It's time for the Quarterfinals! ESL Pro League Season 17 is rapidly approaching its endgame, as the eight remaining teams get ready to go head-to-head.
ESL Pro League Season 17: Quarterfinals schedule and CS:GO betting odds
Yesterday's Round of 12 bracket saw four more teams eliminated from the tournament - where most notably we saw G2 Esports suffering a stunning upset loss to the hands of ENCE. Given that G2 were one of the favourites to make it through to the Grand Final, their departure has opened up the tournament, with each of the four remaining teams standing a real chance of claiming victory on March 26.
Those four teams are competing for their share of the $850,000 prize pool. The ultimate winner will receive $200,000, 3,000 BLAST Premier Points alongside qualifications for both IEM Cologne and the BLAST Premier World Final.
The Quarterfinals are due to kick off at 14:30 GMT on March 23, when we'll see Cloud9 going up against MOUZ.
Cloud9 will be making their Playoffs debut today, after qualifying for the Quarterfinals through their impressive run through the Group Stage. The team emerged as the highest-ranked team in Group A after defeating Outsiders in the Upper Bracket Final. Their finest hour so far, however, was their unlikely victory over G2 Esports in the Upper Bracket Semifinals, defying the odds to claim a 2-0 victory. Cloud9 have been playing spectacularly so far - but will their luck last now that they're competing in the Quarterfinals?
MOUZ, meanwhile, are fresh from their victory over paiN Gaming in the Round of 12. The team claimed a 2-1 victory in a closely-fought series, which started out with paiN Gaming getting an early advantage through a 16-9 win on Nuke. Unfortunately for them, however, MOUZ quickly turned things around with a 16-13 win on Inferno and 16-7 on Ancient. It was a promising start to the Playoffs for MOUZ - but is their ESL Pro League Season 17 journey about to come to an end?
The odds are in Cloud9's favour here, at 1.32 vs MOUZ's 3.10.
Our next Quarterfinals match will take place at 18:00 GMT on March 23, when we'll see Team Vitality facing off against ENCE.
Team Vitality (1.42) vs ENCE (2.70)
Team Vitality dominated their rivals in the Group Stage, carving an uncontested win streak throughout Group C without losing even a single map. While their early matches against Grayhound Gaming and OG were remarkably one-sided affairs, the Upper Bracket Final match against FaZe Clan did give Vitality some cause for concern - although they were still able to close out the series with a 2-0 victory. Team Vitality are one of theadvancing favourites to make it through to the Grand Final on March 26 - and things are looking good for their Playoffs debut later today.
But they might yet suffer an upset loss at the hands of ENCE, who have already proven themselves as a kingslayer at this tournament. ENCE claimed a stunning 2-0 win over G2 Esports in the Round of 12, defying all expectations by eliminating the IEM Katowice champions from the tournament. Team Vitality may have had an excellent run so far, but it would be wise not to underestimate ENCE's ability to pull off an unexpected win here.
Team Vitality are the favourites to win here, with odds of 1.42 vs ENCE's 2.70.
Our next Quarterfinals match will take place tomorrow, March 24 - when we'll see forZe going head-to-head with FaZe Clan at 14:30 GMT.
forZe (3.50) vs FaZe Clan (1.25)
forZe claimed a spectacular underdog run through the Group Stage, emerging as the highest-ranked team in Group D following their 2-0 win over ENCE in the Upper Bracket Final. Their Cinderella story has been fantastic to witness, with the Russian team having claimed unlikely victories over the likes of Natus Vincere (NAVI) and Team Spirit. Few had high expectations for the Russian team heading into the tournament, but forZe have proven themselves capable of competing with some of the strongest teams in the world, and aren't ones to be underestimated.
Still, they're facing their toughest challenge yet in the likes of FaZe Clan, who similarly had a strong Group Stage run - finishing as the second-highest ranked team in Group C following their loss to Team Vitality. They made their Playoffs debut in yesterday's Round of 12 bracket, claiming a decisive 2-0 win over FURIA Esports, eliminating the Brazilian team through a rather one-sided series. FaZe are one of the biggest names in CS:GO esports for good reason, and there's every reason to believe that they'll emerge victorious once again on March 24.
As such, the odds are in FaZe Clan's favour here, at 1.25 vs forZe's 3.50.
Our final Quarterfinals match will kick off at 18:00 GMT on March 24, with the highly-anticipated showdown between Heroic and NAVI.
Heroic have plenty to brag about at ESL Pro League Season 17, having finished the Group Stage as the highest-ranked team in Group B, following their 2-0 victory over MOUZ in the Upper Bracket Final. Of course, expectations were high for Heroic from the start, given they finished IEM Katowice in second place after they lost to G2 Esports in the Grand Final. And with G2 having now been eliminated from this tournament, Heroic are well-placed to make it through to the March 26 ESL Pro League Season 17 Grand Final.
But they won't make it there if NAVI has anything to say about it. The Ukrainian team's run through the Group Stage wasn't quite as impressive as Heroic's, with NAVI qualifying for the Playoffs through their victory in the Mid Bracket Final. Still, they've only suffered one loss so far - being one of the several teams to have experienced an upset loss at the hands of forZe. Additionally, NAVI are fresh from their 2-0 victory over Outsiders in the Round of 12 bracket, and may well have the momentum behind them to claim an upset win over Heroic tomorrow.
Heroic are the favourites to win here, with odds of 1.58 vs NAVI's 2.20.
The ESL Pro League Season 17 Grand Final is just around the corner! You're running out of time to experience this world-class CS:GO tournament, and so make sure you follow along with every match via our upcoming ESL Pro League Season 17 match schedule. And before you tune in, make the most out of your CS:GO betting experience by signing up to claim your free 100% bonus!
