Natus Vincere, Eternal Fire reach ESL Pro League Season 20 playoffs

Natus Vincere defeated Eternal Fire 2-0 in the Group A upper-bracket final on Saturday in Saint Julian's, Malta, though both teams clinched playoff berths at the ESL Pro League Season 20.

In other Group A action on Saturday, HEROIC rallied past Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-1, and Sangal Esports swept FlyQuest 2-0 to reach the lower-bracket final on Sunday.

In the Group B lower-bracket semifinals, The MongolZ beat 9z team 2-0, and 3DMAX bounced Wildcard by the same score. The winners will face off Sunday in the final.

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 Saturday, Natus Vincere and Eternal Fire battled into a third overtime on Anubis before Natus Vincere prevailed 22-20. Natus Vincere had a much easier time on Mirage, winning 13-5 to clinch the victory. Justinas "jL" Lekavicius of Lithuania spearheaded the win with 60 kills on a plus-26 kills-deaths ratio.

Ninjas in Pyjamas prevailed 16-13 in overtime on Ancient, but HEROIC battled back with a 13-7 win on Nuke and secured the win, 13-6 on Anubis. Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski of North Macedonia and Guy "NertZ" Iluz of Israel each posted 51 kills on a plus-8 K-D to lead HEROIC.

Sangal Esports opened with a 13-11 triumph on Anubis, then sealed the victory with a 16-12 overtime win on Vertigo. Yasin "xfl0ud" Koc of Turkey was Sangal's top player with 53 kills on a plus-19 K-D.

The MongolZ advanced past 9z Team with 13-10 victories on Nuke and Ancient, led by Munkhbold "Senzu" Azbayar, who paced the all-Mongolian team with 45 kills on a plus-18 K-D.

3DMAX followed a 13-9 win on Ancient with a 13-4 triumph on Inferno to eliminate Wildcard. Pierre "Ex3rcice" Bulinge posted 38 kills and a plus-14 K-D to lead the all-French squad.

The tournament continues Sunday with three matches:

--MIBR vs. G2 Esports (Group B upper-bracket final)

--The MongolZ vs. 3DMAX (Group B lower-bracket final)

-- HEROIC vs. Sangal Esports (Group A lower-bracket final)

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 -- Ninjas in Pyjamas, FlyQuest, 9z Team, Wildcard, four teams TBD

29-32. $3,500 -- Lynn Vision Gaming, KOI, two teams TBD

--Field Level Media