NRG eSports have fought hard to break down the French team and have actually done the impossible at this tournament given their very sudden need to replace a key player. They have taken the Frenchmen out over the course of a three-map-series and are now to face Astralis in tomorrow's semi finals.
As EnVyUs removed Overpass and Train and NRG got rid of Inferno and Cache, the remains of the map pool were Dust2, Cobblestone and Mirage. On these three maps the teams were set to battle it out and decide a semi-finalist for tomorrow.
The first half really was marked by EnVyUs having the lead and the dominance on the CT side, as NRG only got up to 5 rounds. But this does not really come to show the interesting things that have happened within these rounds and it needs to be mentioned that some were really close. Samuel "SileNt3m" Portillo tried to get the AWP duels with Kenny "kennyS" Schrub and in doing so often succeeded. In the end a 10-5 score marked the half time, but despite not being close it was actually a good sign and basis for NRG if they were to take the second pistol round.
In the second half, NRG really proved to stronger than anybody had expected. The momentum had heavily shifted towards them and now EnVy had to fight hard to even get single rounds. After a stellar pistol round by the mix-team, EnVy let it slip back to 10-8 until they got their first round. But even then, the EU/NA mix-up of NRG did not struggle to further acquire rounds in their favour and did not lose focus even when the French made some rounds their own. At 13-13, NRG won a crucial force-buy and eventually took the map over EnVyUs to make this the biggest - and only - upset of today. It needs to be mentioned that the stand-in player, Johannes "tabseN" Wodarz, had a stellar performance on this map, getting 30 kills in total as well as an 1.5 KDR. On the other hand, Timothée "DEVIL" Démolon did not perform at all, displaying a poor 0.5 KDR.
EnVyUs had to react in order to survive in this tournament, and the first pistol round on Cobblestone really showed that they were taking this task seriously. With the following anti-ecos they set themselves on a 3-0 lead on the CT side. The following gun round as well as the resulting eco went in their favour as well, so the pressure started to mount on NRG to deliver more than just the one map upset. It took them another three rounds until they finally managed to set foot onto the leader board, making it 8-1, sadly not in their favour. EnVy prevailed yet again in taking the subsequent round and forced NRG down to an eco, out of which the Frenchmen came out victorious setting their score onto double digits already. What followed was a slaughter from NRG that finally seemed to be ready to compete on this map. In the next round then, the mix team was able to get enough kills to push EnVy out of the round into saving. NRG were now looking to get the 10-5 half but were already brought off that path as EnVy were unwilling to gift them, making it 12-3.
The second pistol round was taken over by the Frenchmen as well and despite beautiful kills by tabseN and his CZ NRG were unable to stop them. Due to them forcing it up every single round they sat on a shaky buy for the map point and were just ended on Cobblestone with 16-3. kennyS has been the ultimate powerhouse for then EnVyUs on this particular map as he finished off with a 5.8 KRD, 29 kills in total in this very short time.
NRG were to start off on the terrorist side yet again but were set under heavy fire by the CTs. It took them up until the first gun round to finally get themselves on the board, but EnVy yet again prevailed in stopping them from getting the following one, making the score board 4-1 in their favour. Once again the EU/NA mix-up was hitting a brick wall and EnVy kept them guessing as to where aggression would come from as they switched up their pushes or just kept passive. In round 8, when nV were already sitting on a 6-1 lead, Fatih "gob b" Dayik played mind games on them and pretty much created a double fake situation to completely confuse the opposing players and in doing so managed to acquire a second round for his team. But once again, the French team struck down the enemy momentum in its very roots.
Suddenly their opponents answered again and kept the momentum running this time, bringing it to 7-5, still in favour of EnVyUs but as mentioned, NRG were on a hot streak right there. This eventually led to them tying the game at 7-7 to battle it out for the last round of the first half. EnVy were successful in doing so and ultimately won the first half, but only by a slight margin and considering the CT performance that NRG had on Dust2, this might actually not have been enough.
Fortunately, the French already set themselves on to a good start by winning the pistol round and the subsequent ones as well. But going into the first gun round of this half they were countered pretty well and the match unfolded to be a back-and-forth one, until NRG managed to string two rounds together and make it 12-10, slowly creeping up to be on par with the Frenchmen again. But the moment they did, EnVy broke through and got another two rounds. The next round got really close but NRG had to back off and let the terrorists plant the bomb. In saving their weapons they had made it possible to get the next round and succeeded in that endeavour. With the entry frag early in the round, they already looked comfortable for the following on as well. As EnVy struggled to put together a decent buy at the 15-4 score line they got sent into overtime to make this the by far most exciting matchup of today.
Justin "just9n" Ortiz shut A site down completely and in cooperation with gob b he won over the first round. SileNt3m brought the Frenchmen on full tilt after winning an incredible 1v4 clutch for the second one. Finally EnVyUs took one single round, making the first overtime half 17-16. As EnVyUs got two rounds swiftly NRG had to rely on a shaky buy to get themselves through, but an overextension by Vincent "Happy" Schopenhauer and a strong take on B brought them to second overtime, 18-18.
While the French killed off NRG with ease, the mix team then answered with a fast A take, resulting in a 1v1 in which kennyS got roasted alive. To switch things up, they decided to hit B the next round and being successful in doing so they made it 20-19 for the first half of the second overtime. Without giving one man away, NRG got the next round as well. One more was needed to make the upset of ages here on Mirage.
With a 22-19 score line, NRG eSports have managed to walk past EnVyUs. Peter "ptr" Gurney could not participate, so they had to get a last minute stand-in in tabseN, and still managed to take out such a big team. This has been the single greatest upset we have seen for a long time.
