MIBR, Eternal Fire and 3DMAX advanced out of Group Stage 1 at the ESL Pro League Season 21 by winning their respective Round 4 high matches on Tuesday in Stockholm.
MIBR beat TYLOO, Eternal Fire blanked FlyQuest and 3DMAX topped M80 — all by 2-0 scores.
Also Tuesday, three Round 4 low matches determined the next three teams to be eliminated from the tournament. Nemiga Gaming knocked out HEROIC, paiN Gaming beat Lynn Vision Gaming and FURIA defeated NRG, each of them a 2-1 result.
The $400,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament seeded eight of its 24 teams straight into Group Stage 2: G2 Esports, Team Spirit, The MongolZ, Team Vitality, MOUZ, Natus Vincere, Team Falcons and Team Liquid.
The other 16 teams began in Group Stage 1, which features a Swiss System format of best-of-three matches. The top eight teams advance to Group Stage 2, which will also employ a Swiss System format of best-of-three matches.
Eight teams will advance to the single-elimination playoffs. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be best-of-three before the best-of-five grand final on March 16. The winning team will receive $100,000.
On Tuesday, MIBR beat TYLOO 13-10 on Inferno and 13-7 on Anubis. Rafael “saffee” Costa led the all-Brazilian MIBR squad’s balanced attack with 36 kills and a plus-11 kills-deaths differential.
Eternal Fire eased past FlyQuest 13-3 on Inferno and 13-5 on Nuke. Ali “Wicadia” Haydar Yalcin led the all-Turkish EF roster in kills (38) and K-D differential (plus-18).
3DMAX defeated M80 13-7 on Anubis and 13-5 on Train. They were guided by Frenchman Alexandre “bodyy” Pianaro, who had 39 kills on a plus-21 K-D.
Nemiga sandwiched a 16-14 overtime win on Dust II and a 13-11 clincher on Train around a 13-6 setback to HEROIC on Mirage. Russia’s Ivan “zweih” Gogin had 60 kills on a plus-5 for the winners.
Lynn Vision Gaming opened with a 13-1 destruction of paiN on Dust II before paiN answered with a 13-5 result on Nuke. The final map was Anubis, and it required overtime before paiN prevailed 19-17. Brazil’s Lucas “nqz” Soares led paiN with 53 kills and a plus-14.
FURIA defeated NRG 13-11 on Train, sustained a 13-10 defeat on Dust II and got revenge with a 13-11 victory on Mirage. Brazilian Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato had 62 kills on a plus-19 to pace FURIA.
The stage will conclude Wednesday with three Round 5 matches:
–FlyQuest vs. TYLOO
–paiN Gaming vs. Nemiga Gaming
–FURIA vs. M80
ESL Pro League Season 21 Group Stage 1 standings
T1. GamerLegion, 3-0 (advanced)
T1. SAW, 3-0 (advanced)
T3. 3DMAX, 3-1 (advanced)
T3. Eternal Fire, 3-1 (advanced)
T3. MIBR, 3-1 (advanced)
T6. FlyQuest, 2-2
T6. FURIA, 2-2
T6. M80, 2-2
T6. Nemiga Gaming, 2-2
T6. paiN Gaming, 2-2
T6. TYLOO, 2-2
T12. HEROIC, 1-3 (eliminated)
T12. Lynn Vision Gaming, 1-3 (eliminated)
T12. NRG, 1-3 (eliminated)
T15. Housebets, 0-3 (eliminated)
T15. Mindfreak, 0-3 (eliminated)
ESL Pro League Season 21 prize pool
1. $100,000
2. $50,000
3-4. $25,000
5-8. $18,000
9-11. $13,500
12-14. $10,500
15-16. $8,500
17-19. $6,500
20-22. $4,500 — HEROIC, Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG
23-24. $3,000 — Housebets, Mindfreak
–Field Level Media
