We transfer one step nearer to the tip of one other season of EPL — and what a step it was
After two days of thrilling motion, the Quarterfinals of ESL Professional League Season 16 have come to an finish. The unique 24 groups at the moment are down to only 4 — Cloud9, Crew Liquid, Crew Vitality and G2 Esports. Inside the subsequent two days, one workforce shall be topped Season 16 champions, whereas the others may have solely the expertise — and an honest paycheck for making it this far — to cherish.
For those who haven’t been following the Playoffs, you may check out our Round of 12 recap to rise up to hurry. For many who are totally up to date, right here’s a short breakdown of every match.
Cloud9 vs FaZe Clan
Coming into the match as favorites, FaZe undoubtedly had excessive expectations of themselves regardless of a comparatively shaky Group Stage the place they misplaced to G2 and dropped maps to MIBR and Outsiders. They at present have arguably the strongest workforce on paper, and with the million-dollar Intel Grand Slam on the playing cards, would have cherished to wrap issues up with this match. Nonetheless, the CIS boys of an American group had different plans.
The Match
The sequence started with Inferno, which was FaZe’s decide, they usually confirmed precisely why with a 16-13 victory. Helvijs “broky” Saukants and Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken outperformed the remaining to hold their workforce to victory, coming in robust to take 8 rounds on T-side after a shaky activate the CT-side. Sergey ”Ax1Le” Rykhtorov was in type for C9, however his efforts went in useless.
On C9’s decide of Historical, nevertheless, issues modified drastically. Ax1Le stepped up massively for an unbelievable 1.79-rated efficiency with 27 kills because the Russians and Kazakh marched to a complete 16-9 win. Grabbing a whopping 9 rounds on T-side earlier than FaZe salvaged a number of of their very own, C9 utterly shut down any makes an attempt at a comeback with a 7-2 scoreline on the protection. Robin “ropz” Kool was nice for FaZe, however his teammates have been merely not up to speed.
It’s a mark of simply how in-form Ax1Le is that he outperformed everybody else as soon as once more, including an extra 27 kills to his title as his workforce received 16-11 on Mirage. Abay “HObbit” Hasenov was additionally sensible this time round with 25 kills of his personal. As soon as once more, it was the T-side that stood out for the CIS workforce.
MOUZ vs Crew Liquid
MOUZ have been the shock quarter-finalists at this occasion, with everybody having anticipated Astralis, Heroic, and even ENCE of their stead. The younger squad, nevertheless, doesn’t fairly have the consistency required to win such an enormous occasion — not less than not but. Crew Liquid are not any stranger to such runs, they usually proved that they’re able to make yet one more.
The Match
Regardless of an incredible effort from David ”frozen” Čerňanský, Liquid cruised to a snug 16-10 victory on their very own map decide of Inferno. Keith “NAF” Markovic and Liquid’s major man Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski have been in prime nick for their very own workforce as they took a whopping 11 rounds on T aspect and closed it out regardless of a scary begin to their protection.
Historical was just about the identical story, with frozen standing head and shoulders above the remaining however thwarted by EliGE and, this time, Joshua “oSee” Ohm. MOUZ had an honest begin to the match with 6 rounds on what’s unarguably a tough T-side, however Liquid confirmed that their very own strats have been no much less harmful as they closed out the map and sequence with a rating of 16-11 on the previous.
G2 Esports vs Natus Vincere
This was probably the most eagerly-awaited matches of the Playoffs thus far, and it paid dividends to these hoping for it to be sport. It was a battle between long-time superstars and a famous person within the making all thrown in collectively, with revenge, delight, and popularity all on the road for 2 huge groups.
The Match
On Na’ Vi’s map decide of Mud 2, the Ukrainians had an honest T-side with 6 rounds, however shut down the attackers to take the map 16-13. Who else however Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev topped the charts with an HLTV ranking of 1.55, undoing the arduous work of fellow famous person Nikola “NiKo” Kovač on the opposite aspect.
On Inferno, nevertheless, the story was reversed as NiKo and Justin “jks” Savage boosted G2 to a assured 16-9 win. The French group successful each halves and completely outclassing their opponents.
It’s a mark of simply how good younger Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov is that he had a ridiculous 1.89 ranking towards the likes of Na’ Vi. Supported by NiKo, the Russian dismantled his opponents on each halves as his workforce waltzed to a snug 16-9 triumph, successful the sequence 2-1.
Crew Vitality vs Outsiders
Not often can a CSGO sport with a detailed scoreline be known as “boring,” but when something can come near that, it was this matchup between the 2 most defensive and affected person groups on this planet. Each groups started saving any time one or two gamers on their aspect died, and whereas we perceive it may be an efficient technique underneath sure circumstances, it was painful to observe at instances with the throwing of a easy smoke being part of the spherical’s highlights because it ended with 8 folks alive.
The Match
Vitality had a dominant begin to Mirage as they took a 10-5 lead on the CT aspect, and regardless of an ideal try on the protection by Outsiders on what was their map decide, the French clan took the win 16-13. Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut was the standard suspect who led the best way for his workforce, with Pyotr “fame” Bolyshev’s efforts falling quick.
Mud 2 was a slow-burn warfare of attrition as the 2 groups had 9-6 halves to take the match into Extra time. In the long run, Vitality managed to shut out the sport, with ZywOo as soon as once more stepping up — this time joined by Emil “Magisk” Reif.
We will even be overlaying the Semifinals and Grand Ultimate, so you’ll want to be part of us for the recaps of these matches.
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