The Ukrainian-majority squad will next face off against Complexity in the second round.

Monte have moved past fnatic in the opening round of the ESL Pro League Season 18 playoffs. fnatic end the tournament in 13th-16th place, while Monte move on to face Complexity in the second round.

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 18
27/09/2023	Complexity19:50 Monte	Match

In what was the closest matchup of the first round on paper between two teams ranked within two spots from one another, Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev and company looked dominant on Anubis and the deciding Vertigo on either side of an Overpass loss.

Szymon "⁠kRaSnaL⁠" Mrozek was crucial to the win on Anubis with great anchoring work on the CT side. The Pole put up six multikills in the first seven round wins on Monte's map pick, building up a cushion for his team on what is typically the harder side.

Their aggressive stance, often needed on the defense of Anubis to find this sort of success, was key to a 9-6 half, and from there Monte cruised to a quick victory on the opener.

An all-round performance on Vertigo and Monte's immense success in early-round duels left fnatic in the dust. The William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman-led squad went up 3-0 to start the map only to lose the half 4-11 and the map not long after the sides switched.

ESL Pro League Season 18Best of 3 fnaticMatchpage 1 2 26th September 2023 Monte 9Anubis 16 16Overpass 12 6Vertigo 16

fnatic	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ	61 - 51	+10	89.0	1.21
William 'mezii' Merrimanmezii	46 - 47	-1	78.9	1.07
Aurélien 'afro' Drapierafro	39 - 48	-9	58.0	0.93
Fredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenroeJ	45 - 55	-10	68.7	0.89
Christopher 'dexter' Nongdexter	42 - 54	-12	62.1	0.89

Monte	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Viktor 'sdy' Orudzhevsdy	51 - 43	+8	77.8	1.13
Sergiy 'DemQQ' DemchenkoDemQQ	54 - 47	+7	71.6	1.09
Volodymyr 'Woro2k' VeletniukWoro2k	51 - 49	+2	74.9	1.06
Alexander 'br0' Brobr0	47 - 44	+3	75.6	1.05
Szymon 'kRaSnaL' MrozekkRaSnaL	51 - 51	0	68.6	1.03

fnatic #15 Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonChristopher 'dexter' NongFredrik 'roeJ' JørgensenWilliam 'mezii' MerrimanAurélien 'afro' Drapier Jamie 'keita' Hall Szymon 'kRaSnaL' Mrozek Age: 20 Team: Monte Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 494 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.69 Complexity #17 Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJohnny 'JT' TheodosiouRicky 'floppy' KemeryHåkon 'hallzerk' FjærliMichael 'Grim' Wince Tiaan 'T.c' Coertzen Viktor 'sdy' Orudzhev Age: 26 Team: Monte Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 1431 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.63 William 'mezii' Merriman Age: 24 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.07 Maps played: 695 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.64 Monte #13 Viktor 'sdy' OrudzhevAlexander 'br0' BroVolodymyr 'Woro2k' VeletniukSergiy 'DemQQ' DemchenkoSzymon 'kRaSnaL' Mrozek Sergey 'lmbt' Bezhanov