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Natus Vincere and Eternal Fire have secured spots in the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 20 after winning their upper bracket semi-finals 2-0 in Group A against Ninjas in Pyjamas and Sangal Esports, respectively.
Both teams, sitting at No. 1 and No. 11 in the global Counter-Strike 2 rankings, had dominant starts, defeating Lynn Vision and FlyQuest in their opening matches.
Their victories in the semi-finals ensure a place in the playoffs, where they will now face each other in a seeding match.
The winner will advance directly to the quarter-finals of the 16-team playoff bracket, while the loser will begin their playoff journey in the second round.
.@eternalfiregg ➡️ #ESLProLeague XX playoffs pic.twitter.com/S6tXRnvfiN
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 4, 2024
Sangal, led by former Eternal Fire and academy players Yasin “xfl0ud” Koç and Samet “jottAAA” Köklü, had an impressive run leading up to the Pro League, including a surprise victory over FaZe Clan in their opening match.
However, they were outmatched by Eternal Fire, especially on Dust2.
Sangal started strong with a 7-5 lead but struggled to maintain their momentum, winning only two more rounds across the series.
Eternal Fire’s Özgür “woxic” Eker, Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş, and Ali “Wicadia” Haydar Yalçın dominated the defence, securing a playoff spot with a decisive 13-1 win on Nuke.
.@natusvincere have guaranteed themselves a spot in the #ESLProLeague Season 20 Playoffs! 🥳🥳 pic.twitter.com/RDceLUHA33
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 4, 2024
Natus Vincere faced Ninjas in Pyjamas in their advancement match, with some pre-game tension stirred by Justinas “jL” Lekavicius quoting an interview from Artem “r1nkle” Moroz, where the Ukrainian sniper compared himself to NaVi’s Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov.
However, r1nkle was outclassed by w0nderful during the series, ending with a 0.79 rating compared to w0nderful’s 1.39.
Mihai “iM” Ivan led NaVi to victory with a 1.69 rating across Ancient and Dust2.
Meanwhile, FaZe avoided elimination by defeating FlyQuest 2-0 (13-9, 13-11) in the lower bracket and will next face Ninjas in Pyjamas as they attempt to recover from a poor start in Malta.
Heroic also narrowly avoided an upset against Lynn Vision, eventually securing their place in the lower bracket with a 2-1 (13-10, 6-13, 13-7) win, where they will face Sangal in their next match.
Earlier in the day, Team Spirit took care of business in their opening round clash against Wildcard, thanks to a Danil “donk” Kryshkovets masterclass, where the Russian rifler broke the Counter-Strike 2 kill record.
Donk racked up a massive 38 kills on Ancient before recording another 37 on Nuke to power Spirit to a 2-0 (13-11, 16-13) victory over their North American opponents.
Thursday’s ESL Pro League fixtures
- KOI (+275) vs The MongolZ (-400) @ 1:30pm CEST
- Team Spirit (-1428.57) vs MIBR (+650) @ 1:30pm CEST
- G2 Esports (-625) vs 3DMAX (+350) @ 4:30pm CEST
- Wildcard (+125) vs 9z Team (-175.44) @ 4:30pm CEST
- Ninjas in Pyjamas (+275) vs FaZe Clan (-400) @ 7:30pm CEST
- Sangal Esports (+110) vs Heroic (-151.52) @ 7:30pm CEST
