NRG overrun MIBR; ENCE ease past ViCi to 2-1 records in Shanghai

NRG and ENCE have secured 2-1 records in Shanghai following 2-0 series victories over MIBR and ViCi, respectively.

The first series saw a battle between the Americas, with NRG taking on MIBR. The first map was Inferno, where the North American squad commenced on the T side. Ethan "⁠Ethan⁠" Arnold opened up affairs with a pistol 3k, effectively securing his team an early foot into the series. Upon obtaining rifles, MIBR retaliated, but the success was short-lived, seeing to only three rounds copped. The remainder of the initial half featured an NRG show, whereby the American-majority roster secured eight rounds to the Brazilians' one, concluding the initial half 11-4.

A consecutive pistol round victory, this time on the CT side, meant that Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele and company were able to keep the momentum rolling, all the way to map point at a dominant 15-4. A single round was accrued by MIBR before NRG closed out Inferno with an assertive 16-5 scoreline.

Mirage followed, as did the commanding presence of NRG in the series. The North American squad copped the first pistol on the T side, following up with a further three rounds to establish an economic footing. MIBR snapped back after a string of rounds was lost, but a financial cushion meant that NRG were unfazed by the interruption. The Brazilians struggled immensely to put up any resemblance of a fight on their defence, conceding the first half 4-11.

A consecutive pistol round for NRG exacerbated MIBR's predicament, as the CTs were able to leap to a 13-4 lead. Upon purchasing rifles, the Brazilians managed to claw back three rounds, slightly bridging the round discrepancy. A comeback was not to be, however, as two rounds victores for NRG meant an economy in tatters for MIBR. A last-ditch force buy from the Brazilians fell through, concluding Mirage 16-7 in favour of the North American squad.

Parallel to the secondary stream, ENCE and ViCi duked it out, commencing the series on Inferno. The Finns kicked off on the T side, and, after securing the initial pistol, were consistently taking rounds at the expense of the Chinese defence. Unable to retaliate, ZhiHong "⁠aumaN⁠" Liu and company struggled throughout their entire defensive half, able to only secure an aggregate of four rounds to ENCE's eleven.

A spectacular 4k pistol clutch from WingHei "⁠Freeman⁠" Cheung opened up the second half, a much-needed development for the Chinese roster. Unfortunately, the team was not able to draw long-term benefits from their star player's clutch, as ENCE restabilized in their first rifle round, once more snatching momentum in their favour. Off the back of this success, and an ace from Jere "⁠sergej⁠" Salo in round 20, ENCE went on to close out the first map at 16-6.

In reaction to his opponents' pistol 4k from before, Jani "⁠Aerial⁠" Jussila responded in kind come the first pistol round of map two, Train. This opened up an avenue for ENCE to continue their domination in the series, and, after a small setback in the form of two conceded rounds, the Finns proceeded as prior. Only a single additional round was secured by ViCi over the remainder of the half, leading to a 12-3 conclusion in favour of the Nordic giants.

The second pistol was accrued by the ViCi offense, as well as the following round, but as soon as ENCE got their hands on rifles the tables turned. A total of three consecutive rounds fell in their favour, placing the Finns on map and series point. The home side was able to edge in a single additional round before falling to ENCE 6-16.