ESL Pro League S18: Monte Esports clinch last playoff berth in Group B

Group B of the ESL Pro League S18 culminated with an extraordinary series between Monte Esports and MIBR to define the last qualifier of the Group for the tournament playoffs. Finally, after two intense maps and, above all, with much supremacy on the part of the Ukrainian squad, they managed to take the victory by 2-0. As a result, Monte gets the last ticket to the playoffs in Group B.

Monte Esports continues to be one of the revelation teams of this 2023 season in the CS:GO competitive scene. Despite losing their top star, Mohammad “BOROS” Malhas, who headed to Team Falcons in the summer break of players, the Ukrainian squad maintains a high level of play in every tournament they participate.

Similarly, we can’t overlook what we saw from MIBR’s new lineup. While it is true that they failed to qualify for the playoffs, the Brazilian squad looked very compact, beating rivals such as MOUZ and Monte in the early stages of the tournament. However, they could not defeat the Ukrainians in the decisive series, who took revenge.

Now, let’s see what happened on the last day of Group B of the ESL Pro League S18.

MIBR qualify for the Lower Bracket Final after beating Evil Geniuses

The first match of the day left us with an excellent victory of MIBR over Evil Geniuses by 2-1. In addition, there is no doubt that it was a series worthy of a tournament of this magnitude as the ESL Pro League S18 since it was full of emotions from start to finish.

In the first map, Ancient, MIBR displayed all their potential and overwhelmed Evil Geniuses with all their strength to take a crushing 16-1 victory. Then, in the second map, Mirage, things changed radically since EG woke up and returned the blow in a map that had to be defined in several rounds of Overtime. Finally, with a favorable score of 22-20, EG won in the second map and thus evened the series 1-1.

The series culminated in Nuke, where we enjoyed an intense match from start to finish, which, as in Mirage, had to be defined in Overtime. MIBR started winning the first half by 10-5, but EG did not stay with that blow, as they returned it immediately to equalize the action by 15-15. However, this time, the MIBR boys managed to take the Overtime victory by 25-22 to advance to the Lower Bracket Final.

.@MIBR come out on top, closing out the series 2-1 against @EGCSGO 🔥

16-1 Ancient
20-22 Mirage
25-22 Nuke

The Brazilians will play later today against Monte for the last #ESLProLeague S18 Playoff Spot! pic.twitter.com/PTMy6pmTfd

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 10, 2023

Monte annihilate MIBR in the Lower Bracket Final

We expected a balanced series with close results in the Lower Bracket Final, as MIBR had already beaten Monte in this tournament. However, the reality is that the match was very easy for the Ukrainian team, as they showed a phenomenal performance that led them to crush the Brazilians by 2-0. Moreover, it’s not just that they won the series by 2-0 but that MIBR could not win more than 6 rounds in any of the 2 maps.

It all started on Vertigo, MIBR’s map pick, as expected. In the first half, Monte came out with spectacular aggressiveness and determination, and on their CT side, they pulled off a solid and resounding 14-1 win. Then, at the change of sides, MIBR could win up to 5 more rounds, but it stayed there, as Monte took the victory by 16-6.

Finally, in Anubis, we witnessed another thrashing by Monte. On their CT side in the first half, the Ukrainian squad fended off the Brazilian attacks and took a 13-2 partial victory. To conclude the match and the series, Monte won 3 of the 4 rounds played at the sides’ turn to take the 16-3 victory and seal their ticket to the ESL Pro League S18 playoffs.

The Last team from Group B to go through to the #ESLProLeague Season 18 Playoffs! 🙌

Congratulations @Monte_Esports 🥳 pic.twitter.com/33Hd0UtA1I

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 10, 2023

Header: ESL