The $750,000 ESL Pro League Season Seven Finals are off to a hot start, and two playoff contenders have already been found after the first day of the group stage.
FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere are among the first teams to make it through Group A, and they’ll be playing each other on Thursday, May 17 for a higher seed in the championship bracket this upcoming weekend. The winner of their match will earn a one-way ticket to the semifinals, while the loser will be placed in the quarterfinals.
Related: How to watch the ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals
FaZe remain undefeated at the EPL Finals since they defeated Cloud9 and Mousesports in three one-sided maps. Nikola “NiKo” Kovac carried his team to victory in both matches, averaging 24 kills per game and finishing off Mouz with an ace in the most contested map (Overpass) of the winners series.
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev also had a field day of his own in Na’Vi’s series vs. Heroic. Even though the Danes heavily contested each map, s1mple led the way to two CIS comebacks on Overpass and Mirage at top frag scores of 28 and 32. Na’Vi were close to losing the series to Heroic in many instances, but they ultimately pulled through to solidify a playoff berth.
Group A
Initial matches
- Mousesports won Inferno 16-10 vs. Sharks Esports
- FaZe Clan won Mirage 16-3 vs. Cloud9
- Heroic won Mirage 16-6 vs. NRG Esports
- Natus Vincere won Mirage 16-7 vs. MVP PK
Winners matches
FaZe vs. Mousesports (2-0)
- FaZe won Overpass 16-14
- FaZe won Mirage 16-4
Natus Vincere vs. Heroic
- Heroic won Cache 16-11
- Na’Vi won Overpass 16-13
- Na’Vi won Mirage 19-16
Eliminations matches
Cloud9 vs. Sharks Esports (2-1)
- Sharks won Cache 22-20
- C9 won Mirage 16-11
- C9 won Inferno 16-1
NRG Esports vs. MVP PK
- MVP won Cache 16-10
- NRG won Train 16-8
- NRG won Mirage 16-2
Group B
Initial Matches
- Team Liquid won Cache 16-5 vs. Grayhound Gaming
- Space Soldiers won Inferno 16-7 vs. Renegades
- Astralis won Nuke 16-3 vs. OpTic Gaming
- SK Gaming won Inferno 19-16 vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas
Competition at the ESL Pro League Finals will continue tomorrow at 10am CT, with Group B matches kicking off the action in Dallas for another day of the long and arduous group stage.
