EPL Play-Ins: Who Will Make the Semi Finals?

The playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 13 are already underway. But right in the thick of it, the teams can get a little breather. First, the Play-Ins need to determine which first-placed team from the Group Stage gets to advance to the Semi Finals.

FURIA and Complexity have valiantly fought through the Single Elimination bracket. In the Quarter Finals, they’re now sitting alone and idly, as the Play-Ins are yet to commence. There, Heroic, Gambit Esports, Astralis, and the Ninjas in Pyjamas are fighting for the top placements.

HEROIC VS. NIP

The Ninjas in Pyjamas have definitely surprised some of their critics with a first-place finish in EPL Group B. But they wouldn’t have gotten that placement if G2 Esports hadn’t suffered an upset loss to mousesports on the very last day. Now they’re going up against Heroic and are in contention for a Semi Finals slot. Will they actually pull through?

Their chances aren’t that high. So far, Erik “ztr” Gustafsson hasn’t proven his worth as part of the lineup and as a replacement for Simon “twist” Eliasson. On the other camp, Heroic are hot on the heels of two roster changes. Their newcomers are putting up a great show. The fact that they have set themselves on top of Complexity, FPX, OG, and BIG this decisively, should give the players some confidence to tackle this final hurdle head-on.

In case of Heroic winning, they would land on FURIA’s side of the bracket. The loser between Gambit and Astralis will go up against the Brazilians, and challenge Heroic later. This can of course only happen if the Ninjas in Pyjamas don’t score an upset victory. If the Swedes drop their match as expected, they will meet Complexity. After Benjamin “blameF” Bremer and his troops have already overtaken Natus Vincere and Virtus.pro, ztr and his team should definitely be scared of their potential.

GAMBIT VS. ASTRALIS

This is a classical matchup. Under different roster iterations, Gambit have scored quite a few upset wins over the Danish roster in recent years. Obviously, a lot has changed since then and Gambit’s victories became few and far between, but since IEM Katowice, Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov and his friends have been putting up an insane show. Astralis have every right to be scared.

A few overtime rounds made the difference between Astralis making first or second place in Group D, as Liquid almost managed to beat them on two straight maps. We were this close to not even talking about the Danes as Play-Ins contestants. But now, they actually have a shot at placing above Complexity. In the worst case, they will have to go up against FURIA, who have already secured a ridiculously easy upset over G2 Esports.

Gambit may have mounted a 5-0 run though EPL Group C, but they showed some weakness in between. They’re obviously not on the same dominant level they held throughout IEM Katowice. This might just be enough for Astralis though, who themselves haven’t had the most consisent start to the year.

In any case, these teams are all locked into Top 6 at the very least. Now, it’s “only” the Grand Finals at stake, which will surely be exciting with all these surprising participants. The Quarter Finals will commence on the day after the conclusion of the Play-Ins, so that ESL Pro League Season 13 can then finish off on Sunday with a big bang.