Groups A and B are done and dusted in season 16 of Counter Strike: Global Offensive's ESL Pro League, which continues on Wednesday with the start of Group C.
In Group A, Team Vitality took top spot and will progress to the knockout stage with Fnatic and Natus Vincere, while G2 Esports finished first in Group B and will be joined by FaZe Clan and Outsiders in the playoffs.
As is the case with all of the sections, the top team in Group C will progress directly to the quarter-finals, while the other two teams to qualify will start the knockout phase in the round of 12. The bottom three teams will be automatically eliminated from the tournament.
Heroic are arguably the team to keep an eye on in Group C, but they could face competition for top spot from strong Danish outfit Astralis. HEET and Complexity Gaming, meanwhile, are considered outsiders and are unlikely to land a top-three berth.
Group C will have concluded by the end of Sunday with Group D - the final section - set to get under way next Wednesday.
Danes Astralis should be too strong for Complexity
| What | Complexity Gaming vs. Astralis |
| Where | Malta |
| When | 15:00 Wednesday 14th September 2022 |
| How to watch | ESL Pro League Youtube, Twitch channel |
| Odds | Complexity Gaming 5/2, Astralis 2/7 |
Astralis are expected to be in contention for top spot in Group C and they can start season 16 of the ESL Pro League with victory over Complexity Gaming.
The Danish outfit come into the latest season of the ESL Pro League fresh from a decent performance at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups in which they won Group A with victories over OG, Ninjas In Pyjamas and Vitality.
They went on to lose in the finals stage against OG but are nonetheless considered among the best in the world and are currently fourth in HLTV's CS:GO world rankings.
As for their opponents Complexity Gaming, they are outsiders in Group C, having lost three of their four matches at the recent BLAST Premier Fall Groups.
Complexity fell to defeat against Astralis at both the IEM Cologne play-in stage (a 2-0 loss) and the 2022 Roobet Cup (a 2-1 loss) and they could again be out of their depth.
Astralis look about right to come on top in this one with map vetoes unlikely to impact how this game unfolds, and the best bet could be to back Astralis at -1.5 on the match handicap at 11/10.
Astralis will recognise the importance of getting off to a winning start and the 1/2 on offer for them to take Map 1 could also be worth looking at.
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Gulf in quality could be only too apparent
| What | ENCE vs. HEET |
| Where | Malta |
| When | 18:30 Wednesday 14th September 2022 |
| How to watch | ESL Pro League Youtube, Twitch channel |
| Odds | ENCE 2/5, HEET 7/4 |
It has been a pretty quiet summer for ENCE, but they were runners-up in season 15 of the ESL Pro League in Dusseldorf back in the Spring and they are fancied to win their opening match of season 16 against minnows HEET.
Back in season 15 of the ESL Pro League, ENCE placed second in their group with a 4-1 record before beating the likes of Fnatic, Movistar Riders and Ninjas In Pyjamas in the playoffs to make the Grand Final.
And, although they were last in action in the IEM Cologne back in July, they can also count victory at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown Europe and a runner-up spot at the IEM Dallas among their successes in 2022.
They are expected to compete with Heroic and Astralis for top spot in Group C and it would be a surprise for them not to start with a win over HEET, who are 32nd in HLTV's rankings and were not even involved in season 15 of the ESL Pro League.
They qualified for season 16 via their performance in the Conference competition but even then they had to come through the lower bracket to book their spot.
HEET could be out of their depth in this group and in this opening match in particular and ENCE are worth a bet at -1.5 on the match handicap at 6/4.
