on to the event’s playoffs. To reach the playoffs, HEET will reportedly need to win all three series in a row, a feat that seems far off based on the team’s recent performances.
