by Cloud9 have defeated Outsiders in the upper-bracket final to take top spot in Group A of ESL Pro League Season 17, earning them a ticket straight into the quarterfinals.
As for Outsiders, they will go through to the round of 12 as a high seed after they weren’t able to get the job done in a tight three-map series.
Along with another series win for Cloud9 we saw another huge performance from the current no.1 players at the ESL Pro League 17, with Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov recording the second-most kills (58), the least deaths (37) and the highest kill/death differential (+21) to finish with a 1.19 rating.
As we saw earlier in the ESL Pro League against G2 Esports, sh1ro is starting to prove unstoppable on Vertigo, as he once again recorded a kill/death difference of +21 and an unbelievable match rating of 1.94 in C9’s 16-9 demolition of Outsiders on their map pick.
With an average rating of 1.49 across the seven maps that Cloud9 have played, it will be very difficult for anyone to top the rating that sh1ro has compiled throughout the group stage, leaving him in a very strong position to claim the tournament MVP if Cloud9 can become the ESL Pro League 17 champions.
.@C9CSGO are going to the QUARTER FINALS of #ESLProLeague Season 17!
They take down Outsiders 2-1, and secure first place in Group A ??
16-9 Vertigo
14-16 Mirage
16-8 Ancient pic.twitter.com/gCDrRHYXcI— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) February 26, 2023
Along with Cloud9 and Outsiders, G2 Esports also punched their ticket for playoffs, defeating Fnatic in the lower-bracket final to advance to the round of 16 as a high seed.
G2 didn’t get everything their own way against Fnatic as they were taken to three maps, with their defeat on Nuke (4-16) showing some worrying signs for the reigning IEM Katowice champions.
With three teams going into the playoffs, there are also teams that have already been knocked out of ESL Pro League 17, with those being Evil Geniuses, MiBR and IHC.
The second week of the tournament will kick off on Wednesday, March 1, with the opening matches of Group B.
