The fourth week of the EU ESL Pro League Season 5 for "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive" got off to a rocky start after Tuesday's matches were postponed due to an Internet issue. However, the action continued Wednesday, and Ninjas in Pyjamas captured their first wins of the season. Here is how Week 4 played out.
Heroic and HellRaisers kicked off Week 4 action with a 1-1 split on Wednesday. Down 5-2 in Game 1, HellRaisers fought for a late comeback, tying the game 5-5 on round 10 and eventually taking the lead at the half 8-7. Heroic returned the favor in the second half, putting together eight consecutive round wins, and took Game 1 16-12. HellRaisers managed to even the series in Game 2, quickly jumping out to a seven-round lead and eventually taking the half 10-5. The second half was no better for the Swedes as Heroic managed to win only one round, giving way to a 16-6 HellRaisers win.
Fnatic's series against Virtus.pro was a tale of two games, as both teams put together lopsided wins Wednesday. Game 1 saw Fnatic earn a 13-2 lead at the half before blitzing to a 16-2 finish. Virtus.pro looked for revenge on Mirage in Game 2, dumping the Fnatic offense and earning an 11-4 lead. Fnatic tried to fight back in the second half but came up short of a series win, dropping Game 2 16-5. Fnatic moves up to the fifth spot of the EU standings with 15 points in a five-way tie (including their foe Virtus.pro).
Ninjas in Pyjamas finally earned its first two map wins of the season on Wednesday, but it wasn't without drama. Facing Kinguin, NiP initially looked to be in trouble, losing the first three rounds of Game 1. However NiP turned things around, winning seven rounds on the offense to kill the momentum of Kinguin and to close the first half up 11-4. Although the Ninjas had a slow start to the second half, it still managed to close out Game 1 with a 16-12 win. In Game 2, Kinguin again jumped out to another lead early, this time 6-0. However, the Ninjas managed come back late to win six rounds in the first half, only trailing 9-6 at the break. It appeared as if Kinguin had the win locked up in the second half, needing just two round wins to take the series, but NiP rallied back, eventually grabbing the 16-14 Game 2 win.
Astralis finished Week 4 on a strong note, going 3-1 over its two-game series against North and Heroic. Astralis started the week off against its Danish countrymen North on Wednesday, who silenced the IEM Katowice Champions in Game 1 to pick up a commanding 16-4 win on Overpass. Astralis then returned the favor with a strong second half finish on Nuke, winning Game 2 16-11. Astralis' Thursday matchup against Heroic certainly ended on a better note as the Danes immediately recorded a 16-10 Game 1 win and then followed up the scintillating performance with a 16-7 Game 2 score.
A hectic Week 4 is now complete with mousesports, Astralis and North rounding out the top three in the standings. Week 5 will begin Tuesday, March 21 at 2 p.m. ET.