ESL Pro League S17: FURIA qualify for playoffs, Movistar Riders stay in race

The fourth day of ESL Pro League S17 Group B actions has concluded, and we have a new qualifier, FURIA Esports. From what we have observed, there have been no surprises regarding qualified teams, and this Sunday, March 5, we will know the fourth and final team that will be part of the EPL S17 playoffs from Group B.

On the other hand, SAW and Imperial Esports have said goodbye to the competition with many questions and, above all, many things to change for the rest of this season.

FURIA qualifies for the ESL Pro League S17 playoffs

Brazilian outfit FURIA Esports pulled off a coup by sending the Germans of BIG to the Lower Bracket after the Mid Bracket Grand Final match that took the form of three spectacular maps.

The Mid Bracket final between FURIA and BIG was played on three of the most poked maps so far in EPL S17, Nuke (BIG), Vertigo (FURIA), and Inferno (Decisivo).

Nuke

The Germans started on the right foot in Nuke, showing why it had been their Mappick, winning 7 of the first eight rounds. However, after a tac requested by FURIA, the Brazilians woke up and, with six consecutive rounds, managed even to score 7-7; BIG won the eighth round for the change of sides.

In the second half, everything was completely different, as it was FURIA, on the T side, who wreaked havoc on BIG’s defense to take a great victory with a score of 16-13. Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato and Rafael “saffee” Costa carried FURIA on this map and finished with 1.39 and 1.28 Ratings, respectively.

Vertigo

In Vertigo, the roles were reversed, as the Germans were able to take the victory in the FURIA Esports Mappick.

Everything seemed to indicate that FURIA would take a comfortable victory on their favorite map, as they managed to be at some point in the match, with a 6-2 lead on the scoreboard. However, BIG woke up and balanced the game with a 7-8 to the side change.

FURIA started with everything, winning the first three rounds on the T side, but this did nothing but wake up the German beast that, with a Marcel “hyped” Köhn, managed to win 8 of the next nine rounds to take the victory in this second map with an excellent 16-11.

Inferno

Everything would be defined on Inferno, one of the most popular maps in the CS:GO scene. As expected, the match was very balanced in the first half, with BIG winning the first five rounds, and then FURIA returned to even the score 5-5. Finally, in a give-and-take between the two teams, the first half ended 8-7 in favor of the Germans.

In the second half, FURIA took control of the match, completely winning the first seven rounds on the CT side. With the score 14-8, BIG tried to react by placing 14-10 with two wins in consecutive rounds, but FURIA struck again in a couple of opportunities to win 16-10, thus sealing their ticket to the playoffs.

Movistar Riders take the win in the Iberian Classic

The Spaniards defeated the Portuguese SAW with a comfortable 2-0 score. The Riders were always above SAW, as they showed that they are at a great competitive level right now. In addition, they were also able to prove that their intense battle against FURIA in the Mid Bracket semifinals was no coincidence.

The Riders, led by Antonio “Martinez” Martinez, scored two powerful goals against the Portuguese squad in Overpass (16-7) and Nuke (16-11) to stay alive in this ESL Pro League and will play the winner of the playoffs between BIG and Complexity.

Complexity comes from behind and eliminates FalleN and his boys

It seems that this 2023 season will be one to forget for “The Professor” Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and his Imperial Esports.

After a spectacular victory in the first map against Complexity with a crushing score of 16-1 with an immense FalleN that only died twice on the map. The team seemed to get overconfident and was at the mercy of the Americans. In Ancient, they had a very even match that ended with a 16-14 in favor of Complexity.

While in the third and decisive map, Overpass, after three Overtimes, Complexity was able to win with a score of 25-23 to stay alive in this EPL S17 and send FalleN and Imperial Esports straight to Brazil.

Header: ESL