ESWC Round of 8 recap

LDLC vs. Tricked

The hometown favorites of LDLC got their pick in the form of Dust2, a map known since time immemorial to be Kévin "⁠Ex6TenZ⁠" Droolans’s playground, and indeed they took advantage of it. The French-Belgian-British side gave up only 3 rounds in the first half of the map, and only 4 before hoisting the victory flag—lead by Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin and his map-leading 26 kills.

Cobblestone didn’t seem to fare much better for the Danish squad, who only managed to take 5 rounds on their CT side and then lost the second pistol, giving LDLC an 11 – 5 lead and plenty of room to make mistakes. During the second half Tricked did manage to take a couple rounds, but it was all LDLC since the beginning of the series, and they were able to close it out 16 – 10.

Space Soldiers vs. Gambit

The first map of the series was played on Train, a map that on paper should have been much closer than the final 16 – 4 score line for the Turkish team, as Gambit had played it with previous iterations of its lineup and moderate success. Another Herculean effort by Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş and the whole of Space Soldiers gave no chance to Gambit, though.

The same way Space Soldiers shot down Gambit like a Sukhoi Su-24 encroaching on their border in the first map, the CIS team brought absolute revenge winning by the exact same margin on the second map, Cobblestone, to push it to the decider.

Finally, the match with the most expectation at the ESWC quarter finals kicked off Dust2, and Space Soldiers and Gambit dove right into the puggy nature of the desert. Certainly, Space Soldiers, used to the semi-arid climate kicked the map off with an 11 – 4 lead into the half, with all players in the team pitching into the communal effort.

XANTARES then tried to put an end to the match with four straight P2000 headshots in the pistol round, which won it for his team, but Gambit took the forcebuy to try and stay afloat. Space Soldiers, stealing one from Gambit’s playbook, won a forcebuy of their own as Ahmet "⁠paz⁠" Karahoca pulled three five-seven kills out of a hat to all but seal the deal. With Gambit economically depressed, the Turkish side reeled it in, 16 – 5.

fnatic Academy vs. ALTERNATE aTTaX

The fnatic kids came out swinging on Cobblestone by taking the pistol round in large part thanks to three kills by Aleksandar "⁠jayzaR⁠" Zarkovic and then bagged two following rounds. The German side woke up for the gun rounds, but was unable to run away as both teams stayed level pretty much until the half, with the youthful Swedes taking it 8 – 7. Both teams were beck and forth for the remainder of the match, although it was finally the German squad prevailing in a 16 – 14 nail biter despite jayzaR dropping over 30 frags.

The second map, Cache, saw ALTERNATE aTTaX start on the counter terrorist side and take the first half 9 – 6, leaving it up to fnatic Academy’s capabilities on defense. The youngsters were holding their own mid way through the second half, but at the same time ALTERNATE aTTaX having won the pistol round and with 12 rounds tallied and with Kevin "⁠keev⁠" Bartholomäus hitting his shots with the AWP meant fnatic Academy would have to give every bit they had to turn it around. Finally, though, the ALTERNATE aTTaX were able to outplay and outlast fnatic Academy to shut it down at 16 – 10.

Epsilon vs. Platinium

A very clear favorite in the form of Epsilon won the pistol round and the anti-eco, but that would be it as Platinium would strike right back and both teams would trade rounds all the way to a 7 – 8 half going to the French team on the half. That was it for Epsilon, though, as they got absolutely smashed by Victor "⁠Roombang⁠" Henkinet and co. who scored the remaining eight rounds without losing a beat to take Cache.

It seemed almost as if Epsilon were distracted, with Platinium taking the first pistol round and the first gun round, and only giving two up at the ten round mark. The Swedish players were completely unable to halt the situation until the end of the half, when they put in three more rounds for a 10 – 5 at the switch.

With the pistol round under their belt Epsilon started the comeback, which would have to last not only this half map, but also the next. The French-Belgian combine, however, after getting pummeled during their eco rounds,  answered with a haymaker that landed Epsilon flat on its back and out of the tournament, 16 – 8.

The draw for tomorrow:

LDLC	Space Soldiers
ALTERNATE aTTaX	Platinium