Young Ninjas and fnatic Rising early leaders in WePlay Academy League


The sixth iteration of the WePlay Academy League is approaching the halfway point of group play, and the standings are starting to take shape.

With $100,000 and the prospect of following in the footsteps of players like Ilya “⁠m0NESY⁠” Osipov and Ádám “⁠torzsi⁠” Torzsás on the line, what teams and players are impressing in CS:GO’s premier youth competition?

ztr’s Young Ninjas currently hold the best record in group play

Leading the way in Group A are last season’s WePlay victors, fnatic Rising, with the European mix having won four of their five games played so far. They have largely been routine victories, with a 16-12 triumph over NAVI Junior on Vertigo being the closest game.

Their one defeat came at the hands of MOUZ NXT, the holders of four WePlay Academy League trophies, however only Jimi “⁠Jimpphat⁠” Salo of the current MOUZ squad participated in one of the previous successful campaigns. After a disappointing group stage failure in Season 5 MOUZ NXT have started strong this time around, currently sporting a 3-1 record and holding third place in the group having dropped a map to NAVI Junior.

The Ukranians of NAVI Junior are the other team impressing early doors in Group A as they sit in second, matching fnatic Rising‘s 4-1 record.

Over in Group B Young Ninjas reside in clear first place, their 5-1 record only blemished by a tight 14-16 loss against ENCE Academy on Mirage. BIG Academy are hot on the Ninjas heels, their 4-2 record enough to give them sole control of second place after losses at the hands of the aforementioned Swedes and Astralis Talent.

Two players are standing head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to individual performers, with Linus “⁠nilo⁠” Bergman of Young Ninjas and Jimpphat of MOUZ NXT comfortably the highest rated players at the event, with a 1.43 and 1.39 rating respectively.

One interesting name amongst the top players is Adam “⁠WolfY⁠” Andersson, who achieved much success in tier-two in 2021 with the Lyngby Vikings roster who became ECSTATIC, with the American currently sporting a 1.29 rating turning out for fnatic Rising.

The action continues at 15:00