Last weekend the final matches of the group stage of ESL Impact Season 2 took place, with the top teams from each group battling it out in the decider games to determine who will be going to the LAN finals in Jönköping!
Of the twelve teams that went into this weekend, only six continue on to the finals. And with half of the teams having flawless records, the favourites were clear. But did they all prevail?
Europe
I painted the picture last week that it was always going to be a difficult game for BIG Equipa, as they matched up against Nigma Galaxy in playoffs. The series kicked off an Ancient, the map pick of BIG Equipa. The veto leaned a little more towards NGX, as they've historically played well on both Ancient and Vertigo, with Dust II a bit more in the air. The key leverage for BIG Equipa was their victory over Nigma Galaxy on Ancient in the semi-finals of ESL Impact Season 1, which gave them confidence picking into it in this match.
Despite winning the pistol round, BIG Equipa got off to a slow start on the T side, finding consistent bomb plants but struggling against the retakes of Nigma Galaxy. Taking 6 rounds at the half, they were helped along by some great individual performances from BIG Equipa, especially D7 on the CT side, which kept them in contention. The big difference maker for Nigma Galaxy was tory, who had an astronomical T-side, finding impact across every single round, and clutching out the map with a 1v3!
Vertigo started strong for Nigma Galaxy, picking up the first 4 rounds on the T side. From that point however, BIG Equipa would go flawless, with 11 rounds in a row, lead by the stalwart B site holds of Aida. Unfortunately, struggles on the T side would be a consistent theme for both teams, and Nigma Galaxy quickly found parity on the scoreboard with BIG. The BIG squad bounced back with two further rounds to find 13, but that would be all they would achieve on the T side, with ANa stepping up to shut them down. Nigma Galaxy took the series 2-0, and the champions of ESL Impact Season 1 and Valencia will return for the Season 2 final!
The second match-up of Europe pitched NAVI Javelins against NOFEAR5. The former coming into the playoffs with a 6-0 standing, while NOFEAR5 barely made it across the line - finishing second in the group, just ahead on map difference compared to NIP.
The series started well for NAVI, who looked unstoppable on the CT side of NOFEAR5's pick of Dust II. A 12 round half set them up to close out the map with ease. A special mention has to made of vicu, who pulled off perhaps the best clutch of the season to win a 1v4 and secure map point!
After a slow start on Vertigo, with NOFEAR5 picking up the first 5 rounds, the Javelins brought it back for a close 7:8 half, setting them up well going into the favoured CT side. After taking the pistol and conversion to take the lead it looked like the expected NAVI 2:0 was inevitable. But there could be no accounting for ksu, who combined with Elizabeth to storm away with the rest of the half to take the map!
It was now looking scary for NAVI, as it moved to the decider of Mirage. It was another close start, with NOFEAR5 just edging out the first half with 8 rounds on the T side. A run of rounds - including one delivered by an ace from Angelka - allowed NAVI to find a way back in, but NOFEAR5's start on the CT side was flawless with 5 in a row. NAVI got back into the swing of things, bringing the score to 13:14 with momentum in their favour.
But then Victoria happened.
On a pivotal round, she found herself in the backlines of the NAVI B attack with her AWP, dropping the bomb and throwing the round into chaos - a chaos that NAVI could not recover. The following round, with series point on the line, Elizabeth pulled off an outrageous 1v3, getting the first kill, then defusing the bomb under smoke to win the series!
An unfortunate loss for the NAVI Javelins, but at the end of the day NOFEAR5 played their best Counter Strike when it mattered most - and secure themselves a spot at the LAN finals!
North America
Our opening North American playoff matchup saw CLG Red up against Please Send Bocks. CLG Red were the clear favourites going into this matchup, having come into playoffs as the only team this season yet to drop a map. And well, they certainly acted like favourites!
Dust II was the pick of Please Send Bocks, who struggled initially to find their footing against the CT aggression of CLG Red. Any space left free was often exploited by the CTs, taking control and catching PSB off guard early on. A late half resurgence found them 5 rounds, but swapping to the defence proved a difficult task against CLG. GooseBreeder led from the front in a flawless T side to take the opening map.
Vertigo can be described in one word - BiBiAhn. The Australian superstar rifler went to town against the Bocks, running them over in an almost flawless T side. CLG Red secured 14 rounds out the gate before Please Send Bocks were able to find their first - and final - round. An absolute statement victory for CLG Red to lock in their spot in Sweden!
Our other NA matchup was between EG Gold and Valkyries, and saw a bit more fight from the underdogs. Valkyries picked into Ancient, and found some success on the T side early, before EG found their footing, with empathy in particular getting into a groove. A 10:5 half for EG looked reasonable on the CT sided map, and EG proved their T side was just as potent, conceding just 3 further rounds to take the map.
Dust II has been a mainstay for EG this season, with an unbeaten record thus far. Early on it looked like that could be changing, as Valkyries defence was rock solid, with Blender and Andrea leading the team to a 9:6 half. However, the switch at the half also signalled a switch in momentum, with EG putting up a brick wall on the CT side. Empathy and milk once again combined for a flawless CT side, securing EG their map pick, as well as a ticket to the season finals!
South America
South America kicked off with a bang, with MIBR going up against the powerhouse of FURIA. FURIA have firmly established themselves this year as not just the best of their region, but one of the best in the world, having been grand finalists in both ESL Impact LAN events this year, falling short to Nigma Galaxy each time. MIBR on the other hand have been a strong contender for the second spot in SA, but struggled this season against B4 Esports, leaving them second place in their group.
MIBR took us back once again to the sandy streets of Dust II. FURIA had been having some struggles on this map earlier in the season, having been pushed to double overtime by Black Dragons in week 1. It certainly didn't seem that way early on however, as OLGA and kaah showed an unbridled confidence on the CT side to secure an 11:4 half. But the tides would shift at the half, and MIBR were propelled forward by a critical Deagle triple by khiza, allowing them to just about take the map 16:14.
Nuke was the pick of FURIA, who chose it as a punish pick against MIBR who dropped the map during the season against both B4 and EndGame. It proved to be a fantastic strategy, as FURIA absolutely ran over MIBR on both sides of the server. Mari in particular looked unstoppable on the A site on both sides, and MIBR could not get a look-in on their T side.
The other scary part of the veto for MIBR was that Mirage ended up being the decider. FURIA's dominant streak on this map cannot be overstated - they have taken down everyone in their region, as well as teams like CLG Red and Nigma Galaxy on this map. MIBR started out on the T side, and put up an admirable 6 rounds with josi and chjna looking sharp. But once FURIA got onto the attack they were unleashed! OLGA was of course firing off, but izaa was the standout of the map and series, ending Mirage with a 29-15 score and a 2.0 rating! Once again we will see FURIA on LAN, and they'll be looking at that top spot.
The very last matchup of the playoffs was another South American classic, with B4 Esports battling it out with Black Dragons. Black Dragons made it through to playoffs off the back off a critical final week win against w7m esports, but this would be their biggest challenge yet! Not to mention, a slight rivalry between the two teams, as B4 had been under the Black Dragons banner in Season 1.
Guess what map we started out on? If you guessed Dust II, you'd be right! Apparently a favourite of many teams, as the CS classic appeared in 5/6 playoffs games (and was the decider if needed in the 1/6 game...!). But the pick of Black Dragons backfired spectacularly, as the team who had pushed FURIA to double OT on the same map struggled to find anything on their T side. A single round at the tail end would be all B4 would allow them, as yungher, nani, and goddess all put on their best performance to take the opening map 16:2.
B4's pick of Nuke looked much better for Black Dragons, with an impressive CT side championed by Babs and annaEX giving them a round lead at the half. Unfortunately for BD, they found out the hard way that the fun stops when poppins pops off, with the young star stealing the show with a 16-2 score on the CT side and almost 150 ADR! Black Dragons would only be able to find a solitary T side round, as B4 Esports ran away with the map, taking the series and locking themselves in as the final team going to Sweden.
Next Stop: Sweden!
With the playoff weekend concluded we have our six teams - Nigma Galaxy, NOFEAR5, CLG Red, EG Gold, FURIA, B4 Esports - joining the wildcard teams from South Africa and Asia - ATK Fe and HSG. These eight teams will battle it out across three days at the global playoffs, taking place on LAN at DreamHack Winter in Jönköping.
It's been a long journey for many of these teams, but only one will come out victorious! Join us from November 25-27 to find out who will be taking the trophy!
