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The opening round of the ESL Pro League Season 18 came and brought with it the downfall of some of the bigger fan-favorite teams in Counter-Strike, such as Fnatic, Astralis, Virtus.Pro, and FURIA Esports all were eliminated.
With the Round of 12 upon us, fans prepare for the next four matches of exciting Counter-Strike action while the top teams await to see who they’ll be matched up against.
Catch all of the action live on both Twitch and YouTube.
9z Team vs. Movistar Riders
- Odds: Movistar Riders (-108) vs. 9z Team (-120)
9z Team put the whole Counter-Strike world on notice when they came in and upset Virtus.Pro in the opening round of the playoffs on Tuesday. 9z Team entered the week as the biggest underdog, with oddsmakers setting their line at +450 while Virtus.Pro entered as -750 favorites. This is a team with plenty of momentum, having taken their game to a different level since being sent to the Lower Bracket in Groups.
Movistar Riders will get the task of taking them on in the next round of the playoffs. The Riders qualified for playoffs off the back of 2-0 wins over FURIA Esports and GamerLegion in the Upper Bracket of Group A. They fell to Team Vitality in a 2-0 in the Upper Bracket Final but look to bounce back on Wednesday Morning.
BIG vs. Eternal Fire
- Odds: BIG (+110) vs. Eternal Fire (-141)
BIG vs. Eternal Fire is the other match that will be kicking off the second round of the playoffs. Eternal Fire entered as the favorites after just pulling off an upset of their own as they took down Astralis 2-0 in the Round of 16. Entering that match, their moneyline was set at +145, with Astralis nearly 2:1 favorites with a line of -190
After Eternal Fire’s flashy win, are oddsmakers overlooking BIG? BIG made a solid run through the Upper Bracket of Group B, taking down some good teams in Monte, which is still in the tournament, and Heroic, which is a top-ranked team.
Complexity Gaming vs. Monte
- Odds: Complexity Gaming (-128) vs. Monte (+100)
Even though Monte did take a tumble in their opening match against BIG, it doesn’t mean they weren’t able to get their act together. They were able to secure playoffs via the Group B Lower Bracket before pulling off a 2-1 upset over Fnatic in the opening round of the playoffs.
Complexity Gaming enters its first match in the Playoffs after getting second in Group D. They found a 2-1 win over 9INE, followed by a 2-0 win over Cloud9. Though they lost to G2 Esports in the Upper Bracket final, they did make it competitive and should be ready come Wednesday morning.
FaZe Clan vs. MOUZ
- Odds: FaZe Clan (-141) vs. MOUZ (+113)
MOUZ was the favorite not to get upset on Tuesday morning as they took care of business against FURIA Esports in a dominant 2-0 fashion.
MOUZ didn’t have the early start to the tournament they were hoping to have but has seemingly turned it on as of late. They will be taking on their toughest opponent yet in FaZe Clan.
FaZe Clan made it to playoffs by beating 9z Team and Fnatic in the Upper Bracket of Group C before losing to Natus Vincere. They hope to not be the next team to suffer an upset at the ESL Pro League Season 18.