The sixth week of ELEAGUE has concluded, we present you a recap of every single match day that took place.
Tuesday, June 28th - Round robin
Virtus Pro vs. 
CompLexity – 14:1, 2:6 (16:7); 7:8, 8:4 (16:11)
Winners: Virtus Pro
Maps: de_Overpass, de_Cobblestone
MVP: Janusz "snax" Pogorzelski
Week 6 of eLeague, two underdogs matched with two former goliaths. This week's first map to set things off is Overpass, VP on their T side and CompLexity on their CT. The Polish team convincingly wins the first 10 rounds in a row on their terrorist side - Round 8 and 9 Virtus Pro clutch with only two teammates alive by planting, defending and picking the enemy CT apart one person at a time. Not much went the way of the NA team that first half, score 14:1. CompLexity came back with the first pistol round and were able to overpower VP temporarily and gained some breathing room after picking up 6 of the first 7 rounds, however the deficit was too great and VP took map 1 16:7.
Map 2, Cobblestone, despite winning the first pistol round Virtus Pro then lose the next 3 rounds to a very aggreSsive T side from the North Americans. It took VP awhile to get some steam allowing themselves to go down early in rounds with a score line of 2:6. After facing such a deficit they rallied 5 quick wins and brought the score to a very close 7:8 at the end of the first half. CompLexity take the first two rounds before allowing VP to start closing in on the lead. Although the game ended with VP the winners, 16:11, this map showed that CompLexity has what it takes to go toe to toe with one of the better teams that CS has to offer.
EnVyUs vs. 
Gambit – 9:6, 7:7, (16:13); 10:5, 6:4 (16:9)
Winner: EnVyUs
Maps: de_Dust2, de_Cobblestone
MVP: ? Dan "Apex" Madesclaire
The first map of this match-up was Dust2 and it was a close game with solid performances coming from each team. It started with an early lead from the Russian team taking the score to 5:2. Round 8 though, EnVyUs on an eco, slaughter Gambit and only lose 1 member in the process. Rounds are traded back and forth, each team faced many tough situations economically, but EnVy come out on top at the end of the half 9:6. After some shaky T side rounds for the Frenchmen Gambit tie the score line on multiple occasions and even take a convincing lead at 10:12 which causes Envy to use their Tactical Timeout to assess the situation. Although Envy loses that next round they win the next 6 in tandem and take map one 16:13.
Next up was to be Cobblestone and rounds were traded evenly back and forth, neither team had substantial money gains and you saw lots of awkward buys and SMGs. In round 9 apEX in a 2v2 got two very important and clutch kills while taking the B bombsite. Rounds were very close, any mistake was extremely costly on either side. On two sepArate occasions Gambit was able to take 3 rounds in a row and show that they had some life in them but it was too little, the French were too good and the map was closed at 16:9 in favor of EnVy.
Virtus Pro vs. EnVyUs – 6:9, 9:6, 4:1 (19:16); 10:5, 1:11 (11:16)
Winners: ?? Virtus Pro, EnVyUs
Maps: de_Mirage, de_Cache
MVP: Janusz "snax" Pogorzelski
The match-up that we've all been waiting for. Two former MLG winning teams going head to head in this week's eLeague, the last week of the group stages before heading into the playoffs. As the match gets underway VP start out on the terrorist side and begin to overwhelm EnVy with their fast pushes (IE: "the Virtus plow") and coordinated team peaks. However forced on an eco in round 7 they storm the A bombsite and KennyS gets an insane quick-scope as he is rushed down by CT spawn. This was a scrappy game with multiple rounds going back and forth for each team. The half closes out at 6:9, favor of Envy. The second half mirrored the first, both teams competing at such a high level. In the late stages of the game it seemed as if Envy were done but in the 29th round, facing elimination, Envy win with a tec-9 eco rush onto the A bombsite and subsequently tie the game. Although their late second half push was enough to tie it couldn't get them the win and VP take it in overtime, convincingly at 19:16.
Cache was the map to close out day one of eLeague's final group stage. EnVyUs start out strong on their T side and pick up the first 3 rounds pretty easily but VP answer back by winning 10 of the next 12 rounds. VP played an insanely smart and semi-aggressive first half, they saw late pushes and lots of B pushes from the French side and decided to send players early up through A main to get them a lot of key information as to the whereabouts and intentions of the enemy side. The second half came out all Envy, their CT was too formidable, holds too strong for VP to push through. The Polish side was only able to win 1 round in the second half and the game closed out at 11:16, Envy.
Wednesday, June 29th - Round robin
? EnVyUs vs. CompLexity – 12:3, 4:9 (16:12); 8:7, 8:2 (16:9)
Winners: EnVyUs
Maps: de_Train, de_Cobblestone
MVP: Kenny "kennyS" Schrub
Complexity start out strong as map one of day 2 starts, they win a few pistol rounds however are overcome by the power of the French team. Most rounds came down to only 1 or 2 remaining players on each side but CompLexity were unable to win clutch scenarios or utilize those high impact frags that win rounds and the half is set at a dismal 12:3 score. Devil, on the CT side for Envy picked up quite a few multi-frag rounds during the first half as well. Despite a couple more wins from Envy the North American team has a rally of their own as they try to close the gap between the two scores. In round 23 Sancz wins a 1v2 clutch retake on the A bombsite. Despite CompLexity's best efforts the gap was too steep and Envy take map 1 16:12.
Next up was Train and interestingly on the pistol round French player NBK- decided to go with the Dual Berretas which rarely make an appearance in professional CS play (side note: he picked up two frags with them in the opening round). This match went very much like the first with CompLexity showing some high skill, strong plays and clutch rounds. Most notably when Androidx23 got 4 kills in the 15th round to bring the score to a near even 7:8 at the half. Again though, CompLexity played a great game of CS but there was little they could do to stop Envy, score 16:9.
Gambit vs. Virtus Pro – 9:6, 7:6 (16:12); 8:7, 4:3 (9:16)
Winners: Gambit, Virtus Pro
Maps: de_Nuke, de_Train
MVP: Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas
For the first time and only time thise week we saw the Cedar Creek Nuclear Power Plant (de_Nuke) come into the fray. Gambit came out strong with a versatile CT side, it seemed as if every round they were able to surprise VP by placing people in different locations and holding different angles. VP were unable to get the trade kills or to utilize the team peaks that they are most known for. When VP aren't playing well they seem like a different team entirely, although Byali had quite the performance at times the match seemed like it was going to be a loss for them even from the beginning. Ultimately it did go the way of the Russians, 16:12.
Train was second in the map series and it started off extremely even. VP were forced to go with half-buys or full ecos on multiple occasions but always pushed themselves back into the game. Gambit played an extremely tight T side on this map and were able to whittle away at the enemy defenses. Surprisingly, Gambit were able to walk away with the half in as even as it can get 8:7. This is, however, Virtus Pro's map and Gambit could only keep up for so long. Round 23, the only round of the second half they were able to pick up was won via Adren clutching a 1v2 deagle only against the remaining two VP players on the A bombsite. The map closed out at 9:16 in favor of the Poles.
CompLexity vs. Gambit – 9:6, 7:8 (16:14); 9:6, 4:10 (13:16)
Winners: CompLexity, Gambit
Maps: de_Cache, de_Train
MVP: Shawn "Witmer" Taylor
Cache starts out the final group round robin matches of this weeks eLeague and we get to see the two underdogs face off against each other and what a close series. Surprisingly CompLexity comes out extremely strong putting Gambit in a bit of a slump, especially so considering Cache was the pick of the Russian team. Rounds initially were traded back and forth with the North Americans consistently having the advantage, it wasn't until the later rounds that Gambit were able to gain some momentum. The second half was entirely the same. Both teams strung multiple rounds together at a time, neither team were able to gain a significant advantage in economy. But, at the end, it was the North Americans who took the first match at 16:14.
To settle this weeks round robin we go towards Train and it's an incredibly even, incredibly similar game to the one we just saw on Cache. CompLexity come out winning the first 3 rounds until round 4, Dosia clutched a 1v2 to defuse the bomb on site A to give Gambit their first round win. CompLexity manages to retain their lead well into the second half, forcing Gambit to change up their playstyle and go with some awkward half buys. In Round 21, Gambit awper Mou, get's an ace, nearly tieing up the score line. After some intense back and forth and some amazing CS from both sides, Gambit closes out the match 13:16.
Thursday, June 30th - Weekly semi-finals, Bo3
EnVyUs vs. CompLexity – 6:9, 10:0 (16:9); 8:7, 8:1 (16:8)
Winner: EnVyUs
Maps: de_Dust2, de_Cache
MVP: Timothée "Devil" Démolon
Semi-finals, game one, de_Dust 2 makes its second appearance of the week. To everyone's surprise CompLexity was able to keep up with Envy for quite some time into this match. They consistently pushed themselves further onto bombsites with team peaks and strategically placed smokes and flashes, Witmer wasn't afraid to take battles against KennyS and ultimately they came out on top at the end of the half by 3 rounds 6:9. But that was it for them, we know Envy wouldn't go down so easily. Happy, round 16 on the T side clutched a 1v3 with two beautiful headshots as he defended the planted bomb on A site from catwalk. A charged up French team then went on to win the next 9 rounds uncontested and took map 1 of this semifinal, 16:9.
3 bullets, 3 headshots, Devil steals round 1 away from CompLexity in perfect fashion as he defends the corner of A bombsite on Cache (2nd map in the first semi-final). Envy takes the first 6 rounds before allowing the North Americans to battle their way to a single round win. This match turned into a repeat of the first with CompLexity showing some signs of strength in the first half but ultimately falling apart in the second. They could only pick up 1 round win on their CT side and fell quickly to the ruthless aggression and high skill of the Frenchmen 16:8, EnVyUs moving onto the finals.
? Virtus Pro vs. Gambit – 12:3, 4:3 (16:6); 12:3, 4:3 (16:6)
Winner: Virtus Pro
Maps: de_Mirage, de_Cobblestone
MVP: Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas
Mirage, the first map of second semi-final and surprisingly this is the second and only time we got to see this map during this week at eLeague. Virtus Pro win the first 5 rounds, on the 5th round it looked as if Gambit had it in the bag but Neo clutched the win and defuse snatching up 4 frags in total. Individual performances were key in this match-up, Taz most notably was 21-3-9 at the end of the first half picking up plenty of multi-kill rounds and clutch moments. In every situation VP was their for the trade kills and team peaks, despite Gambit constantly switching up their strategy it seemed as if there was nothing they could do to break the Virtus Plow. As the second half went underway Gambit took a page from VP's playbook and started to play a super aggressive CT side and were able to pick up 3 round wins with ease, but, VP fought back as they tend to do and closed out game one without much trouble 16:6.
Match 2 was Cobblestone and an exact replica of game one. VP came out extremely aggressive on their T side and stomped all over the Russian team at every step. Gambit refusing to take each loss in stride rarely allowed themselves a full buy and went on the force buy whenever they were able. We saw them attempt to utilize the Mag-7 shotgun on many occasions but were forced to have to retake sites which rendered the short ranged weapon utterly useless. VP took the pistol round from Gambit and with that sealed their victory. Although Gambit refused to give up, they did pick up some steam as with the last map by picking up 3 round wins but it was way too little, way too late and lost the second match of this semi-final 16:6.
Friday, July 1st - Weekly final, Bo3
EnVyUs vs. Virtus Pro – 6:9, 10:2 (16:11); 11:4, 2:4 (16:8)
Winner: EnVyUs
Maps: de_Train, de_Cache
MVP: Kenny "kennyS" Schrub
Train, an extremely popular map this week, map 1 for the finals of this week's eLeague bracket. Virtus Pro picked up the pistol round via Byali who had an impressive 3 frags, all headshots, facing outside long with the USP. Second round another easy win for VP with Pasha getting a knife kill and 3 other frags with the MP9 as he flanked outside long to come up behind the French team as they were choked trying to push onto the A bombsite. VP did not want to lose this series and that was made apparent by the way they started this game not allowing Envy to pick up a round until round 8 and even then it was a very close ending. However Envy get themselves together and pick up some wins to bring the deficit closer as the half draws at a close 6:9 in favor of VP. Round 16 Taz clutched a 1v3 in ivory as he defended the planted bomb on the A site. VP were able to only get 1 more round win after that bringing their score to 11, where they stayed for the remainder of the match. Envy were calculated, organized and efficient on their CT side and completely shut down any attempt VP made to even get a bomb plant. The first match of this final came to an exciting end at 16:11.
It all comes down to Cache. Did you expect EnVyUs to lose after the performance we saw on Train? Well it was do or die for Virtus Pro and die they did. Despite Taz opening up huge on Envy in the first round, picking up 3 quick kills as he held sunroom defending the B bombsite they still lost. Round 6, when it seemed like VP had it in the palm of their hands, apEX clutched a 1v2 on the A bombsite killing one at truck and turning 180 degrees to do a quick spray towards A main to kill the only remaining VP player. EnVyUs seemingly unstoppable at this point won the first 10 rounds with ease, and the rattled VP team seemed a shadow of their former selves. Luckily VP were able to secure just a few rounds at the end of the first half and bring the score to a slightly more tolerable state at 11:4 in favor of Envy. Round 16 VP stormed onto the site as they picked up an entry on Devil and it seemed like they would have had this round, but Envy were on quick rotate and Kenny, who was the last remaining player on B refused to die as he took out Snax in an extended pistol fight on platform. Overall on this map VP were just outplayed, they were unable to hit their shots whereas Envy were on point. They didn't have that spark that they normally rely on, the team peaks and trade kills weren't there. Facing match point they won quite a few rounds in succession but were overthrown, inevitably, by the overpowering French team 16:8.
Headline image courtesy of EnVyUs
