EPL Stage 1 Round 3 Brackets Locked as G2 Slip to Gentle Mates

EPL Stage 1 Round 3 Brackets Locked as G2 Slip to Gentle Mates

On day two of ESL Pro League Season 22 Stage 1, Spanish side Gentle Mates secured a surprising 2–1 upset over G2, reshaping the paths to Stage 2. 

The victory propels Gentle Mates upward in the VRS rankings, putting them within reach of a Budapest Major invite and positioning them just one win away from punching their ticket to Stage 2 in Stockholm. 

Earlier on the same day, underdog storylines continued to unfold: HOTU stunned B8, while ENCE and Inner Circle overcame Astralis and GamerLegion, respectively. That set up two high-stakes “qualification” matches:

HOTU vs ENCE

Inner Circle vs Gentle Mates

On the elimination side of the bracket, M80 faces Rooster, and Fluxo battles NRG. 

Match Breakdown: G2 vs Gentle Mates

Map picks & bans

Gentle Mates removed Dust2

G2 removed Nuke

Gentle Mates picked Inferno

G2 picked Mirage

Gentle Mates removed Train

G2 removed Overpass

Ancient remained as the decider map

Results

Inferno: G2 dominated 13–2

Mirage: Gentle Mates took it 13–11

Ancient: Gentle Mates closed it out 13–7

Key performances

For G2:
  HeavyGod went 45–39 with a 1.29 rating
  SunPayus also delivered 45 kills vs 34 deaths, rating 1.23

For Gentle Mates:
  dav1g was pivotal: 51–38, rating ~1.25
  MartinezSa also made an impact with 40–36, rating ~1.09

According to post-match community stats on Reddit, the final K-D breakdown roughly matched:

G2 1-2 Gentle Mates: Inferno 13-2, Mirage 11-13, Ancient 7-13 

This upset was all the more surprising given that no tipster or community prediction apparently favored Gentle Mates going in. 

Additional Context & Player Quotes

• In a recent interview, G2’s malbsMd spoke about his experience in the restructured roster:

  “On Mirage I was getting farmed by donk, but then … I feel like I just managed to come back.”
  He also praised the synergy under huNter- and sAw for giving him space to operate.

• On social media, analysts noted how crucial a win over a team like G2 is for momentum and ranking implications:

  “Gentle Mates surprise win … opened a small door for a Major spot.”