MIBR, G2 Esports earn key wins at ESL Pro League Season 20

MIBR and G2 Esports each rallied to 2-1 victories to reach the Group B upper-bracket final at the ESL Pro League Season 20 on Thursday in Saint Julian's, Malta.

MIBR defeated Team Spirit and G2 toppled 3DMAX in the upper-bracket semifinals. They'll face off in the upper-bracket final, but both teams are now guaranteed to make the playoffs of the 32-team event.

Also in Group B, 9z Team swept Wildcard 2-0 and The MongolZ did the same to KOI in the first round of the mid bracket. In Group A, FaZe Clan stormed back to a 2-1 win over Ninjas in Pyjamas and Sangal Esports also rallied to beat HEROIC 2-1 in the mid-bracket quarterfinals.

The group stage split 32 teams into four groups of a triple-elimination bracket format, 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 be best-of-three 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 Thursday, Team Spirit opened with a dominating 13-2 victory over MIBR on Ancient. MIBR clawed back by winning 13-7 on Nuke and 16-13 in overtime on Anubis. Felipe "insani" Yuji of Brazil posted 52 kills and a plus-8 kills-to-deaths differential to lead MIBR.

G2 Esports rebounded from a 13-10 loss to 3DMAX on Anubis and prevailed 13-6 on Ancient and 13-7 on Nuke. Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov of Russia led G2 with 50 kills and a plus-14 K-D; Guatemala's Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa added 49 kills on a plus-12.

Down in the mid bracket, 9z Team toppled Wildcard 13-6 on Ancient and 13-10 on Nuke. Nicolas "buda" Kramer of Argentina starred for 9z with 42 kills and a plus-17 differential.

The MongolZ ripped through KOI, winning 13-1 on Inferno and 13-0 on Mirage. All five players on the all-Mongolian roster finished with positive K-D differentials. Usukhbayar "910" Banzragch paced the group with 33 kills on a plus-25.

FaZe Clan will face Sangal Esports in the Group A mid-bracket semifinal after their 2-1 win over Ninjas in Pyjamas. After FaZe absorbed a 13-11 defeat on Ancient, they defeated Ninjas 13-9 on Mirage and 13-1 on Dust II. David "frozen" Cernansky of Slovakia racked up 53 kills and a plus-18 K-D for FaZe.

Sangal lost 16-12 in overtime on Mirage to HEROIC, then bounced back with a 13-9 win on Ancient and 13-11 squeaker on Nuke. Samet "jottAAA" Koklu of Turkey led Sangal with 58 kills and the team's only positive K-D, a plus-4.

The tournament continues Friday with six matches:

--FaZe Clan vs. Sangal Esports (Group A mid-bracket semifinal)

--FlyQuest vs. Lynn Vision Gaming (Group A lower-bracket quarterfinal)

--3DMAX vs. 9z Team (Group B mid-bracket quarterfinal)

--Team Spirit vs. The MongolZ (Group B mid-bracket quarterfinal)

--3DMAX/9z winner vs. Spirit/MongolZ winner (Group B mid-bracket semifinal)

--Wildcard vs. KOI (Group B lower-bracket quarterfinal)

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

13-16. $17,500

17-20. $12,000

21-28. $7,000

29-32. $3,500

--Field Level Media