MIBR through to ESL Pro League Finals; FURIA, Envy advance to next stage

MIBR have qualified for the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals after topping Group A, only suffering a 1-2 series loss to FURIA. Meanwhile, Swole Patrol were unable to get a map win and have ended the group in last place.

MIBR and FURIA went head-to-head for the first time in their history in one of the final Group A matches of ESL Pro League Season 10 Americas, with MIBR looking to secure victory and ensure their qualification to the LAN finals. If FURIA came out ahead in the matchup, the group's results would depend entirely upon the final series between Envy and Swole Patrol.

The clash between the two Brazilian sides began on Overpass, with Yuri "⁠yuurih⁠" Santos helping to power his side to a seven-round spree to start things off. After MIBR finally got their first on the board, FURIA were swift to answer back, quickly pushing up to a 12-1 lead before a Deagle quad kill from Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo allowed MIBR to grab two final rounds. A pistol victory and subsequent eco conversion gave MIBR two additional rounds, but a comeback was not on the cards as a strong performance by yuurih helped FURIA close out their pick in dominant fashion.

MIBR looked to bounce back as they won the pistol round to kick off Train, but a triple kill from yuurih with the Five-Seven helped FURIA immediately reply and claim a 3-1 lead. The two teams began trading rounds as they battled for control, and MIBR were able to claw back to barely edge out a lead at the half. Although FURIA briefly pull ahead with a trio of rounds following the side swap, MIBR defense proved superior as they only gave up one final round on the road to a 16-11 win.

MIBR won their fourth pistol round of the series to start Mirage with a 2-0 lead, but once FURIA had rifles in their hands they were swift to equalize and run back five rounds of their own. MIBR replied in kind to briefly regain control at 7-5, but this time it was FURIA who held a one-round lead as they swapped over to the defense.

FURIA put a ninth on the board as the second half got underway, but a triple kill from Lucas "⁠LUCAS1⁠" Teles had MIBR fight back in the ensuing round to give Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and company the chance to move up to an 11-9 scoreline. FURIA began to mount more of a defense as Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles's AWP came to life, combining with Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato and Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan to push the map the edge at 14-14. Double kills from HEN1, Vinicius "⁠VINI⁠" Figueiredo, and arT was what allowed FURIA to pull the map over the line, adding two final rounds for a 16-14 victory.

The matchup between Envy and Swole Patrol began with an early brawl, seeing Noah "⁠Nifty⁠" Francis's side initially ahead thanks to a pistol ace from Ryan "⁠ryann⁠" Welsh before Swole Patrol ran the scoreline back to pull ahead 5-3. Unfortunately for Jordan "⁠Zellsis⁠" Montemurro and company, they were unable to get much going from that point as Sam "⁠s0m⁠" Oh and Nifty combined to give up only one additional round on the road to a 16-6 finish for Envy.

Swole Patrol's woes continued onto Vertigo as a two round lead off of a pistol win quickly dwindled, with s0m continuing to find frags to help his team win ten rounds in a row. Swole Patrol were only able to grab one more round in the half for a 12-3 scoreline, although a second pistol victory allowed them to add another two to their tally. Envy swiftly claimed match point with a trio of rounds once they were on rifles, with Swole Patrol only able to forestall their execution for three rounds of their own before Envy closed out the map 16-8.

The end of the day's fixtures left MIBR, FURIA, and Envy in a three-way tie for the top of the group, with FalleN's side finishing in first place as they had the best map difference among the trio, thanks to 2-0 wins over their first two opponents and taking a map off of FURIA in their matchup.

MIBR have joined MOUZ on the team list for the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals in Odense. FURIA and Envy have advanced to the second Americas group stage, which will play out from November 13-18, while Swole Patrol will play in Relegation as a result of placing last.

The final Group A standings are as follows: