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ECS Season 3 Finals - Day One Recap

Teams from the Americas prevail as SK Gaming dominantly sweep Group A and Cloud9 upset Astralis in Group B winners match.

Group A

Canada OpTic Gaming vs. Europe FaZe Clan

de_Overpass - 9:16 (7:8, 2:8)

Stuck in the Group of Death, OpTic Gaming kicked off the tournament with a pistol round win against FaZe Clan. After OpTic brought the score to 3:0, came the first gun round. Nikola "NiKo" Kovac exploded onto the A site with two entry frags, setting his team up for the win. As soon as FaZe got their hands on a full-buy, they proceeded to get five consecutive rounds on the board, bringing the score to 3:5. In the ninth round, OpTic snatched away a round from FaZe dominantly and escaped the potential reset of the next round, thanks to two defensive kills by Tarik "tarik" Celik. The North American team, then, brought the score to 7:5. At the brink of losing the half, Aleksi "allu" Jalli stepped up and found two impressive kills at Short B. Faze tied up the score, 7:7. With their economy wrecked, OpTic couldn't contest the star-studded, fully equipped FaZe Clan and the half ended with 7:8 for FaZe.

OpTic, now on the T side, rushed B and quickly secured a bomb plant. After constant trade frags, the round came down to a 2v2. Havard "rain" Nygaard finished off the remaining two OpTic players and granted his team the win. FaZe then went on to have a 7:13 lead. OpTic attempted to rush B once again, but this time, it proved successful. At 9:13, OpTic tried to continue their glimpse of comeback with a B rush again through Short B and Monster. FaZe, not expecting a quick play from the North American team, got caught with nades in their hands and OpTic seemed primed to get another round in their pocket. But after a few fast frags, FaZe came back into the round as Aleksi "allu" Jalli defused the bomb above a flaming Molotov. Afterwards, FaZe strolled their way to sixteen wins on the board.

Brazil SK Gaming vs. France G2 Esports

de_Cache - 16:7 (12:3, 4:4)

Starting on the T side, G2 quickly took control of Mid and committed to the B site. But their push was halted by Marcelo "coldzera" David's USP one taps from Quad and SK took the early lead on Cache. Due to a successful bomb plant from the first round, G2 were able to buy into the third round, however, their attempt was crushed by the Brazilians once again. The Frenchmen sought to get into the map, now with an A push and AWP in the hands of Kenny "KennyS" Schrub. But Epitacio "TACO" de Melo erased the Frenchmen off the server with a quad kill. SK had a 9:0 lead before G2 could get a round on the board. But G2 got completely wrecked in the following round, getting their economy and loss bonus reset as SK shut down their B push with five players alive. G2 were pushed into a double-eco territory, which lead to 12:3 half for SK. 

With their backs against the wall, G2 bested SK amidst a chaotic pistol round. They managed to get a few rounds but that was all they could rack up before SK Gaming closed it 16:7.

Europe FaZe Clan vs. Brazil SK Gaming

de_Train - 8:16 (5:10, 3:6)

The Group A winners match started with a quick B rush by SK Gaming. Fabien "kioShiMa" Fiey could not hold the site against the Brazilians and the pistol went the way of SK. FaZe Clan answered back in the first gun round and in the following round, bringing the score to 2:3 but SK Gaming quickly bounced back with a string of rounds of their own. After numerous lost chances by FaZe and hero plays by Epitacio "TACO" de Melo, the half ended at 5:10 for SK.

SK brought their explosive performance from the first half onto the second. Though Nikola "NiKo" Kovac showed a spark of hope with three slick flank kills, but the pistol ultimately went the way of SK. At 5:13, it was a now or never moment for FaZe if they wanted to comeback into the map. They successfully did so, but only for a moment. Before FaZe could start building a momentum, SK shut them down and secured a spot in the semi-finals, which will come on Sunday.

Group B

Sweden Fnatic vs. United States Cloud9

de_Train - 8:16 (6:9, 2:7)

Kicking off Group B, Cloud9 on the T side pocketed the first five rounds. Fnatic picked up the sixth round but got reset in the subsequent round after a lucky Glock flick by Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert onto Jesper "JW" Wecksell, who was defusing the bomb amidst smoke. With clearly superior weapons, Cloud9 were poised to run away with the subsequent round and destroy Fnatic's economy. However, due to a clumsy play by Mike "shroud" Grzesiek, who rushed into Connector and dropped the bomb right in front of Dennis "dennis" Edman, Cloud9 threw away the round. The North American team shook away the bad play in the next round and reset Fnatic's economy, but this time, successfully. In the tenth round, Dennis "dennis" Edman once again stepped up for his team with a three kill spray down and lead his team to end the first half with 6:9.

The second pistol quickly came to a 3v4 situation against Fnatic, who were now on the T side. Fortunately for the Swedes, Robin "flusha" Ronnquist contributed two hero kills on the B site, setting his team up for the pistol win. But the win wasn't capitalized off in the subsequent anti-eco and Fnatic quickly lost control of the map. Thereafter, Cloud9 strolled their way to a spot in the winners match, where they would see the winner of the next match.

Denmark Astralis vs. United States Team Liquid

de_Inferno - 16:11 (8:7, 8:4)

Astralis quickly picked up the pistol but lost the subsequent anti-eco to Team Liquid. Capitalizing off the Danes' poor economy, Team Liquid went onto take the early lead against Astralis, bringing the score to 1:3. However, their run was cut short in the first buy round as Astralis had their own streak of wins too. Team Liquid didn't crumble against the Danes and the half ended with a close score of 8:7.

Reminiscent of the first half, Astralis took the pistol but Team Liquid took the anti-eco, showing a breath of life against what's arguably a top three team in the world. But just like last half, as soon as Astralis got their hands on rifles, we saw the Danes take off and grab their first win in the tournament.

Denmark Astralis vs. United States Cloud9

de_Mirage - 15:19 (10:5, 5:10, OT1 0:4)

Astralis started the last game of the day dominantly, putting together a streak of wins. It would take eight consecutive rounds for Astralis before Cloud9 could answer back with a round win of their own. Cloud9 avoided a dangerous reset territory and ultimately ended the half with 10:5. 

The second pistol was picked up by Cloud9, who were now on the T side. But Astralis struck back in the anti-eco. Cloud9 exploded onto the A site as soon as they got their hands on a full-buy, and knowing Cloud9's invincibility, Astralis backed off to save their rifles onto the next. Following the same pattern, Cloud9 took over the site with two entry frags and the remaining three Astralis didn't even tease the thought of retake. They backed off to save but their save attempt was destroyed, as Timothy "autimatic" Ta hunted down the three hiding Astralis players. In the following round, the Deagle of Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen upset against the fully equipped Cloud9 players. At the brink of throwing away the round, Mike "shroud" Grzesiek clutched a post-plant 1v4. Thereafter, Cloud9 took off, coming back from their six round deficit from early second half. Astralis managed to win a single round, but was reset immediately after, which forced the Danes to double-eco. At 12:13, Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander did his personal best to deny a comeback with a sick spraydown from under Balcony. However, Tyler "skadoodle" Latham nullified it and we saw a tied score. Cloud9 reached map point first but Astralis forced overtime.

Cloud9 clean swept Astralis in the first half of OT. Due to an aggressive push down mid by Mike "shroud" Grzesiek, Astralis lost control of the fourth round in the OT and ultimately the round came down to Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz against two Cloud9 players with only 10 seconds left in the round. But a Molotov thrown into B Apartments halted Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz attempt to rush into the B site. With the clock running down, Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz attempt didn't have enough time to plant and Cloud9 became the first team from Group B to advance to the playoffs.

 

Image courtesy of ECS

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