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The Chinese squad edged out the tournament favorites, 16-13 on both Inferno and Ancient. Wings Up clinched second place in Group A after defeating OG, 2-0. XueBing "⁠B1NGO⁠" Dai's men claimed their first win after taking down EG.PA, and exacted revenge on OG for their opening game defeat in the playoff-spot-decider. Junhao "⁠ChildKing⁠" Peng and Yi "⁠gas⁠" Ding were the difference-makers for Wings Up, as the pair finished with 1.27 and 1.25 ratings, respectively. OG won their opener against Wings Up, however they weren't able to repeat said performance in the succeeding matches. Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković's side fell 13-16 to Entropiq, and were bested 0-2 by the same B1NGO-led squad they defeated prior, ultimately sealing their fate. Wings Up's win over OG sends them to the playoffs in Melbourne In the first match, OG were in firm control on the CT side and garnered a 9-6 lead by halftime. nexa and company looked dominant early in the second period, however their fortunes quickly changed as Wings Up scored ten consecutive rounds to claim the 16-13 win on Inferno. Both sides were more competitive early on Ancient, this time Wings Up held the slight advantage at the break. Abdul "⁠degster⁠" Gasanov was a constant threat on the AWP, but the Chinese didn't waste their chances and sent the tournament favorites home with a 16-13 triumph. The playoffs will begin on Sunday with Group B winners paiN squaring off against Wings Up, while Entropiq's opponent is yet to be decided. The grand final will play out at 07:00 on the same day to crown the champion of ESL Challenger Melbourne. source

A big group of Brazilian fans rejoiced in the Rod Laver arena as the last Australian team was eliminated on home soil. Imperial recovered from a 16-5 loss to countrymen paiN and took out Grayhound to qualify for the playoffs of ESL Challenger Melbourne, claiming the last avilable spot. Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo led the charge for his team, posting a 1.44 rating in a 2-0 victory, 16-8 on Inferno and 16-12 on Nuke. The loss meant the end of the road for Grayhound, the team that represented ORDER until the organization was hit by financial problems in August. Out-of-game issues were combined with in-game ones, as the team was also forced to play the event with their former member Jordan "⁠Hatz⁠" Bajic in place of the newest arrival Declan "⁠Vexite⁠" Portelli due to roster lock issues. FalleN finished the match with a 2.0 K/D "If anyone needs to buy me a beer, I'm down. Or 20. Because I need a drink," Joshua "⁠INS⁠" Potter said in a post-match interview, having lost the final round of Nuke from a 5v3 situation to leave the Australian fans without a domestic team to support. However, a loud contingent of Brazilian supporters present in Melbourne will have a reason to come back on the final day, as Imperial and paiN are looking to challenge for the title in the four-team playoffs. source

The Swedes switched up their main AWPer for the series, with Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner taking on the role. Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated Endpoint in a two-map series, winning Vertigo 16-7 and Inferno 19-15. REZ taking the AWP from Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen for the entirety of Vertigo and the CT side of Inferno was the game's big talking point, with the 24-year-old producing a 1.22 rating across the series. The Swedes recorded their first win of the tournament after the role change and are not out of contention yet, but their chance of progressing is slim. If Natus Vincere beat Vitality, for instance, Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser and company would be eliminated no matter what. Endpoint's fate is also hinging on other results, as they need fnatic to beat Spirit today to remain in playoff contention. REZ had a great performance with the AWP Endpoint got off to an impressive start on Vertigo, with Guy "⁠Nertz⁠" Iluz getting three kills in the pistol round. They kept up the pressure as they raced to a 6-1 lead, looking like the team that upset Natus Vincere yesterday. Ninjas in Pyjamas had REZ pick up the AWP and as soon as he was able to find impact, the Swedes started to claw back at their disadvantage. They won seven out of the last eight rounds, securing themselves an 8-7 lead at the interval. Once the sides switched, the expectations for Ninjas in Pyjamas were low, considering they previously won just 17% of their T rounds in the tournament. This time they looked much improved, however, as they forced Endpoint into several saves and won all eight rounds in a row. The Swedes ended up 16-7 winners and moved the series to their map pick of Inferno. es3tag appeared comfortable in the rifle role Ninjas in Pyjamas kept their momentum from Vertigo with a pistol round win on the second map, but Endpoint were quick to fight back with a force-buy and race to a 5-1 lead. A short spree by the Swedes followed, with the fate of the half hanging in the balance. Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye delivered a crucial multi-kill round to put his team back into the driver's seat, as the half finished 10-5. Another pistol round for Ninjas in Pyjamas meant the disadvantage dissolved to just two rounds, but Endpoint quickly ran away again as soon as their economy allowed it. REZ, who was a nuisance to the T side across the entire half, led the fightback from 8-13 down to force out overtime, with the Swede putting up 29 kills at the end of regulation. Ninjas in Pyjamas posted a flawless CT side in overtime, hitting match point uncontested before the switch. The Swedes converted in their first try on the attack to lock in their first ESL Pro League Season 16 win. source

fnatic keep their playoffs hopes alive with their second win in Group A. fnatic earned their second win in Group A of ESL Pro League Season 16 with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Spirit. The William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman-helmed lineup moved past Spirit 16-11 on Nuke before doubling down with a 16-9 victory on Mirage to close things out. fnatic had a good day at the office in this game, with all players sitting in the green. Fredrik "⁠roeJ⁠" Jørgensen, in particular, had a strong showing, averaging a 1.27 rating and a team-high 87 ADR. The European mix will look to secure their place in the playoffs as they face Endpoint in the closing games for Group A on Sunday at 18:30 . A victory in this game would have guaranteed Spirit a spot in the playoffs. Instead, Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov and company will need to try their luck in their matchup versus Vitality on Sunday at 18:30 . Pavel "⁠s1ren⁠" Ogloblin was a menace in the server in spite of the loss, with the young Russian putting up an impressive 1.25 rating over the two maps. roeJ's solid performance in EPL thus far continues Spirit got off to the ideal start on the opening map of Nuke, racing up to a 7-2 lead on the back of solid defensive holds by s1ren and Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev. The black-and-orange didn't roll over, however, running riot with clinical executes to bring things back to seven rounds apiece. Spirit wised up to close things out, though, shutting down an upper hit by fnatic in the 15th round to squeak an 8-7 lead by the swap. fnatic took the lead for the first time in the game at the onset of the second half; snatching the first three rounds to go up, 10-8. The remainder of the half turned into Dion "⁠FASHR⁠" Derksen's personal playground, with fnatic's newest recruit putting up a whopping 28 frags to power his side to a 16-11 victory — extending their win-streak on the map to 10 in a row. FASHR averaged a team-high 1.52 rating on Nuke Spirit jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on the T-side of Mirage, with Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov and chopper rising to the occasion as they combined for 11 frags. fnatic hopped back in the driver's seat, however, posting seven of the next eight rounds to surge ahead to a 7-4 showing. This didn't deter Spirit, though, with the Russian-majority side putting their foot to the floor from here on out to nab the remaining four rounds and lead 8-7 at half-time once again. Back-to-back force buy victories by both teams got the second half underway, but it was fnatic who came out on top as they took control of the economy to reach 12-9. mezii and company used this new-found momentum to run away with things, adding four rounds on the bounce without any noticeable Spirit resistance to steal Mirage 16-9 and close the series, 2-0. source