MOUZ demolish SAW at EPL

MOUZ march on in Group B's upper bracket after starting their campaign at the tournament in dominant form.

ESL Pro League Season 17's third match of Group B between MOUZ and SAW ended in a landslide victory for Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong's team.

MOUZ now head to the upper bracket semi-finals and await the winner of Imperial vs. FURIA, while SAW will face the loser of the same match in the lower bracket of the triple-elimination group.

In their opponents' first-ever Big Event appearance, the favored MOUZ didn't let the Portuguese side breathe, winning Vertigo with a 16-3 scoreline and Ancient 16-9 as Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman and David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský led the way with a 1.65 rating and over 100 ADR each.

On Vertigo, it was also dexter who starred with a rare achievement as he scored two aces in the first half alone on the CT side. His first — including a 1v2 clutch — came in round eight, stopping SAW in their tracks early after they won two consecutive rounds. The Australian leader clinched his second just a few rounds later with flashy Deagle play:

Ancient turned out a closer affair in terms of scoreline, but in reality MOUZ never looked in danger. SAW struggled on the CT side and only their late-half charge prevented the map from ending in another landslide affair.

The favorites consistently gained control of middle when they were on the offense and from there often exploited weaknesses on the B bombsite, and once on the CT side it was only a matter of time that they found the few rounds they needed once they found themselves up 13-5 after picking up the pistol round and the subsequent two rounds.