ESL Pro League S16 Conference concludes, HEET and FTW advance to group stage

ESL Pro League Conference Season 16 concluded yesterday with six CS:GO squads securing their spots in the group stage of ESL Pro League. HEET and FTW Esports will join MIBR, Endpoint, Eternal Fire and Outsiders in the league’s main competition. 

The event ran across four days in Jönköping, Sweden and featured 16 teams fighting for a chance to compete with some of the top CS:GO powerhouses in the main stage of the ESL Pro League Season 16. The ten teams that did not qualify received a chunk of the $15,000 prize pool. 

HEET and FTW qualify for ESL Pro League S16 Group Stage 

Out of the six advancing Conference teams, HEET and FTW were the last two to qualify for the upcoming 16th season of ESL Pro League’s group stage, following their run in the lower bracket. The conclusion of the event saw HEET against Falcons Esports and FTW against Iluminar Gaming, with both matches finishing 2-1. This will be the first time the two orgs will participate in the ESL Pro League. 

HEET vs. Falcons

Belgian squad HEET have started their Conference run with a loss against Endpoint which sent them straight to the lower bracket. However, Alexandre “⁠bodyy⁠” Pianaro and his men bounced back and swept their way through, defeating Encore ESC and HUMMER Esports before taking the final battle against Falcons.

In a three-map series against their countrymen, HEET first lost on their opponent’s map pick Dust2. However, thanks to the performances of Lucas “⁠Lucky⁠” Chastang and Aurélien “⁠afro⁠” Drapier with ratings of 1.18 and 1.20, respectively, the team was able to turn things around on Nuke and claim their victory on decisive Vertigo. 

FTW vs. Iluminar

FTW, the youngest lineup at the event, started their Conference run with a loss against Eternal Fire and continued by taking out Sprout and ORDER along the way. 

The event’s last match featured the clash of the Portugal squad with Polish Iluminar. The three-maps series started with FTW’s victory on Nuke before passing the second Overpass to Iluminar. While the match was relatively balanced, Diogo “DDias” Dias’s team was simply better, which allowed them to confirm their win on Vertigo. 

ESL Pro League Season 16

The Group Stage of the ESL Pro League’s 16th edition is set to run from August 31 to October 2 and offers one of the six remaining sports at the BLAST Premier World Final 2022.

Here’s the list of teams that qualified so far: 

• FaZe Clan
• ENCE
• Astralis
• G2 Esports
• Natus Vincere
• Ninjas in Pyjamas
• Team Liquid
• FURIA Esports
• Heroic
• Fnatic
• Evil Geniuses
• Team Vitality
• Complexity Gaming
• Outsiders (Virtus.pro)
• Eternal Fire
• BIG
• HEET
• MOUZ
• MIBR
• Endpoint
• For The Win Esports

At the time of writing, three spots in the group stage remain to be taken. Who will complete the ESL Pro League Season 16 lineup will be determined based on ESL World standings.

Header: HEET