FaZe, BetBoom advance to ESL Pro League playoffs

FaZe Clan and BetBoom Team became the first two teams to qualify for the ESL Pro League Season 19 playoffs, winning mid-bracket matches on Friday in Saint Julian's, Malta.

In Group A, FaZe Clan rallied past Eternal Fire 2-1. After Eternal Fire prevailed 13-9 on Anubis, FaZe Clan captured Mirage 13-11 and Inferno 13-8.

Denmark's Finn "karrigan" Andersen paced FaZe Clan with 53 kills, while Latvia's Helvijs "broky" Saukants had a team-best plus-10 kill-death differential.

Bugra "Calyx" Arkin led Eternal Fire's all-Turkish roster with 58 kills. Ozgur "woxic" Eker posted a team-high plus-20 K-D differential.

In Group B, BetBoom Team came from behind to beat M80 2-1 and advance. M80 took Ancient 13-7, but then BetBoom Team won 13-6 on Mirage and 16-14 in overtime on Anubis.

Aleksandr "zorte" Zagodyrenko powered BetBoom Team's all-Russian squad with 51 kills and a plus-11 K-D differential.

Guatemala's Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa posted 59 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential for M80.

In Group A lower-bracket action on Friday, SAW swept Imperial Esports 2-0, setting up a Saturday matchup against Eternal Fire.

Both BetBoom Team and M80 earned mid-bracket victories earlier Friday before their head-to-head meeting. BetBoom Team toppled Team Falcons 2-0, and M80 squeezed past G2 Esports 2-1.

In the Group B lower-bracket play, TYLOO took down Sharks Esports 2-0.

The $750,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with 32 teams broken up into four groups of eight. Group-stage winners advance to the quarterfinals; runners-up advance to the Round of 12 as the high seeds; third-place teams advance to the Round of 16 as the high seeds; and fourth-place teams advance to the Round of 16 as the low seeds.

The group stage is triple-elimination with upper, middle and lower brackets. All matches are best-of-three until the grand final, which is best-of-five.

The tournament runs through May 12. The winner earns $170,000 and qualifies for the IEM Cologne 2024 event.

The group stage continues Saturday with five matches:

--Group A upper-bracket final: Astralis vs. 3DMax

--Group A lower-bracket semifinal: Fnatic vs. Virtus.pro

--Group A lower-bracket semifinal: Eternal Fire vs. Saw

--Group B lower-bracket semifinal: G2 Esports vs. Team Falcons

--Group B lower-bracket semifinal: M80 vs. TYLOO

ESL Pro League Season 19 prize pool

1. $170,000, 2,000 BLAST Premier points -- TBD

2. $80,000, 1,400 points -- TBD

3-4. $45,000, 750 points -- TBD

5-8. $32,000, 275 points -- TBD

9-12. $23,500 -- TBD

13-16. $17,500 -- TBD

17-20. $12,000 -- TBD

21-28. $7,000 -- TBD

29-32. $3,500 -- Imperial Esports, Sharks Esports, two teams TBD

--Field Level Media