EPIC League Season 3 is well underway with both divisions having already played the first elimination matches. Division 1 is slightly ahead with the schedule, Vikin.gg and Team Spirit being the first to have secured a top three finish.
Both Vikin.gg and Team Spirit had a flawless run in the tournament so far. Their 5-0 series score places them two series away from claiming this season’s title. However, looking at the first playoffs matches, Team Spirit stands out with no games dropped through the entire competition.
Vikin.gg and Team Spirit take the lead
After the 3-0 result in the group stage, the young CIS team crushed the opposition in the playoffs as well to keep a spotless score sheet. They made quick work of High Coast Esports and Tundra, besting both of them 2-0.
On the other hand, Vikin.gg dropped a game in both playoff matches. HellRaisers were the first to steal a game from them by countering a push oriented draft with a plethora of control spells and strong kite options for Vikin.gg’s Troll Warlord. Nonetheless, Vikin’gg got the job done in the decisive match to keep their upper bracket spot.
Headed to the semi-finals, they were met with a lot of resilience coming from Brame, who took the opening game of the series on the back of a Bristleback and an annoying Beastmaster-Elder Titan combo that messed up all the timings for the opposing Alchemist. Vikin.gg struck back hard in the second game, punishing Brame’s greedy draft with a fast paced tempo and perfect itemization against Morphling and Bristleback. In the third and last game of the series, they gave Brame pretty much the same treatment that they received from HR in the previous series. While Brame were looking to take early objectives with Troll Warlord, Pugna and Nature’s Prophet, Vikin.gg aligned a good kitting line-up and plenty of team fight spells with good control to prevent their adversary from snowballing.
Solo’s reunion with Ramzes doesn’t bring immediate results
While the tournament proves as an excellent training ground for most of those who haven’t clinched a spot at the upcoming ONE Esports Singapore Major, for two of the most storied players in the CIS region, and not only, the struggles continue.
Alexey “Solo” Berezin is yet to find his footing into the competitive scene after the departure from Virtus.pro. Ahead of the tournament, he joined forces with his ex-teammate and one of the strongest carry players in the scene, but his reunion with Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev hasn’t been as successful as the fans might have hoped.
Dota Team placed 3rd-5th in group stage and were seeded into the lower bracket of the Division 1 playoffs. Unfortunately, that’s where their run ended. They lost the tournament survival battle to HellRaisers, who in the first game had good answers to an early Bloodseeker pick from Dota Team, thus countering pretty much their entire game plan. Interestingly enough, Solo and co chose to go with the same BS opener and paired it with Phantom Assassin, and while they focused their bans on beefy cores that would have survived the Rupture, they let Viper slip through and found themselves countered once again.
Along with Dota Team, Winstrike Team have also left the competition, going down 1-2 at the hands of High Coast Esports in the first round of the lower bracket.
EPIC League Season 3 will come to an end this Sunday, March 21. Until then, HR, Tundra Esports, Brame and High Coast Esports will fight for survival through today and tomorrow’s elimination matches, while Vikin.gg and Team Spirit will go head to head on Friday, March 19 in the upper bracket finals.
