ESL Pro League S22 semifinals decided after Team Spirit upset

Faze Clan overcame the highly fancied Team Spirit in ESL Pro League Season 22 action on Friday, with the 2-0 victory putting to bed any talk of their opponent being a CS2 superteam.

The victory books Faze Clan a daunting semi-final match against Vitality, with the latter emerging unscathed through their semi-final against FURIA. Vitality have been installed as -333.33 favorites to defeat Faze Clan (+230). 

MOUZ (+130) will clash with Falcons (-175.44) in the other semi-final after they won their respective quarter finals. 

Faze Clan defeat Team Spirit

Faze Clan’s emergence as a serious contender to win Season 22 has come despite trying circumstances, including being forced to forfeit their opening match of the tournament after fielding an ineligible player. 

Team Spirit had not really faced a strong team since they snuck home against Inner Circle, and they will now need to go back to the drawing board after Faze Clan dismissed them 13-9 on Nuke and 13-5 on mirage. 

Faze Clan will now face Vitality in their semi-final, after the latter defeated FURIA 2-1 to move into the final four. 

Vitality account for FURIA

Vitality had been heavily fancied heading into the battle, but it was FURIA that that struck first, winning Overpass 13-9. 

Vitality, which had struggled for cohesion on the opening map, lifted on the second map, with the usual suspects — ZywOo and flameZ — dragging their team into the contest, eventually winning Inferno 13-7. 

Vitality then closed the contest out on Nuke 13-7 with ZwyOo again leading the way with 23 kills and a map high rating of 1.55, with the French superstar enhancing his reputation even further. 

NaVi throw away golden opportunity against MOUZ

MOUZ overcame NaVi in a hard-fought quarter-final, with the favorites responding after dropping the opening map in overtime,14-16. 

While NaVi’s outfit was very consistent over the BO3 battle, with only Wonderful struggling to make an impact, MOUZ’s game was largely saved by Israeli pair xertioN and Spinx, who were unstoppable throughout. 

While b1t managed to carry NaVi through the first map, after they threw away a 12-8 lead, it was MOUZ’s xertioN that dominated the second map with a rating of 1.71, which included four opening kills. MOUZ ultimately won the second map 13-8, which was no surprise given momentum seemed to be tracking their way after Ancient.

MOUZ then closed out their quarter final 13-4 on Train, which books them a quarter final against Team Falcons, who were lucky to escape against 3DMAX. 

Falcons escape with win against 3DMAX

3DMAX took the opening map on Inferno 13-9, before the Falcons clicked into gear on Ancient, eventually winning  7-13, with mONESY dominating with a rating of 1.96, which included 3 opening kills, without a death. 

Falcons then won an enthralling overtime battle 13-16, with NiKo and mONESY rescuing their team from a determined 3DMAX. 

ESL Pro League semifinal fixtures and odds

The ESL Pro League semifinals will be played on October 11 in Stockholm, Sweden.

• MOUZ (+130) v Team Falcons (-175.44), 4:45pm CET, October 11
• Faze (+230) v Vitality (-333.33), 8pm CET, October 11