ESL Pro League S18: 5yclone and Imperial advance to Mid Bracket Quarterfinals

ESL Pro League S18 Group C continues in full swing, and we have 5yclone and Imperial Esports staying with two lives in the tournament by advancing to the Mid Bracket Quarterfinals.

There is no doubt that, so far, everything is going according to predictions, as in theory and on paper, 5yclone, and Imperial should have comfortably beaten M80 and 9z Team, and they did. Now, they will have to overcome a much more complicated task, as their rivals will be Apeks and Fnatic, two teams that have demonstrated a great level of play in tournaments at the highest competitive level.

Let’s see what happened at the start of the ESL Pro League S18 Group C Mid Bracket without further ado.

5yclone sweep over M80

The Chinese squad, 5yclone, took a big step in the day’s first match on September 14 by taking an excellent 2-0 victory over the North American squad, M80. We expected a more balanced and tight match, but the Chinese pulled out all the stops and went through the steamroller with M80.

It all started in Nuke, 5yclone’s map pick, where we observed a balanced game in the first half since, with the Chinese on their T Side, they managed to take a partial victory by 8-7. Then, at the change of sides, the North American squad could not overcome the defensive wall of 5yclone, and, after 11 rounds, the Chinese squad took the victory by 16-10.

In the second map, Anubis, things started again very tight, but, this time, it was M80 who got the partial victory in the first half by 8-7. However, at the change of sides, the Chinese again deployed a great defense, which prevented the Americans from displaying their full potential. As a result, 5yclone took a narrow 16-14 victory.

5yclone steal away the second map for a clean 2-0, sending @M80gg down to the Last Chance Bracket!

16-10 Nuke
16-14 Anubis#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/olekZ0LM9f

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 14, 2023

Imperial Esports show a high level against 9z Team

A South American duel brought us the other Mid Bracket match of this Group C between Imperial and 9z Team. Despite Imperial’s 2-0 victory, there is no doubt that both maps were really interesting, and either could have taken the victories since both teams know each other perfectly.

The series started in Nuke, 9z Team’s map pick, where Imperial displayed a spectacular defense in the first half to take a very solid 10-5 victory. However, the 9z guys tried to wake up at the change of sides, but it was too late, as they were 5-15 behind on the scoreboard. Finally, Imperial took the victory by 16-11 in this first map.

On the second map, Anubis, Imperial, for the second map in a row, started extremely strong to take a victory on their T Side with a partial score of 11-4. There is no doubt that this gave the Imperial boys the confidence to continue to grind on this map, and despite the 9z Team coming within 10-12 on the scoreboard, the Brazilian defense stood their ground and won the last 4 rounds to secure the 16-10 victory.

.@imperialesports push @9zTeam into the #ESLProLeague Group C last chance bracket after a 2-0 victory!

16-11 Nuke
16-10 Anubis pic.twitter.com/EIolqRmTjv

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 14, 2023

Header: ESL