Virtus.pro twice rallied for victories on Friday and booked a playoff spot at the ESL Pro League Season 20 in Saint Julian’s, Malta.
In a Group D mid-bracket quarterfinal, Virtus.pro came from a map down to beat Team Falcons 2-1. Virtus.pro pulled off an identical 2-1 comeback in its next match against FURIA Esports to advance.
BIG also sealed a playoff berth on Friday, defeating Complexity Gaming 2-1 in the Group C mid-bracket semifinal.
FURIA had earned the matchup with Virtus.pro by winning their first match on Friday, 2-1 over RED Canids.
In a Group C lower-bracket quarterfinal, Astralis swept Rooster 2-0. ATOX Esports stayed alive by winning their Group D lower-bracket quarterfinal 2-0 over ENCE.
The group stage of the $750,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event split 32 teams into four groups that are competing in triple-elimination brackets, with each match best-of-three. The top four teams from each group will move into the playoff bracket.
Group winners will advance straight into the playoff quarterfinals. Runners-up will advance to the Round of 12, third-place teams will move to the Round of 16 as high seeds and fourth-place teams will start in the Round of 16 as low seeds.
The single-elimination playoff bracket will feature best-of-three matches until the best-of-five grand final on Sept. 22.
The winner will receive $170,000 and will qualify for the first ESL Pro Tour Championship of 2025.
On Friday, Team Falcons opened with a 16-13 overtime win on Dust II before Virtus.pro claimed Vertigo 16-13 in overtime and Ancient 13-11.
Russia’s Denis “electroNic” Sharipov recorded 58 kills and a plus-9 kill-death differential for Virtus.pro. Spain’s Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia amassed 64 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential for Team Falcons.
FURIA bounced back from a 13-1 thrashing on Anubis to down RED Canids 13-6 on Nuke, 13-11 on Vertigo.
Yuri “yuurih” Santos led FURIA with 46 kills and a plus-9 K-D differential. Chile’s David “dav1deuS” Tapia Maldonado, the only non-Brazilian competing in the match for either side, put up 47 kills and a plus-7 K-D differential.
FURIA started well in their next match, topping Virtus.pro 16-14 in overtime on Dust II. However, Virtus.pro responded with a 13-7 victories on Vertigo and Mirage.
David “n0rb3r7” Danielyan produced 49 kills and a plus-9 K-D differential for all-Russian Virtus.pro. Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato led FURIA with 51 kills and a plus-10 K-D differential.
BIG took Ancient 13-10 before Complexity claimed Vertigo 13-11. The decisive third map, Dust II, was one-sided, as BIG prevailed 13-1.
Switzerland’s Rigon “rigoN” Gashi posted 55 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential for BIG. The United States’ Michael “Grim” Wince had 50 kills and a plus-3 K-D differential for Complexity.
The Saturday schedule:
–Group C upper-bracket final — Imperial Esports vs. M80
–Group C lower-bracket semifinal — Fnatic vs. MOUZ
–Group C lower-bracket semifinal — Complexity Gaming vs. Astralis
–Group D lower-bracket semifinal — Team Falcons vs. RED Canids
–Group D lower-bracket semifinal — FURIA Esports vs. ATOX Esports
ESL Pro League Season 20 prize pool (money, BLAST Premier points):
1. $170,000, 2,000 points
2. $80,000, 1,400
3-4. $45,000, 750
5-8. $32,000, 275
9-12. $23,500, no points
13-16. $17,500, no points
17-20. $12,000, no points — Sangal Esports, 3DMAX, two teams TBD
21-28. $7,000, no points — Ninjas in Pyjamas, FlyQuest, 9z Team, Wildcard, four teams TBD
29-32. $3,500, no points — Lynn Vision Gaming, KOI, ENCE, Rooster
–Field Level Media
