The four organizations in the semi-finals are mousesports, fnatic, ex-Winstrike, and Evil Geniuses.

Both organizations were in full control as they found their way to the semi-finals.

mousesports met SKADE and won 2-0, and with the same result fnatic demolished Wisla Krakow.

15:00 (CET) ex-Winstrike – Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses had the most difficult way to the semi-finals as they were the only team to play all three maps to move on to the semi-finals. The last map ended in overtime 22-19 as they beat Dignitas.

The final will be played at 18:00 (CET) tomorrow.

ex-Winstrike

Fnatic

mousesports

Evil Geniuses

The Russian AWPer Aleksey “El1an” Gusev, has been playing at a very high level for a long time now for Entropiq, where he consistently has delivered some great results under the shadows of his team.  

El1an and his roster joined Entropiq last month, from EPG Family a team that only lasted a few days before the roster joined Entropiq. The team has played together since 2019, where they played at Winstrike Team.

This is also one of the reasons behind the success of the team, they know each other very well.

The consistency by El1an has been outrageous and is why we have so high hopes for the young Russian AWPer!

In the last months he has played fantastically at a rating of 1.27, but it isn’t just this month. If we look back at the last six months, then he has played at a rating of 1.26, which is fantastic!

Watch some of his plays from the last month here:

Watch some play´s from El1an in 2020 here:

El1an

Winstrike

EPG Family

Entropiq

Spirit is favorites in what looks to be an amazing spectacle for the viewers!

With El1an in near-perfect form, Spirit has to find a way to shut him down, If they want to win the match today against the ex-Winstrike roster.

Spirit

The former ex-Winstrike Team showed that they were strong in April, where the roster won the ESEA Premier Season 36 Europe and the Dell Gaming League Season 2. They came second in the Snow Sweet Snow 3 after a defeat against mousesports in the final.

The roster signed with Entropiq on May 10th, where they have won three out of their first four games for the new organization, with one of the wins being against s1mple´s troops from Natus Vincere.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"entropiq-defeat-navi-2-0-huge-upset","isNewTab":true}]

The new Entropiq roster is going to compete in two events today in the REPUBLEAGUE TIPOS Season 1 and EPIC League CIS 2021.

Alexey ”NickelBack” Trofimov (In-Game leader)

Andrey “XomA” Mironenko (Assistant coach)

NickelBack

Lack1

Krad

Forester

hooch

Xoma

Aleksey “El1an” Gusev and company took down the Portuguese SAW 3-1 in the grand final of the ESEA Premier S36 event, despite starting with an 0-1 disadvantage. As the winner of the event, ex-Winstrike has secured a spot in the next season of ESL Pro League, which is set to start in September.

The Russian side from ex-Winstrike are the first squad to qualify for the $750.000 tournament, with partner teams such as Vitality, Astralis, NAVI, and Liquid also confirmed for the event. There is four more slots left to be given out to the winners of ESEA Premier seasons in EU, NA, and Australia, while the remaining slots will be filled through ranking invites.

The team list for the next season of ESL Pro League is as follows:

There is no shortage of disappointment in the tweet, that the coach from ex-Winstrike Dmitry "hooch" Bogdanov tweeted earlier today. The ex-Winstrike team thought, that they had signed for a new Organization, but in the last moment the deal was taken off the table.

- I've always thought that professional sports teams and normal esports teams have a shareholder meeting every quarter of the year where they make decisions on the transfer policy and plans for the future of the company, and only AFTER that they decide to buy or sell players, but, I guess, everything is possible in CIS esports. I can’t even imagine what is happening at the lower level and what manipulations and tricks the CIS organizations allow themselves to use, the coach writes in a Twitlonger post.

The ex-Winstrike team left Winstrike last month due to a "constant breach of contractual obligations by the organization".

The Russian roster has performed excellently despite the chaos surrounding them making the Grand Final at Snow Sweet Snow 3.

- My team and I are now looking for an organization to represent. We have been at the 22nd place in the HLTV rating for the second month in a row, and we will continue to play together. We have high ambitions and reasonable requests regarding contract terms and conditions, Dmitry "hooch" Bogdanov says.

In yesterday’s Grand Final at the prominent Snow Sweet Snow 3, mousesport’s star rifler Robin “ropz” Kool took matters into his own hands, as he ripped the entire ex-Winstrike roster apart in what ended like a total massacre on Nuke.

ropz’s ace and his other heroics secured mousesports their first title in 2021, but it has also granted today’s Pley of the Day!

If you want to see the previous POTD's from April, then check out the link down below: 

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/pley-day-april","text":"Pley of the Day - April"}]

ropz

After a ridiculously exciting first map, that ended 25-22 to mousesports we were looking forward to ex-Winstrike trying to come back into the match.

In the second map, ex-Winstrike did that and they were leading 15-13, but Bymas became the hero for mousesports. He secured the overtime on Dust2.

Mousesports won both maps in overtime in an evenly matched game, which could have tipped both ways.

A fantastic match with an exciting and thrilling ending, where you never were certain who would win the match, but mousesport ended up winning the match and the event.

ex-Winstrike - mousesports 2-0 |Snow Sweet Snow 3 finale

22-25 (Nuke) ropz - 1.31 rating / 42-35 K-D / 99.1 ADR

17-19 (Dust2) ropz - 1.42 rating / 31-23 K-D / 102.7 ADR

MVP: Robin ”ropz” Kool - 1.36 rating / 73-58 K-D / 100.7 ADR

Any final will always be exciting because of the pressure there is on the players in the finals, favorites can produce upsets and the underdog can impress anyone.

In this finale, it seems to be a great matchup between the two, with mousesports as the favorites to run with the trophy, but there is always a special atmosphere before and in a grand finale.

The players to keep an eye on for each team will be El1an from ex-Winstrike who has been performing on a very high level at the tournament and the last three months with a rating of 1.26.

For mousesports, their key player will be the Estonian ropz, who has been playing on a top-level for quite some time with a 1.18 rating in the last 3 months.

The insider that started the rumor is Alexey “OverDrive” Biryukov on social media.

The organization leader from HellRaisers said that he would comment on the rumor later, which makes us think that this is more than a rumor because he is not denying anything.

The HellRaisers roster got together in April 2020, but the in-game-leader Dmitry “jR” Chervak chose to leave the team in January.

There have been other rumors linking the ex-Winstrike roster to the HellRaisers, as OverDrive earlier has announced that HellRaisers could be interested in signing with the roster.

The Russian roster is playing the grand finale of the Snow Sweet snow later today.

Watch some highlights from ex-Winstrike against EXTREMUM here:

HellRaisers

It has not been a successful European stint for Evil Geniuses in 2021. Early exits from ESL Pro League and IEM Katowice has seen the NA team drop out of the top 10 ranking in the world.

At Snow Sweet Snow EG was seeded into the Quarter-Final, where they eliminated Team Dignitas. But against the ex-Winstrike roster, EG fell short.

It started terribly on Nuke, where the CIS team completely anihaleted EG. Aleksey 'El1an' Gusev did most of the work with an incredible map, which left Evil Geniuses with only six rounds during Nuke, which was their own map pick.

Overpass was the next destination for the two rosters. This time EG was ready, and the North Americans started out strong. A big push in the final rounds of the first half saw ex-Winstrike close the gap.

At 14-12 in favor of EG, the North Americans had an excellent chance to make the last push towards a map win. Tarik had made an excellent flank, and had every opportunity to win the round for his team, but the American missed the shot and lost the round, which later proved to be crucial with ex-Winstrike winning the last rounds to win the match 16-14.

[twitchVideo:tebtv/clip/ObeseJazzyFiddleheadsChocolateRain-pGMC5YtTtmmkmx8w]

ex-Winstrike will face the winner of Fnatic vs mousesports later tonight in the Grand Final.

Evil Geniuses – ex-Winstrike 0-2 |Snow Sweet Snow 3

6-16 (Nuke)|El1an - 1.99 rating / 25-9 K-D / 115.5 ADR

14-16 (Overpass) |Forester - 1.46 rating / 28-17 K-D / 102.9 ADR

MVP: Igor 'Forester' Bezotecheskiy - 1.32 rating / 41-27 K-D / 87.8 ADR

tarik

The ex-Winstrike team played a perfect map on Nuke against Evil Geniuses to take the lead in the match.

Russian AWP'er El1an finished the map with an impressive 25-9 in K-D and 115.5 ADR. A perfect map from the young ex-Winstrike player who proved, that he can also create a lot of damage with only a Scout.

[twitchVideo:tebtv/clip/DependableBovineBadgerGivePLZ-Wk0saz6ZTDWtXEPW]

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/live-ex-winstrike-evil-geniuses/","text":"You can follow the match here."}]

Evil Geniuses is the favorites on paper, but after yesterday's match against Team Dignitas, everything could happen in the match against ex-Winstrike.

There is $40.000 on the line for the first place in the tournament, so both teams will do everything in their power to qualify for the Grand Final later tonight.

While ESL Pro League takes another rest day, we have two exciting Semi-Finals and a Grand Final in the pipeline today.

At Snow Sweet Snow 3 we have reached the final day. Four teams will fight for the sweet $40.000 that is on the line for first place.

You can follow all the matches live here on Pley.gg.

frozen

The likes of El1an, Forester, and Nickelback play without a banner and without an organization behind them at the moment. However, that doesn’t stop ex-Winstrike from maintaining their incredible strong form.

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/profiled-russian-team-loses-players-due-several-contract-disputes/","text":"Read more: Profiled Russian team lose all their players due to several contract disputes"}]

Today, the Russians took down the well-playing HAVU team in the quarterfinal stage at Snow Sweet Snow 3, despite the Finns having presented a stellar form lately and also managed to climb within the Top 20. Nonetheless, did ex-Winstrike and especially Aleksey “El1an” Gusev prove out to be way too strong for HAVU.

The promising AWPer ended the match with an impressive stat line (1.34 Rating 87.6 ADR) and were once again the highlight player for his team. Something, the 21-year old Russian has been for a long period, which also has resulted in various rumours of him being pursued by various top teams. 

ex-Winstrike - HAVU (2-0) | Snow Sweet Snow 3

16-6 (Overpass) | El1an – 1.70 Rating / 21-11 K-D / 92.5 ADR

16-14 (Nuke) | ZOREE – 1.31 Rating / 26-17 K-D / 82.5 ADR

Aleksey “El1an” Gusev – 1.34 Rating / 42-33 K-D / 87.6 ADR

HAVU

EXTREMUM’s Sean “Gratisfaction” Kaiwai surely had his work to do against ex-Winstrike, in yesterday’s matchup at Funspark ULTI Europe.

Down 1v4 on Dust2, with the round looking completely unwinnable for Gratisfaction, the profiled AWPer from New Zealand succeeds to turn the round into his favour by demonstrating his immense ninja abilities. 

Through an intense hide-and-seek, the EXTREMUM player managed to tiptoe his way to the bomb, without the enemies knowing his whereabouts.

Watch the impressive and nifty play right here.

[twitchClip:CallousInexpensiveSnoodSMOrc-iKeWdQTXlF9yTw2m]

Gratisfaction

EXTREMUM

The first quarterfinal at the exciting event Snow Sweet Snow 3 is ready to kick off this Tuesday morning. In the latter stages of the tournament, the star quartet of mousesports, fnatic, Evil Geniuses, and HAVU has joined the playoff stage, providing some tier-1 levels into the talent pool, as all four teams are placed within the Top 20 on the world ranking. 

The first matchup will be between two well-playing teams in HAVU vs ex-Winstrike, which will determine the first semifinal competitor. 

The first round of the playoffs at the Snow Sweet Snow 3 event has concluded. That, of course, means that the four teams advancing to the Quarter-finals have been found. Take a look at how the opening round of the playoffs went. 

the SKADE roster seemed eager and ready to fight when they entered the server. Starting strong by winning their map pick on Overpass 16-8 they carried their momentum through to the second map on Nuke. Despite being the pick of Anonymo, the Polish roster had very little room for error as SKADE relentlessly pushed them back. Ultimately they took home Nuke with a 16-8 scoreline and thereby also the series with a 2-0 victory. 

SKADE is set to face mousesports in the Quarter-finals where they will have to see if they can carry on their form.  

16-8 SKADE (Overpass) | SHiPZ 1.47 Rating / 102.9 ADR / 24-17 K-D

16-8 SKADE (Nuke) | SHiPZ 1.38 Rating / 94.0 ADR / 18-13 K-D

The series of the day turned out to be Wisla Krakow vs. Nordavind. A series that went all the way and in close fashion. Ultimately, however, it was Wisla Krakow and its Polish roster to have the slight edge over their opponents. With all three maps going to overtime and despite "mertz" best attempt to carry his team it was Wisla Krakow that, in the end, could call themselves Quarter-finalists with a 2-1 victory. 

The victory means a spot at the Quarter-finals where they will have to defeat fnatic in order to further advance in the tournament. 

19-17 Wisla Krakow (Train) | mertz 1.43 Rating / 102.9 ADR / 33-24 K-D

19-16 Nordavind (Dust2) | mertz 1.49 Rating / 95.7 ADR / 34-19 K-D

19-16 Wisla Krakow  (Mirage) | mertz 1.28 Rating / 82.4 ADR / 28-20 K-D

ex-Winstrike proved themselves the superior roster against Sinners today. Catching the Sinners off guard was the ex-Winstrike roster, as they managed to sweep away the first map with an impressive scoreline of 16-1. The story continued along the same lines as ex-Winstrike defeated Sinners 16-6 on Vertigo and closed the series with an impressive 2-0 victory. 

The ex-Winstrike roster is set to face HAVU in the Quarter-finals. 

16-1 ex-Winstrike (Overpass) | El1an 1.78 Rating / 116.6 ADR / 19-9 K-D

16-6 ex-Winstrike (Vertigo) | El1an 1.79 Rating / 121.1 ADR / 24-13 K-D

The final Bo3-series in the opening round of the playoffs at the Snow Sweet Snow 3 event saw Dignitas clashing with Tricked. The Scandinavian brawl between the legendary Swedes and the Danish youngsters would determine the last Quarter-finalist of the event. Despite Tricked starting strong on Overpass it was ultimately the Swedes, led by "f0rest" and "friberg", to take home the series 2-0.

You can read more about the Bo3-series between the two teams right here: 

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/dignitas-win-scandinavian-brawl-2-1/"}]

16-12 Dignitas (Overpass) | f0rest 1.56 Rating / 112.4 ADR / 31-18 K-D

16-7 Dignitas (Nuke) | friberg 1.51 Rating / 103.9 ADR / 18-14 K-D

f0rest

mertz

SHiPZ

Team Dignitas

Tricked esport

SKADE

Anonymo

SinnerS

Wisła Kraków

Nordavind

ESL Pro League takes another break and will be back Thursday. Meanwhile, there is action at Snow Sweet Snow, where eight teams fight for a place in the Quarter-Finals tomorrow. Here four seeded teams will make their entrance into the tournament.

ex-Winstrike is favorites against EXTREMUM, and they won the last game between the two.

The last time the two met, EXTREMUM demolished with 16-2 ex-Winstrike on dust 2, so it is very interesting that ex-Winstrike chose dust2 as their pick.

A player to keep an eye on is El1an from ex-Winstrike, he has been in incredible form lately.

Watch the game between the two sides here:

The semi-finals in Snow Sweet Snow

Tomorrow we will find a winner of the $68.000 price pool.

RELATED TEAMS

Related news

El1an the next big thing!

LIVE: Entropiq vs Spirit

The reformation of Entropiq

ex-Winstrike qualify for ESL Pro League Season 14

ex-Winstrike team stood up by CIS Organization

Pley of the Day: ropz is an absolute machine with the rifle

mousesports crowned as Snow Sweet Snow Champions!

Finished: Grand final ex-Winstrike – mousesports (0-2)

Rumor: HellRaisers releases roster

Evil Geniuses eliminated at Snow Sweet Snow

Video: El1an destroys EG with a Scout

Live: ex-Winstrike - Evil Geniuses

Today in CS:GO - Wednesday 7/4 - 2021

The semi-finals in Snow Sweet Snow

Russians overpower HAVU in crucial quarterfinal

Video: Gratisfaction is a silent assassin – 1v4 Ninja Defuse

Finished: HAVU vs ex-Winstrike (0-2)

Snow Sweet Snow 3 update

Today in CSGO - Monday 5/4 - 2021

LIVE: ex-Winstrike – EXTREMUM

Follow Pley