Outsiders, the world number seven, dominated their side of the bracket by recording back-to-back 2-0 victories against IHC and Fnatic on their way to the upper-bracket final.

Outsiders show their strength!

They take down @FNATIC 2-0, securing a spot in the UB Finals of Group A

16-14 Inferno
16-12 Vertigo#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/8jytvEBak9

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) February 23, 2023

Evgenii “FL1T” Lebedev was a force to be reckoned with in both of their opening matches, recording a 1.30 rating against IHC, then backing it up with a massive 1.50 rating against Fnatic.

As usual, in-game leader Dzhami “Jame” Ali made the right calls at the right time and was a close second in the ratings behind his rifler.

Outsiders will now clash with Cloud9, which has come as a bit of a shock to many in the Counter-Strike community, with G2 Esports falling to the world number 13 in quick time.

The second of the upper-bracket semifinals saw Cloud9 end G2 Esports’ 16-series win streak as they dispatched of the world number one and reigning IEM Katowice champions in two maps (16-6, 16-12).

IT IS OVER! @C9CSGO have done it! They take down @G2esports with a clean 2-0

16-6 Vertigo
16-12 Inferno#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/NbCfWSXGMQ

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) February 23, 2023

Cloud9’s sniper and best player Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov continued his dominance in the 17th season of the ESL Pro League, carrying his team to another series win with another high-class performance.

Sh1ro finished the G2 series with a huge 1.83 rating and a +38 kill/death differential, which was 26 more than any other player in the server, taking his average rating from two series to 1.77.

Coming off a dominant 2-0 victory over Evil Geniuses in their opening series, Cloud9 look as though they have been working hard behind the scenes to try and avenge their dismal straight-sets knockout at IEM Katowice earlier in the month.

Not only did G2’s loss end their 16-game win streak, it also saw them drop into the lower bracket, leaving them to battle it out with MiBR on Friday to make the lower-bracket final and take on either Fnatic or Eternal Fire for third position in Group A.

The two matches that will be played on Friday are listed below, with odds courtesy of BetOnline.

• Fnatic (-200) vs Eternal Fire (+150) on February 24 @ 4pm CET
• MIBR (+750) vs G2 Esports (-2000) on February 24 @ 7:30pm CET

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In other to earn a spot in the 32-team league, forZe were forced to win two best-of-three matches against Team Falcons and more recently, Endpoint. Their game against the Falcons ended in a clean sweep on Nuke (16-8) and Mirage (16-10), with Aleksandr “zorte” Zagodyrenko named the player of the match. This was necessitated as the team’s initial opportunity of making it to the Pro League was cut short by SAW in the European Conference Upper Bracket semifinal, whose victory got them a spot on the list.

The match between forZe and Endpoint was a closely contested one, with forZe recovering from a slow start on the Endpoint-chosen map, Ancient. Endpoint looked more composed and together as a unit as Guy “Nertz” Iluz put up an outstanding performance.

Ancient staged a comeback with Vladislav “Krad” Kravchenko leading the team on the offense. Nertz managed to keep his team in the running with a clutch 1v3 on the CT side, but the first half of the map ended with Andrey “Jerry” Mekhryakov and the lads in the lead 8-6.

In the second half, both teams traded blow for blow with Endpoint falling two rounds short of winning the map. The half ended with forZe closing out the game with a 16-13 statline. While Krad led the team on Ancient with 71 kills and a 1.23 rating, Milosz “mhL” Knasiak led Endpoint with a 68-59 kill-death ratio, which saw him finish with a 1.19 rating.

For a team going into their map choice (Overpass) with momentum from Ancient, forZe struggled to stay in the game. Despite barely leading the first half of the map 8-7, with Aleksandr “shalfey” Marenov leading the charge, their British counterpart seemed more in charge of the map.

Endpoint went on a five-round winning streak at the start of the second half of the map, leading forZe with a 12-8 scoreline. ForZe’s attempt to stage a comeback proved fruitless as mhL and Nertz led Endpoint to victory, forcing a third decider map (Mirage).

The third map saw Endpoint take an early lead with Nertz leading the team on the CT side. The British team had an outstanding 9-2 lead but lost control as forZe displayed great determination by overcoming their opponent to force a 9-6 scoreline by the end of the half.

Endpoint started out the second half of the map with a four-round run extending their lead to 13-9. This was soon short-lived as Evgeny “r3salt” Frolov stepped up and forced another comeback that saw the Russian team overcome the deficit and narrowly secured a 16-13 victory to win the series thereby securing their spot in Pro League.

This achievement is a huge accomplishment for forZe, who have been working hard to establish themselves as a top team in the competitive CS:GO scene. The team, coached by Artem “Fierce” Ivanov, has been making steady progress over the past few years and this spot in the upcoming Pro League is a testament to their hard work and dedication.

As the last team to qualify for ESL’s flagship league, forZe will join the ranks of teams invited through ESL’s world ranking, those who qualified through regional Conference tournaments, and the 15 Louvre Agreement partners.

The complete 32-team participating at the 2023 ESL Pro League 17 and their roster are outlined below:

Full Teams List Of Teams In ESL Pro League Season 17

Astralis