FaZe Clan and Team Liquid advanced to the quarterfinals at ESL Pro League Season 16 with wins in the Round of 12 on Tuesday in Malta.
FaZe defeated Complexity 2-1 and Liquid ousted Fnatic by the same score. Complexity and Fnatic were eliminated from the tournament.
As a result, FaZe will meet Cloud9 and Liquid will draw MOUZ in the quarterfinals of the single-elimination playoff stage.
The $835,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event features 24 teams vying for a $175,000 first prize and a berth in the BLAST Premier World Final. Only the Season 16 champion will clinch a spot in the $1 million Final set for Dec. 14-18 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The Season 16 winner also nabs a berth in the $1 million Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2023, scheduled for Jan. 31-Feb. 12 in Poland.
The Pro League teams were divided into four groups for the initial round-robin Group Stage. The four group champions advanced to the playoff quarterfinals, while the teams that came in second and third in each group moved on to the playoffs’ Round of 12.
All matches in the group stage and the playoffs are best-of-three until the best-of-five final on Sunday.
FaZe fell behind to Complexity in a 16-9 loss on Overpass but rallied with a 16-14 victory on Inferno and a 16-8 win on Nuke.
Havard “rain” Nygaard of Norway led FaZe with 71 kills and a plus-24 kills-to-deaths differential. Michael “Grim” Wince of the U.S. paced Complexity with 73 kills and a plus-21.
Liquid started with a narrow 16-13 win on Inferno, but Fnatic responded by winning 16-9 on Overpass. Liquid pulled out the decisive victory on Ancient, 16-10.
Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski of the U.S. had 64 kills and a plus-6 K-D to lead Liquid. Fnatic received 65 kills on a plus-11 from Denmark’s Fredrik “roeJ” Jorgensen and 60 kills on a plus-13 from fellow Dane Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi.
The tournament continues Wednesday with the remaining two Round of 12 matches:
–Heroic vs. Natus Vincere
–FURIA Esports vs. Outsiders
ESL Pro League Season 16 prize pool
1. TBD — $175,000
2. TBD — $70,000
3-4. TBD — $35,000
5-8. TBD — $17,500
9-12. Complexity Gaming, Fnatic — $27,000
13-16. Team Spirit, BIG, Astralis, Evil Geniuses — $19,000
17-20. Ninjas in Pyjamas, Eternal Fire — $17,500; MIBR, ENCE — $12,500
21-24. Endpoint, HEET — $11,000; FTW Esports, Movistar Riders — $6,000
–Field Level Media