Team Vitality, MOUZ, FURIA advance to playoffs at ESL Pro League 22

A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home. Jordan Woodruff

Team Vitality, MOUZ and FURIA were the third, fourth and fifth teams to advance to the playoff stage at ESL Pro League Season 22 with their victories Tuesday in Stockholm, Sweden.

In the Round 4 High matches of Stage 2, Team Vitality blanked G2 Esports 2-0, MOUZ did the same to 3DMAX, while FURIA emerged with a 2-1 victory over Aurora Gaming.

The three winning squads join Team Spirit and Team Falcons in the playoffs. Those squads punched their tickets Monday after going 3-0 in Stage 2.

The losing teams aren’t done yet, as they will return for the final round of matches in Stage 2 Wednesday. Meanwhile, Gentle Mates, Inner Circle Esports and HOTU were all eliminated from Stage 2 due to their losses in the Round 4 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, which concludes on Wednesday, features 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 sets.

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 Tuesday, Vitality demolished G2 13-2 on Inferno, then emerged with a 16-13 win on Mirage in overtime. Estonia’s Robin “ropz” Kool paced Vitality with 41 kills, while William “mezii” Merriman of Great Britain had 40 kills with game-high plus-13 kills-to-deaths differential.

MOUZ prevailed 13-5 on Inferno and 13-8 on Overpass to knock off 3DMAX. Israel’s Lotan “Spinx” Giladi had a match-high 35 kills and a plus-12 K-D for MOUZ.

FURIA opened with a 13-3 win on Inferno, and Aurora answered back with a 13-9 victory on Mirage before FURIA finished the match with a 16-12 overtime victory on Overpass. Latvia’s Mareks “YEKINDAR” Galinskis piled up 62 kills, while Yuri “yuurih” Santos of Brazil had 55 kills and a plus-17 differential for FURIA.

In the Low matches, Natus Vincere swept HOTU 2-0, with a 13-7 victory on Ancient and a 13-9 result on Train. Ukraine’s Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy stood out for the winners with 45 kills on a plus-21 differential.

The MongolZ survived by sweeping Gentle Mates 13-8 on Inferno and 22-19 in triple overtime on Mirage. Azbayar “Senzu” Munkhbold led the all-Mongolian squad with 56 kills on a plus-19.

FaZe Clan completed the trio of sweeps in the Low matches, winning 13-7 on Ancient and 13-9 on Nuke against Inner Circle Esports. Slovakia’s David “frozen” Cernansky was the top performer with 34 kills and a plus-15 K-D.

The tournament continues on Wednesday with three matches for the final three playoff spots:

Round 5 matches

–The MongolZ vs. Natus Vincere

–G2 Esports vs. 3DMAX

–Aurora Gaming vs. FaZe Clan

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