FaZe-Astralis set for Chengdu rematch after day one of EPL S19

Virtus.pro going down to fnatic was the notable upset of the first day of play in Malta.

Astralis will take on FaZe mere days after their semi-final bout at IEM Chengdu

Day one of ESL Pro League S19 has concluded, and plenty of twists and turns took place in Group A and Group B even at this early stage of ESL's flagship event.

A pair of upset results kicked off play with fnatic earning the victory of the day by taking down Virtus.pro 2-1, whilst 3DMAX picked up a 2-0 win over one of the scene's rising names, SAW. fnatic earned their victory by virtue of taking advantage of a struggling Virtus.pro T side, whilst 3DMAX simply outlasted SAW down the stretch in two tight overtime maps. This sets up an unlikely advancement match between fnatic and 3DMAX for Wednesday.

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fnatic spoil electroNic's VP debut in Malta

In the second round of games Vitality recovered from a slow start against Sharks to earn a relatively comfortable 2-0 win, but the highlight match was a 2-0 statement win by Astralis over Major quarter-finalists Eternal Fire. Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr and Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund shone brightly as the Danes simply outclassed their Turkish opponents, further raising Astralis' stock after a promising showing last time out at IEM Chengdu.

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Astralis move past Eternal Fire in EPL opener

FaZe began their first tournament since their IEM Chengdu victory with a straightforward victory in the final round of games, taking down Imperial 2-0 thanks to a strong T side on Inferno and a powerful defensive effort on Nuke. FaZe and Astralis' wins have set up a mouth-watering advancement match between the two in the upper bracket, giving the teams a chance to settle their differences after they traded series at IEM Chengdu, where FaZe won the more important semi-final match.

Meanwhile, over on the B stream BetBoom eked out a 2-1 win over M80 in the last game of the day, each team flopping badly on their own map pick before BetBoom's offense ground out a tight 13-11 win on the decider of Mirage.

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Live updates from ESL Pro League Season 19 day 1

Today's results:

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 19
23/04/2024	Virtus.pro Finished 1:2 fnatic	Match
23/04/2024	3DMAX Finished 2:0 SAW	Match
23/04/2024	Vitality Finished 2:0 Sharks	Match
23/04/2024	Astralis Finished 2:0 Eternal Fire	Match
23/04/2024	M80 Finished 1:2 BetBoom	Match
23/04/2024	FaZe Finished 2:0 Imperial	Match

Tomorrow's matchups:

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 19
24/04/2024	Falcons 13:30 The MongolZ	Match
24/04/2024	TYLOO 13:30 G2	Match
24/04/2024	SAW 16:30 Virtus.pro	Match
24/04/2024	3DMAX 16:50 fnatic	Match
24/04/2024	Eternal Fire 19:30 Imperial	Match
24/04/2024	Astralis 19:30 FaZe	Match