Virtus.Pro have finally managed to accquire their first league points, only to subsequently lose again. It was really interesting to watch the NA matches with regard to the Major Qualifier but since we will cover these matches in a different feature, this one will solely recap the EPL matches that have happened this week.
Tuesday, 23.02.2016 - EU
G2 ESports vs. mousesports - Dust2 & Overpass, 2 BO1s
There were some crazy rounds from both sides. Whilst the Germans were constantly broken in their anti-eco rounds, they in turn made some memorable plays. Mostly it was Nikola "NiKo" Kova? with his Deagle, but also ChrisJ who made it a close match, despite G2 having the upper hand strategically. A 16-13 decided the fate of the first map for the French. On de_Overpass however, mousesports put up more of a fight and even managed to never drop their round lead at any point. With a 16-10 they made their revenge.
Team EnVyUs vs. Virtus.Pro - Cobblestone & Mirage, 2 BO1s
Virtus.Pro have had a very poor run in this league so far, but they finally managed to get a good start into a match. Unfortunately, the French fought back the same amount of rounds and from there on it was a very back-and-forth match, which ultimately led to two overtimes as neither of the teams was willing to give the match up. It cost them much effort, but eventually VP secured their first win in the league 22-20. The second match was less spectacular, as nV managed to get a decent round lead as terrorist but in the second half were brought down again. Eventually they managed to get the missing rounds together and closed it 16-13.
mousesports vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas - Cache & Overpass, 2 BO1s
The two closest matches in this season so far. Mousesports managed to get to a 15-12 lead but then choked, making place for an NiP that was now showing up way stronger than they were. 19-15 made clear that the Swedes wanted to take this map. The second time, albeit not going to overtime, was equally as close, as NiP got an early round lead which mouz had to bring down again, unfortunately choking at the 14-14 mark to make it a 16-14 for their opponents.
Wednesday, 24.02.2016 - NA
Winterfox vs. Splyce - Cache & Mirage, 2 BO1s
Both games had one team dominating the other one in a strong fashion, the interesting thing is that it was not the same team at both occasions. Splyce made the first match with a 16-2 score board, whereas Winterfox answered with a 16-2 win themselves.
Team AGG vs. Enemy - Mirage & Overpass, 2 BO1s
The now Sponsorless team, ex Enemy, had a fair struggle against Team AGG. Both matches went 16-11, but for a team that was supposed to attend the major qualifier it was not as convincing as expected or hoped for. On the first map, the latter actually borught it to a very strong round lead, 10-5. Enemy then finally went on to only drop another round until they had their 16 accquired. The second match was back and forth more, but the overall tendency was towards Enemy, which showed in them finally taking the second map.
Wednesday, 24.02.2016 - EU
Natus Vincere vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas - Train & Mirage, 2 BO1s
This was a match that will actually take place again in Katowice as both teams are in the same group. Na'Vi made the first map their own, which can be attributed to Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács' AWPing capabilities in a 16-13 fashion. The Ninjas responded with a map of their own, as they took the second match with 16-10, all players showing up nincely.
Astralis vs. Virtus.Pro - Overpass & Cache - 2 BO1s
Just after their victory over EnVyUs you would believe that VP could finally be able to bring that old strength back, but they weren't, falling short to the Danes on Overpass 16-3 cringeworthily. A slight rehabilitation took place in the second match, but it was still Astralis taking it over 16-11. Virtus.Pro are now way over the line in terms of wins/losses and will surely not have a chance to even get near to the finals ticket and this is just horrifying for the fans in light of Katowice being held very soon in their home country.
SK Gaming vs. fnatic - Overpass & Cache - 2 BO1s
This matchup was really interesting to watch, not in terms of closeness, but rather because of Jesper "JW" Wecksell. Many have described his performance there as Vintage, and especially on the second map, he has reminded everybody of the good old days when his AWP was just dominating everybody without competition. Based off of such crazy plays he did, there was simply no ground for SK to work on, as they lost both matches 16-11 and 16-6.
Counter Logic Gaming vs. Enemy - Overpass & Train - 2 BO1s
Enemy had to play with a stand-in as - besides from the MLG Qualifier - Kenneth "koosta" Suen will be leaving in favor of Team Liquid. CLG managed to get on top of Enemy 16-12 at first, but the second map was literally a crushing of unknown dimensions as 16-6 was the final score line and CLG felt like they had hit a brick wall.
NRG eSports vs. Team Liquid - Dust2 & Cobblestone - 2 BO1s
Another important match as an indicator for MLG, as Liquid were to play there. But not entirely, as they already were playing with their new lineup which involves koosta. And this showed, as Liquid had issues in their setup, probably due to the recent changes. NRG beat them on such a close score, 16-14, but Liquid were able to do better on the second map, finishing off with a 16-12 revenge.
