This story was originally published by Dead Spin
FaZe Clan and Team Spirit clinched playoff berths at the ESL Pro League Season 20 by winning their respective groups’ mid-bracket semifinals on Friday in Saint Julian’s, Malta.
FaZe defeated Sangal Esports 2-0 to grab third place in Group A, while Spirit rallied to beat 3DMAX 2-1 to place third in Group B. The losing sides are still alive, moving into the lower brackets of their respective groups.
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 Friday, FaZe took down Sangal 13-11 on Anubis and 13-5 on Dust II. Norway’s Havard “rain” Nygaard led FaZe with 43 kills and a plus-20 kills-to-deaths differential.
3DMAX defeated Team Spirit 13-6 on Anubis before Spirit tied things up with a 13-6 victory on Ancient. The final map was Nuke, and Spirit sped away with a 13-2 win. Russian Danil “donk” Kryshkovets had 52 kills on a plus-19 K-D to lead Spirit.
Team Spirit and 3DMAX won their mid-bracket quarterfinals earlier in the day to move into the third-place match.
Spirit also had to come from behind in the quarterfinals, beating The MongolZ 2-1. After taking a 13-9 defeat on Ancient, Spirit won 13-4 on Anubis and 13-11 on Nuke. Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov of Russia had 57 kills on a dominant plus-30 K-D for Spirit in that match.
3DMAX swept 9z Team in the quarters, eking out a 16-14 overtime win on Inferno before taking Nuke 13-5. France’s Bryan “Maka” Canda had 41 kills on a plus-18 for 3DMAX.
To open the Group B lower-bracket quarterfinals, Wildcard swept KOI 2-0 (13-8 on Ancient, 13-7 on Nuke). Wildcard got 43 kills from Sweden’s Love “phzy” Smidebrant on a plus-20 K-D.
In the Group A lower-bracket quarters, FlyQuest got past Lynn Vision Gaming 2-1. After losing 13-7 on Anubis, FlyQuest prevailed 13-10 on Vertigo and 16-13 in overtime on Ancient, powered by 64 kills and a plus-17 differential from Australia’s Jay “Liazz” Tregillgas.
The tournament continues Saturday with five matches:
–Eternal Fire vs. Natus Vincere (Group A upper-bracket final)
–Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. HEROIC (Group A lower-bracket semifinal)
–Sangal Esports vs. FlyQuest (Group A lower-bracket semifinal)
–9z Team vs. The MongolZ (Group B lower-bracket semifinal)
–3DMAX vs. Wildcard (Group B lower-bracket semifinal)
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 — Lynn Vision Gaming, KOI, two teams TBD
–Field Level Media
