The roster formed by s1mple and the Portuguese trio of SAW surprised everybody.
BC.Game’s unexpected comeback
Expectations were high for the BC.Game roster today as they headed into their first LAN series.
Doubts were around the team as well, as there seemed to be little rhyme or reason for their formation, other than to take the VRS points from the Portuguese team of SAW.
From disaster to masterclass
On BC.Game’s pick of Overpass, their opponents on Legacy immediately got up to 10-2 in the opening half. It looked like an absoulte disaster. To make matters worse, they lost the pistol round after to go 2-11.
Then, s1mple started showing up, and when he got the AWP in his hands, he immediately changed the nature of the game.
A classic flick 2k on the AWP was a throwback for s1mple as he stifled Legacy’s push, and saved his own life with his skill.
electronic also delivered a defensive masterclass, getting multikills on Legacy, often with their backs turned. He went 18-4 on the CT-side to completely shut down Legacy and head to overtime at 12-12.
1v4 to add insult to injury
By then, Legacy looked completely mentally broken. They lost the map after being up 11-2, and proceeded to be dominated on their home map of Inferno.
Of course, s1mple capped it off with something to remember. Not enough to crush Legacy, he won a 1v4 clutch on the B-site, a favorite spot of his, to send BC.Game to the winner’s match against 3DMAX tomorrow.
Astralis’s upset
Astralis’s first opponent in their LAN debut with their first ever international roster was not an easy one. They had to play against paiN Gaming, a name that reached multiple top tier semi-finals last year.
On top of that, Astralis left a bad look in their online debut at BLAST Bounty, being annihilated 2-0 by PARIVISION, who admittedly ended up winning the tournament.
Despite this, Astralis cruised past paiN Gaming, with some of their young talent shining through. In their 13-10 win on paiN’s pick of Dust2, their star trio provided as a whole.
ryu proves his mettle
In the next map of Overpass, Lithuanian star rifler Gytis ‘ryu’ Glušauskas put together a fantastic performance to easily get past paiN. He won two clutches in a 13-7 win.
They now have the ability to make Stage 2 by beating NRG, the North American hopefuls that made it to the winner’s match by upsetting the young Ukrainian team, B8.
Liquid and G2 get wins despite struggles
Liquid’s struggles began before the match started, when it was announced that Keith ‘NAF’ Markovic could not attend the tournament due to personal reasons.
That left Moussa ‘Krimbo’ Karim to replace him last minute, after being teamless for three months. Krimbo destroyed NIP on Nuke, getting 19 kills in a 13-6 win, including 5 multikills.
On Liquid’s pick of Mirage, it started very back and forth, but it was Jonathan ‘EliGE’ Jablonowski’s turn to take over on CT side. With 4 multikills just on the CT-side, he was everywhere on the map, and helped end the series.
G2 lose embarrasing rounds but get the win
For G2, the struggles were strictly on the server. They faced Passion UA, who picked Overpass, and exposed G2’s weakness. G2 got to a great start but Passion quickly brought it back to 5-7.
The second half was a slaughter for Passion UA. Håkon ‘hallzerk’ Fjærli capped it off by winning an absurd ninja defuse to close the map 13-8.
The next maps were much easier for G2, including their pick of Dust2. However, this map included a fumble from them, losing to 5 glocks. Still, they closed this map and the decider, Mirage, in clean fashion overall.
Key Matchups Tomorrow
AURORA vs PARIVISION – 14:00 CET
BC.Game vs 3DMAX – 16:30 CET
Team Liquid vs G2 Esports – 19:00 CET
