(Picture credit score: Invoice Streicher-USA TODAY Sports activities)
Monte and Natus Vincere every recorded a sweep on Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the ESL Professional League Season 18 playoffs in Saint Julian’s, Malta.
Monte posted a 2-0 victory over Crew Vitality and Natus Vincere gained by the identical rating over Everlasting Hearth. The victorious groups will sq. off on Saturday.
The $850,000 Counter-Strike: International Offensive occasion started with 32 groups damaged up into 4 teams of eight. Group-stage winners superior to the quarterfinals; runners-up superior to the Spherical of 12 because the excessive seeds; third-place groups superior to the Spherical of 16 because the excessive seeds; and fourth-place groups superior to the Spherical of 16 because the low seeds.
The group stage is triple elimination with higher, center and decrease brackets. All matches are best-of-three till the grand closing, which is best-of-five.
The event runs by Sunday. The winner earns $200,000 and qualifies for the 2024 IEM Katowice occasion and the 2023 BLAST World Remaining.
On Thursday, Monte punched their ticket to the semifinals with a 16-11 win on Anubis and 16-14 victory on Nuke.
Sergiy “DemQQ” Demchenko of the Ukraine recorded 53 kills and a plus-21 kills-to-death differential for Monte.
Frenchman Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut paced Vitality with 46 kills and a plus-4 kills-to-death differential.
Natus Vincere dispatched Everlasting Hearth following their 16-7 win on Anubis and 16-10 victory on Nuke.
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev of the Ukraine had 43 kills and a plus-14 kills-to-death differential to tempo Natus Vincere.
Engin “MAJER” Kupeli had 31 kills to gas the all-China staff of Everlasting Hearth.
The playoffs choose up once more Friday with two quarterfinal matches:
–ENCE vs. Movistar Riders
–MOUZ vs. G2 Esports
ESL Professional League Season 18 prize pool
1. $200,000, 3,000 BLAST Premier factors — TBD
2. $90,000, 2,000 BLAST factors — TBD
3-4. $50,000, 1,200 factors — TBD
5-8. $35,000, 500 factors — Everlasting Hearth, Crew Vitality, TBD
9-12. $25,000 — Complexity Gaming, BIG, 9z Crew, FaZe Clan
13-16. $20,000 — Fnatic, Astralis, Virtus.professional, FURIA Esports
17-20. $15,000 — Gamer Legion, MIBR, 5yclone, Crew Liquid
21-28. $8,000 — Ninjas in Pyjamas, Grayhound Gaming, Heroic, Evil Geniuses, Imperial Esports, Apeks, Cloud9, Lynn Imaginative and prescient Gaming
29-32. $4,000 — ORKS, Rooster, M80, 9INE
