GamerLegion and Grayhound survive another day in ESL Pro League S18

Group A of the ESL Pro League S18 is very close to finishing, and we already have 3 of the 4 teams qualified for the playoffs: Team Vitality, Movistar Riders, and Astralis. However, after the matches of the previous day of the tournament, we have that GamerLegion and Grayhound survive one more day and will have the chance to fight, along with FURIA, for the last ticket to the next phase.

We will undoubtedly have an action-packed Sunday in Malta when the last place for the ESL Pro League S18 playoffs will be up for grabs. GamerLegion is waiting in the Lower Bracket Final for the winner between Grayhound Gaming and FURIA Esports, who will face each other in the coming hours.

Each map round will be crucial for each team, and although everything indicates that FURIA is the favorite to get that last place in the playoffs, we all know that anything can happen in this kind of tournament.

As a result, this only indicates that we will have emotions assured from the beginning to the end. Now, without further ado, let’s see what happened in the ESL Pro League S18 Group A Lower Bracket matches.

Grayhound annihilate ORKS to stay alive in the tournament

Grayhound started this series as the clear favorite to take the victory, and although they managed to do so, there is no doubt that they had to fight very hard against an opponent that undoubtedly gave a pleasant surprise. After winning the first map, the ORKS boys lost their way and allowed Grayhound to run over them. However, it is also worth noting that the team took the third map to Overtime and died fighting until the end.

Mirage

The series started on Mirage, the ORKS map pick, where we had a phenomenal display from the Polish squad. Despite starting on the CT side, Grayhound could not stop the ORKS offenses and conceded in the first half with a terrible 5-10. Then, at the change of sides, Grayhound woke up and gradually got closer to 12-14 on the scoreboard. However, ORKS won the final two rounds to take the 16-12 victory.

The Polish Squad takes the lead of the series by winning their own pick of Mirage 16-12 against @grayhoundgaming

ORKS now have the opportunity to close it out in two on Nuke, coming up next!#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/cWVxLuVZdI

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 2, 2023

Nuke

Next, we moved to Nuke, Grayhound’s home team, where we witnessed a great defensive display by the Aussies. In the first half, ORKS started very strong, continuing their upset in this series by taking the win 9-6. However, at the change of sides, GhG implemented a spectacular defense that only lost 1 round and took the 16-10 win.

The Australians are not ready to go home just yet! @grayhoundgaming win 16-10 on Nuke to tie the series!!

It all comes down to Ancient to decide which team gets eliminated from #ESLProLeague S18 👀 pic.twitter.com/IoNMoCqSF9

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 2, 2023

Ancient

Finally, in Ancient, we had an outstanding game from both teams. In the first half, ORKS took the partial victory by 10-5 for the third time in a row. Then, at the change of sides, GhG’s defense again rose to the occasion, and they managed to even the score 15-15. Finally, after 4 rounds in Overtime, Grayhound took the 19-15 win to stay alive in the tournament.

.@grayhoundgaming pick up their first win at #ESLProLeague S18 after OVERTIME on the third map against ORKS!

12-16 Mirage
16-10 Nuke
19-15 Ancient pic.twitter.com/ZPIZKT86eG

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 2, 2023

GamerLegion apply a reverse sweep to eliminate NiP from ESL Pro League S18

The second match of the day left us with an excellent reverse sweep victory by GamerLegion against NiP that led them to stay alive in the tournament. Moreover, this defeat means goodbye to a squad that, of course, we were expecting to see in the playoffs. However, this only ratifies that the level of play of Tier 2 teams is much higher than ever.

Ancient

It all started at Ancient, NiP’s map pick, where the Swedish squad led by Fredrik “REZ” Sterner managed to take an excellent victory to start this series on the right foot. NiP achieved an excellent 10-5 partial victory in the first half on their T-side. Then, at the change of sides, NiP’s great level continued, as, after only 7 rounds, they managed to take a solid 16-6 victory.

.@NIPCS came to play! They take Ancient 16-6 against @GamerLegion in this ELIMINATION matchup 😳

Overpass is up next!#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/QxeWPOKwGm

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 2, 2023

Overpass

Next, we moved to Overpass, GamerLegion’s map pick, and after NiP’s excellent win on the first map, we all thought it was only a matter of time before GL was eliminated from the S18 EPL. However, we couldn’t have been further from the truth, as Overpass was extremely exciting from start to finish.

GamerLegion pulled off a big surprise in the first half by taking the partial victory by 9-6 on their side T. Then, at the change of sides, NiP put up a very good offense that came close to annihilating GL and managed to be even at 14-14 on the scoreboard at one point in the match. However, GamerLegion won the last two rounds to take the 16-14 victory and, of course, even the series 1-1.

We are going the distance! 💪@GamerLegion close out Overpass 16-14 against @NIPCS to tie the series!

Inferno will decide which team gets eliminated from #ESLProLeague 👀 pic.twitter.com/LgBYQCx0Gt

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 2, 2023

Inferno

Finally, Inferno was the stage in defining the winning team of this series, in this case, GamerLegion. In the first half, NiP took a tight partial victory on their CT side by 8-7. However, at the change of sides, GamerLegion’s defense was relentless and impenetrable, as they managed to win 9 out of 11 rounds to take the map victory by 16-10 and, therefore, complete an excellent reverse sweep to stay alive in the tournament.

.@GamerLegion manage to defeat @NIPCS 2-1 to stay in contention at #ESLProLeague Season 18!

6-16 Ancient
16-14 Overpass
16-10 Inferno pic.twitter.com/RKUwqoE1HM

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 2, 2023

Header: ESL