Liquid-fnatic, mousesports-NIP matches headline EPL S14 playoff bracket

6-9-2021 00:34

Teams will have a day off before the Round of 12 kicks off on Tuesday.

The group stage of ESL Pro League Season 14 came to an end on Sunday with Ninjas in Pyjamas clinching the final spot in playoffs following Liquid's narrow win over FURIA. Following the match, ESL revealed the bracket draw for the 12-team playoffs, which will kick off on Tuesday and culminate in a best-of-five grand final on September 12.

The four teams to top their respective groups — HEROIC, OG, Natus Vincere, and Gambit — will advance directly to the quarter-finals, where they will await the winners of the opening round of the bracket (which can be viewed in its entirety on our event page).

Liquid will face off against fnatic in their first playoff match

A battle between MOUZ and Ninjas in Pyjamas marks the start of the playoffs bracket, where Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong's side will look to claim revenge after being eliminated by the Swedish team prior to the tournament break during the IEM Cologne Play-In stage. The winner of the first series will go on to face OG in the quarter-finals, while Gambit are left waiting for the result of Complexity vs. Vitality.

The opposite side of the bracket features FORZE taking on ENCE, with the winner facing a grueling test in the form of Natus Vincere in their next match. Headlining the final match of the opening round is a tantalizing meeting between Liquid and fnatic, from which the victor will move on to face HEROIC.

Below you can find the opening matches of the playoff bracket, as well as the complete schedule for the remainder of the tournament:

Round of 12:

FORZE vs. ENCE
Liquid vs. fnatic
MOUZ vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas
Complexity vs. Vitality

Schedule

Tuesday, September 7:

16:00 MOUZ vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas
19:15 Complexity vs. Vitality

Wednesday, September 8:

16:00 FORZE vs. ENCE
19:15 Liquid vs. fnatic

Thursday, September 9:

16:00 Quarter-final #1
19:15 Quarter-final #2

Friday, September 10:

16:00 Quarter-final #3
19:15 Quarter-final #4

Saturday, September 11:

16:00 Semi-final #1
19:15 Semi-final #2

Sunday, September 12:

16:00 Grand final

lets go fnatic

2021-09-06 00:34

3 replies

forze ence ew gross match liquid fnatic should be pretty good tho

2021-09-06 00:45

2 replies

Forze and ence are 2 decent teams, but yeah I think all eyes will be on liquid vs fnatic

2021-09-06 00:46

why is the table like that, since the mous and vita matches are earlier shouldnt they come first

2021-09-06 06:03

nice

lets goo

2021-09-06 00:37

ez for TL, 2x0 against fnatic

2021-09-06 00:38

LETS GO MOUZ

Forze Liquid NiP Vitality NaVI Liquid NiP Gambit NaVi Gambit NaVI GG EZ , Simple with another MVP

2021-09-06 00:41

22 replies

at least Liquid make semis :/

2021-09-06 00:40

11 replies

they are doing good but they are still too reliant on either of NAF or Ellige doing too well. I dont see them winning if both have a bad game , which is quite possible.

2021-09-06 00:42

9 replies

What? FalleN is hitting his AWP shots, Grim has been massively stepping up, and Stewie has been getting many entries and creating space for the others. i agree that they are too reliant on one person sometimes but to say one or two people are carrying is just wrong. Hope FalleN does his homework on the other teams. :)

8 replies

i never used the word "carry" and you literally agreed to what i said. Star performers are supposed to frag heavy since their teams are dependent on them but a great team is one that can still manage to win games even when their stars arent feeling that great, Be honest to yourself , do you think Stew, Fallen and Grim can win against these opposition if NAF and Ellige both have those below 0.95 ratings like they already had so far in this event ? Today`s second map is your proof.

2021-09-06 00:52

4 replies

today's match didnt matter too much for liquid, doubt they tried their hardest to both in and out of the server

2021-09-06 01:59

forcing an OT on 3rd map while being down 15-11 ? they did try their hardest

2021-09-06 14:52

emergency payment from devve, 100k for winning the match lol, but honestly they didnt look as sharp as they usually do, got a tad bit lucky at the end

2021-09-06 16:53

1 reply

I mean as Yanko on the desk used to describe NIP: the difference between good teams and great teams is that great teams don't lose to Furia with a standin. They might lose a map and get pushed to the limit but they live to fight another day.

2021-09-07 07:28

I love liquid, and I think they could definitely upset heroic. But Navi gonna be too much for them no matter how good they’re doing

2021-09-06 00:53

They've done it a few times already this year, albeit they were facing the flamie lineup both times.

2021-09-06 01:54

Yeah flamie lineup and b1t lineup are a lot different even if only one player is switched. But liquid also is looking better than few months go. So.. Anything goes I guess, if rest of the navi sh*ts the bed except s1mple, i dont see them winning. Hopefully I am wrong.

2021-09-06 14:14

Most of heroic are gonna be banned by the quarters so, Liquid will get a bye into the semis.. ;)

2021-09-06 02:57

Nip 2-0’ed Gambit today. If you think this seasons final is predictable, you’re nuts. No one can predict these outcomes. Fuckin rank #51 in the world slides in? No one knows, I’m not saying I do either. Yeah yeah, before you come with the whole, “gambit didn’t need to win, they weren’t trying…” bullshit, remember every interview gambit has done when asked about their group. Don’t remember? Well, go back and watch the vods then; they said anything less than a perfect group stage would be a disappointment for them. They wanted that match, they just had no answers. Neither do you. Oh and don’t even try me with the flair shit. It’s been the same since 2014.

2021-09-06 04:47

U seem fully prepared for anything he woulda thrown at you. Lol

2021-09-06 14:16

Yeah. Still am.

2021-09-06 19:18

didnt read , didnt ask.

6 replies

Nice prediction bro. 1/4. Should’ve read, should’ve asked.

2021-09-09 23:11

5 replies

so far its 4/8 . not bad but i wouldnt be expecting someone with that flag to do basic math.

2021-09-09 23:13

4/8? You predicted Navi, gambit, nip, liquid LUL nice try. My point stands; the idea that you even thought you could predict anyone aside from Navi is ridiculous. The early group stages showed that.

2021-09-10 17:22

1/4. Like I said.

2021-09-10 22:58

You either have no live or are actually too stubborn about an internet thread that no one gives a shit about lmao. It's sad you really don't have anything better to do.

2021-09-10 23:01

I have plenty of things to do. Takes all of two minutes to remind you of how wrong you were. You’re actually dumb. Nothing better to do, LUL.

2021-09-11 17:48

RO12: forZe 2 - 1 ENCE Liquid 2 - 0 fnatic NIP 2 - 1 mousesports Vitality 2 - 0 Complexity Quarterfinals: NaVi 2 - 1 forZe Liquid 2 - 1 Heroic OG 2 - 0 NIP Gambit 2 - 1 Vitality Semifinals: NaVi 2 - 1 Liquid Gambit 2 - 0 OG Grand Final: NaVi 3 - 1 Gambit MVP: s1mple Pls don't be toxic if you disagree :)

Semifinals: NaVi 1 - 2 Liquid Gambit 2 - 0 OG Grand Final: Gambit 1 - 3 Liquid MVP: Elige

2021-09-07 07:19

Vitality, possibly OG... hard matchups for gambit

Good matchups all around, even ForZe vs ENCE is a bit lucky from both teams perspective eventhough based on form ForZe does look like a clear favorite still (Ence is a bit oddball that every once in a while looks like they are contender for T1 but other times looks like T3). Unlucko Heroic (karma?) Fnatic and TL are reaaaally hungry for wins atm, that match will be great btw. Mousesports vs NIP will be another somewhat even game, idk but feels like someone picked all these teams into these particular brackets to make good matchups. Only NaVi should have this overly EZ path towards final, again seems forced. :p Another NaVi vs Gambit final it seems eventhough I'd love to see OG finally breaking the curse as Gambit hasn't look at their peak form so far and getting carried by sh1ro.

2021-09-06 00:54

Navi gambit final

2021-09-06 00:51

#LETSGOLIQUID

2021-09-06 01:02

EZ4NAVI #NAVINATION #NAVIDAVI #BORNTOWIN

2021-09-06 01:20

what happened to furia...LOL...

2021-09-06 01:24

mouz - nip lmao, clash of trash

2021-09-06 01:28

big talk from poland scene who still struggling on pinnacle cup. LOL

2021-09-06 03:42

Flair checks out Botsports waste of spot

2021-09-06 14:11

everything checks out. everything about u is washed up.

2021-09-06 15:10

mouz crush NIP

2021-09-06 01:43

Ez for navi and goat s1mple

2021-09-06 01:52

Finals gambit vs Navi

2021-09-06 02:04

Go Liquid!

2021-09-06 02:10

#goninjas

2021-09-06 02:22

forZe Liquid Mouz Vitality

2021-09-06 02:25

Nice , so another Navi vs gambit final 🙄

2021-09-06 02:45

Why is gambit in quarters? Liquid has more round win differential?

2021-09-06 03:06

Gambit beat Liquid in the head-to-head

2021-09-06 03:21

Then why faze is out when they beat mous head to head?

2021-09-06 16:30

Because Faze is in a three way tie with fnatic and mousesports. Since fnatic beat faze, faze beat mousesports and mousesports beat fnatic, there is no way to determine a winner using head-to-head. It's like trying to claim that there's a best option in rock paper scissors. That's why ESL moves to the next criteria: map difference. SInce fnatic 2-0d faze and mousesports 2-0d fnatic, but faze 2-1d mousesports, they are seen as the worst out of the three and that's why there were on the bottom.

2021-09-06 19:14