As much as it might have been interesting to see many teams on point this week, there in turn were only a few thrilling matches. The majority went down with one team not even reaching double digits. In short, Luminosity were strong as ever, Astralis are managing to keep their level, and Virtus.Pro have finally made a partial comeback.
Monday, 15.02.2016 - EU
Fnatic vs. G2 eSports - Cobblestone & Inferno, 2 BO1s
Nothing worked out for G2, on de_cbble they only managed to achieve five rounds in total, not winning either of the pistol rounds. de_Inferno went down in a similar manner and though they won the second force-buy round and the second pistol round, they did bypass 7 rounds in total. In general a clear dominance by the favourite, Fnatic, 16:5 and 16:7.
Virtus.Pro vs. dignitas - Mirage & Overpass, 2 BO1s
No resurgence for the Polish squad on the first map. Though de_Mirage being remembered as one of their strongest maps, they were absolutely obliterated. Dignitas, being on their performance peak, delivered a crushing 16:5 win. de_Overpass then finally was the host of a serious match and V.P proved that they can still play CS:GO at the top level. Although being close, dignitas never gave up the round lead until it went to 14:14, after which the Danes managed to ultimately walk away with 16:14.
Tuesday, 16.02.2016 - EU
Astralis vs. FlipSid3 Tactics - Mirage & Overpass, 2 BO1s
Another fairly one-sided matchup. F3 just failed to deliver on several occasions, of course due to their considerably stronger opponent. The Danes very convincingly went away with the win twice, and twice on a 16:7 score line.
Team EnVyUs vs. Fnatic - Inferno & Cache, 2 BO1s
A surprising victory for Fnatic on the first map. Not a surprise in the sense that Fnatic could not have won this, but a 16:4 victory was just not expected at all. The Swedes had full control over the match, not dropping one single pistol round and keeping the momentum even after losing a minor amount of rounds in between.
On de_Cache, however, the Frenchmen were set up much stronger and were able to wake up from their seeming hibernation on de_Inferno. It felt like the same match again, only with switched positions. A 13:2 half time score for EnVyUs was only intercepted by a second pistol round that fnatic were able to overtake. But nV kept their cool, waited for the subsequent rounds to go in the Swedes favor until they fought back with a full arsenal. A 16:5 score board marked the end of this day's matchups in favour of EnVyUs.
Wednesday, 17.02.2016 - NA
OpTic Gaming vs. SPLYCE - Cache & Cobblestone, 2 BO1s
Two fairly one-sided matches, OpTic were simply on point whereas Splyce seemingly crumbled underneath them. 16:4 and 16:6 easily secured OpTic a six point increase in the season standings.
Luminosity Gaming vs. compLexity Gaming - Inferno & Train, 2 B01s
Again one-sided matches, and this time the first map was even more crushing. LG clean-sweeped coL away on de_Inferno with a 16:2 victory, and on de_Train a 16:9 marked the very end for compLexity's hopes in regards to getting points this day.
Wednesday, 17.02.2016 - EU
Virtus.Pro vs. Natus Vincere - Dust2 & Cobblestone, 2 B01s
Their first matchup on de_Dust2 was actually pretty interesting to analyze. Virtus.Pro won the first five rounds, whereas Na'Vi responded with another 7 straight rounds that went into their account. VP followed that up with three additional rounds and transferred their momentum into the second pistol round as well. But not for long, as the CIS squad took the follow-up round and then went away with all the rounds that were left to make it a 16:9.
On de_cbble things were much more back-and-forth, but Natus Vincere never gave up the round lead they had gotten in the first rounds and though being broken in their momentum several times quite incisively, they put the match in their pockets with a 16:12 score line.
Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. Team Dignitas - Train & Mirage, 2 BO1s
Would you have believed that after the saddening start that NiP had made into this year they could be able to bounce back again? Well there is reason to hope and believe now, since the Swedes made a reappearance as a strong team by taking out the hot upcomer dignitas twice - on de_Train and de_Mirage - with a 16:8 scoreline, which is considerably decisive keeping in mind that dignitas had taken out VP just a few days ago in a very convincing fashion.
Thursday, 18.02.2016 - NA
Renegades vs. Counter Logic Gaming - Dust2 & Inferno , 2 BO1s
Whilst Renegades have seemingly rehabilitated from their recent slump, at least for this particular matchup, their opponents did without doubt crumble underneath them. Karlo "USTILO" Pivac, the newest Renegades addition, seems to have experienced a great integration, as he has simply been on fire in the first map. At least in the United States, the Australians look to be in the shape that could possibly grant them high place finishes in domestic tournaments, whereas their new lineup is yet to be tested in the European region again. 16:5 and 16:6 were the pretty decisive finishes that have put Renegades up high on the score list at EPL.
compLexity Gaming vs. Enemy - Train & Cache - 2 BO1s
The new compLexity lineup has so far not been showing much, and it was time for them to at least deliver some decent results. This matchup has presented us two fairly close matches, with no team really setting itself on top of the other. compLexity delivered a 16:12 win on de_Train, although Enemy fought back again on de_Cache with 16:13, to make it a match of equal opponents. Enemy have shown some weaknesses unfortunately, which is bad considering the upcoming MLG Qualifier, whereas compLexity have finally shown that this lineup is capable of doing more.
