The first week of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ESL Pro League Season 5 kicked off Tuesday with 28 teams from North America and Europe battling it out in their respective regions for 12 weeks, hoping make the final cut for the playoffs. The European season started off with some highs and lows for nearly every team involved, with only two teams coming out of the week undefeated.
The 2017 ELeague Major Champions Astralis ended Week 1 with an even 2-2 record against Natus Vincere and mousesports. Tuesday, the Danes started the season off against Natus Vincere on Overpass. While they started off the matchup well with a 6-1 lead, Na'Vi came on strong after that to take a 9-6 lead at the half. The second half was more of the same, with Na'Vi taking the map 16-11. Astralis bounced back in a big win in the second game on Nuke, pushing out to a quick 11-4 lead at the half. The Danes showed no mercy in the second half to even the series with a 16-4 win.
Astralis then went head-to-head against mousesports in their next series. The series started off on Mirage, and followed the same script as Astralis' first series. They secured an early 6-1 lead before falling apart and dropping the map 16-8. The second map was Nuke once again, and Astralis came out strong with an 11-4 lead at the half. Astralis remained consistent in the second half with a steady lead until mouz creeped up to bring the score to 11-10. Astralis felt no pressure as they took the game into map point before sealing the deal 16-11.
Wednesday showcased another exciting series between North and Fnatic, who both made roster changes following the ELeague Major, including the return of the 2015 Fnatic lineup. North, who acquired the former FaZe Clan star Philip "aizy" Aistrup, started the series on Mirage. North came out strong on the defense, stunning Fnatic's offense for an 11-4 lead at the half. Fnatic struggled to keep up with North's offense in the second half, only stopping one round before the Danish team took the first map 16-5.
The second map of the day was Overpass. Fnatic and North went neck-to-neck in the first half as Fnatic managed to edge out the first half lead 8-7 on defense after a late North comeback. However, Fnatic's defense was no match for North in the second half where the Danes dominated on the way to a 16-12 win.
At the top of the standings after the first week, there is a four-way tie between FaZe Clan, Team Kinguin, mousesports and Team EnVyUs, with all four teams having nine points (teams get three points per win in this round robin format). Astralis, Heroic, Na'Vi, North, Team LDLC and Virtus.pro round out the top 10 with a six-way tie at six points. Week 2 kicks off Tuesday, February 21 at 1:00 p.m. ET.