Group B play at the ESL Pro League Season 16 in Malta came to a conclusion Sunday, as G2 Esports completed an undefeated first-place finish by sweeping Outsiders 2-0.
G2, which finished 5-0 in group play, dumped Outsiders quickly in Game 1, winning 16-2 on Inferno. The second game was a more hotly contested affair, but G2 again pulled it out, winning 19-16.
Nikola “NiKo” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov of Russia had 51 and 50 kills, respectively, for G2. Each finished plus-25 in kills-to-deaths differential.
Outsiders finished third in Group B at 3-2, a game behind FaZe Clan, who finished second at 4-1 after netting a 2-0 win against BIG Sunday.
FaZe won 16-11 on Dust II and 16-11 on Nuke, thanks to the exploits of Estonia’s Robin “ropz” Kool and Canada’s Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, who both finished plus-19 in kills-to-deaths differential.
The top three teams (G2, FaZe and Outsiders) remain alive for the grand prize.
In the other matchup of the day, MIBR defeated FTW Esports 2-0 in a battle of last-place teams, winning 16-12 on Vertigo and 19-17 on Nuke.
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.
Group C will be contested starting Wednesday with matches Sept. 14-18, followed by Group D from Sept. 21-25.
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, 5-0, +73, 15 points
2. FaZe Clan, 4-1, +39, 12 points
3. Outsiders, 3-2, +27, 9 points
4. BIG, 2-3, +3, 6 points
5. MIBR, 1-4, -62, 3 points
6. FTW Esports, 0-5, -80, 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