Outsiders and Cloud9 guaranteed participation in the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 17

Teams Outsiders and Cloud9 got the second victory in the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 17, thanks to which they guaranteed a place in the playoffs of the competition. According to the results of the semi-finals of the upper bracket, they managed to beat fnatic (2:0) and G2 Esports (2:0), respectively. Now the teams will meet each other to compete for a direct ticket to the quarterfinals of the tournament. In turn, fnatic and G2 Esports went to the lower bracket of group A, where they will get another chance to get into the playoffs of the championship.

A little earlier, the teams IHC Esports and Evil Geniuses fell into the "Last Chance" bracket of the ESL Pro League Season 17 group stage.

Outsiders - fnatic

The first semi-final of the upper bracket of group A started on the Inferno map, which turned out to be the choice of the Russian team. But if at the start fnatic still tried to impose a fight, then very soon the team disappeared from the radar. In turn, the Outsiders had a confident half in the attack and actually decided all the issues in advance - 11:4. However, after the change of sides, keita's charges unexpectedly returned to the game, almost catching up with the opponent. And yet, in the very ending, the Outsiders managed to put the squeeze on fnatic and take the lead in the series — 16:14.

Next, the teams moved to the Vertigo map, which became fnatic's choice. Here the situation was in favor of the European team, which showed a confident start. But closer to the change of sides, dastan's men returned to the game and significantly reduced their backlog. In the second half, fnatic finally disappeared from the radar, while the Outsiders confidently finished playing in attack and secured a ticket to the playoffs of the tournament - 16:12.

Cloud9-G2 Esports

The final match of the second gaming day of the competition started on the Vertigo map, which became the choice of the Russian team. At the same time, the "cloudy" ones immediately seized the initiative on the server, not allowing the opponent to breathe. Under such pressure, G2 Esports really failed, having recorded the defeat - 12:3. After switching sides, the Samura managed to squeeze out a pistol series, after which the Cloud9 players took the initiative into their own hands and quickly brought the matter to a victorious end — 16:6.

Next, the teams moved to the Inferno map, which turned out to be the choice of G2 Esports. Here, the Russian team again began to destroy the opponent, creating a comfortable reserve for themselves. However, towards the end of the first half, the “samurai” managed to get involved in the fight to close the gap to a decent — 9:6. However, after the switchover, Swani's men could not consolidate the result, while Cloud9 showed a confident attack and got a sensational victory over the leader of the world ranking - 16:12.

ESL Pro League Season 17 runs from February 22 to March 26 in Malta. As part of the championship, 32 teams from the CIS, Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Oceania are competing for a total prize pool of $850,000, as well as tickets to IEM Cologne 2023 and BLAST World Final 2023 for the winner.