G2 Esports staked their claim as the top squad in Group B on Saturday, producing their fourth straight sweep and moving into first place at ESL Pro League Season 16 in Malta.
In a battle of 3-0 teams heading into the day, G2 took care of FaZe Clan 2-0, leaving the victors as the lone undefeated team in the group.
In other Group B matches, Outsiders (3-1) earned a 2-0 sweep over winless MIBR (0-4) while BIG (2-2) won 2-1 over FTW Esports, who also fell to 0-4.
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 Pro League teams are divided into four groups for the initial round-robin phase. The four group champions will advance to the playoff quarterfinals, while the teams that come in second and third in each group will move 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 Oct. 2.
In Saturday’s anticipated showdown, G2 continued its dominance at this event — winning easily on Dust II (16-7) before clinching victory over FaZe on Nuke (16-12), due to a 10-0 run in the middle of the decisive map. Russia’s Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov led the way for G2 with 51 kills and a plus-23 kills-to-deaths differential — both best in the match.
Outsiders made quick work of fledgling MIBR, claiming consecutive maps on Vertigo (16-2) and Inferno (16-7). All five Outsiders players posted K/D differentials in the positive, with Petr “fame” Bolyshev of Russia topping the squad with 37 kills and a plus-17 ratio.
BIG evened their group record, first grabbing the lead with a 16-7 triumph on Inferno. FTW finally scored its first map victory in group play, winning 16-12 on Dust II to even things at 1-1. BIG responded with fury, notching 14 of the first 15 points on Nuke in a 16-6 win. Florian “syrsoN” Rische carried BIG’s all-German unit with 67 kills and a plus-29 K/D differential.
Group B will conclude Sunday. Group C will be contested from Sept. 14-18 and Group D from Sept. 21-25.
Sunday will be highlighted by three more Group B matches:
–G2 Esports vs. Outsiders
–FaZe Clan vs. BIG
–MIBR vs. FTW Esports
ESL Pro League Season 16 group standings, with win-loss record, score differential and points:
Group A
1. Team Vitality, 5-0, +40, 15 points
2. Fnatic, 3-2, +36, 9 points
3. Natus Vincere, 3-2, +6, 6 points
4. Team Spirit, 2-3, -9, 6 points
5. Ninjas in Pyjamas, 2-3, -31, 6 points
6. Endpoint, 1-4, -42, 3 points
Group B
1. G2 Esports, 4-0, +56, 12 points
2. FaZe Clan, 3-1, +29, 9 points
3. Outsiders, 3-1, +44, 9 points
4. BIG, 2-2, +13, 6 points
5. MIBR, 0-4, -68, 0 points
6. FTW Esports, 0-4, -74, 0 points
Group C
ENCE
Heroic
Astralis
MOUZ
Complexity
HEET
Group D
Cloud9
Movistar Riders
Team Liquid
FURIA Esports
Evil Geniuses
Eternal Fire
–Field Level Media