ESL Pro League S18: 9z Team and MOUZ deliver in first playoff game

The emotions of the ESL Pro League S18 continue, and the playoffs are already in full swing, so we already know the first 4 results of this tournament stage. After eliminating Fnatic and Astralis, we expected two intense and exciting games and had them.

In the second round of matches of the ESL Pro League S18 Round of 16, 9z Team and MOUZ managed to get excellent victories over Virtus.pro and FURIA Esports to advance to the Round of 12. On the other hand, this is a terrible farewell for VP and FURIA, who say goodbye to the last tournament in the history of CS:GO, showing a really low level of play.

Let’s see what happened in the last two ESL Pro League S18 round of 16 matches.

South America’s grit annihilates Russia 2-1

The South American squad, 9z Team, continued to show extraordinary play and annihilated the Russians of Virtus.pro by 2-1. Undoubtedly, we all considered the Russians as favorites since they have much more experience in these instances. However, as in all editions of the EPL throughout the history of CS:GO, there are always surprises, which is very pleasant.

It all started in Mirage, 9z Team’s map pick, where the South Americans showed exceptional grit to come back from a match they seemed to have completely lost. In the first half, Virtus.pro had a solid 9-6 victory, undoubtedly leaving them in a very good position in the series. However, at the change of sides, the South American defense was relentless, and they quickly managed to get 14-10 on the scoreboard after winning 8 of the first 9 rounds. Finally, 9z Team took an excellent victory by 16-14.

Then, in the second map, Inferno, things changed completely, as VP did not allow the same thing to happen as in Mirage and managed to even the series 1-1. In the first half, VP, for the second consecutive map, started with a partial victory by 9-6. Finally, at the change of sides, they did not allow the South Americans to come back as they did in Mirage and achieved an excellent victory by 16-10.

In the third and last map, Overpass, we had a new give-and-take defined in the last 3 rounds. In the first half, VP again started ahead with a tight score of 8-7 on their T Side. However, the South American squad surprised everyone by displaying an excellent offense to come from behind and take the win 16-14.

.@9zTeam ELIMINATE @virtuspro from #ESLProLeague Season 18! 👀

16-14 Mirage
10-16 Inferno
16-14 Overpass pic.twitter.com/4wDkhiDX58

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 26, 2023

MOUZ destroy FURIA Esports by 2-0

In the last match of this first day of the ESL Pro League S18 playoffs, MOUZ applied a clean sweep against FURIA to destroy them completely. Moreover, it’s not just that MOUZ won 2-0, but that the Brazilians could not win more than 5 rounds on either map. As a result, this highlights the level of play and the problems in FURIA.

It all started on Nuke, FURIA’s map pick, where MOUZ started with an exceptional level of play by taking a solid 12-3 first-half partial victory. Finally, MOUZ quickly sealed his victory by 16-5 at the change of sides after playing only 6 rounds.

Things remained the same on the second map, Mirage, as MOUZ scored a crushing 12-3 first half partial victory for the second consecutive map. Then, at the change of sides, FURIA could do absolutely nothing and, after winning only 1 of 5 rounds, they fell with a terrible score of 4-16. As a result, FURIA is eliminated from the tournament, while MOUZ will have to play for their lives against FaZe Clan to seek qualification to the quarterfinals of the EPL S18.

.@mousesports make quick work of @FURIA in their opening match of the #ESLProLeague Season 18 Playoffs! 💪

16-5 Nuke
16-4 Mirage pic.twitter.com/6a5pRn9Nz6

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 26, 2023

Header: ESL