ESL Pro League S17 kicks off: G2, Outsiders and Fnatic dominate

The opening matches of ESL Pro League (EPL) 17 have started and Outsiders, Fnatic, Cloud9, and G2 got off to a good start. 

At the event in Malta, 32 CS:GO teams compete for fame, glory, and a prize pool of $850,000. Of that, first place will take home $200,000.

Outsiders defeat IHC

Outsiders started their run in the ESL Pro League with a deserved 2-0 win over Asian team IHC.

The opening match of EPL 17 started on Inferno. Outsiders won the first round of pistols on defense and narrowly survived a subsequent pistol save. A mixed game followed, but Outsiders were able to win the halftime with 9-6. Towards the end of the map, Outsiders won 16-13.

Then it went to Overpass and the Mongolian team first took the lead. Nevertheless, Outsiders fought back quickly and it was 9-6 by half-time. After securing the second round in attack, Outsiders were able to win the map 16-7.

MIBR lose to Fnatic

The European team claimed their first EPL group stage win with a resounding 2-0 win (16-7 Ancient and 16-12 Overpass) against MIBR.

The game started on Ancient. MIBR got off to a good start and Raphael “exit” Lacerda gave his team a 5-3 lead down the T-side. MIBR were only able to record one more round by the end of halftime. Fnatic ended the first map with a score of 16-7.

After that, it went to Overpass and Fnatic started with taking a 4-1 lead on the T-side. MIBR fought bravely and were able to close a gap of three laps by halftime. In the second half, MIBR caught up, but a triumph for Fnatic in the eco round at 11-12 was the turning point. Fnatic then took five straight rounds to finish the map 16-12.

CLOUD9 win against EG

Cloud9 started their campaign in Group A with a 2-0 win over Evil Geniuses (16-5 on Inferno, 16-4 on Mirage).

The game started on Inferno and Cloud9 quickly took a 5-2 lead. The Russians maintained their dominant position for the rest of the half, the score was 11-4. Cloud9 prevailed also in the second half and finished it at 16-5.

The fight continued on Mirage. Cloud9 first took a 5-0 lead on the T-side, but the Russian-majority team didn’t give the Evil Geniuses the slightest chance and clinched an incredibly one-sided 16-4 victory in five rounds, sending the North Americans into the lower bracket.

G2 win against Eternal Fire

G2 defeated Eternal Fire 2-0 at the start of EPL 17 (16-9 Anubis, Nuke 16-14).

The match went first round on Anubis and it was Russian prodigy Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov who dominated from start to finish. Although the Turkish team won the first round of pistols and had a 5-0 start, m0NESY came after that and didn’t allow the team to score anymore. Eternal Fire closed the gap to 7-10, but G2 were stronger and finished the map 16-9.

Nuke was just as one-sided as the previous map. It was 11-4 for G2 by the end of the half. A force buy from Eternal Fire kept the team alive, but G2 immediately returned to winning ways and took a 14-7 lead. Eternal Fire followed suit, the score was 14-12, but G2 stepped up again and won 16-14.

Header: ESL