FaZe Clan and BetBoom Team became the first two teams to qualify for the ESL Pro League Season 19 playoffs, winning mid-bracket matches on Friday in Saint Julian’s, Malta.
In Group A, FaZe Clan rallied past Eternal Fire 2-1. After Eternal Fire prevailed 13-9 on Anubis, FaZe Clan captured Mirage 13-11 and Inferno 13-8.
Denmark’s Finn “karrigan” Andersen paced FaZe Clan with 53 kills, while Latvia’s Helvijs “broky” Saukants had a team-best plus-10 kill-death differential.
Bugra “Calyx” Arkin led Eternal Fire’s all-Turkish roster with 58 kills. Ozgur “woxic” Eker posted a team-high plus-20 K-D differential.
In Group B, BetBoom Team came from behind to beat M80 2-1 and advance. M80 took Ancient 13-7, but then BetBoom Team won 13-6 on Mirage and 16-14 in overtime on Anubis.
Aleksandr “zorte” Zagodyrenko powered BetBoom Team’s all-Russian squad with 51 kills and a plus-11 K-D differential.
Guatemala’s Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa posted 59 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential for M80.
In Group A lower-bracket action on Friday, SAW swept Imperial Esports 2-0, setting up a Saturday matchup against Eternal Fire.
Both BetBoom Team and M80 earned mid-bracket victories earlier Friday before their head-to-head meeting. BetBoom Team toppled Team Falcons 2-0, and M80 squeezed past G2 Esports 2-1.
In the Group B lower-bracket play, TYLOO took down Sharks Esports 2-0.
The $750,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with 32 teams broken up into four groups of eight. Group-stage winners advance to the quarterfinals; runners-up advance to the Round of 12 as the high seeds; third-place teams advance to the Round of 16 as the high seeds; and fourth-place teams advance to the Round of 16 as the low seeds.
The group stage is triple-elimination with upper, middle and lower brackets. All matches are best-of-three until the grand final, which is best-of-five.
The tournament runs through May 12. The winner earns $170,000 and qualifies for the IEM Cologne 2024 event.
The group stage continues Saturday with five matches:
–Group A upper-bracket final: Astralis vs. 3DMax
–Group A lower-bracket semifinal: Fnatic vs. Virtus.pro
–Group A lower-bracket semifinal: Eternal Fire vs. Saw
–Group B lower-bracket semifinal: G2 Esports vs. Team Falcons
–Group B lower-bracket semifinal: M80 vs. TYLOO
ESL Pro League Season 19 prize pool
1. $170,000, 2,000 BLAST Premier points — TBD
2. $80,000, 1,400 points — TBD
3-4. $45,000, 750 points — TBD
5-8. $32,000, 275 points — TBD
9-12. $23,500 — TBD
13-16. $17,500 — TBD
17-20. $12,000 — TBD
21-28. $7,000 — TBD
29-32. $3,500 — Imperial Esports, Sharks Esports, two teams TBD
–Field Level Media
