We enjoyed the chaos of Stage 1, and we’re treated to a slightly more refined style of Counter-Strike in Stage 2. But the teams heading to the Playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 22 are locked and loaded, with four Quarter-Finals set to begin on Friday.
Going into today’s matches, just three ESL Pro League S22 Playoff slots remained up for grabs, and we had some surprising contenders left in the 2:2 bracket. The likes of Aurora, The MongolZ, G2, FaZe Clan – all teams who should have higher ambitions than scraping by on the final day. Here’s how it went.
NAVI shock The MongolZ as they miss Playoffs for first time in six months
First up was NAVI vs. The MongolZ, two teams that have been on very different trajectories throughout 2025. NAVI, struggles galore. The MongolZ, finally making it click at the game’s summit. Yet here, at the end of ESL Pro League Season 22 Stage 2, you would never know it.
The series kicked off with a 13:3 Nuke in NAVI’s favor. Dominant. The MongolZ threatened to strike back on Ancient, but NAVI endured overtime to take the series 2:0. Individually, it was the sharpest NAVI have looked in a long time, and it’s a big scalp to take for confidence heading into the Playoffs.
But for The MongolZ, this result will spark some concern. It’s their first missed Playoffs since PGL Bucharest in April, and rumors of a lack of practice between events are rife. Let’s make no mistake – The MongolZ are not exactly in crisis, but they shouldn’t lose to this NAVI in 2:0 fashion.
3DMAX eliminate struggling G2
The yin and yang of G2 keeps on delivering. Or not delivering, some would say. It’s an early flight home from ESL Pro League Season 22, their elimination coming at the hands of a spirited 3DMAX. Another win for French Counter-Strike. Like The MongolZ vs. NAVI, this was another 2:0. Equally as one-sided, too.
Let’s put the focus on 3DMAX for a moment, because they deserve their flowers. This team is something of an enigma, with inconsistency one of their defining traits. Here, though, this was their potential on full display. No single standout performer across the two maps; it was a genuine team effort. For a team like 3DMAX, that doesn’t have the luxury of true star players, that’s exactly the win condition, and everyone stood up and had their moments to get this over the line on Inferno and Dust2.
It was only a month ago that G2 won BLAST Open Fall 2025. With this in mind, it’s hard not to see their run at ESL Pro League Season 22 as a little bit of a failure. Dropping out in the 2:3 bracket feels worse when you remember they won their 0:0 match by default after FaZe Clan’s roster fiasco. This G2 lineup should be a favorite in most matches they play, yet they struggled to inspire any confidence against 3DMAX. A ceiling demonstrably high enough to win trophies but a floor low enough to crash out to 3DMAX is more than enough to frustrate any fan.
FaZe Clan bloom late vs. Aurora to claim last spot
The final game of the day fell to FaZe Clan and Aurora, two teams most would place on pretty even keel at the moment. But only one could head to the ESL Pro League Playoffs, and on this occasion, it was FaZe Clan who won the day. At 2:1, we at least got a contest to round things out.
Both FaZe Clan and Aurora were able to secure their own map picks pretty handily in this series, taking us to a Dust2 decider. Aurora were able to secure a 10:8 lead and looked thoroughly in control of the map, but a late FaZe Clan resurgence eventually condemned the Turkish team to a Stage 2 elimination. Adding Twistzz to help secondary call for FaZe Clan has already helped, that much is clear, and now we get to see if they can go on to win their actual final tournament with rain.
On Aurora’s side, this loss is pretty heartbreaking. Seeing MAJ3R post-match speak to stunna with a dejection we’ve not seen before was rough, and perhaps indicative of where Aurora are at right now. They still have some events left to play this year, but it’s hard to really see Aurora making the breakthrough they threatened earlier in the year.
With all eight teams decided, the full set of Playoff teams at ESL Pro League Season 22 is as follows:
- Falcons (3:0)
- Spirit (3:0)
- Vitality (3:1)
- MOUZ (3:1)
- FURIA (3:1)
- NAVI (3:2)
- 3DMAX (3:2)
- FaZe Clan (3:2)
