ESL Pro League Season 18: All About the Group Stage
radoslaw-davidovic
The Group Stage of ESL Pro League Season 18, which lasted almost a month, has finally ended. During this month, there were a lot of tense matches and exciting moments. Today, we will see who still managed to pass this stage and move to the Playoffs stage.
In article you will find:
What is ESL Pro League Season 18 & Why is it Important?
ESL Pro League Season 18 is a tournament organized by the Electronic Sports League that has been running for many years and has a very important place among other CS:GO tournaments.
It is because the tournament not only has high prize money of $850,000 but also the opportunity to earn a large number of BLAST Premier points, and most importantly, the winner will receive invitations to the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2024 and the BLAST Premier: World Final 2023.
This season, 32 teams met, divided into four groups of eight. Below, we will consider each of them.
Group A
In the ESL Pro League, the Group Stage starts with Best-of-3 matches. It means that a team must win two maps to win the match.
Here are the teams seeded into Group A:
- Team Vitality
- ORKS
- Astralis
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- FURIA Esports
- Movistar Riders
- Grayhound
- GamerLegion
According to the tournament rules, only four teams from each group advanced to the playoffs. Two teams advanced from the Upper Bracket, one from the Lower Bracket, and one from the Last Chance.
The Group A results were very interesting, as many strong teams had shown great results in previous tournaments. However, strong teams like FURIA and GamerLegion lost to the relatively unknown Movistar Riders. Movistar Riders advanced to the Playoffs and showed they could compete for the top 3 spots in the tournament. Their potential is incredible.
Unfortunately, Ninjas in Pyjamas and GamerLegion could not advance, even though they had something to show. They were probably not prepared for the opponents they faced.
Let’s move on to the Group B.
Group B
There were also many interesting and intriguing moments in this group, which gave incredible emotions, especially during Last Chance.
Here are the teams seeded into Group B:
- Heroic
- Rooster
- BIG
- Monte
- MOUZ
- MIBR
- Evil Geniuses
- ENCE
For most fans who regularly follow tournaments, it was clear that ENCE was the team to beat in this group. The players on this team have a strong chemistry and are constantly improving. They quickly secured their spot in the playoffs, followed by BIG.
Up until this point, everything had been relatively straightforward. However, the experts had not anticipated the strength and determination of the Ukrainian team Monte. Their matches were closely contested, with the team fighting hard for every round.
Unsurprisingly, they managed to advance to the Playoffs, along with MOUZ, who also had a respectable performance but faced easier opponents.
Now, let us move on to the Group C.
Group С
Group C was fascinating, with some of the world’s top teams competing for a spot in the Playoffs.
Here are the teams seeded into Group С:
- FaZe Clan
- 9z Team
- Imperial Esports
- Fnatic
- Apeks
- M80
- 5yclone
- Natus Vincere
The most notable performance was from NAVI, who swept all their opponents 2:0 without losing a map. So, both Ukrainian teams were a strong showing and were in good form throughout the tournament. FaZe Clan also had an exciting performance. It’s strange that FaZe often picked Mirage in the previous tournament but didn’t play this map once in Group C.
Fnatic was the third Team to qualify for the Playoffs. The Team finally showed some good chemistry and even defeated Apeks, considered the favorites. The last Team to qualify for the Playoffs was 9z Team. It is difficult to say how strong the Team is, as their results were somewhat mediocre.
And now we move on to the last group of this tournament.
Group D
It was one of the most unusual groups, so let’s look at the teams in it.
Here are the teams seeded into Group D:
- Cloud9
- Eternal Fire
- Complexity
- 9INE
- Team Liquid
- Virtus.pro
- Lynn Vision
- G2 Esports
We had mixed feelings about watching this group. First, the games with Lynn Vision were quite strange, as if the Chinese team had a different understanding of the game. Second, G2 and Complexity were the strongest teams in this group, so there was little suspense, except for the first Complexity match against 9INE.
In addition to all of this, Liquid could not show themselves and lost to VP and Cloud9. VP then advanced to the playoffs. The team that fought for the last chance and won was Eternal Fire, who again beat Liquid.
As a result, here is a clear Playoff bracket:
The first Playoff match will take place on September 26 at 16:30 EEST. Don’t miss this event and cheer for your favorite team, and in the meantime, check out the highlights we’ve collected for you.
ESL Pro League Season 18: Highlights
Wrapping Up ESL Pro League Season 18 Group Stage!
It was a tough and tense month, but the playoff stage is just around the corner, and we will soon find out the names of the ESL Pro League Season 18 winners. The winners will receive $200,000, 3,000 BLAST Premier points, and, most importantly, an invitation to the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2024 and the BLAST Premier: World Final 2023.
Stay tuned with us, read our blog, and be always in the center of events!
Radosław Davidović is Hellcase’s customer success manager. He enjoys blogging to share his knowledge and experience with customers.