EPL season 17 playoffs preview: ESL Pro League Season 17 playoffs kicks off today

The group stage for ESL Pro League S17 featured some amazing counter-strike and interesting runs. The triple-elimination bracket group stage featured 32 teams in four groups taking on each other to qualify for the main event. The EPL S17 Group stage concluded with 12 teams making the playoffs and placing in a single-elimination bracket.

ESL Pro League S17 Group stage recap:

The four groups followed a similar triple-elimination bracket stage format. Starting with group A, We saw Cloud9 take the first seed after defeating the Outsiders in the Upper bracket finals. C9 also defeated G2 Esports in the semifinals. Outsiders, after losing to c9, became the second seed. G2, in the mid-Bracket, defeated Fantic to secure the third seed. Fnatic was the last qualifier from group A.

Heroic dominated group B and defeated MOUZ to become the first seed in group B. In the Mid-bracket, Furia defeated BIG to secure the third seed. Movistar Riders made a strong run and defeated Complexity, SAW, and eventually BIG to secure the last seed of group B.

Faze Clan and Vitality marched through group C to meet at the Upper Bracket Finals. Vitality took down Faze to become the first seed of group C. Pain Gaming and Grayhound defeated some big names in OG and Ninjas in Pyjamas to meet at the Mid bracket finals. Pain Gaming secured the third seed after taking down Grayhound. 00 Nation made an iconic comeback run for the last seed. Despite losing the first two matches, 00 Nation won three games in a row to secure the final seed of group C.

In group D, forZe took down s1mple-led Natus Vincere in the first round. They marched to the Upper bracket final and defeated ENCE to secure the first seed of Group D. Despite losing the first game, NaVi closed out the mid-bracket games to secure the third seed. Team Liquid's early loss to Rare atom was avenged in the lower bracket, and they were the last team to qualify from group D after a victory over Astralis.

ESL Pro League S17 Playoffs Format, Fixtures & Schedule:

After a triple-elimination bracket group stage, EPL S17 playoffs are 16-team single elimination. The top-seeded teams get a bye in the playoffs. Four of the eight teams in every group qualified for the playoffs. The top-seeded team in every group is placed in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. The second seeds are placed in the second round. The last two seeds in every group are placed in the Ro16 or the opening round. The rest of the tournament is single-elimination, meaning every game will be an elimination game. All the playoff games will be Bo3.

Fixtures for EPL S17 Playoffs:

The first round will have the third and the fourth seed of groups taking on each other. These teams will have to win to face the second seed. The winner of the second stage games faces the first seeds in the quarterfinals.

The fixtures of the EPL S17 playoffs are as follows:

Opening Stage:

• Match 1: Furia Esports vs. Fnatic
• Match 2: G2 Esports vs. Movistar Riders
• Match 3: Natus Vincere vs. 00 Nation
• Match 4: Pain Gaming vs. Team Liquid

Second-Stage:

• Match 5: Outsiders vs. M3 Winner
• Match 6: Faze Clan vs. M1 Winner
• Match 7: Mouz vs. M4 Winner
• Match 8: ENCE vs M2 Winner

Quarterfinals:

• Match 8: Heroic vs. M5 Winner
• Match 9: forZe vs. M6 Winner
• Match 10: Cloud9 vs. M7 Winner
• Match 11: Team Vitality vs. M8 Winner

EPL S17 Schedule:

All the matches start at 14:30 GMT and will be followed by the day's second game. For the first two days, parallel streams will run the matches.

• 21st March: Opening Round
• 22nd March: Second Stage (Round of 12)
• 23rd March: Quarterfinals (M8 & M9)
• 24th March: Quarterfinals( M10 & M11)
• 25th March: Semifinals
• 26th March Grand Finals

ESL will broadcast all the games on Youtube and Twitch. Regional ESL streams for French, Russian, Vietnamese, and Spanish can also be found.

Credits: ESL

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