ESL Pro League Semi-Finals Preview | Surprise Packages

Counter-Strike 2 might be here, but competitive CS:GO has a little left to give just yet. The ESL Pro League Season 18 Semi-Finals are here, with just four teams remaining to vie for the crown.

We wanted to take a look at those teams: Monte, NAVI, ENCE, and MOUZ, exploring their runs so far, and their chances of winning out in the ESL Pro League Semi-Finals.

Monte vs NAVI

Who saw this coming? Pre-tournament, Monte and NAVI were two teams we knew had serious quality, but this is next-level. When we spoke to NAVI’s jL at ESL Pro League Season 18, he claimed the team had players that thrived in big situations. Now, he’s just one best-of-three away from his first Grand Final with NAVI. It’s a serious achievement for the roster, this early into its lifespan. Glory is within reach, and now, NAVI needs to grasp it with two hands.

The team are yet to drop a single map at ESL Pro League Season 18. Some may complain about the quality of opponent, with only FaZe proving to be a massive scalp, but NAVI can only beat whoever is in front of them. So far, they’ve done just that.

Then, there’s Monte. The Ukrainian team made a name for themselves in their Paris Major Cinderella run, and have since established themselves in Tier-1. Make no mistake. Reaching the ESL Pro League Semi-Finals is already a huge overachievement for Monte, who have been spearheaded by the form of br0, the young rifler recently purchased from Astralis Talent.

We’ve loved seeing Monte continuing to impress in Malta, but right now there’s too much individual quality at NAVI to take this further. Beating Fnatic, Complexity, and Vitality would still be an incredible run for Monte.

MOUZ vs ENCE

How apt for this youthful MOUZ roster to have their huge coming-of-age moment at ESL Pro League Season 18. Heroic, FURIA, FaZe, G2. They don’t care who you are, they’ll send you on the first plane home. It’s a huge win for the MOUZ NXT talent pipeline, which in the past has brought through some of the top CS:GO players.

Now, there’s a new generation of stars. Jimpphat, at just 17 years old, is playing with the confidence of a grizzled veteran. Meanwhile, frozen is fragging like a top-10 rifler, and siuhy is proving why he’s considered to be the top IGL prospect in the world.

Comparatively, we always expected ENCE to be in the ESL Pro League Season 18 Semi-Finals. They’re a top-three team at worst, and have shown no mercy in Malta so far. They’re playing some smooth CS, where it seems like everything is going right.

On paper, this rematch of the IEM Dallas 2023 Grand Final should go the way of ENCE. But the way MOUZ are steamrolling elite teams right now, we’re all in. We want to see MOUZ go all the way, and give them their first taste of silverware.