Six teams persevered and march on to the play-offs, whilst the remaining six are sent packing their bags for the journey home.
With the group stage of the ESL Pro League Season 5 LAN finals, six teams have been determined to proceed to the play-offs, whilst six contenders didn't make the cut. G2 Esports and North managed to top groups A and B respectively, securing placements at the semi-finals, whilst Team EnVyUs, SK Gaming, Team Liquid and mousesports will collide in the quarter-finals to determine who will be facing the two semi-finalists for a spot in the grand final.
Below is a table containing the finalised group stage standings:
| Group A | Group B | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Win/loss | Team | Win/loss | ||
| 1. |  G2 Esports | 3-2 (60%) | 1. |  North | 4-1 (80%) |
| 2. | Team EnVyUs | 3-2 (60%) | 2. |  Team Liquid | 4-1 (80%) |
| 3. |  SK Gaming | 3-2 (60%) | 3. |  mousesports | 3-2 (60%) |
| 4. |  Fnatic | 3-2 (60%) | 4. | OpTic Gaming | 2-3 (40%) |
| 5. | Immortals | 2-3 (40%) | 5. |  Natus Vincere | 2-3 (40%) |
| 6. | Cloud9 | 1-4 (20%) | 6. | NRG Esports | 0-5 (0%) |
Semi-finalists - G2 Esports & North
G2 Esports were the first team from group A to attain a 3-2 win/loss ratio, cementing their placement in the semi-finals. Day one saw a 50% win percentage for them at 1-1, however the Frenchmen managed to make up for it last night, securing two victories to one loss. The first match for G2 saw a loss against Immortals on de_Overpass, where the team was unable to produce a solid defence, falling at 10:16. With aspirations high, the French went on to tackle one of the tournament favourites, SK Gaming. In somewhat of an upset, G2 managed to absolutely smash SK Gaming on de_Cobblestone, donning a 16:6 score line come conclusion of the match. The final match of the group, the very one that subsequently secured G2 Esports their semi-final placement, was against Fnatic. The team faced the Swedes on de_Overpass, able to overcome the once legendary team with a 16:11 surplus.
When it comes to North's performance, the majority of their work was done over the course of day one where the Danes managed to secure a flawless 3-0 streak. Last night they took place in just two matches. The first opponents for the team were OpTic Gaming, where the two teams faced on de_Mirage. The best-of-one on de_Mirage came down right to the 30th round, a round which crucially fell in favour of North at 16:14. At this point the team was looking at a rather astonishing 4-0 win/loss, with a final match against Team Liquid. Surprisingly, the American roster was able to overcome the Danes on de_Cobblestone, with North falling at a 10:16 score line.
Quarter-finalists - Team EnVyUs, SK Gaming, Team Liquid and mousesports
As for the quarter-finalists, group A saw a three-way tie between Team EnVyUs, SK Gaming and Fnatic, with the prior two securing placements over the Swedes.
Team EnVyUs finished day one with a 1-2 win/loss, suggesting the Frenchmen would find it difficult to qualify for a top placement in the tournament. Against all odds the team persevered, sustaining two consecutive victories during day two and subsequently tying for a spot in the quarter-finals. The team's first match was against Immortals, where EnVyUs absolutely demolished the opposition with a 16:2 score on de_Cobblestone. In something short of a miracle the Frenchmen then went on to dominate the other Brazilian representative at the tournament, SK Gaming, whom the French destroyed at 16:3 on de_Inferno, placing the team in the three-way tie.
SK Gaming were the second team from group A to qualify, however day two proved to be quite upsetting for the Brazilians. After securing a perfect 3-0 match record on day one, SK managed to lose both of their matches last night. First they faced G2 Esports, a team that managed to take the high road in the group, securing a placement at the semi-final. The two faced off on de_Cobblestone, with G2 outplaying SK Gaming at a 16:6 score. Following this result the Brazilians were to face Frenchmen once again, this time they were from Team EnVyUs. As outlined previously, they had quite a rough time, as SK fell once more, except thisi time the team was only able to secure three rounds at 3:16 on de_Inferno.
Parallel to all of the aforementioned, Fnatic managed to also secure a 3-2 win/loss ratio, after a 2-1 finish on day one. The team kicked the second day off with a 16:6 victory over Cloud9 on de_Nuke, followed by an 11:16 loss against G2 Esports on de_Overpass. This meant that Fnatic would join the other two teams with a 3-2 win/loss record to settle things straight. A total of three matches took place, kicking off with Team EnVyUs facing Fnatic on de_Train. The tiebreaker was extensive, with a total of sixteen rounds played, however it was in EnVy's destiny to succeed, securing a win at 10:6. Following this victory, EnVyUs faced SK Gaming on de_Train, once more outplaying the Brazilians at 4:1 and consequently securing a placement in the quarter-finals. The final deciding match saw SK Gaming face Fnatic on de_Train where, fortunately for the prior, the team was able to secure a 4:0 victory against the Swedes, hanging in there for the play-offs.
Image courtesy of ESL
