BIG and ENCE seal their ticket to ESL Pro League S18 playoffs

The emotions continue in Group B of the ESL Pro League S18, and after the second day of matches, we already know the first two teams qualified for the tournament’s next phase. We are talking about BIG and ENCE, who beat Heroic and MIBR to seal their tickets to the EPL S18 playoffs.

There is no doubt that BIG’s victory over Heroic was a resounding surprise, as let’s remember how solid and consistent the Danish squad is. Moreover, BIG has not shown a good level of play during the 2023 season, and getting a 2-0 win is certainly one of the most unexpected results so far.

On the other hand, ENCE continues to ratify its excellent level of play, and each time, we observe a very solid team with an extremely strong lineup.

Now, without further ado, let’s see what happened on the second day of Group B matches in the ESL Pro League S18.

BIG surprise by beating Heroic 2-0

There is no doubt that the first match of the day blew us away, as absolutely no one in the CS:GO competitive scene expected BIG to beat Heroic. Moreover, it is not only the fact of the victory but how they did it, as they managed to take a resounding 2-0 victory. As a result, Heroic will have to start their way in the Mid Bracket of Group B, while BIG sealed their ticket to the tournament playoffs.

On the first map, Ancient, we enjoyed one of the most exciting matches in this ESL Pro League S18. Both teams had a great display and even 18 rounds of Overtime to define the winner. First, let’s emphasize that BIG started the first half with an incredible pace of play and took a partial victory by 11-4. Then, at the change of sides, Heroic, as expected, woke up and hit back to equalize the actions by 15-15.

Finally, after 18 rounds in Overtime, BIG won 25-23 to take a 1-0 series lead.

The second map, Inferno, was also really balanced and, above all, exciting. Again, BIG started winning the first half, but this time with a tight score of 8-7 on their CT side. At the change of sides, we saw a lot of problems for Heroic in defending against the onslaught of the Germans, which led to BIG taking much more confidence in the match. In the end, the German squad defeated the Danish squad with a score of 16-13 to seal their qualification to the playoffs.

IT’S A CLEAN 2-0 FOR @BIGCLANgg 🇩🇪

They take down @heroicgg in the upper bracket Semi-Final of Group B!

25-23 Ancient
16-13 Inferno#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/yVOmXid7Ex

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 7, 2023

ENCE suffered but took an excellent victory over MIBR

The second match of the day left us with another spectacular series between ENCE and MIBR, in which the European international squad took the victory by 2-1 after suffering in much of the series. The Brazilians, who showed a completely different side at the start of the tournament, also deserve a lot of credit.

It all started at Vertigo, MIBR’s map pick, where we saw a pitched battle from start to finish between these two teams. In the first half, MIBR asserted their map pick and took a narrow 8-7 victory on their T side. However, when the sides changed, ENCE responded and paid with the same coin, as, with an 8-7 in favor, they evened the score 15-15 and sent the map to Overtime. Finally, after 10 rounds in OT, ENCE won by 22-18.

Then, in the second map, Anubis, we enjoyed another great game that, as in the first map, had to be defined in Overtime. It all started with a solid victory by MIBR on their T-side by 10-5. As in the first map, ENCE responded quickly to get back on the scoreboard and even the match again by 15-15. However, this time, the Brazilians pulled out all the stops and took the victory in OT by 19-17.

Ancient: a slightly quieter map

Finally, the teams moved to Ancient to define the winner of this BO3. Unlike the first two maps, ENCE took the partial victory by 10-5 in the first half this time. Then, MIBR tried to strike back, but it was too late, as ENCE was one round away from winning the map. As a result, the European squad gives another blow on the table by taking the 16-11 map victory, 2-1 in the series, and sealed their ticket to the ESL PRO League S18 playoffs.

.@ENCE are the ones to come out on top, only narrowly closing out the UB Semi-Final 2-1 over @MIBR

22-18 Vertigo
17-19 Anubis
16-11 Ancient#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/h26LIi8238

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 7, 2023

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