Eight Teams Advance to ESL Pro League Season 22 Playoffs in Stockholm

The ESL Pro League Season 22 advanced to its single-elimination playoff stage on Friday in Stockholm after a five-round Swiss group stage that ran in early October. Eight teams qualified for the quarterfinals, which are scheduled for October 10, with semifinals on October 11 and the grand final on October 12. The playoffs will decide the tournament champion and distribute the final portions of a $1,000,000 prize pool.

Quarterfinal matchups pair 3DMAX with Falcons, MOUZ with Natus Vincere, Team Spirit with FaZe Clan, and FURIA with Team Vitality. The Swiss stage that fed into the bracket produced several surprise results and left high-profile names by the wayside. G2 Esports, Astralis, The MongolZ and Aurora all failed to qualify for the top eight, with G2 falling to 0-2 in decisive matches late in the group phase.

Several storylines carried through from the Swiss stage into the playoffs. Falcons and Spirit entered the bracket on the back of consistent form; both teams finished the Swiss stage unbeaten in their pools. Spirit’s recent roster addition, Andrey tN1R Tatarinovich, posted strong individual numbers in his first series with the team and has been cited as a factor in...