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 | Complexity  19:50  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
fnatic
Matchpage 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' Jablonowski
Johnny 'JT' TheodosiouRicky 'floppy' Kemery
Håkon '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 (责任编辑：cs cases)
