In the first two days of Group Stage 2 at the ESL Pro League Season 21 in Stockholm, it appears the road to victory will go through Team Spirit.
After sweeping its Round 1 match on Friday, Spirit did it again Saturday, sweeping SAW in a high match to become the only team yet to lose a map in the event.
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 featured a Swiss System format of best-of-three matches. The top eight teams then advanced to Group Stage 2, which also employs 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.
The 16 teams were split into two groups Saturday: the high group (teams that won on Friday) and the low group (teams that lost on Friday). The other high match winners on Saturday were The MongolZ, Team Vitality and MOUZ.
The MongolZ got things started with a 2-1 win over G2 Esports. After losing 13-9 on Ancient to start the match, The MongolZ won 16-12 on Dust II and 13-10 on Mirage.
Vitality made quick work of 3DMAX, winning 13-5 on Train and 13-7 on Dust II. MOUZ also got a sweep, topping Team Falcons 13-7 on Train and 13-9 on Nuke. Then Spirit did its thing, turning in the most dominant performance of the group: beating SAW 13-1 on Dust II and 13-8 on Train.
In the low group, Natus Vincere pulled off a reverse sweep against TYLOO, losing 13-10 on Inferno before winning 13-5 on Mirage and 13-5 on Ancient. paiN Gaming also got a 2-1 win, beating GamerLegion 13-7 on Nuke before dropping Inferno 16-13. In the deciding map, paiN hammered GL 13-2 on Mirage.
The group also saw two sweeps: Eternal Fire over MIBR (13-3 on Mirage and 13-8 on Inferno), and Team Liquid over FURIA (13-10 on Dust II and 13-8 on Anubis).
Play continues Sunday with three levels of matches:
–High (2-0 teams)
–Mid (1-1 teams)
–Low (0-2 teams)
Winners of the high matches advance to Round 5. Losers of the low matches are eliminated. All other teams advance to Round 4.
Sunday’s schedule
High Matches
–Team Spirit vs. The MongolZ
–Team Vitality vs. MOUZ
Mid Matches
–Team Falcons vs. 3DMAX
–G2 Esports vs. SAW
–paiN Gaming vs. Natus Vincere
–Team Liquid vs. Eternal Fire
Low Matches
–GamerLegion vs. TYLOO
–FURIA vs. MIBR
ESL Pro League Season 21 Group Stage 2 standings
1. Team Spirit, 2-0
2. Team Vitality, 2-0
3. MOUZ, 2-0
4. The MongolZ, 2-0
5. Natus Vincere, 1-1
6. G2 Esports, 1-1
7. Eternal Fire, 1-1
8. Team Falcons, 1-1
9. Team Liquid, 1-1
10. 3DMAX, 1-1
11. paiN Gaming, 1-1
12. SAW, 1-1
13. GamerLegion, 0-2
14. FURIA, 0-2
15. MIBR, 0-2
16. TYLOO, 0-2
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 — FlyQuest, M80, Nemiga Gaming
20-22. $4,500 — HEROIC, Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG
23-24. $3,000 — Housebets, Mindfreak
