FURIA top MIBR in ESL Pro League NA playoffs

FURIA Esports held off a late push by MIBR on Thursday to cap a 2-0 sweep in the first match of the playoffs at the ESL Pro League Season 11's North American competition. Paired in the lower bracket of the four-team, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament playoffs after finishing third and fourth, respectively, in group play, FURIA dominated MIBR 16-4 on Vertigo to open the best-of-three series. The second map proved tight the whole way through, but FURIA prevailed by a 16-14 score on Mirage.

The battle was a rematch of a March 30 round-robin meeting between the two, which FURIA won 2-1. FURIA move on to Saturday's lower-bracket final, where they will face the loser of Friday's match between top-seeded Team Liquid and second-seeded Evil Geniuses.

The grand final will be held Sunday, with the Liquid-EG victor taking a one-map edge into the best-of-five series. The winner of the $219,000 event will claim $75,000 -- in addition to money earned for group-stage victories -- along with 550 Pro Tour points and 1,400 BLAST Premier points. The ESL Pro League Season 11 was due to be held in Malta, with 24 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams set to compete for a $750,000 prize pool. However, the tournament was moved online and split into regional events due to the coronavirus pandemic, with 18 teams in the European event and six in the North American competition.

Prize pool ($USD, Pro Tour points, BLAST Premier points) 1. $75,000, 550, 1,400

2. $30,000, 400, 700 3. $18,000, 250, 438

4. $13,000, 150, 438 -- MIBR 5. $5,000, 90, 0 -- 100 Thieves

6. $3,000, 60, 0 -- Swole Patrol Each team also earned $5,000 for each group stage win:

$15,000 apiece for Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses and FURIA Esports $10,000 apiece for MIBR, 100 Thieves and Swole Patrole

--Field Level Media