Article written by: John "JAYEL"

We are about half-way through the regular season and some of the top teams are starting to show their colors. The big match-ups are starting to become true tests of talent and preparation. This week, Counter Nature put together our favorite match-ups for ESEA Open, Intermediate, Main, and Advanced.

Table of Contents:

1. ESEA Open: Prestige Worldwide (8-0) versus Just better v2 (8-0)

2. ESEA Intermediate: Revenant Academy (8-0) versus ryder esports (8-0)

3. ESEA Main: Team Villainous (8-0) versus Gosu (7-1)

4. ESEA Advanced: RBG Esports (6-0) versus teef (6-0)

5/25 Monday - ESEA Open: Prestige Worldwide (8-0) versus Just better v2 (8-0)

This match could be one of the best in Open this season. Both of these teams have hard-hitting fraggers leading the charge. 

Prestige Worldwide is flowered with ex-Advanced,MDL and Rank G players, but is led especially by huston. Prestige Worldwide’s top fragger has been on an absolute tear this season, averaging 118.71 ADR, 1.11 FPR, and 19.11 RWS thus far. Prestige ranks higher on their win performances, by not dropping more than 10 rounds in a match this season. 

Just better v2 is also structured with a formidable roster, housing lots of Main and IM experience. This team has played well together and has already proven themselves in their impressive overtime win versus Bad Intentionsss. WuLphie was on Counter Nature’s Team of the Week in week one, and since then, the rest of the team has stepped up to his level and really balanced out. 

If Just better v2 can pull off another win in a match versus a loaded Open roster, they will have all the criteria needed to be a top 3 team in the league. This should be a banger of a match tonight. Tune in at 9:30 PM EST.

• Prestige Worldwide 3-0 on Inferno by round count of 48-22
• Just better v2 2-0 on Inferno by round count of 32-8
• Prediction: 16-13 for Prestige Worldwide. A close match where Just better proves they’re capable, but PW step up to the plate and close it out. 
• Result: Prestige World Wide win 16-4
  

5/26 Tuesday - ESEA Intermediate: Revenant Academy (8-0) versus ryder esports (8-0)

After rolling through and winning Main, ryder esports moves on to... Intermediate. There have been little to no speed bumps that seem to slow ryder down from repeating last season’s glory in the Intermediate division, but Revenant will give it a shot. Revenant has had a great start to their first season in Intermediate (12-3 (3-1) in Open last season), and a win over ryder esports would really set a new standard for this team moving forward. 

Rubick seems to be the stand-out for ryder this season, topping this season's stats with 101.99 ADR, 1.10 FPR, and a 16.15 RWS. Revenant is a slightly more balanced team, but TEDi tops their charts with 95.26 ADR, 0.94 FPR, and a 14.72 RWS. Tune in at 9:00 PM EST on Tuesday.

• Revenant Esports 3-0 on Dust2 by round count of 48-42
• ryder esports 2-0 on Dust2 by round count of 32-20
• Prediction: 16-7 for ryder esports. Ryder smells another undefeated team, ryder eats the other undefeated team. Revenant will need to play better than any of their past 16-14 wins they had on d2 to keep this one close. 
• Result: ryder esports win 16-10

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5/27 Wednesday - ESEA Main: Team Villainous (8-0) versus Gosu (7-1)

First of all, ESEA didn’t handle the Memorial Day Weekend matches well. Their sticky forum thread was poorly worded and clearly confusing for many teams. It looks like that is what Gosu had happen to them, in their FFL on Sunday. 

Secondly, I’m sure Gosu is going to use this as motivation to bounce back with a win versus the undefeated Team Villainous. The veterans of Main, Gosu, are off to one of their best starts ever. Their long history of playing with each other (and the new addition of REDKILLER) probably has to do with that. Gosu’s team stats are some of the most balanced that I have seen.   

Team Villainous already have 80% of the wins on record that they had last season, which was their first go in Main. Their addition of Umar has proven to be extremely beneficial, as he is topping their team stats this season with 102.16 ADR, 1.02 FPR, and 15.23 RWS. Tune in at 10:00 PM EST on Wednesday.

• Map veto is still pending
• Prediction: 16-13 for Gosu. Gosu is coming off a FFL and Villainous is coming off a FFW. I need to go with the motivation that comes from the frustration of a FFL. This one should be a banger, regardless.

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5/27 Wednesday - ESEA Advanced: RBG Esports (6-0) versus teef (6-0)

RBG Esports is on a tear, looking to improve on their 13-3 (2-2) Advanced campaign from last season. So far, so good. 

Teef has made huge improvements from their previous and first season in Advanced, which they finished with a 7-9 record. Roster additions of kimuwu, a2g, and hydra seem to be paying off well. 

So, this match brings us a clash between the proven and unproven. Teef is coming off a loss, so they will want to bounce back quickly and avoid entering the  start of a losing streak. However, this is probably the hardest test to do that against. RBG have won their last three matches by a combined record of 48-19.

• Map veto is still pending. 
• Prediction: 16-9 for RBG Esports. RBG Esports remains focused and warmongering in their campaign to MDL. I don’t think teef will be as prepared as RBG will be for this match.
  

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Thank you to everyone for checking out another Counter Nature article. We really appreciate those of you who have been following along and I'm so excited to continue growing and providing more and new content for you all. In these next few months, you will see a lot of changes from Counter Nature. Let's change the CS scene, together.

If you are interested in working and producing content for Counter Nature, please reach out to us via our contact form, Twitter, or ESEA. I will be happy to talk about what we need and how you can help. Also, if you are interested in answering some questions that will help shape the future of Counter Nature, please get in contact as well.

Thank you!
John