After a shaky performance earlier in the Counter-Strike 2 tournament, FaZe’s recovery was driven by strong performances from H?vard “?rain?” Nygaard, David “?frozen?” ?er��ansky, and Robin “?ropz?” Kool.

PLAYOFFS FOR @FaZeEsports

It's Ro16 in the #ESLProLeague S20 playoffs for the S17 champions pic.twitter.com/klZzxtnUkq

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 6, 2024

Their counter-terrorist side on Anubis laid the foundation for rain to shine in the offensive half, while Dust2 saw a dominant FaZe performance, with Finn “?karrigan?” Andersen rallying his team loudly throughout.

Sangal, after defeating FaZe in their opening matchup, couldn’t build on that momentum.

They suffered defeats to Eternal Fire and FaZe, falling to the Last Chance Stage, where they will face FlyQuest.

FaZe��s recent form marks a shift after early exits from BLAST Premier Fall Groups and IEM Cologne.

Now, with an impressive run at the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown and solid improvements at ESL Pro League, they are back in playoff contention.

Congratulations @Team__Spirit!

They've secured a spot in the Ro16 of the #ESLProLeague Season 20 Playoffs @chopperis @magixx772 @donk1337 @sh1rocsgo @zont1x977 pic.twitter.com/2D4xIi92kw

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 6, 2024

Meanwhile, Team Spirit also earned a playoff berth after reverse-sweeping 3DMAX.

Despite losing the first map on Anubis (6-13), Spirit bounced back with dominant wins on Ancient (13-6) and Nuke (13-2), powered by standout performances from Danil “?donk?” Kryshkovets and Myroslav “?zont1x?” Plakhotia.

In the Last Chance Stage, KOI and Lynn Vision were eliminated after losses to Wildcard and FlyQuest, respectively.

FlyQuest managed to stave off elimination in a hard-fought series against Lynn Vision, while Wildcard continues their tournament run after defeating KOI.

The MongolZ and 9z have also dropped into the Last Chance Stage following losses to Spirit and 3DMAX.

The MongolZ took Spirit to the brink but couldn’t close the series, while 9z’s defeat leaves them struggling to regain their early-season form after setbacks at IEM Cologne and BetBoom Dacha.

Spirit’s playoff berth was hard-fought, having earlier survived a scare from Wildcard and losing to MIBR.

Their recovery, alongside FaZe’s resurgence, adds intrigue as the tournament heads into the final stages.

Saturday’s ESL Pro League fixtures

• 9z Team (+125) vs The MongolZ (-175.44) @ 1:30pm CEST
• Sangal (-250) vs FlyQuest (+175) @ 1:30pm CEST
• Heroic (-175.44) vs Ninjas in Pyjamas (+125) @ 4:30pm CEST
• Wildcard (+240) vs 3DMAX (-333.33) @ 4:30pm CEST
• Eternal Fire (+162) vs Natus Vincere (-227.27) @ 7:30pm CEST

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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” Ko? and Samet “jottAAA” K?kl��, 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 ?zg��r “woxic” Eker, Ismailcan “XANTARES” D?rtkarde?, and Ali “Wicadia” Haydar Yal??n 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

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After a month’s break from European competitions, FlyQuest will take another go at leaving their mark at ESL Pro League Season 20. However, they are not expected to do well, and esports betting sites have them priced at +324 for Tuesday’s clash.

Eternal Fire are far from one of the leading candidates to hoist the trophy in Malta, but they have done well in their most recent outings, with comfortable victories against B8, Cloud9, 9Pandas, and Team Falcons. Before that, the Turkish squad produced a few less convincing displays against weaker squads, so consistency is still missing.

FlyQuest are in good form, and while all of their recent victories came against lesser regional opponents, they posted good results against higher-rated opposition before the summer break and even at the start of August. As such, it is fair to expect the Australian squad can do some damage.

FaZe Clan should be in for a field day when they face off against Sangal Esports for the first time. But while Sangal are a much lower-rated team on the global Counter-Strike standings, they have found some serious momentum lately.

They won CCT Season 2 European Series #6 and Series #7 and, just over a week ago, placed second at Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: European Qualifier A. With an incredible 18-3 record since the start of July, Sangal Esports seem to be set to make a splash in Malta.

FaZe Clan are serious title contenders; however, they have produced some unconvincing performances over the last few weeks against Rare Atom, paiN Gaming, and OG, so it is not entirely unlikely that Sangal Esports take a map off them.

HEROIC have not come close to winning a tournament since placing top four at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 #1. However, Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski and co. have recently found some traction with four wins over their last six series.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are 3-7 from their last 10 and on a four-game losing streak. They did well to upset Cloud9 and FaZe Clan at BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2024 earlier this month, but that means very little after their most recent outings.

HEROIC are not in the best shape, and they lost their last meeting with Ninjas in Pyjamas in June. However, unlike Ninjas in Pyjamas, HEROIC have shown some improvement and should not struggle to come away with a comfortable victory.

MiBR and 9z Team last clashed in the second round of Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2024, when 9z won in two maps. They needed overtime on Ancient but crushed the Brazillians on Nuke with 13-2, so the game was not particularly close.

Since then, 9z Team have won just one of five games played, including losses to Astralis, Team Falcons, and paiN Gaming (twice). MiBR, on the other side, have won three games over the same stretch, albeit against BESTIA and two against Hype Esports.

MiBR seem to be in better form, but Maximiliano “max” Gonzalez and his crew have a better map pool, stronger results against more formidable opponents, and are up in the head-to-head stakes. Barring any surprises, 9z Team should come out ahead.

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