ESL Professional League Season 16 Spherical of 12 Recap

The formidable have triumphed, however not with out being examined at ESL Professional League Season 16.


The Spherical of 12 of the ESL Professional League Season 16 Playoffs had all of it — thrillers, stomps, comebacks, and, sadly, a plethora of technical points. Each single match went to the third map — as may be anticipated from encounters between groups of this caliber — however finally, solely 4 groups may advance to the following spherical. 

In the event you haven’t been maintaining with the streams, right here’s every thing you have to learn about what went down in Malta.

FaZe Clan vs Complexity 

Contemplating the sheer distinction between the rankings of those groups, this match had no enterprise being as shut because it was. Complexity performed out of their minds and, at one level, have been 2 rounds away from one of many greatest upsets in any version of Professional League, however have been sadly unable to shut the sport.

The Match

On the primary map, Overpass, COL got here out swinging and shocked FaZe (and certainly your entire CSGO world) with a convincing 16-9 victory. Michael ”Grim” Wince was on fireplace with a large 1.73-rated efficiency and was capable of stomp out Håvard “rain” Nygaard’s makes an attempt on FaZe’s aspect.

On Inferno, Grim performed his coronary heart out as soon as once more, however this time his teammates simply couldn’t present sufficient help. Canadian famous person Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken was in his factor, and pushed his staff to a 16-14 win.

By the third map, FaZe have been in full move. Attempt as complexity may, they succumbed with out a lot contest. As soon as once more, rain was the main man for the multinational group’s 16-8 dominance, with Twistzz not far behind.

Fnatic vs Crew Liquid 

This matchup was at all times going to be hotly contested, however the place most individuals thought Fnatic would take it, Liquid got here out on prime. The primary map may have been anybody’s sport, however regardless of an tried comeback, the Swedish-English clan couldn’t stand as much as the may of the Individuals. 

The Match

Though Fnatic gamers had extra kills in whole, Liquid gained Inferno 16-13 by merely being higher at closing out important rounds. Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi was good for the three-time Main winners, however Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski was equal to the duty for his staff.

Up subsequent, Fnatic’s 16-9 assertion on Overpass was spurred on by nicoodoz’s 1.48-rated efficiency, with Fredrik “roeJ” Jørgensen additionally stepping as much as present extra firepower. 

All’s properly that ends properly, nevertheless, and it ended very properly for Liquid as they took Historical 16-10. Latvian hazard man Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis appeared to get up from his slumber as he fronted the slaughter with 28 essential kills, with Roej and EliGE following fairly a way behind. 

Heroic vs Natus Vincere 

Arguably probably the most eagerly-awaited matchup of the Spherical of 12, this was at all times going to be a troublesome match. Na’ Vi had been Heroic’s bane because the resumption of offline tournaments, and though the Danes have been placing up more and more higher performances, the Ukrainians appear to ‘merely’ have their quantity.

The Match

Heroic have been up 9-1 at one level on Mirage, nevertheless it’s testomony to Na’ Vi’s tenacity that they managed to hunker down and are available again to a 16-14 victory. Casper “cadiaN” Møller had the very best efficiency of all by far with a 1.47 ranking, however a staff effort from his beastly opponents gained out.

Inferno was one other 16-14 affair, however this time it was Heroic popping out on prime regardless of a incredible efficiency from Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev. As soon as once more, it was cadiaN stepping as much as lead the underdogs to victory. 

Sadly for everybody besides die-hard Na’ Vi followers, Overpass was a one-sided 16-7 stomp from the CIS squad. This time round s1mple was accompanied within the dismantling of his opponents by each Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi and Denis “electroNic” Sharipov. 

FURIA Esports vs Outsiders

After displaying nice promise within the Group Stage, FURIA have been tipped to be one of many semifinalists, if not higher. Nonetheless, their run was reduce quick by a decided Outsiders squad who’re out to show their very own value after a slew of poor outcomes. 

The Match

It’s onerous to think about that FURIA would fall off so onerous after the type of efficiency they put up on Historical. Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato and Yuri “yuurih” Boian dominated because the South Individuals closed out the match 16-11, with Dzhami “Jame” Ali’s efforts entering into useless.

Having seemingly lulled FURIA right into a false sense of safety, Outsiders confirmed simply how robust they have been on Vertigo with a robust 16-10 win. Evgeniy “FL1T” Lebedev and Pyotr “fame” Bolyshev topped the scoring ranks. 

By the point Inferno rolled round, Outsiders have been firing on all cylinders. They crushed any remaining FURIA hopes with a 16-6 thrashing, with FL1T being preposterously good and Jame following up with good help.

Now that you just’re all caught up, you possibly can go watch the remainder of the matches as they unfold. Be part of us once more once we recap and overview the Quarterfinals.

Author: Ronnie Neal