ESL Pro League Season 9 finals groups lock in
Groups For ESL Pro League Announced
This is happy news for ESL fans. The much awaited groups for the ensuring ESL Pro League have been announced. This is for the 9 finals and the same is tentatively scheduled to happen from 18th June to 23rd June. It will take place in Montpellier a city in France. Apart from the interest that the pro league will generate amongst the fans, there are few more things that this event will be noticed and followed. It would be pertinent to mention here that a whopping amount of around $600,000 is at stake and this is no small money by any length of imagination. Hence, it would be interesting to have a closer look the teams and the way they have been placed.
It Will Be Two Groups Of Eight Teams
It is interesting to know that the teams have been split into two different groups. Each group will have eight teams in it. The format will be of double elimination. The teams will have to vie against one another and it certainly will be a tough fight for all the teams. They will most certainly have to put in their best foot forward to make it to the playoffs. The opening matches as far as the groups are concerned have also been designed to attract interest. The matches will begin on the best-of-ones format. This will be followed immediately by three matches and the best winners will move forward. This will be the format for the remaining part of the entire event.
Who Will Go To The Playoffs
Once the above processes have been completed, only six best teams will be able to make it to the playoffs. The team that has come first in the earlier matches will have the privilege of advancing directly into the semi-finals. The second and third teams will have to move a step below and they will be asked to play in the quarter-finals.
A Look At The Groups
It would be interesting to have a closer look at the two groups in some details. Group A does look quite exciting but there are many who believe that Astralis are the clear favorite as far as Group A is concerned. However, this Danish team might have to face some tough challenge from NRG and also perhaps from Fntatic. However, if one goes by the previous track record and the current strength and form, these two teams may not be much of a threat for Astralis.
The other team members of this group should most probably have much closer content. However, when all the pros, cons and other such factors are taken into account there are reasons to predict a few things. NRG, Fntatic, G2 and finally Heroic do stand a reasonably good chance of making it to the remaining playoffs.
Coming to Group B, the competition is likely to be more intense and competitive. The two main teams, Liquid and FaZe are almost the same in terms of strength and form. Therefore, it will most probably be a close fight between the two teams for the first place. However, it might not be easy to predict the other two playoff team from this group. This is because all the other teams that remain are quite good. On any good day, each of the teams is capable of beating the other. Hence, the contest for playoffs from Group B will most certainly evince quite a bit of interest.
