This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Jordan Woodruff
Eternal Fire and Natus Vincere are each one win away from qualifying for the ESL Pro League Season 20 playoffs after registering upper-bracket semifinal wins in Group A on Wednesday at Saint Julian’s, Malta.
Both teams posted 2-0 wins on Wednesday, with Eternal Fire sweeping Sangal Esports and Natus Vincere downing Ninjas in Pyjamas.
Two first-round mid-bracket matches were contested in Group A on Wednesday, with FaZe Clan defeating FlyQuest 2-0 and HEROIC edging Lynn Vision 2-1.
The upper-bracket quarterfinals in Group B concluded with Team Spirit topping Wildcard 2-0 and 3DMAX moving past The MongolZ 2-0.
The group stage split 32 teams into four groups of a triple-elimination bracket format, with each match best-of-three. The top four teams from each group will move into the playoff bracket.
Group winners will advance straight into the playoff quarterfinals. Runners-up will advance to the Round of 12, third-place teams will move to the Round of 16 as high seeds and fourth-place teams will start in the Round of 16 as low seeds.
The single-elimination playoff bracket will be best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Sept. 22.
The winner will receive $170,000 and will qualify for the first ESL Pro Tour Championship of 2025.
On Wednesday, Eternal Fire beat Sangal Esports 13-8 on Dust II and 13-1 on Nuke. Ozgur “woxic” Eker led all-Turkish Eternal Fire with 37 kills and a plus-22 kill-death differential.
Natus Vincere topped Ninjas in Pyjamas 13-6 on Ancient and 13-9 on Dust II behind 45 kills and a plus-23 K-D differential from Romania’s Mihai “iM” Ivan.
FaZe Clan slipped past FlyQuest 13-9 on Anubis and 13-11 on Ancient. Slovakia’s David “frozen” Cernansky paced FaZe Clan with 47 kills and a plus-23 K-D differential.
HEROIC sandwiched a 13-10 win on Dust II and a 13-7 triumph on Nuke around a 13-6 loss to Lynn Vision on Ancient. Israel’s Guy “NertZ” Iluz was the star for HEROIC with 50 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential.
Team Spirit squeaked past Wildcard 13-11 on Ancient and 16-13 in overtime on Nuke. Russia’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets was a dominant force for Team Spirit with 72 kills and a plus-46 K-D differential.
3DMAX toppled The MongolZ 13-9 on Anubis and 13-11 on Ancient. Lucas “Lucky” Chastang put 41 kills and a plus-11 K-D differential for all-French 3DMAX.
The Thursday schedule:
–Group A mid-bracket quarterfinal: Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. FaZe Clan
–Group A mid-bracket quarterfinal: Sangal Esports vs. HEROIC
–Group B upper-bracket semifinal: Team Spirit vs. MIBR
–Group B upper-bracket semifinal: 3DMAX vs. G2 Esports
–Group B mid-bracket first round: Wildcard vs. 9z Team
–Group B mid-bracket first round: The MongolZ vs. KOI
ESL Pro League Season 20 prize pool (money, BLAST Premier points)
1. $170,000, 2,000 points
2. $80,000, 1,400
3-4. $45,000, 750
5-8. $32,000, 275
9-12. $23,500
13-16. $17,500
17-20. $12,000
21-28. $7,000
29-32. $3,500
–Field Level Media
