9z claim final playoff spot from EPL Group C

The South American team recovered from an early trip to the Last Chance Stage in Malta.

9z earned the final playoff spot on offer in Group C of ESL Pro League Season 18 after beating 5yclone in the Last Chance Stage's decider match, recovering from a thrashing on their own map pick of Overpass (6-16) with wins on Inferno (16-8) and Nuke (16-6) to take the series.

Maximiliano "⁠max⁠" Gonzalez's men can walk away more than satisfied with their recovery showing in Malta as they now look toward the bracket stage. The South American team almost found themselves cast out of the tournament early following back-to-back losses to FaZe and Imperial, resulting in an early trip down to the Last Chance Stage, but wins over M80 and Apeks kept their tournament hopes alive.

9z's playoff-qualifying series versus 5yclone started off shaky as Jingxiang "⁠Mercury⁠" Wang lay waste to them round after round on Overpass to power his team to a dominant 12-3 CT side scoreline. The Chinese team quickly closed out the map in the second half to strike first in the series, but were given the same treatment on their own Inferno pick as 9z recovered from a 2-6 scoreline to win the map 16-8.

The Nuke decider was equally as one-sided as 5yclone went out not with a whirlwind, but with a whimper: sporadic round wins on the CT side saw them only garner five rounds by halftime, with 9z closing out the series shortly into the second half to earn their ticket to the playoffs.