Monte reach EPL playoffs at FURIA's expense

Monte have secured their first playoff appearance since revamping their lineup.

Monte have secured the final playoff spot up for grabs at ESL Pro League 19, joining 15 other squads after a lengthy run through Group C. Making way for Monte's success is FURIA, who head home from Malta after only managing to notch wins over Bad News Kangaroos and ENCE.

Coming off their victory in the qualifying match, Monte coach Sergey "⁠lmbt⁠" Bezhanov remained forthcoming about his team's situation. "I don't know how much [this win] means for our confidence, but this was a minimum goal. We did not beat any strong teams," shared the Ukranian coach.

lmbt further lamented their earlier loss to Liquid and the mistakes made during their series versus FURIA, including a fumbled 5v2 on the first map.

While lmbt ultimately recognized that it was satisfying to fulfill their goal of reaching playoffs, the notion that the young team still had more work to do was evident throughout their match versus FURIA.

Monte largely looked well-put together on their opponent's pick of Nuke, with the aforementioned 5v2 fumble being by far the most egregious mistake the European side made. Monte kept the map close throughout, and despite heroics from Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo in overtime, Sergiy "⁠DemQQ⁠" Demchenko and co. emerged victorious on the first map.

The early portion of Mirage made it seem as if it would be a quick 2-0, as Monte dominated to start their T-side. This was ultimately met with an impressive streak from FURIA, powered by Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato, allowing the Brazilian side to force a Vertigo decider.

Monte had a similar start on Vertigo as they did on Mirage, accruing an early offensive lead that would later be whittled away by FURIA's defense. Unlike Mirage, however, Monte did not allow the match to slip away in the second half, as DemQQ and Jack "⁠Gizmy⁠" von Spreckelsen netted crucial rounds to push their squad forward to playoffs.