FaZe Clan, G2 Esports and Outsiders all won their second matches in as many days as Group B action continued Thursday at ESL Pro League Season 16 in Malta.
FaZe rallied for a 2-1 win over MIBR, while G2 Esports swept BIG and Outsiders blanked FTW Esports 2-0.
The $835,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event features 24 teams vying for a $175,000 first prize and a berth in the BLAST Premier World Final. Only the Season 16 champion will clinch a spot in the $1 million Final set for Dec. 14-18 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The Pro League teams are divided into four groups for the initial round-robin phase. The four group champions will advance to the playoff quarterfinals, while the teams that come in second and third in each group will move on to the playoffs’ Round of 12.
All matches in the group stage and the playoffs are best-of-three until the best-of-five final on Oct. 2.
In the only Group B match to need three maps so far, MIBR opened with a 16-9 win on Dust II before FaZe pushed back with a 16-8 victory on Nuke and clinched the match with a 16-4 blowout on Overpass. Robin “ropz” Kool of Estonia starred for FaZe, recording 60 kills on a plus-25 kills-to-deaths differential, both match highs.
G2 pulled out narrow overtime victories on both their maps against BIG — 19-16 on Mirage and 19-17 on Vertigo. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Nemanja “huNter-” Kovac racked up 66 kills on a plus-27 for G2.
Outsiders defeated FTW 16-8 on Vertigo and 16-10 on Dust II. All five Outsiders players posted positive K-D differentials, led by Russian Evgenii “FL1T” Lebedev, who had a whopping plus-30 with 59 kills.
Group B will conclude Sunday. Group C will be contested from Sept. 14-18 and Group D from Sept. 21-25.
Friday features three Group B matches:
–G2 Esports vs. FTW Esports
–BIG vs. MIBR
–FaZe Clan vs. Outsiders
ESL Pro League Season 16 group standings, with win-loss record, score differential and points:
Group A
1. Team Vitality, 5-0, +40, 15 points
2. Fnatic, 3-2, +36, 9 points
3. Natus Vincere, 3-2, +6, 6 points
4. Team Spirit, 2-3, -9, 6 points
5. Ninjas in Pyjamas, 2-3, -31, 6 points
6. Endpoint, 1-4, -42, 3 points
Group B
1. FaZe Clan, 2-0, +37, 6 points
2. Outsiders, 2-0, +26, 6 points
3. G2 Esports, 2-0, +22, 6 points
4. BIG, 0-2, -17, 0 points
5. MIBR, 0-1, -30, 0 points
6. FTW Esports, 0-1, -38, 0 points
Group C
ENCE
Heroic
Astralis
MOUZ
Complexity
HEET
Group D
Cloud9
Movistar Riders
Team Liquid
FURIA Esports
Evil Geniuses
Eternal Fire
–Field Level Media
