by Eternal Fire secured a spot in the grand final of ESL Pro League Season 20 after a dominant 2-0 victory over MIBR.
This marks their second consecutive grand final appearance, following a runner-up finish at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2.
???? @eternalfiregg DEFEAT @MIBR 2-0 TO GO TO THE GRAND FINALS OF #ESLProLeague S20 ????
13-7 Nuke
13-10 Inferno pic.twitter.com/ymC0shGuhj— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 21, 2024
The Turkish Counter-Strike team’s captain, Engin “MAJ3R” Küpeli, emphasised the importance of discipline, noting that despite having beaten Vitality earlier, MIBR posed a more challenging threat.
Eternal Fire’s performance on Nuke and Inferno highlighted their resilience, as they overcame multiple pistol-round losses to win the maps 13-7 and 13-10, respectively.
Natus Vincere (NaVi), meanwhile, continued their strong form by defeating G2 Esports in the other semi-final.
Despite a narrow loss on Nuke (11-13), NaVi secured decisive wins on Inferno (13-8) and Ancient (13-6).
.@natusvincere make quick work of @G2CSGO on the decider to reach the GRAND FINAL of #ESLProLeague Season 20!
13-8 Inferno
11-13 Nuke
13-6 Ancient pic.twitter.com/psNqRUdfzL— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 21, 2024
Justinas “jL” Lekavicius led NaVi and continued with his outstanding playoff performances, recording a 1.78 rating on Inferno and a 1.49 rating on Ancient.
The win extended NaVi’s unbeaten streak against G2 to 8-0 since they transitioned to an international roster.
Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen’s men now face Eternal Fire in the grand final, with NaVi holding a 4-0 series record against the Turkish side since going international.
Though NaVi enters as the favourite, MAJ3R expressed confidence in Eternal Fire’s chances, stating, “If we play good CS, I think we have a chance to lift this trophy for a Turkish team.”
However, Aleksib still faces personal challenges, having a poor track record in best-of-five grand finals, with five losses and a 2-15 map record.
NaVi’s most recent best-of-five series came at IEM Cologne in August, when they clashed with Team Vitality, who defeated them 3-1 in a back-and-forth grand final.
As for Eternal Fire, their last best-of-five series was at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade, where they were convincingly beaten by Team Spirit 3-0 on September 1.
ESL Pro League Season 20 grand final
- Eternal Fire (+333) vs Natus Vincere (-500) @ 5pm CEST
