R6 EUL: G2 Are Getting Their Act Together

Following a horrible star to the second stage, Niclas “Pengu” Mouritzen’s team is slowly waking up. Yesterday, they finally got their first Stage 2 win over Natus Vincere on the board, albeit a very close one.

SECRET WITH THEIR THIRD VICTORY

Team Secret, who had gotten to the second-to-last place in Stage 1, are currently making a race for the top of the standings. With their victories over G2 Esports and Rogue in the bag, they had already taken over a high spot, and now, they’ve followed this up with a win over Chaos.

Peter “pacbull” Bull and his boys managed to mount a strong offense half on Oregon. They immediately secured the first three rounds, which put Chaos in a bad spot already. Even though the players around Pascal “cryn” Alouane managed to tie the score 3-3 at halftime, Secret then got on the defense and were virtually invincible. They quickly got their 7-4 victory together, fueled once more by Kevin “Prano” Pranowitz. With 14 kills and a 1.59 rating, he was the star of the match – just as he was in their previous Stage 2 matches.

Secret have now pulled equal with BDS and are tying for first place. On October 7, it will get particularly interesting, as the two teams are slated to face off against each other. After Secret have already defeated Rogue and G2, they’re only missing BDS and Virtus.pro to complete their takedown of the August Major lineup. Their November Major prospects look great, even moreso considering that Rogue are dead in the water right now.

WHY ROGUE HAVE TO PLAY WITH A SUBSTITUTE

We now know why Maurice “AceeZ” Erkelenz has been absent from this competition so far. Apparently, he had sent some Twitter messages that could more or less be interpreted as attempted match-fixing. As it stands, the player had sent a DM to a fan, stating that they would likely lose an upcoming match. While he apparently meant this in a pessimistic ‘oh we’re going to lose this’ manner, it could also be interpreted as trading insider information and as match manipulation. He certainly didn’t intend to convey this, but nonetheless Ubisoft have to act strictly in such a case. This is why they banned the player for a couple of matches. He will probably be brought back as soon as possible, considering how terrible Rogue are doing right now.

Right now, the team just can’t compete. Adam “Hxsti” Hostisoczki has proven to be a capable replacement, but the players can’t perform as a unit. So it wasn’t a surprise to see Rogue get their third defeat in Stage 2 on the board, this time to BDS in 2-7 fashion. Courtesy of their first place in Stage 1, they won’t have to worry about relegation. But still, they will likely have to wave their Major aspirations goodbye very soon.

G2 ARE GETTING THEIR ACT TOGETHER

Their Stage 2 journey commenced with an upset loss to Team Secret. Afterwards, they tied with Vitality, thus only getting a single point for their EUL placement. Going up against Natus Vincere, it appeared as if they were going to lose once more. NaVi put up a fantastic defense on Clubhouse, which helped them to a 5-1 half. Derry “Dezachu” Holt put it this way: G2 were completely lost in the first half. However, their defense gameplay was surprisingly solid. You can call it a typical NaVi choke, but you can also commend G2 for their resilience and mental fortitude. In 6 consecutive round wins, Pengu and company mounted the perfect comeback for a 7-5 victory.

So the’ve finally gotten some points on the board in EUL. Their distance to the Top 4 is shrinking ever so slighty, but that’s not a reason for celebration. They absolutely should have won their matches versus Vitality and Natus Vincere. If they want to make it to the Major, they have to stop those 2-4 and 1-5 halves from happening. Other teams will surely not allow them these kinds of comebacks.

On this third play-day, Virtus.pro managed to get an easy and expected win over Team Empire with their youngster, Andrey “m1loN” Mironov, shining throughout. Vitality and Tempra tied on Villa, which benefits both teams in the standings. Tomorrow, EUL Stage 2 will resume with matches between Secret and Vitality, G2 and Empire, amongst others.