Big names like Team Liquid and Natus Vincere failed to move to the next stage.
The quarterfinal for the ESL Pro League Season 15 is over, and four teams have moved on to the next stage of the competition. Surprisingly, a big name in the CS:GO community was knocked out of the competition in the quarterfinals.
Ninjas in Pyjamas
vs
Team Liquid
The match started strong for Liquid, but by the end of the first half, NIP easily took the lead. They carried the momentum through the second half when they won the map 16-14. In the map Overpass, Liquid stepped up and led the conversation as they dominated the first half and continued their lead in the second half for them to win it 16-14.
For the third map, Inferno, NIP found a second wind for them to grab the lead, even though Liquid started the game strongly. They easily picked up 16 wins in the two halves of the map to win 16-12 and the overall match to head to the semis.
Ninjas in Pyjamas won 2-1.
Movistar Riders
vs
ENCE
The Spaniards met up with the lads from Finland in their quarterfinal match. Movistar started strong in Mirage where they won 16-14. ENCE, however, did not stand still and rose to give Movistar a severe pounding on the next map, Vertigo. They dominated Movistar Riders as they won the map 16-2.
Nuke, the last map, saw a similar run to Vertigo as ENCE dominated the match once again and left Movistar Riders in the dust. The team from Finland won the map 16-5.
ENCE won 2-1.
FURIA
vs
Astralis
Astralis met up with FURIA in their quarterfinal match for playoffs. Astralis started strong in the first map, Ancient, where they dispatched FURIA 16-13in 29 rounds. In the next map, Mirage, however, FURIA rose and gave the lads from Denmark a bloody nose as they strolled by and won the map, 16-8.
In the last map, Nuke, Astralis led by winning the first four rounds, but after which, FURIA just dominated by winning the first half, and not giving Astralis a chance at all in the second half.
FURIA Esports won 2-1.
Natus Vincere
vs
FaZe Clan
The last match of the quarterfinal sees the biggest team of 2021 going against one of the OG in the sport. The match itself was a bit disappointing for Na’Vi fans as the team isn’t up to par like they usually are – thanks to IGL Boombl4 having to miss the competition. Even so, they gave a good fight against FaZe Clan in the two maps they played – Inferno and Dust2.
In the first map, FaZe Clan won easily 16-11, and the story is similar to the first map and FaZe again won 16-12.
FaZe Clan won 2-0.
An interesting note is that three out of the four teams in the semifinals are from Group B in the group stage. The next stage of the competition will be the semifinals, where Ninjas in Pyjamas will be facing ENCE while FURIA Esports will be facing FaZe Clan.
