Movistar Riders punch ticket to ESL Pro League playoffs

The Spaniards came back from losing their map pick to reverse sweep the final series of Group B.

Movistar Riders earned the final playoff spot up for grabs in the ESL Pro League Season 17 Group B, securing the fourth spot in the group through the last chance bracket with a 2-1 victory over BIG. The Spaniards came into the event with a lot of red Ls in their recent results but managed to show their best on LAN in high-stakes situations to reach the knockout stages of ESL's flagship league.

In the deciding series Movistar Riders started attacking on their Vertigo map pick with pace, showing off their prowess at getting into the groove of games early on. It didn't last, however, as after going up 7-2 they were only able to win two and fell just short of double digits at the switch, marking their inability to change things up when teams adapt to them.

Things didn’t get better on the CT side as BIG spread their wings after a 0-2 start. They kept the Spaniards against the wall economically and in round-by-round play, giving up just one before hitting match point at 15-12. Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa was BIG’s top performer come the end of the map in the 29th round, 16-13, with 29 kills and a 1.71 rating.

alex topped the board in the deciding series with a 1.31 rating

BIG got off to a 3-0 dream start on the attacking side of Nuke, but Movistar Riders forced the German squad to pull the breaks, tying things up 3-3 with guns in a half that ended up being a close affair between the two. David "⁠dav1g⁠" Granado Bermudo pulled psychological warfare with a knife kill to retain the lead, 5-4, but the German side didn’t fret and Josef "⁠faveN⁠" Baumann won a 1vs1 against Antonio "⁠MartinezSa⁠" Martinez to take the lead at the switch.

Alejandro "⁠alex⁠" Masanet called a perfect A hit and followed it up with three SMG kills and a knife in the second round, but the half once again returned to the mean and a game of inches ensued. A crucial 4vs4 retake on the A site by BIG to go up 12-11 was hit back with a strong three-kill round by Pere "⁠sausol⁠" Solsona Saumell. In the end Riders made the best on the T side and passed the finish line in the 28th round, 16-12.

BIG missed out on a playoff spot in their first LAN outing without syrsoN

Ancient played host to the final map of the series and Movistar Riders, who have at times struggled to find their best form on the CT side, took the bull by the horns despite a 0-2 start. They forcebought their way to victory in the third round and didn’t look back, with every player stepping up at times to dominate the half 12-3.

A successful B strike put the Riders well on their way to victory as they hit 14 the following round, although BIG started to show aggression by shooting the bodies of dead foes after close rounds on the comeback path. It didn’t last, though, as a three round streak was brought to a halt by the Spaniards to hit match point. Up against a forcebuy they failed to close it out and had to wait four rounds to shut down the series in a fast A forcebuy of their own, 16-8.

“This feeling is amazing, we’ve been passing some really tough moments, especially the last six months,” coach Galder "⁠bladE⁠" Barcena said after the series. His statement was a sigh of relief from the team’s struggles since appearing at the IEM Cologne playoffs in 2022 before losing their star AWPer to Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García to ENCE.

The up to recently underperforming side will have much to celebrate before they return to Malta after Group D for the playoffs, hoping this result will imbue renewed confidence and a boatload of experience for the two new members, MartinezSa and sausol, who had their first ever taste of Big Event LAN play.

ESL Pro League Season 17 will resume with Group C, when the third set of eight teams will compete from March 8-12. FaZe, Ninjas in Pyjamas, OG and Vitality headline the group, which also features two Brazilian teams in paiN and 00NATION as well as Grayhound and Rooster from Oceania.

ESL Pro League Season 17Best of 3

Movistar Riders

Matchpage

2

1

5th March 2023

BIG

13

Vertigo

16

16

Nuke

12

16

Ancient

9

Movistar Riders	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Alejandro 'alex' Masanetalex	60 - 46	+14	85.3	76.8%	1.31
Antonio 'MartinezSa' MartinezMartinezSa	61 - 49	+12	77.6	75.6%	1.23
Pere 'sausol' Solsona Saumellsausol	55 - 51	+4	74.3	68.3%	1.05
David 'dav1g' Granado Bermudodav1g	50 - 52	-2	70.5	72.0%	0.99
Alejandro 'mopoz' Fernández-Quejo Canomopoz	51 - 51	0	64.4	73.2%	0.97

BIG	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Karim 'Krimbo' MoussaKrimbo	73 - 54	+19	96.9	72.0%	1.31
Josef 'faveN' BaumannfaveN	60 - 53	+7	70.5	73.2%	1.12
Johannes 'tabseN' WodarztabseN	45 - 60	-15	71.1	64.6%	0.94
Marcel 'hyped' Köhnhyped	38 - 52	-14	45.4	69.5%	0.80
Nils 'k1to' Gruhnek1to	33 - 59	-26	52.4	58.5%	0.71