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ENCE wins first place in Group B at ESL Pro League Season 18

Players from around the globe participate in the Call of Duty League Pro-Am Classic esports tournament, livestreamed on YouTube, at Belong Gaming Arena in Columbus on May 6, 2022.

Call Of Duty Esports Tournament

ENCE was forced to go the distance but pulled out a 2-1 victory over BIG on Sunday to win the upper-bracket final of Group B at the ESL Pro League Season 18 in Malta.

Both teams are heading to the playoff stage, as is Monte, who beat MIBR 2-0 on Sunday to earn the fourth and final Group B berth via the lower bracket. MIBR had defeated Evil Geniuses 2-1 to reach the lower-bracket final.

The $850,000 event features 32 teams broken up into four groups of eight. Group-stage winners advance to the quarterfinals; runners-up advance to the Round of 12 as the high seeds; third-place teams in each group advance to the Round of 16 as the high seeds; and fourth-place teams advance to the Round of 16 as the low seeds.

The group stage is triple-elimination with upper, middle and lower brackets. All matches are best-of-three until the grand final, which is best-of-five.

The Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament runs through Oct. 1. The winner earns $200,000 and qualifies for the 2024 IEM Katowice event and the 2023 BLAST World Final.

ENCE opened Sunday’s upper-bracket final with a 16-9 win on Ancient, but BIG rebounded to even the match, taking Anubis 16-14. In the decisive third game, ENCE prevailed 16-11 on Vertigo. Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia of Spain was the star for the winners, posting 84 kills and a plus-37 differential.

In the lower-bracket final, Monte swept its way to victory with a 16-6 win on Vertigo and a 16-3 triumph on Anubis. Ukrainian teammates Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev (40 kills, plus-22 differential) and Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletniuk (40 kills, plus-21 differential) led the way for Monte.

To reach the final, MIBR cruised to a 16-1 win on Ancient, dropped Mirage 22-20, then bounced back to edge Evil Geniuses 25-22 on Nuke. Rafael “saffee” Costa of Brazil carried the load for MIBR, finishing with 83 kills and a plus-24 differential.

ESL Pro League Season 18 prize pool:
1. $200,000, 3,000 BLAST Premier points — TBD
2. $90,000, 2,000 BLAST points — TBD
3-4. $50,000, 1,200 points – TBD
5-8. $35,000, 500 points — TBD
9-12. $25,000 — TBD
13-16. $20,000 — TBD
17-20. $15,000 — Gamer Legion, MIBR, TBD
21-28. $8,000 — Ninjas in Pyjamas, Grayhound Gaming, Heroic, Evil Geniuses, TBD
29-32. $4,000 — ORKS, Rooster, TBD

–Field Level Media

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