NAVI, Spirit, B8, and MOUZ debut with wins at ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 2

On March 6, ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 2 began, where sixteen teams are competing for eight spots at the LAN finals. NAVI, Spirit, B8, MOUZ, and four other teams started the tournament with victories. A detailed overview of each match is presented below.

FUT vs Astralis

In the first round of ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 2, Astralis confidently defeated FUT with a 2:0 score. The series began on Ancient, where Astralis immediately took control and closed the map 13:6. On Mirage, the Danish club continued to dominate, leaving their opponent no chance — 13:3.

The best player of the match was Victor "Staehr" Staehr, who finished the series with 35 kills and 20 deaths, delivering the strongest individual performance in the match. Detailed statistics are available below and via the link.

NAVI vs Monte

The series between NAVI and Monte began on Dust2, where Monte surprisingly dominated and confidently took the map — 13:4. On Inferno, NAVI quickly bounced back, showcasing an almost perfect defense — 13:1. The deciding map Mirage was much closer, but NAVI performed better in key rounds and secured the win — 13:11.

The best player of the match was Drin "makazze" Shaqir, who recorded 59 kills and 33 deaths across three maps, with an overall rating of 8.4 out of 10. Detailed statistics are available below and via the link.

Aurora vs Legacy

The second series began with Aurora vs Legacy. The first map, Inferno, lasted 46 rounds and ended with a victory for Aurora (25:21). On Overpass, Legacy responded with a confident performance and tied the series — 13:9. The deciding map Dust2 also went to overtime, but Aurora managed to close it out 16:13, winning the series 2:1.

The best performance came from Ismailcan "XANTARES" Dörtkardeş with a final rating of 6.7, 68 kills, and 84 ADR. Detailed statistics are available below and via the link.

Spirit vs 3DMAX

Spirit secured their debut match at the tournament with a confident 2:0 victory (Nuke 13:10, Overpass 13:7) over 3DMAX. The French team moved to the 0:1 bracket.

The best player of the match was Danil "donk" Kryshkovets, who finished with 46 kills and 23 deaths, an 8.0 rating, and 105 ADR. Detailed statistics are available below and via the link.

G2 vs FaZe

FaZe continue their losing streak and struggles in 2026, being defeated by G2 in the first round of ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 2 with a 0:2 score (Dust2 1:13, Dust2 10:13), dropping to the 0:1 bracket.

The MVP of the series was Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa, who recorded 59 kills across two maps and achieved a perfect rating of 10 out of 10. His average ADR was 173, which is 69% higher than his average performance recently. Detailed statistics are available below and via the link.

MOUZ vs HEROIC

One of the final matchups of the day was MOUZ vs HEROIC, where all three maps were needed to determine the winner. Dust2, the first pick of the series, ended with a victory for HEROIC (9:13), but the next two maps went to MOUZ (Mirage 13:8, Inferno 13:3).

The best player of the match was Jimi "Jimpphat" Salo, who made a major contribution to the team’s victory with 52 kills in the series and 100 ADR. His final rating was 7.4. Detailed statistics are available below and via the link.

The MongolZ vs paiN

Nuke was the first map in the series between The MongolZ and paiN, ending with a 19:17 victory for The MongolZ. Moving to Mirage did not improve the situation for the Brazilian team, as they suffered another defeat in the series (13:9) and dropped to the 0:1 bracket.

The best player of the match was Ayush "mzinho" Batbold, who finished the match with 45 kills and 41 deaths, earning a 7.1 rating. Detailed statistics are available below and via the link.

FURIA vs B8

The final match of the day, which ended as late as 1:00 CET, delivered an unexpected result. B8 managed to win Mirage with a score of 13:8. Moving to Overpass, FURIA showed why they had chosen this map as their pick, winning convincingly 13:2. However, on Dust2 — a map where FURIA previously had six wins and only one loss — the Ukrainian team secured the victory. The final score was 2:1 for B8, sending FURIA, one of the favorites of the match, into the 0:1 bracket. Detailed statistics are available below and via the link.

ESL Pro League Season 23: Online Stage, which includes Stage 1 and Stage 2, runs from March 1 to March 10. Initially, twenty-four teams participated, with sixteen now remaining. They are competing online for eight spots at the LAN finals and a share of the $125,000 prize pool distributed among the teams finishing from 9th to 24th place.