LDLC and aTTaX to ESWC final

LDLC vs. Space Soldiers

The match, which started out on Overpass, looked good for the Turkish team, as they won the pistol round and developed a healthy lead early on the stage at the Porte de Versailles venue in Paris.

The home team, however, was not having it, as LDLC managed to win most of the key clutches in gun rounds as terrorists, particularly exploiting a shaky defense on the A site, setting themselves up for the switch at half time going into the defense.

The second half then was much easier, as Space Soldiers struggled to find cracks in the French-Belgian-British defense, who managed to close the map out 16 – 9.

The locals, LDLC, started out Train on the CT side, winning the pistol and getting a 4 – 0 lead in the blink of an eye. A monumental round by Ahmet "⁠paz⁠" Karahoca broke LDLC’s streak, though with four AK kills to sweep the A site clean.

In an unexpected turn on events, Space Soldiers managed to turn the score around to 7 – 8 and bag the half they played as terrorists.

The second pistol went to Kévin "⁠Ex6TenZ⁠" Droolans and his boys, giving LDLC the lead. Despite Space Soldiers tying it back up at 10 – 10, it wasn’t long before LDLC took it to 14 and eventually match point. Far from over, though, Space Soldiers brought it back to 15 – 14, and took it all the way to the last second the match, as the Turkish team won the retake on the last round with Tugay "⁠TuGuX⁠" Keskin alive as the last man standing, but just one second too late on the defuse meant the Turkish team would be sent packing.

ALTERNATE aTTaX vs. Platinium

The German side started on CT side on Cache, off to a flying start winning the first pistol round. With an early lead, ALTERNATE aTTaX were able to establish their superiority initially, but the cinderella of the tournament, Platinium, picked up enough rounds mid and late in the first half to put up seven before the half.

The second pistol going their way meant Platinium tied it up at eight even, and then took the lead 10 – 8 before trading rounds with ALTERNATE aTTaX, now playing on the defensive side.

The rounds then went back-and-forth as both teams adjusted and readjusted all the way to a 13 – 13 tie. It was finally the German side that would run away with the first map on the last round on de Cache, despite an attempt by Platinium, closing it 16 – 14.

Overpass was to be the second map of the series, and things started looking quite good for ALTERNATE aTTaX, as a pistol round and six out of the first seven rounds in the bag gave the German team a lot of room to play, and put Platinium—already a map down—in a tight situation.

At that point, ALTERNATE aTTaX was in full control of the situation, destroying Platinium round after round, shutting down every single attempt the local team were making to do anything, and ending the half at 14 – 1.

The second half started out a bit better for Platinium, winning the pistol round and the anti-ecos, but the mountain ahead was insurmountable. The first gun round then went to ALTERNATE aTTaX who closed it out the following round, 16 – 4, earning themselves a spot in the final against the hometown heroes LDLC.