Heroic and BIG deliver on Day 1 of ESL Pro League S18 Group B

After two days of inactivity, the ESL Pro League S18 action resumes with Group B, which seems that everything will be defined between the favorite teams. Likewise, it is worth noting that, after the first day of action in this Group Stage, Heroic and BIG both won to advance to the semifinals of the Upper Bracket.

Undoubtedly, both teams started as clear favorites against Rooster (Heroic) and Monte (BIG). However, with the current level of competition in the CS:GO competitive scene, anything could happen.

On the other hand, Rooster and Monte Esports will face each other in the first round of the Mid Bracket to try to stay with two lives in the tournament.

Let’s see what happened in Heroic and BIG’s matches on the first day of Group B in the ESL Pro League S18.

Heroic annihilate Rooster by 2-0

While it is true that Heroic started as absolute favorites to take the victory comfortably in this series, no one thought it would be this way. Although it was a resounding 2-0 against Rooster, the worst is that both maps were tilted in Heroic’s favor since they prevented their rivals from winning more than 4 rounds.

It all started in Inferno, Rooster’s map pick, where we began to observe the absolute supremacy of Heroic from the first half, as they managed to take a solid partial victory by 13-2. Then, at the change of sides, Heroic’s offense won the first 3 rounds to take the victory by 16-2.

On the second map, Mirage, things continued in the same way, as Heroic again pulled out their claws to take a solid 11-4 first-half victory on their side T. Finally, at the turn of the sides, for the second map in a row, the Danish squad managed to win all the opening rounds to take the victory with a solid 16-4 score.

A comfortable opening victory for @heroicgg as they dominate @RoosterCS 2-0 in their opening series of #ESLProLeague Group B!

16-2 Inferno
16-4 Mirage pic.twitter.com/P5Lj7PFmWn

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 6, 2023

BIG and Monte give us a phenomenal series

Undoubtedly, this was one of the most balanced series of this first day of ESL Pro League S18 Group B. BIG started as a favorites due to the good level of play shown in recent weeks. However, we cannot forget that Monte is one of the revelation teams of this season, so anything could happen. However, after 3 exciting maps, BIG took the victory by 2-1 to stay in the Upper Bracket of Group B.

It all started on Vertigo, BIG’s map pick, where we saw phenomenal play from both teams. In the first half, BIG had Johannes “tabseN” Wodarz Karim “Krimbo” Moussa at their best and took the partial victory by 9-6. Then, at the change of sides, the Monte boys, led by Sergiy “DemQQ” Demchenko, woke up and put much pressure on BIG. However, the German squad won the last rounds to win 16-13.

On the second map, Anubis, things continued to be just as intense and exciting. In the first half, BIG again managed to take a partial victory on their T-side by 8-7. However, this time, Monte was much more aggressive on their T-side to take the 9-6 victory in the second half, thus evening the series 1-1.

Finally, the teams moved to Ancient to play the deciding map of this series. In the first half, BIG, as in the first two maps, took the 10-5 victory. However, unlike the previous maps where Monte reacted in the second half, the same did not happen on this map, as BIG won the first 6 rounds to take the 16-5 victory and advance to the Upper Bracket semifinals.

.@BIGCLANgg take down @Monte_Esports in their opening matchup at #ESLProLeague S18!

16-13 Vertigo
14-16 Anubis
16-5 Ancient pic.twitter.com/3WBsTWAhGj

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 6, 2023

Header: ESL