FaZe Clan and Team Vitality qualify for ESL Pro League S17 playoffs

The emotions of Group C of the ESL Pro League S17 continue. After the second day of exciting matches, FaZe Clan and Team Vitality have taken a step forward to be the first qualifiers of the group for the playoffs.

Both FaZe Clan and Team Vitality achieved comfortable victories (2-0) against NiP and OG Esports, respectively, to advance to the Upper Bracket final and secure their ticket to the next phase of this tournament.

This only means that the champions of Seasons 15 and 16, i.e., the last two seasons, have advanced to the EPL S17 playoffs.

FaZe Clan steamrolls past NiP and qualifies for playoffs

What looked to be one of the most balanced matches of the day disappointed many fans, as FaZe used all their available arsenal, and NiP could not respond. The series ended with a comfortable 2-0 for FaZe in Overpass (16-9) and Ancient (16-3).

FaZe started to show their cards early in the match, as they won the first half of Overpass on the CT side with a crushing 12-3. Robin “ropz” Kool was responsible for stopping all of the Swedes’ attacks in this first half and finished with 114.1 ADR and a 1.69 Rating, according to HLTV.

NiP tried to react in the second half through Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin and Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, as they scored 13-9. However, FaZe won the remaining three rounds and took the victory 16-9.

In Ancient, we saw the best version of FaZe and the worst of NiP. There is no doubt about that. As in Overpass, FaZe started their Mappick with a demolishing victory of the T side in the first half, 12-3. Unlike the first map, FaZe could define everything in only four rounds and thus took an extraordinary 16-3 victory this time. Helvijs “broky” Saukants (86.1 ADR) and ropz (99.4 ADR) charged FaZe on this second map to finish with 1.61 and 1.57 Ratings, respectively.

ZywOo takes Team Vitality to the playoffs

In a masterful performance, as we are used to, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut was in charge of leading Team Vitality to victory against OG Esports to get the ticket to the playoffs of the EPL S17. The Frenchman finished the series with 90.1 ADR, a 1.71 Rating, and a K/D of 2.75.

The actions started at Anubis, OG Esports’ Mappick, which looked like it would have been Team Vitality’s selection. However, the French side had a devastating start on the CT side, with ZywOo leading the way and taking the first half with a good 10-5.

Things didn’t change much for the second half as Vitality won the first six rounds to seal their 16-5 victory on the first map.

The second map, Vertigo, was more of the same. Although OG Esports put up more of a fight overall, Team Vitality didn’t rush and slowly won the rounds that would allow them to take the map victory. ZywOo continued to show his excellent level of play in Vertigo and was in charge of opening the way in every offensive of his team in the OG sites. Ultimately, Vitality takes the victory 16-9 and seals their ticket to the ESL Pro League S17 playoffs.

paiN Gaming beats Rooster and continues its path in the Mid Bracket

The South Americans performed excellently in this match against Rooster and took the victory in Anubis (16-11) and Nuke (16-4).

Romeu “zevy” Rocco managed to lead paiN Gaming to victory in Anubis thanks to his spectacular performance, as he finished with an ADR of 105.7 and a Rating of 1.62, according to HLTV. In the first half, the Brazilians started with a bang, winning seven of the first eight rounds played. After that, however, the Australians woke up and took a partial victory 8-7.

In the second half, PaiN took advantage of a mistake by Rooster in the defense to take the first three rounds on the T side and thus on their way to the map victory. Although the Australians tried to slow down the Brazilian offense, it was not enough, and they lost 11-16.

In Nuke, things changed completely, and paiN Gaming dominated practically the entire map. After a 12-3 victory in the first half, the Australians completely dropped their arms and were at the mercy of an inspired Brazilian team winning 16-4.

00 Nation is surprised by Grayhound and falls to the Lower Bracket

Marcelo “coldzera” David’s team, 00 Nation, failed in their match against Grayhound in the ESL Pro League S17 Mid Bracket and fell to the Lower Bracket to play for their lives against Rooster.

00 Nation managed to win the first map, Mirage, 14-16. However, they showed that not everything was working as expected, as they made many mistakes that almost cost them the map.

In the second and third maps, the Brazilians continued to have problems finding consistency in their game and lost with identical scores of 12-16 in Ancient and Inferno. As a result, the team will have to play for their lives against Rooster on Saturday, February 11, to keep their chances of qualifying for the ESL Pro League S17 playoffs.

Header: ESL