Following the introduction of the two-staged system in the ESL Pro League, the conclusion of Round 3 has yielded the matches for Round 4, and winners of this stage will progress into the final round of Stage 1.
ESL Pro League is arguably the longest-running tournament in tier-1 CS, given the sheer number of matches it houses. Having an extended format gives teams a handful of opportunities to make it to the next stage, and the implementation of the Swiss format levels the playing field by reducing the luck factor introduced by randomized grouping.
Given that the Pro League will feature a plethora of matches, it is obvious that some teams will have a better fate than others. While there have been some upsets so far in the tournament, the final two rounds of Stage 1 will determine who goes through.
Tournament So Far
sAw and GamerLegion are the only teams that had a perfect record going into Stage 1, and now, with the conclusion of Round 3, they are in the next stage of the tournament. Both teams faced serious challenges coming into the event, but they overcame the likes of Furia and MIBR.
The teams with a 2-1 record boast quite a few dark horses who can beat anyone on their day, and it would be hard to assume MIBR, Eternal Fire, and 3DMAX would not make it out of the groups and onto the next stage. While a win here would see them through, they still have a match in their hand as a cushion if the teams fall to a 2-2 score.
In case you thought the teams with 2-1 scores were too good to be there, wait until you see the teams with 1-2 scorelines and are on the brink of elimination. HEROIC and FURIA are two of the biggest names coming into the event, they find themselves closer to elimination than qualification.
Stage 1 of the tournament produced quite a lot of interesting results, and while they will face much harder matches in the next stage of the tournament, some of the lesser-known teams are capable of causing upsets in the next round of the tournament.
Verdict
With two more rounds of Stage 1 left, the fate of every team besides sAw and GamerLegion is up in the air. While teams with 2-1 scores have some headroom for error, others find themselves two subsequent must-win matches away from making it to the next stage. With qualification on the line, we are bound to get two days of intense CS2 action.