IHC Esports and Evil Geniuses fell into the "Last Chance" bracket of the ESL Pro League Season 17 group stage

The teams IHC Esports and Evil Geniuses suffered their second defeat in the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 17, which is why they fell into the "Last Chance" bracket. Now the teams will play with each other, where they will compete for the right to take the last place in Group A. In turn, the Eternal Fire and MIBR teams advanced to the semi-finals of the lower bracket, where they will play with the losers of the next matches of the game day.

Evil Geniuses- Eternal Fire

The opening match of the second game day began on the Anubis map, which turned out to be the choice of the Turkish team. As expected, the players of Evil Geniuses did not compete with the opponent, while Eternal Fire confidently played on the attack and actually got a winning advantage - 11:4. After switching sides, the North Americans never bothered to return to the game. In turn, Eternal Fire quickly brought the matter to victory and took the lead in the series — 16:6.

Next, the teams moved to the Overpass map, which turned out to be the choice of Evil Geniuses. Here the situation was even sadder, since the North Americans were completely lost in the attack on their map and signed their defeat - 13:2. However, after switching sides, the Evil Geniuses managed to make an unbearable comeback, almost turning the tide of the match. However, in the very ending, Eternal Fire managed to squeeze out the necessary rounds to secure the first victory in the championship — 16:14.

IHC Esports-MIBR

The parallel meeting started on the map Inferno, which, as expected, became the choice of the Mongolian team. At the same time, IHC Esports managed to impose a fight on the favorite, who showed a rather weak defense game and allowed the Mongols to get a minimal advantage - 8:7. However, after the side switch, the situation quickly changed as MIBR players took control of the game and, showing a confident attack, took the lead in the series - 16:12.

Then the teams moved to the Anubis map, which turned out to be the choice of MIBR. Here the Mongolian team continued to bend its line, while the Brazilians were unable to adapt to the opponent's game, letting go of the advantage - 9:6. After the change of sides, the teams continued to demonstrate an equal game. However, in the very end, MIBR managed to make a finishing spurt to stop IHC Esports and knock the opponent into the "Last Chance" bracket — 16:14.

ESL Pro League Season 17 runs from February 22 to March 26 in Malta. As part of the championship, 32 teams from the CIS, Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Oceania are competing for a total prize pool of $850,000, as well as tickets to IEM Cologne 2023 and BLAST World Final 2023 for the winner.