Young Ninjas and fnatic Rising early leaders in WePlay Academy League

The sixth edition of the Academy League is well underway, but who is set for success?

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.

Group A TEAM M P fnatic Rising 5 12 NAVI Junior 5 12 MOUZ NXT 4 9 Flames Ascent 6 6 OG Academy 4 3 FURIA Academy 0 0 Apeks Rebels 4 0 Group B TEAM M P Young Ninjas 6 15 BIG Academy 6 12 Spirit Academy 5 9 Astralis Talent 5 9 ENCE Academy 5 6 PROSPECTS 6 6 MIBR Academy 5 0

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 on the WePlay Twitch channel with Flames Ascent taking on FURIA Academy.

Today's matches are as follows:

Group A
15:00 Flames Ascent vs FURIA Academy
17:20 MOUZ NXT vs NAVI Junior
19:40 OG Academy vs FURIA Academy
22:00 MOUZ NXT vs FURIA Academy

Group B
16:10 ENCE Academy vs BIG Academy
18:30 MIBR Academy vs Spirit Academy
20:50 Astralis Talent vs Young Ninjas

Flames Ascent Emil 'fez' KristensenSigurd 'buNNy' FritzbøgerAllan 'Speedy' SørensenAndreas 'Hansi' Schougaard HansenDavid 'Inspire' Rasmussen Christoffer 'ko5te' Kostelac Apeks Rebels Ådne 'sense' FredriksenViktor 'vhw' WadmanTobias 'berzerk' BertelsenPatrik 'Brave' KarlsenSindre 'Tapewaare' Ellefsen Torbjørn 'mithR' Nyborg NAVI Junior #171 Dmytro 'dem0n' MyroshnychenkoAdam 'froz1k' NahornyiMark 'UNBR0KEN' VarakutaAndrii 'npl' KukharskyiYuriy 'rendY' Halyshyn Astralis Talent #179 Kristoffer 'Kristou' AamandPatrick 'Patti' LarsenAlexander 'Altekz' GivskovAlexander 'br0' BroNicklas 'jarko' Rasmussen Adam 'WolfY' Andersson Age: 23 Team: fnatic Rising Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 587 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.62 NAVI Junior #171 Dmytro 'dem0n' MyroshnychenkoAdam 'froz1k' NahornyiAndrii 'npl' KukharskyiDaniil 'headtr1ck' ValitovRuslan 'yab0ku-' Kekot Igor 'crush' Shevchenko MOUZ NXT #234 Marcus 'Q-Q' Krolak-HenriksenJimi 'Jimpphat' SaloBram 'Nexius' CampanaChristoffer 'Chr1zN' StorgaardAdelin 'adeX' Nica Tobias 'TOBIZ' Theo BIG Academy #67 Tizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschDavid 'prosus' HesseTom 'skyye' HagedornNico 'Aqua' KembitzkyMarcel 'hyped' Köhn Markus 'Anhuin' Paeseler FURIA Academy #156 Leonardo 'zmb' ToledoKaue 'kauez' KaschukLucas 'decenty' BacelarBruno 'Bruninho' RodriguesJoão 'koala' Pfeffer Young Ninjas #111 Erik 'ztr' GustafssonSean 'eraa' KnutssonLinus 'nilo' BergmanAdam 'adamb' ÅngströmMax 'maxster' Jansson Ahmed 'abdi' Abdi Linus 'nilo' Bergman Age: 17 Team: Young Ninjas Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 290 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.67 Ádám 'torzsi' Torzsás Age: 20 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.15 Maps played: 517 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.62 Flames Ascent Emil 'fez' KristensenSigurd 'buNNy' FritzbøgerAllan 'Speedy' SørensenAndreas 'Hansi' Schougaard HansenDavid 'Inspire' Rasmussen PROSPECTS #126 Alexander 'AlekS' AnderssonGustav 'FRANSSON' FranssonOlle 'spooke' GrundströmJohan 'hype' EngblomJonatan 'bobeksde' Persson Dennis 'Rytter' Rytter Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov Age: 17 Team: G2 Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 294 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.60 Spirit Academy #251 Mykhailo 'OWNER' LymarMyroslav 'zont1x' PlakhotiaDanil 'donk' KryshkovetsArtem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovOleg 'baz' Kulynych Lyngby Vikings OG Academy #165 Blagoi 'oxygeN' DimitrovArbnor 'Dementor' PacolliAlexandru 's0und' ȘtefanMax 'Marix' KugenerSlaven 'AwaykeN' Lyubenov Christian 'crisby' Schmitt Jimi 'Jimpphat' Salo Age: 16 Team: MOUZ NXT Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 154 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.64 OG Academy #165 Blagoi 'oxygeN' DimitrovArbnor 'Dementor' PacolliAlexandru 's0und' ȘtefanMax 'Marix' KugenerSlaven 'AwaykeN' Lyubenov fnatic Rising #87 Adam 'WolfY' AnderssonPeppe 'Peppzor' BorakMikkel 'Maze' SparvathSebastian 'volt' MaloșMatias 'Banjo' Kivistö MIBR Academy #198 Cauã 'card' CardosoLucas 'lub' BaracatRawan 'beg0d' TavaresFelipe 'insani' YujiHenzo 'spinnie' Macri Astralis Talent #179 Kristoffer 'Kristou' AamandPatrick 'Patti' LarsenAlexander 'Altekz' GivskovAlexander 'br0' BroNicklas 'jarko' Rasmussen René 'cajunb' Borg FURIA Academy #156 Leonardo 'zmb' ToledoKaue 'kauez' KaschukLucas 'decenty' BacelarBruno 'Bruninho' RodriguesJoão 'koala' Pfeffer Leonardo 'msr' Caixeta MOUZ NXT #234 Marcus 'Q-Q' Krolak-HenriksenJimi 'Jimpphat' SaloBram 'Nexius' CampanaChristoffer 'Chr1zN' Storgaard Young Ninjas #111 Erik 'ztr' GustafssonSean 'eraa' KnutssonLinus 'nilo' BergmanAdam 'adamb' ÅngströmMax 'maxster' Jansson ENCE Academy Veeti 'S1rva' SirvaHenri 'HENU' YlilehtoYoussef 'juissi' AdamVille 'myltsi' VilkmanPaavo 'podi' Heiskanen George 'Whitey' White MIBR Academy #198 Cauã 'card' CardosoLucas 'lub' BaracatRawan 'beg0d' TavaresFelipe 'insani' YujiHenzo 'spinnie' Macri Pedro 'betinho' Umberto ECSTATIC #46 Jonas 'Queenix' DideriksenMarcus 'maNkz' KjeldsenCasper 'Cabbi' JensenBenjamin 'brzer' JensenTobias 'kraghen' Kragh Jensen BIG Academy #67 David 'prosus' HesseTom 'skyye' HagedornNico 'Aqua' KembitzkyMarcel 'hyped' KöhnElias 's1n' Stein ENCE Academy Veeti 'S1rva' SirvaHenri 'HENU' YlilehtoYoussef 'juissi' AdamVille 'myltsi' VilkmanPaavo 'podi' Heiskanen Time is adjusted to your selected timezone Spirit Academy #251 Mykhailo 'OWNER' LymarMyroslav 'zont1x' PlakhotiaDanil 'donk' KryshkovetsArtem 'ArtFr0st' KharitonovOleg 'baz' Kulynych Dmitry 'S0tF1k' Forostyanko