Outsiders beat IHC 2-0 in ESL Pro League 17 opening match

The Russian squad didn't fret against IHC as the favorites in their opening Pro League series.

Outsiders, who started out their year with a quarter-final finish at IEM Katowice but are failing to live up to the expectations they set by winning the IEM Rio Major in 2022, kicked off their run at Pro League with a worthy 2-0 victory over IHC. The Mongolians come into the tournament in Malta as an underdog with upset potential, but were unable to deal a blow against the favored Russian side.

The opening ESL Pro League Season 17 match on the B stream between Outsiders and IHC started out on a classic map preferred by both sides, Inferno, and the promise of a close affair delivered. Outsiders won the first pistol round on the defense and only barely survived against a full pistol save to follow. A streaky game ensued with IHC turning it around to 4-2 before Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali and company regained the lead and went on to win the half 9-6.

Petr "⁠fame⁠" Bolyshev and Aleksei "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev turned around a 2vs4 in the second pistol round to hit double digits in what ended up being a close half. Jame's slow play was stopped in the early gun rounds and signs of struggle abounded, especially with newcomer Aleksandr "⁠KaiR0N-⁠" Anashkin failing to find any impact (0.37 rating and three kills on the attack), but it was finally after a back-and-forth tussle late in the map that Outsiders managed to come out ahead, 16-13.

IHC opened the scoreboard on Overpass, but it was with 2-2 on the board that a massive misplay by Outsiders on the B site against a near full eco gave Sodbayar "⁠Techno⁠" Munkhbold the chance to get a knife killed followed by a 1vs3 clutch to keep the Mongolian side ahead. Despite the psychological hit, Outsiders were quick to bounce back and claimed the following round regain the lead to a 9-6 half.

After securing the second round forecebuy on the attack after falling in pistols there was nothing more to be said and Outsiders claimed the map forcefully, 16-7. As a curiosity, Jame finished the winning map with just 8 kills and 10 deaths in the 23 rounds played.

The Russians will now face fnatic in the Group A upper bracket, while IHC are now down in the first round of the lower bracket where they will face MIBR for a chance to avoid the triple-elimination last chance bracket.