Liquid, Eternal Fire, G2 Esports round out ESL 21 playoff field

Team Liquid, Eternal Fire and G2 Esports nabbed the final three playoff berths at ESL Pro League Season 21 with wins on Tuesday to complete Group Stage 2 in Stockholm.

In Round 5 matches, Team Liquid edged 3DMAX 2-1, Eternal Fire slipped past Team Falcons 2-1 and G2 Esports swept GamerLegion 2-0.

The first two quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday, with Eternal Fire opposing Team Spirit and G2 Esports facing MOUZ. The other two quarterfinals will be held Friday, with Team Vitality going up against Team Liquid and Natus Vincere clashing with The MongolZ.

The $400,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament seeded eight of its 24 teams straight into Group Stage 2: G2 Esports, Team Spirit, The MongolZ, Team Vitality, MOUZ, Natus Vincere, Team Falcons and Team Liquid.

The other 16 teams began in Group Stage 1, which featured a Swiss system format of best-of-three matches. The top eight teams then advanced to Group Stage 2, which also employed a Swiss system format of best-of-three matches.

Eight teams will advanced from Group Stage 2 to the single-elimination playoffs. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be best-of-three before the best-of-five grand final on Sunday. The winning team will receive $100,000.

On Tuesday, Team Liquid earned a 13-11 win on Inferno before 3DMAX captured Ancient 13-6. Liquid took the decisive third map, Anubis, 13-4. Poland's Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak led Liquid with 47 kills and a plus-14 kill-death differential. Pierre "Ex3rcice" Bulinge posted 47 kills and a plus-4 K-D differential for all-French 3DMAX.

Eternal Fire claimed Inferno 13-8, but Team Falcons recovered for a 16-13 overtime decision on Mirage. Eternal Fire closed out the series with a 13-9 triumph on Dust II. Ozgur "woxic" Eker and Ali "Wicadia" Haydar Yalcin each finished with 58 kills for all-Turkish Eternal Fire. Russia's Abdul "degster" Gasanov posted 48 kills and a plus-4 K-D differential for Team Falcons.

G2 Esports topped GamerLegion 13-11 on Inferno, 13-9 on Nuke behind 48 kills and a plus-23 K-D differential from Russia's Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov. Denmark's Sebastian "Tauson" Tauson Lindelof finished with 39 kills and a plus-5 K-D differential for GamerLegion.

ESL Pro League Season 21 Group Stage 2 standings

T1. Team Spirit, 3-0 (qualified for playoffs)

T1. Team Vitality, 3-0 (qualified for playoffs)

T3. MOUZ, 3-1 (qualified for playoffs)

T3. Natus Vincere, 3-1 (qualified for playoffs)

T3. The MongolZ, 3-1 (qualified for playoffs)

T6. G2 Esports, 3-2 (qualified for playoffs)

T6. Eternal Fire, 3-2 (qualified for playoffs)

T6. Team Liquid, 3-2 (qualified for playoffs)

T9. Team Falcons, 2-3 (eliminated)

T9. 3DMAX, 2-3 (eliminated)

T9. GamerLegion, 2-3 (eliminated)

T12. paiN Gaming, 1-3 (eliminated)

T12. SAW, 1-3 (eliminated)

T12. FURIA, 1-3 (eliminated)

T15. MIBR, 0-3 (eliminated)

T15. TYLOO, 0-3 (eliminated)

ESL Pro League Season 21 prize pool

1. $100,000

2. $50,000

3-4. $25,000

5-8. $18,000

9-11. $13,500 -- Team Falcons, 3DMax, GamerLegion

12-14. $10,500 -- paiN Gaming, SAW, FURIA

15-16. $8,500 -- MIBR, TYLOO

17-19. $6,500 -- FlyQuest, M80, Nemiga Gaming

20-22. $4,500 -- HEROIC, Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG

23-24. $3,000 -- Housebets, Mindfreak

--Field Level Media