The first day of ECS Season 7 Finals concluded with much surprise and hype for CS:GO fans.
1. FURIA Stunned Astralis in their own best map
The emperor of CS:GO was finally back in action after almost a month of inactivity. The team looked set to get things back to their own hands after being robbed of their throne. They drafted the veto really carefully and eventually ended up with the map where they took the world by storm with 31 consecutive victories, Nuke.
However, things did not go well for the Danes to find their feet after such a long time off. They were shocked by the T-side of the rising Brazillian where they lost the first half as the CT, only having 7 rounds in the bag. In the second half, the Danes seemed to regain their composure where they got a good pistol round followed by good individual performances to make it 14-9.
This seemed to be the end for FURIA until Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato and Yuri "yuurih" Santos managed a 2v3 retake on B to halt the Danes’ momentum. FURIA eventually tied out the scoreline at 14-14. KSCERATO got a good day where he stepped up in a 1v2 clutch on B, allowing the team to pull off the upset against the once #1 team on Nuke.
2.NRG Outlasted NiP
The North American squad have made deep runs in recent big tournaments. However, they failed to make it to final most of the time. NRG started their ECS against NiP on Train. The map looked more in favor of the North American side with better wins recently against the likes of G2, Cloud9, Renegades, and fnatic. However, the map is CT-side favored and NiP did their job well in the first half with a strong scoreline of 10-5. Unfortunately, the Ninjas then struggled to find a way through the tight defense of NRG as they were outclassed by tarik and Co. NiP had to accept defeat when they were down 11-16.
3.Vitality eased past Complexity
Vitality got a really strong veto and got one of their best maps to play on the Bo1 against complexity. ShahZaM and Co. got off on the right foot with pistol round where they saw the 15 years old member “oBo “ scooped 4 kills for himself.
CompLexity then went on to win more rounds to make it 5-2 only to see the Frenchmen wake up from their slow start. Zyw0o and Co. managed to win 8 rounds in a row to win the first half with 10-5. The North American squad continued their good performance in the second pistol round but it was not enough to stop Vitality once they got enough money in the bank. Vitality closed out the map at 16-9
4.North pulled off a massive comeback against MIBR after triple overtime
Following the massive success of their compatriots FURIA, MIBR made an impressive display of skill on Inferno against North. They managed to win 12 rounds in a row to bring the scoreline to 12-2 in the first half and let the last round slip away. The Brazilians looked strong when they claimed 2 more rounds after the break.
Things seemed to be the end for the Danes today but North refused to throw in the towel. They held up a tight defense to make a magnificent run just they what MIBR did in the first half to drag the game to overtime. Things looked shaky for both team as they trade rounds after rounds to make it to the 3rd overtime. With the shining moment of Philip "aizy" Aistrup, North secured their victory to go on to winner bracket at 25-23.
5.NRG proved themselves in a convincing 2-0 against FURIA
After the impressive upset against Astralis, FURIA looked so strong in their current form. They went on to pick Nuke against NRG to get a change at semi-final. NRG picked Train for themselves.
The first map saw NRG making an impressive run as T-side on Train, constantly threating both bomb sites for FURIA. The Brazilians were out-maneuvered by NRG, only managed to score 6 rounds in the first half as CT-side. The second half looked shaky for both team but NRG managed to close it out, winning 16-13.
The second map was the map pick of FURIA. The Brazilian side got off on a good start with 4-1. However, things took a bad turn for them as NRG figured their ways to tear through the defense, winning 6 rounds in a row. The first half ended with 9-6 in favor of NRG.
After doing the T-side part – one of the hardest T-side of any map in the current map pool, NRG managed to finish the job by sealing the deal at 16-9, winning the series 2-0.
6.North edged out Vitality in a tight bo3 to emerge victorious
The Frenchmen picked Nuke for themselves and North chose Inferno. The deciding map was Dust 2.
The first map saw Vitality kick off on an impressive run as T-side of Nuke with 5 rounds in a row. North fought back with 2 rounds and eventually closed the first half with only one round more than Vitality. The second half got a little shaky where both team trade rounds with each other. Zyw0o and Co. managed to close it out at 16-13.
The second map was Inferno, which is the map pick from North. Both teams are strong on this map and they looked set to claim a victory on this. North went off on a better start with the pistol round and some follow up rounds with a decent buy. Two teams traded grenades and molly fiercely in Banana but North emerged victorious in the first half with 8-7. The second half witnessed an impressive run as T-side from North, winning rounds convincingly before closing it out 16-11.
The last and the deciding map was Dust 2, a map that heavily favors AWPer like Zyw0o and JUGi. The Danes looked strong as CT-side and managed to win 9 rounds in the first half. They closed it out in the second half with Vitality only winning 1 round as CT-side, 16-7.
North won the best of three series 2-1, punching their way to the semi-final.
The event will continue today. 07/06 with Astralis going against NiP and MIBR against compLexity. Stay tuned for updates.