ESL Pro League Group D Review | Liquid and Cloud9 Disappoint

EPL Group D reached its conclusion yesterday, bringing four weeks of intense CS:GO to a close. Before the Playoffs can begin, we’re taking a look back at the final Group, to see who made it to the next stage of the final S-Tier CS:GO tournament.

Upper Bracket

The Upper Bracket of EPL Group D actually contained one of the most surprising ESL Pro League Season 18 results so far. On one side, G2 moved forward to the Quarter Finals as most predicted. However, it was Complexity joining them in second place.

Pre-tournament, the general view of Complexity wasn’t pretty. Since adding EliGE in the summer, they’ve not exactly impressed on the server. Yet here, they seemed unflappable, taking a new approach that saw them defeat Eternal Fire and Cloud9 without dropping a single map. Whatever they’ve been doing in practice is working a treat right now. With either Fnatic or Monte awaiting them in the Round of 12, you’d fancy them to go even further, too.

Meanwhile on G2’s side of the bracket, they’ll face the eventual winner of FaZe vs MOUZ/FURIA in the ESL Pro League Season 18 Quarter Finals.

Lower Bracket

In the Lower Bracket, it was Virtus.pro who battled through adversity to come third place in EPL Group D. Virtus.pro were always likely to qualify, but you could have placed them in any of the four Playoff spots here.

A third-place finish is perhaps harsh on Virtus.pro, who were strong competitors throughout. Their only loss came from G2, and even that was a close-fought game. Jame and his team haven’t been to many LAN events in recent times, but they showed they still have plenty to offer the very best CS:GO teams right now.

Virtus.pro now move on to face 9z Team in the Round of 16 of ESL Pro League Season 18.

Last Chance Bracket

The Last Chance Bracket of EPL Group D can only be described as insane. Both 9INE and Lynn Vision left early, to little surprise. However, another miserable failure for this Cloud9 superteam leaves lingering questions that they don’t seem to have any real answers to yet.

Alongside them, it was more disappointment for Team Liquid’s European experiment. When we spoke to Liquid oSee pre-EPL Group D, he claimed Playoffs were the minimum for this team. We can only wonder how they feel now, having crashed out early once again. For both of these teams, there’s a certain level of expectation to be some of the best CS:GO teams in the world. Soon enough, patience will begin to wear thin if results don’t improve.

In the end, it was Eternal Fire who progressed in the Last Chance Bracket. There’s lots to like about the team, who now face Astralis in a perfect test of their mettle. With XANTARES avoiding his onliner-only reputation, MAJ3R’s experience proving invaluable, and Wicadia playing like a prodigy, there’s no reason they can’t go even further at ESL Pro League Season 18.