Monte and Eternal Fire advance to Round of 12 of ESL Pro League S18

While it is true that the hype of the community is focused on the imminent release of CS2, the ESL Pro League continues its course, and the first four games of the playoffs have already been played. On this occasion, we are pleasantly surprised that Monte and Eternal Fire advanced to the Round of 12 after beating Fnatic and Astralis.

This is a disappointing result for two popular organizations, Fnatic and Astralis. However, it should be noted that these teams, Monte and Eternal Fire, continue to show a great level of play, and now they will have to maintain that level for the rest of the tournament.

In addition, mention must be made of Eternal Fire, as they have managed to beat teams like 9INE, Cloud9, Team Liquid, and Astralis in this ESL Pro League S18. As a result, we will see if this great performance helps them to beat BIG, their next rivals in the tournament.

Let’s see what happened in the first two matches of the ESL Pro League S18 playoffs.

Monte beat Fnatic 2-1

The Ukrainian squad, Monte, once again proved their level of play is higher than ever by taking an excellent 2-1 victory against Fnatic, which had shown much improvement in recent months. On the other hand, this was a complicated defeat for the Black & Orange squad, as they were confident of advancing to the tournament’s next stage.

It all started in Anubis, Monte’s map pick, where the Ukrainians began to show a small sample of great quality from the beginning of the match. In the first half, they took a partial victory by 9-6 in their CT Side. Then, at the change of sides, Fnatic’s defense could not do much because, after 10 rounds (3-7), Monte Esports took the victory by 16-9.

In the second map, Overpass, things changed radically, as this time, Fnatic was the one that started well, getting a solid partial victory in the first half by 12-3. However, at the change of sides, Monte started to close the gap gradually, and they even managed to get 12-14 on the scoreboard. Finally, Fnatic took the victory by 16-12 to even the series 1-1.

Then, in the third and final map, Vertigo, Monte, just like in Anubis, came out to play with the determination to take a solid victory, and so they did. On their CT Side, they scored an excellent 11-4 partial victory in the first half. Finally, at the change of sides, after only 7 rounds, the Ukrainians took the victory by 16-6 to advance to the next tournament stage and eliminate Fnatic.

.@Monte_Esports advance to the #ESLProLeague Season 18 RO12 after a 2-1 victory over @FNATIC!

16-9 Anubis
12-16 Overpass
16-6 Vertigo pic.twitter.com/4JLlwk0NtA

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

Eternal Fire annihilate Astralis 2-0

The other match played earlier in the day was between Eternal Fire and Astralis, and, against all odds, the Turkish squad took a resounding 2-0 win over the Danes to advance to the next Round of the tournament.

It all started in Vertigo, Eternal Fire’s map pick, where we had a pitched battle from start to finish in which any of the teams could have won. In the first half, Astralis took a step forward in their CT Side to take a partial victory by 8-7. However, at the change of sides, the Turks reacted in a great way and got a 9-6 victory to seal the first victory of the series with an excellent score of 16-14.

Then, in the second map, Inferno, Astralis seemed to run out of fuel, as they showed many defensive problems that the Turks perfectly exploited. In the first half, EF managed a partial victory by 9-6 with a great defense. However, the best was yet to come, as the attack of the Turks was relentless, and the CT Side of Astralis was missing. As a result, the Turkish squad took a resounding 16-7 victory to advance to the Round of 12 of the EPL S18.

.@eternalfiregg are looking SO STRONG 💪🇹🇷

They take down @AstralisCS 2-0 in the opening round of the #ESLProLeague Season 18 Playoffs!!

16-14 Vertigo
16-7 Inferno pic.twitter.com/CMxHRrwED2

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

Header: ESL