MOUZ put Heroic on brink of elimination at EPL

A 2-0 over the world's No. 2 sends MOUZ to a playoffs-qualifying match against MIBR.

MOUZ are one win away from ESL Pro League Season 18 playoffs following a 2-0 win against HEROIC. The team around Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek set up a qualifying rematch against MIBR, who sent MOUZ to the lower bracket after a three-map affair in the opening round of Group B.

Ever a consistent team fighting for deep runs, HEROIC have not looked like themselves at the tournament taking place in Malta so far. After destroying heavy underdogs Rooster in their opening match, Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and company suffered another 0-2 upset at the hands of BIG on Thursday and are now one loss from elimination.

The Danes will match up against Monte next in the last chance bracket, where they need two consecutive wins to secure a playoffs berth.

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 18
09/09/2023	MIBR 16:00 MOUZ	Match
09/09/2023	Monte 19:30 HEROIC	Match

It was an all-around great performance from the entire MOUZ roster that earned them the rather comfortable win over the world's second-ranked team. David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský topped the charts as usual, but his teammates were not far behind, all stepping up in key moments throughout the series.

"I think everyone did their job today, Dori was insane, Siuhy was calling really good, everyone was contributing really well to the rounds," Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás said after the match.

HEROIC were on the back foot from beginning to end. MOUZ got off to a great start on Mirage with Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman finding crucial entries around Middle, and although the Danes salvaged their chances thanks to a double-AWP setup on the CT side, their offense left much to be desired.

Nuke was a similar story, as MOUZ put together a superb defense this time to start things off. HEROIC finally woke up at the end of the first half and with a pistol round on top looked to equalize the series, until a key 19th round against a low buy went the other way due to a disjointed defense and poor communication on the Danes' part. This allowed MOUZ to stroll to a comfortable win on the second map, with frozen and Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo delivering crucial openings.