Reading Time: 4 minutes
MOUZ won the action-packed Grand Final in St. Julian’s (Malta) to conclude the 19th ESL Pro League season. MOUZ kept the fans glued to their seats for three thrilling rounds and defeated Team Vitality by a score of 3 to 0.
MOUZ, who were also victorious in the ESL Pro League season 18 tournament, have shown off their incredible skill and determination to win another EPL trophy. The German organization, by claiming the title, will receive $170,000 from the $750,000 prize pool. They have also secured a direct invitation to the Intel(r), Extreme Masters (IEM), Cologne Group Stage 2024.
The squad has also won their second race for Intel(r), Grand Slam V, in an attempt to be the first team to win three ESL Pro Tour Championships and one EPT Championship in a period of ten competitions. This team will receive a $1,000,000 cash prize, iconic gold bars and also be etched in Counter-Strike’s history.
EPL Season 19 had a peak audience of 376,000*. The final three days were played in front of a live audience of 40 countries, and fans from all over the world gathered in Malta to witness the finale of the tournament.
Group Stage
The Group Stage of the 19th season of Counter-Strike, the largest league in the world, began on April 23. During the Group stage, the 32 teams competing were divided into four groups of 8. The top four teams from each group will advance to the Playoffs. The group winners will go directly to the Quarterfinals while the runners-up move on to the Round of 12.
The first week of the League season saw the teams from Groups A andB clashing to try to earn one of the 16 Playoff spots. Astralis, a Danish team, and 3DMAX, a French squad, faced off in Group A’s upper bracket. The Danes were the first to secure their place in the Playoffs without losing a map. FaZe Clan, Virtus.pro and the lower bracket finalist of each mid-bracket also secured their Playoffs ticket.
Team Vitality topped Group B and remained unbeaten. The MongolZ team, BetBoom Team and G2 Esports placed second to fourth in their respective groups, thus also qualifying for the Playoffs.
In the second week, the EPL Season 19 teams from Groups C and d had the opportunity to showcase their skills and show their worth. MOUZ was unbeaten in Group C and won the group. Team Liquid came in second. GamerLegion and Monte both advanced to the Playoffs through the middle bracket.
The battle in Group D was intense as well, with several close matches. Complexity won the battle, but Natus Vincere was second, BIG third, and FlyQuest fourth.
Playoffs
The Playoffs were held from May 7-12, and the top 16 teams had to compete in single elimination brackets for a place in the Grand Final. After the second day, there were only eight teams left. This included the EPL Season 17 Champions FaZe Clan as well as the IEM Cologne 2020 Champions G2 Esports. Both teams had an impressive run, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Team Vitality or reigning EPL champions MOUZ.
Astralis faced Team Vitality and MOUZ took on Complexity for the first time in an EPL Semifinal. Both MOUZ and Team Vitality showed incredible resilience to overcome their opponents when tensions were high. They earned their places in the Grand Final.
Team Vitality’s performance in the Semifinals against Astralis was particularly impressive. They won the second game in overtime and used their momentum to win the third game.
Team Vitality and MOUZ were about to enter the Grand Final, but it was time for Chad “SPUNJ ” Burchill and Janko ‘YNk’ Paunovic, two broadcasters, to see if they had what it took in the Grand Final. YNk won the 20-round tournament with a score 13-7. The Qiddiya tournament pitted all ESL Pro League broadcasters against one another over the course three weeks of the season. This provided viewers tuning into the live broadcast an exciting and unique competition.
Grand Final
MOUZ, the reigning EPL champions, started strong in their first game on Inferno. They gained momentum and reached 9-3 by halftime without much resistance. Team Vitality was unable to recover despite some great rounds in the second-half. MOUZ won the game with a final score of 13-9.
MOUZ took a 9-3 halftime lead after a 2-0 early lead by Team Vitality in Game 2. Team Vitality showed its resilience with two consecutive clutches during rounds 14 and 15. However, it wasn’t enough to stop MOUZ from winning the game by a score of 13-8.
MOUZ was unstoppable at this point and continued to dominate in game 3 with only two rounds dropped in the first and three in second halves. MOUZ won the Champions title for the second consecutive season despite Team Vitality’s Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut achieving his highest S-tier LAN rating.
Jimi “Jimpphat”, Salo from MOUZ, said: “Back-to back, it feels incredible.” It means a great deal. It has been a while since we’ve won, so it is great to win another Tier 1 trophy with this team. It’s incredible that we won.”
MOUZ’s well-deserved victory has earned them $170,000, a place at IEM Cologne in the fall, and a step towards Intel(r), Grand Slam V.
MOUZ’ Kamil’siuhy’ Szkaradek also received the EPT DHL MVP Award for his outstanding performance and stated: “We entered this tournament with a lot of energy and the form we displayed here was incredible.” Thank you to my teammates for their excellent performance. I could only do well if they were playing well as well.
