CS:GO – PGL Major Stockholm New Legends Stage Partial Results

The New Legends Stage of PGL Major Stockholm has begun and so far, things seem to be heading in the right direction. Of course, with several exceptions. For instance, Vitality started with 2 consecutive losses and is on the verge of elimination. That’s not likely to happen in the next match, because their opponent will be Evil Geniuses and the competitive format is Bo3 for advancement and elimination matches. But it’s still strange to see ZywOo do so poorly after such a great run in the last two months, while outsiders like Entropiq are playing incredibly well.

The 2 – 0 Teams of PGL Major’s New Legends Stage

At the end of day 1 of the New Legends Stage, 4 teams are sitting at the top of the rankings table with 2 wins and 0 losses. These teams are Natus Vincere, G2 Esports, Entropiq, and NiP.

Na’Vi

In Na’Vi’s case, little explanation is needed for why they managed to get these results. The opponents were Heroic and Virtus.pro, two teams that had already shown signs of weakness in the New Challengers Stage. Heroic barely made it through with 3 wins and 2 losses, while Virtus.pro defeated some very weak teams (paiN Gaming and Vertigo), got crushed by FaZe Clan (0 – 2), and then struggled to beat Spirit (2 – 1). By contrast, Na’Vi won numerous important events this year and is currently ranked 1^st globally. With s1mple in excellent form, they trully are the global elite.

G2 Esports

G2’s performance was quite shocking. Both of its opponents were quite strong: Copenhagen Flames and FaZe Clan. But after 3 months of failures, G2 has finally come back to its former level, which allowed it to finish 2^nd at IEM Cologne.

NiKo’s team won with comfortable scores against both teams: 16 – 11 versus Copenhagen and 16 – 7 versus FaZe. In its next match, G2 will face one of the most surprising teams of PGL Major Stockholm, Entropiq.

Entropiq

Nobody seems to understand who these players are and how they have managed to get so good after flying under the radar for the entire season. To be fair, Entropiq did go from being ranked 61^st in December 2020 to being ranked 23^rd in February this year, after changing two of its players. But still, for a team that’s around 20^th globally to come at an event like PGL Major and crush the likes of Astralis, Liquid, and Gambit is quite shocking.

After beating Liquid and Gambit in the first 2 matches of the New Legends Stage, Entropiq will face G2 Esports for a spot in the Playoffs. The odds are stacked against them, but the mission is not an impossible one. Keep in mind that the match is Bo3.

NiP

This is the team that everyone is curious about at this tournament. Ahead of the race, device said that his number 1 priority at the moment is to win a Major for his new club. And you have to admit, it’s been a long time since we last saw NiP ranked 2^nd globally and beating tough opponents with regularity. The impact of device, both as a player as well as a teammate is quite obvious. In fact, it’s unbelievable just how much a single mind can change in a team. Judging by NiP’s results and Astralis’ results, it’s clear that device played a huge role in his former team’s success.

At PGL Stockholm, NiP has defeated MOUZ and Astralis in the first two rounds of the New Legends Stage. But now the real test begins, because its next opponent will be Na’Vi. This Bo3 could have easily been the Grand Final.

1 – 1 Teams

The teams that won and lost a match in the first two rounds are the following:

• Astralis
• Liquid
• Gambit
• FaZe Clan
• Copenhagen Flames
• pro
• Heroic
• FURIA

All of them are quite strong, so it will be interesting to see what happens next. Most likely, Astralis, Liquid, Gambit, and FaZe Clan will be victorious against the other 4.

0 – 2 Teams

These teams messed up completely, but they’re out yet.

• MOUZ
• Vitality
• Evil Geniuses
• ENCE

Vitality got defeated by both Virtus.pro and Heroic. The matches were close, but the French squad messed up toward the end in both of them. The good news, however, is that from now on, every match will be Bo3. And we already saw what tends to happen when the format changes. Astralis was in Vitality’s position in the New Challengers Stage, but then simply won 3 consecutive matches and qualified. The French could do the same here. Their next match is against EG and victory is almost guaranteed.

As for MOUZ and ENCE, they will have a tough match against each other. ENCE already defeated MOUZ once in a Bo1 at PGL Major, in the New Challengers Stage. The score was 16 – 11.

 

Photo credit: IEM|Helena-Kristiansson