This article is part of our CS:GO Recap series.
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 with Ninjas in Pyjamas capturing its first wins of the season. Here is how Week 4 played out.
Heroic and HellRaisers kicked off Week 4's action with a 1-1 split on Wednesday. HellRaisers were the first to strike in Game 1 on Mirage taking the pistol round away from Heroic, however, the Swedes came back to control the majority of the first half. Down 5-2, 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 before HellRaisers grabbed four of its own. Heroic came back to take Game 1 with a 16-12 score. HellRaisers did manage to even the series in Game 2, quickly jumping out to a seven round lead. Heroic finally woke up in round 8 winning its first round of the half, but HellRaisers quickly ended the momentum by taking the following round and eventually the half 10-5. The second half was no better for the Swedes as Heroic only managed to win 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, 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 will now move up to the fifth spot of the EU standings with fifteen 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. 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 respective 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.
