Physical Address

304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124

Lower Bracket to Quarterfinals Monte and Eternal Fire Continue

Though the release of Counter-Strike 2 has the attention of the Counter-Strike world, the world of esports still has its eyes on CS:GO as the second round of the ESL Pro League Season 18 Playoffs was played on Wednesday as the 4th event of the Intel Grand Slam Season 5 continues.

Only eight teams remain now, and all of them are going to have to participate in matches as the top teams from the groups finally jump into the fray.

You won’t want to miss it as Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, ENCE, and G2 Esports all get their first taste of playoff action at the ESL Pro League Season 18, and you can catch it all live on Twitch and YouTube.

Team Vitality vs. Monte

  • Odds: Team Vitality (-525) vs. Monte (+350)

Team Vitality will get their first taste of action in the ESL Pro League Season 18 playoffs against Monte, who has scrapped their way to the Quarterfinals after a rough start to their tournament.

Since tumbling into the Group B Lower Bracket, Monte has been overlooked. They’ve shown to be dangerous as the underdogs come off of 2-1 wins over Fnatic and Complexity Gaming with the odds against them.

Team Vitality has had the biggest rest of any team at the tournament, not having played a match since September 3rd when they beat Movistar Riders in the Group A Upper Bracket Final. Fans will soon see if they look rusty after the break.

ENCE vs. Movistar Riders

  • Odds: ENCE (-550) vs. Movistar Riders (+360)

The largest favorite entering the Quarterfinal round is ENCE, who enters with a line set at -550 by oddsmakers.

To their credit, ENCE looked really good during their run through the Group B Upper Bracket that saw them take down Evil Geniuses, MIBR, and BIG. Movistar Riders are coming off a match with 9z Team, where they were able to take down the surging underdogs that had pulled off an impressive upset over Virtus.Pro.

Though the 9z Team put up a good fight, Movistar Riders was able to walk away with the 2-1 win, setting up what the experts are calling the most one-sided match-up in the Quarterfinals. However, this week has already proven that any team can win any given match.

Natus Vincere vs. Eternal Fire

  • Odds: Natus Vincere (-220) vs. Eternal Fire (+165)

Eternal Fire is another team that was able to qualify through the Lower Bracket in Groups and still has their tournament hopes alive.

Eternal Fire has been unbeatable since being sent to the Lower Bracket of Group D early. They have yet to drop a map since hitting rock bottom, taking down some big-name esports organizations in Cloud9, Team Liquid, Astralis, and BIG, all with 2-0 scorelines.

They now face Natus Vincere, who is on a winning streak of their own, having yet to drop a single map at the Pro League, winning Group C by 2-0ing 5yclone, Apeks, and FaZe Clan.

G2 Esports vs. MOUZ

  • Odds: G2 Esports (-155) vs. MOUZ (+120)

MOUZ was the only team to win the Middle Bracket and win their match in the opening round of the Playoffs when they took down FURIA Esports 2-0. They followed that up with another solid 2-0 win, this time over FaZe Clan.

They now look to take their own G2 Esports, who made an easy run through Group D’s Upper Bracket, taking down Lynn Vision, Virtus.Pro, and Complexity Gaming. This should be a great match, as both squads are highly rated and will have plenty of motivation to close out the CS:GO on a positive note.