MOUZ confidently defeated SAW and FURIA in their previous group matches. These are not the strongest teams, and the Brazilians' aggression in early timings can be easily read at the tier-1 level.

Heroic, on the other hand, crushed Movistar Riders and squeezed out a victory over BIG in a very close series. Do these difficulties indicate problems in the Danish team? Commentator Fedir KvaN Zakharov does not think so.

Heroic doesn't show any signs of decline. There's a group stage of the tournament, which takes place behind the scenes under conditions of insufficient competition and weak motivation for such giants as Heroic and G2. Teams that come to the championship for trophies often struggle in the group, but on the big stage, they usually show who's “daddy here”.

Fedir KvaN Zakharov

The teams last faced each other in the previous, 16th season of EPL. MOUZ won the match, and it was a clean sweep. At that time, Dust 2 had not yet been replaced by Anubis, but both maps were always banned by both teams anyway.

Heroic has the advantage in map pool

Heroic has the advantage in map pool - over the past six months, they have not only played more diverse maps, but also have a better win rate on each of them than the "mice". The best results against tier-1 teams for MOUZ were on Ancient and Mirage, so they should rely on one of these maps.

Team statistics are roughly equal

The average rating of Heroic is slightly higher than that of MOUZ. cadiaN and his team also simply kill more often. But let's not forget about frozen as one of the most dangerous lurkers. Otherwise, we see parity in the statistics. Only by shooting, the outcome of the match will not be determined, the lineups are too similar in level.

KvaN leans towards Heroic winning, but doesn't discount MOUZ. In his opinion, MOUZ can do what BIG couldn't yesterday.

Both teams [Heroic and MOUZ] are in good form, so I expect a tough fight on three maps. I think if BIG were one step away from victory over Heroic [in the last round of group B], then MOUZ would also have every chance to grab first place in the group. However, globally, the balance is still in favor of Heroic, I would say in a ratio of 60 to 40.

Fedir KvaN Zakharov

The upper bracket final of group B at ESL S17 will take place on March 5th at 17:00. The winning team will earn a slot in the quarter-finals, and the losing team will start their playoff journey in the 1/12 round.

The schedule, results, and detailed statistics of other matches are available on the tournament page.