M80, Imperial Esports reach playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 20

M80 knocked off Imperial Esports 2-0 on Saturday as both booked playoff spots at the ESL Pro League Season 20 in Saint Julian's, Malta.

In the Group C lower-bracket semifinals, MOUZ swept Fnatic 2-0 and Complexity Gaming pulled off a 2-1 win over Astralis to reach the final.

Red Canids and FURIA Esports will meet in the Group D lower-bracket final after both swept their semifinals. Red Canids topped Team Falcons 2-0, while FURIA did the same against ATOX Esports.

The group stage of the $750,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event split 32 teams into four groups that are competing in triple-elimination brackets, with each match best-of-three. The top four teams from each group will move into the playoff bracket.

Group winners will advance straight into the playoff quarterfinals. Runners-up will advance to the Round of 12, third-place teams will move to the Round of 16 as high seeds and fourth-place teams will start in the Round of 16 as low seeds.

The single-elimination playoff bracket will feature best-of-three matches until the best-of-five grand final on Sept. 22.

The winner will receive $170,000 and will qualify for the first ESL Pro Tour Championship of 2025.

On Saturday, M80 opened with a 13-7 victory on Vertigo and put Imperial Esports away with a 13-11 triumph on Dust II. Mason "Lake" Sanderson of the United States led the way for M80 with 40 kills and a plus-10 kill-death differential.

MOUZ had no trouble getting past Fnatic, posting a 13-3 win on Vertigo and a 13-5 victory on Mirage. For MOUZ, Sweden's Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin posted 35 kills and a plus-21 K-D differential and teammate Adam "torzsi" Torzsas of Hungary also had a plus-21 K-D along with 32 kills.

Complexity Gaming topped Astralis 13-10 on Vertigo, then bounced back from a 13-6 defeat on Inferno to clinch the victory on Nuke 16-14 in overtime. With 49 kills and a plus-2 K-D differential, Norway's Hakon "hallzerk" Fjærli was the only Complexity player with a plus K-D differential.

Red Canids bounced Team Falcons with 13-10 victories on Mirage and Dust II, led by Chile's David "dav1deuS" Tapia Maldonado, who notched 39 kills and a plus-10 K-D differential.

With a 13-6 triumph on Inferno and a 13-8 win on Nuke, FURIA Esports upended ATOX Esports. Marcelo "chelo" Cespedes of the all-Brazilian FURIA squad posted 37 kills and a plus-12 K-D differential while teammate Yuri "yuurih" Santos finished with 32 kills and a plus-13 K-D differential.

The Sunday schedule:

--Group C lower-bracket final -- MOUZ vs. Complexity Gaming

--Group D upper-bracket final -- Team Vitality vs. Team Liquid

--Group D lower-bracket final -- RED Canids vs. FURIA Esports

ESL Pro League Season 20 prize pool (money, BLAST Premier points):

1. $170,000, 2,000 points

2. $80,000, 1,400

3-4. $45,000, 750

5-8. $32,000, 275

9-12. $23,500, no points

13-16. $17,500, no points

17-20. $12,000, no points -- Sangal Esports, 3DMAX, two teams TBD

21-28. $7,000, no points -- Ninjas in Pyjamas, FlyQuest, 9z Team, Wildcard, Fnatic, Astralis, Team Falcons, ATOX Esports

29-32. $3,500, no points -- Lynn Vision Gaming, KOI, Rooster, ENCE

--Field Level Media