Team Falcons, Team Spirit advance to playoffs at ESL Pro League 22

Team Falcons and Team Spirit were the first two teams to punch their tickets into the playoff stage at ESL Pro League Season 22 with their victories Monday in Stockholm, Sweden.

In the Round 3 High matches of Stage 2, Team Falcons slipped by MOUZ 2-1 while Team Spirit swept G2 Esports 2-0.

The losing teams aren't done yet, as they will return for the Round 4 High matches on Tuesday. Meanwhile, GamerLegion and Astralis were the first two teams eliminated from Stage 2 due to their losses in the Round 3 Low matches.

There were 16 teams at the start of Stage 1, with eight eliminated over five rounds. Eight more teams were invited directly to Stage 2: Team Vitality, MOUZ, Team Spirit, The MongolZ, Team Falcons, Aurora Gaming, FaZe Clan and Natus Vincere.

Stage 2 runs through Wednesday, featuring the eight teams from Stage 1 and the eight teams with automatic entries competing in a 16-team Swiss format, with all matches being best-of-three.

The top eight teams from Stage 2 qualify for the playoffs, which run Friday through Sunday with a single-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three except for the grand final, which is best-of-five.

The tournament features a $400,000 prize pool, with the winner receiving $100,000.

On Monday, Falcons defeated MOUZ 13-9 on Ancient, absorbed a 13-3 loss on Inferno and responded with a 13-7 triumph on Nuke. Russia's Maxim "kyousuke" Lukin paced Falcons with 51 kills on a plus-14 kills-to-deaths differential.

Spirit prevailed 13-8 on Dust II and 13-9 on Mirage to take down G2. Spirit got a game-high 50 kills and a plus-24 K-D from Russian Danil "donk" Kryshkovets.

In the Low matches, The MongolZ outlasted GamerLegion 2-1, with a 13-10 victory on Inferno, a 13-11 loss on Ancient and a decisive 13-7 result on Nuke. Ayush "mzinho" Batbold stood out for the all-Mongolian squad with 54 kills on a plus-12 differential.

FaZe Clan survived by sweeping Astralis 13-7 on Ancient and 13-4 on Dust II. Slovakia's David "frozen" Cernansky led FaZe with 37 kills on a plus-16.

In the four Round 3 Mid matches, Team Vitality swept HOTU, Aurora Gaming did the same to Gentle Mates, FURIA blanked Inner Circle Esports and 3DMAX bested Natus Vincere 2-1.

The tournament continues Tuesday with six matches:

Round 4 High matches

--FURIA vs. Aurora Gaming

--3DMAX vs. MOUZ

--Team Vitality vs. G2 Esports

Round 4 Low matches:

--Natus Vincere vs. HOTU

--The MongolZ vs. Gentle Mates

--FaZe Clan vs. Inner Circle Esports

ESL Pro League Season 22 prize pool:

1. $100,000 -- TBD

2. $50,000 -- TBD

3. $28,000 -- TBD

4. $22,000 -- TBD

5-8. $18,000 -- TBD

9-11. $13,500 -- TBD

12-14. $10,500 -- TBD

15-16. $8,500 -- TBD

17-19. $6,500 -- B8, ENCE, Legacy

20-22. $4,500 -- Fluxo, HEROIC, M80

23-24. $3,000 -- NRG, Rooster

--Field Level Media