Total Shorty Kills
VCT EMEA Challengers: two more teams exit the tourney
Naim "EnKay" Rosinski
08/15/2021
Yesterday we saw two teams be the first to exit from VCT EMEA Challengers Playoffs. August 15 saw two more teams have their dreams of going to Masters Berlin crushed.
Two Lower Bracket matchups saw the following teams battle for survival.
- Guild Esports vs FireFlux Esports
- Natus Vincere vs Vodafone Giants
Two of these teams have been defeated in the Lower Bracket resulting in their elimination from VCT EMEA Challengers Playoffs.
Guild Esports vs FireFlux Esports
The first matchup of the day saw the European Guild take on the Turkish youngsters of FireFlux Esports.
Split
The Turkish side got to work by picking up the pistol on Split’s defense. The anti-eco fell their way but the rifle round was all Guild. FirFlux got back to winning ways soon after by picking up two more straight rounds. Finally, a 4k from Yacine “Yacine” Laghmari would light a spark in Guild to take over on attack. Five straight rounds were taken by Guild before FireFlux got one more round up on the board. However, it was Guild that had the final say in the half by picking up the last round to make it 7:5 in their favor.
Despite FireFlux having a good start to the map initially, Guild would continue dominating, this time on the defensive side. Leo “Leo” Jannesson’s 2k brought his side the pistol. From there, FireFlux found it difficult to plant the Spike as Guild’s defense proved to be formidable. At a 12:5 deficit, FireFlux managed to get their first round of attack. Before they got rolling, however, Guild closed out Split in their favor at 13:6 after a joint 4k from Leo and William “draken” Sundin.
Ascent
If things did not look right for FireFlux on Split, Ascent emerged to be living hell for the Turkish side. Guild started off on defense and straight off got the two first rounds up on the board following great retake defuses in. From there, the Swedish medley kept applying pressure on defense. Paired with phenomenal retakes, Saif “Sayf” Jibraeel’s side went on to show how to play Ascent’s defense. This amounted to a tragic score for FireFlux at a 12:0 deficit at the half.
With their backs against the wall, FireFlux had to pull a clean run on Ascent’s defense to stay in the series. Unfortunately for them, this did not happen. Left in a 1v1 on the pistol round, Malkolm “bonkar” Rench kept his cool to give his side the clean 13:0 win.
FireFlux Esports are the third team eliminated from VCT EMEA Challengers Playoffs. Guild Esports live another day in the Lower Bracket after a blowout performance.
Natus Vincere vs Vodafone Giants
The second Lower Bracket matchup saw the young Natus Vincere (Na Vi) side take on the revived Vodafone Giants side with David “Davidp” Prins in their ranks.
Ascent
The battle started out on Ascent. Natus Vincere edged out the pistol and the anti eco to get rolling on attack. Giants, however, were quick to get their first rounds on the server. A team effort led by Davidp saw Giants take five straight rounds to pull ahead at 5:2. Na Vi finally got a round after a joint 4k from Kirill “Cloud” Nehozhin and Artur “7ssk7” Kyurshin. Giants retaliated with one round of their own, but the rest of the half was all Na Vi as a much needed performance from 7ssk7 on Reyna tied it up at 6:6 at the half.
On defense, Na Vi once again won the pistol. The anti-eco did not go their way, however, as Giants saw the next two rounds fall their way making it 9:8 in their favor. Denis “dinkzj” Tkachov 1v1 brought Na Vi the next round. From then on, Giants got to work with 4 straight rounds on attack bringing them within match point. This propelled Na Vi to mount a comeback. They put together four straight rounds of their own including a 1v2 clutch from Cloud to force overtime at 12:12.
That’s when Giants mobilized themselves to close the OT early. On defense, Aaro “hoody” Peltokangas brought a 3k to the table to repent the attacking Na Vi. On attack, Davidp‘s 2k sealed the deal at 14:12, making the overtime a short one and putting Giants up with a 1-0 in map score.
Breeze
After a close Ascent, Natus Vincere showed Giants how it’s done on Breeze. The CIS squad took the four first rounds on defense to get rolling, including 3 masterful retakes. Giants finally put up one round on attack after Hoody‘s phenomenal 4k with a Sheriff. However, Na Vi went right back to winning ways by taking the next two rounds. Giants finally tightened their belts to get going on attack. The last five rounds of the half went their way to make it all square at 6:6 at the half.
The second half was all Na Vi. On attack, Cloud and co. looked fierce. The pistol went their way once more. Giants took the next round but that would be the end of their journey on Breeze. Na Vi put together six straight rounds to close out Breeze in easy fashion at 13:7 to force the decider map.
Split
The decider, Split, saw Štěpán “Ambi” Beránek shine on Jett. However, it was Na Vi that started out on the right foot by bagging the first three rounds on defense. Right after, Giants bounced back to take five straight rounds and pull ahead by 2 points. A 2k from arch guaranteed Na Vi one more round before Giants took three in return to win the half with a nice 8:4 lead.
The second half saw Na Vi take yet another pistol and the anti-eco to get within range at 6:8. Giants punched back with two rounds of their own with Ambi‘s great opening kills. Na Vi would run into the trouble of failing to put together rounds, ultimately costing them the win on Split. Despite Cloud‘s best efforts on Raze on attack, Giants repented the attackers time and time again to seal the deal with a rather comfortable 13:8 victory on Split.
Natus Vincere are the fourth team to get the boot from EMEA Challengers Playoffs. Meanwhile, Giants survive another day in the Lower Bracket.
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