It's time for the Group B Semifinals! We're absolutely racing through the ESL Pro League Season 17 Group Stage, with four teams due to go head-to-head later today to see who can earn the right to compete in the March 5 Upper Bracket Final.
ESL Pro League Season 17: Group B Upper Bracket Semifinals schedule and betting odds
The Group B action kicked off on March 1 with the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, which saw Movistar Riders, Complexity Gaming, Imperial Esports, and SAW all relegated to the Mid Bracket.
And that means our Quarterfinal winners are heading to the Semifinals, due to take place on March 2. Our Semifinal winners will move on to compete in the March 5 Upper Bracket Final, while the losers will move down to compete in the Mid Bracket Semifinals on March 3.
Our first match of the day will take place at 15:00 GMT when we'll see MOUZ going up against FURIA Esports.
MOUZ (1.72) vs FURIA Esports (2.00)
MOUZ kicked off their ESL Pro League Season 17 run with a decisive 2-0 victory over SAW, taking Vertigo with a score of 16-3 and Ancient with a score of 16-9. It was a promising start for the team, who have otherwise had a rough 2023 season so far - with a 13th - 16th result at IEM Katowice 2023. MOUZ claimed a respectable 5th - 8th placement at ESL Pro League Season 16, so the pressure is on to see if they can improve on that performance this year.
FURIA Esports meanwhile have also just claimed a 2-0 victory, though their match against Imperial Esports was a closely-fought affair. While FURIA claimed victory on both maps, the scores of 16-13 on Inferno and 19-16 on Mirage speak to how easily their showdown could have gone the other way. Still, FURIA are off to a promising start, having also disappointed fans at IEM Katowice, after placing in 17th - 20th place.
MOUZ are the favourites to win here, with odds of 1.72 vs FURIA Esports' 2.00.
Our second and final Group B Semifinal match will kick off at 18:30 GMT when Heroic will be competing against BIG.
Heroic had an excellent, though not entirely unexpected start to ESL Pro League Season 17. The team claimed an easy win in their March 1 match against Movistar Riders, earning a 2-0 victory with scores of 16-6 on Ancient and 16-5 on Overpass. Of course, given Movistar's relative lack of experience at tournaments of this level, it was hardly a surprise to see Heroic emerging as the victor. Heroic is, after all, the team that claimed victory at BLAST Premier: Fall Finals 2022 and just recently placed second at IEM Katowice 2023 - and so they'll have some heavy expectations on their shoulders at this month's tournament.
BIG's March 1 victory over Complexity Gaming was a little harder earned, however. The match ended with a score of 2-1, with Complexity starting the series on a strong note, taking Ancient with a score of 16-8. Unfortunately for them, however, BIG were quickly able to turn the tide, taking Nuke with a score of 16-12, before claiming a 16-14 win on Vertigo. BIG has a lot to prove after their disappointing 13th - 16th placement at IEM Katowice - but they may find that Heroic prove too much for them to deal with.
The odds are pretty strongly in Heroic's favour here, at 1.17 vs BIG's 4.40.
Which team are you supporting? Will MOUZ emerge victorious over FURIA Esports - and can BIG pull off an upset win against Heroic? You'll have to tune in to find out, and you can follow along with every match at ESL Pro League Season 17 via our upcoming match schedule - simply click any match to see your betting options, and you'll be able to watch the game streaming live! And of course, remember to sign up to claim your free 100% bonus!
