EPL Playoffs: FURIA, G2, Complexity, and VP Continue On

The first four teams have already had to wave goodbye to the tournament, but their opponents can continue on in the bracket. The first phase of playoffs brought along quite a few surprises.

In the Round of 12, eight teams went up against each other. There, the first four have already made their exit and the rest can fight for their spots in the Top 6. At this point, the group winners will join them, after having qualified either for the Quarter or Semi Finals.

THE NEW G2 ROSTER NARROWLY OVERTAKES LIQUID

Ever since Kenny “KennyS” Schrub has been moved to the bench, G2 Esports have been having a much better time. In the Group Stage of ESL Pro League, they held themselves in first place for an astonishing amount of time. Unfortunately, an upset loss on the last day kept them from snatching the top spot. Since then, they have only become stronger and were able to impress against Liquid.

However, the North Americans kicked things off with a 16-11 victory on Dust2. While Nikola “NiKo” Kovač put up an impressive display, Gabriel “Fallen” Toledo secured a 1.35 rating with 23 kills. But on Vertigo, he was almost absent. Jonathan “ELiGE” Jablonowski did his best to keep his team alive, but Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač recorded 35 kills and an incredible 131 ADR.

So on a 16-12 scoreline, G2 managed to bring things to a third map. There, Liquid quickly took the lead and were ahead with 10-5 at half time. But the G2 CT side and François “AmaNEk” Delauney’s plays in particular gave Fallen and his men a hard time. The Frenchman pulled off an ace in the second pistol round and soon helped his team tie the score. But G2 didn’t stop then, as they pressed forward for a 15-14 scoreline. In the last round, Keith “NAF” Markovic attempted a 1v4 clutch, but the time ran out before he could carry the match into overtime. So G2 ended things on a 16-14 scoreline and are now one step closer to the Grand Finals of ESL Pro League Season 13. This match has proven how much talent there is within the G2 roster.

FURIA FEEL THE FPX HEAT

It is a well known secret that the FPX lineup we got to see during ESL Pro League won’t be continuing on as it is. Chris “ChrisJ” De Jong is in the process of signing his contract, linking him up again to the organization which he has already won a trophy with. Miikka “sunny” Kemppi knew before the match that his time was running out – and it definitely showed in his gameplay. Martin “STYKO” Styk tried his best to compete with FURIA, and he has definitely been successful in that.

With a 1.36 rating, he dragged FPX to victory on Nuke. A 16-14 win then lead onto the second map, where the players unfortunately ran out of steam. Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato showed his individual skill on Vertigo and Vinicius “VINI” Figuerido followed up on Inferno. Two quick maps later, FPX were beaten into the ground. FPX’ victory on the first map unfortunately didn’t help them for the rest of the match, and so they still gave away the Best-of-Three in a decisive fashion.

This is a great sign for FURIA. Their last encounter with G2 ended in a 1-2 defeat, but they have put up stronger performances since. On the other hand, G2 have also grown massively with NiKo manning the AWP. So this upcoming match could end up in a similar fashion and cost FURIA their spot in the tournament once again.

COMPLEXITY STUN NAVI

In their most recent tournaments, Benjamin “blameF” Bremer and his men haven’t really shown to be a solid Top 5 contestant. While they did make it to the playoffs of EPL, they only did that because of BIG and OG really dropping the ball. When it came time for facing Natus Vincere, however, this should have been the end of it.

But apparently Complexity just don’t work that way. On Dust2, Will “RUSH” Wierzba shifted into the highest gear, mounted a 1.66 rating and even stomped Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev into the ground. A quick 16-8 sent a surprised NaVi over to Mirage, where they were suddenly fighting for survival. Once there, RUSH was quieter again, giving NaVi a way into the game. With an 8-2 lead, it looked as though they might finally be able to turn things around and get through to the third map. Mouting a 9-6 half-time finish, they definitely stood a chance.

But in the second half, they just couldn’t find any rounds. Justin “jks” Savage, Valentin “poizon” Vasilev, and blameF grew to be top performers for their team and took over the game. They ended the match on a 16-11 scoreline. With this rather one-sided 2-0 over Natus Vincere, they are going up against Virtus.pro next. After their most recent match, the VP boys are sure to inspire some fear in their opponents.

VP MAKING HISTORY

In their match versus ENCE, Dzhami “Jame” Ali and his men managed to achieve something that has never happened in almost a decade of CS:GO action. But for that to happen, they first had to trade maps with the Finnish organization, which brought them to the final map, Dust2. There, the IEM Katowice Grand Finalists failed to impress at first.

Virtus.pro had to simply watch as ENCE effortlessly climbed on top of a 12-3 lead. After a victory in the second pistol round, they extended the difference to a 15-2 scoreline. This lead alone should have spelled the end for VP, as there had never once been a comeback like this in professional CS:GO. But Jame and his men had some fighting spirit left in them.

Their defense was nearly unbeatable. Jame, Alexey “Quikert” Golubev, and Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis held the bomb spots under tight lockdown. Often times, ENCE couldn’t even get near a bomb plant. Suddenly, Virtus.pro sat on top of a double-digit score and just minutes later, they arrived at a 15-15 tie. In overtime, Jame was the one to secure the greatest comeback in CS:GO history with a 1v2 clutch.

But even this historic event can’t change the fact that VP aren’t their best selves right now. A lot of things have to go wrong for a team of this calibre to stare down a 3-15 deficit in the first place. Even though their comeback set things right in the end, these fluctuations in form are a bad sign going into their Complexity match.

Now, blameF and his men have a legitimate shot at moving past VP. The same holds true for FURIA and their rematch versus G2 Esports. The winners of these matches will move into the Top 6 of ESL Pro League Season 13, where they will finally meet the top gunners of the four different EPL groups.