Grayhound qualify for ESL Pro League Season 18

Grayhound cemented their position as the best team in Oceania again despite being unable to field Alistair "⁠aliStair⁠" Johnston for two games.

Grayhound punched their ticket to ESL Pro League Season 18, set to play out in Malta on August 30-October 1, after moving past VERTEX 3-1 in the best-of-five ESL Australia & NZ Championship Season 16 grand final (Vertigo 16-5, Inferno 13-16, Anubis 16-13, Mirage 16-13).

Grayhound, who played the playoffs of the online tournament with Patrick "⁠Falcon⁠" Desousa in place of aliStair, have long been the heavyweights in the Oceania region, and their qualification for yet another international LAN only serves to reinforce that fact.

The Australians already secured berths to IEM Katowice, ESL Pro League Season 17, the BLAST.tv Paris Major, and IEM Dallas in 2023, and will return to Europe in late August for another run through ESL's flagship league.

Grayhound earned a place in Malta despite using a stand-in in the playoffs

Grayhound enjoyed a strong start to their ESL Australia & NZ Championship campaign, beating Stirlzs Angels and The Big Dogs before twice besting VERTEX to reach the playoffs. There, it was once again Grayhound who continued to lay down the law, brushing aside e-LEMON-ators in a comfortable two-map series to reach the grand final and set up another meeting versus VERTEX.

Grayhound took an early lead in the ESL Pro League-qualifying series, with Declan "⁠Vexite⁠" Portelli putting up a 1.82-rated performance to help his team steal away VERTEX's Vertigo pick (16-5). The best-of-five soon descended into a hard-fought skirmish, however, and Toby "⁠BRACE⁠" Barnes and company equalized on Inferno (16-13) before Joshua "⁠INS⁠" Potter's troops narrowly prevailed on Anubis (16-13) to inch closer to a Pro League berth.

VERTEX went on a tear at the outset of Mirage and raced to a 7-0 lead on the CT-side. Nonetheless, this lopsided advantage to start things off soon receded once Grayhound found their footing, with the No. 26-ranked side conceding just six additional rounds before locking in victory (16-13) and a spot at ESL Pro League Season 18 in the process.

ESL Australia & NZ Championship Season 16Best of 5

Grayhound

Matchpage

3

1

11th June 2023

VERTEX

16

Vertigo

5

13

Inferno

16

16

Anubis

13

16

Mirage

13

Grayhound	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Joshua 'INS' PotterINS	80 - 65	+15	95.0	73.1%	1.25
Declan 'Vexite' PortelliVexite	90 - 67	+23	80.9	75.0%	1.23
Jay 'Liazz' TregillgasLiazz	80 - 70	+10	81.0	77.8%	1.19
Simon 'Sico' WilliamsSico	72 - 62	+10	71.2	75.9%	1.12
Patrick 'Falcon' DesousaFalcon	68 - 75	-7	68.5	67.6%	0.95

VERTEX	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Liam 'malta' Schembrimalta	72 - 72	0	78.7	72.2%	1.06
Jordan 'pz' Whitepz	66 - 78	-12	65.8	65.7%	0.95
Jared 'hazr' O'Breehazr	73 - 80	-7	75.1	67.6%	0.94
Christian 'ADDICT' PendletonADDICT	70 - 83	-13	66.7	68.5%	0.92
Toby 'BRACE' BarnesBRACE	55 - 78	-23	59.8	66.7%	0.83

ESL Pro League Season 18 will take place on August 30-October 1, with 32 teams set to descend on the island of Malta over the course of a month for the chance to earn the lion's share of the $850,000 prize pool. Just eight ESL Pro League Season 18 berths remain up for grabs; three will be filled by ESL's world ranking, two will come from the ESL NC EU qualifier, with the rest being awarded to the victors of ESL Challenger Katowice and the respective qualifiers in Oceania and South America.

The current team list for ESL Pro League Season 18 is as follows:

Vitality
FaZe
G2
Liquid
MOUZ
FURIA
fnatic
BIG
Movistar Riders
MIBR
ATK
Lynn Vision
ESL Challenger Katowice
ESL NC EU
Oceania qualifier
ESL World Ranking

HEROIC
ENCE
Natus Vincere
Apeks
Monte
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Astralis
Complexity
Imperial
Rare Atom
Evil Geniuses
Grayhound
ESL NC EU
South America qualifier
ESL World Ranking
ESL World Ranking