forZe secure playoffs in EPL after sweeping G2

Damien "⁠maLeK⁠" Marcel's men were unable to earn their first win at the tournament against the in-form Russians.

Andrey "⁠Jerry⁠" Mekhryakov's squad continue their incredible journey at ESL Pro League Season 14. Their 2-0 Victory against the French-Balkan mix secured FORZE a ticket to the knockout stages of the tournament, continuing a great run that has seen the Russian squad lose only to OG. Evgenii "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev shone across the series, consistently producing round-winning moments and ending the two maps with a 1.51 rating.

G2 had already been eliminated from playoffs contention after Complexity's victory against Virtus.pro earlier in the day; a disappointing showing from them after Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković's team had been hailed amongst the favorites to lift the trophy.

Today's results mean that OG, Complexity, and FORZE have qualified for the playoffs, with tomorrow's games deciding the final placement of the top-three in Group B. Although FORZE can enter a three-way tie for first place on the last day of play, they can no longer clinch the top spot as they would lose the tiebreaking scenarios with OG and Complexity.

FL1T performed consistently well across the two maps

FORZE started their own map pick of Mirage on the offensive, quickly taking the A bombsite and securing the first round. The Russians' failure to convert the following anti-eco after running into G2's stack on the B site begun an awkward back and forth between the two teams. Stability returned shortly after, with nexa's men stringing a series of rounds together to make it 6-2. G2 was then able to take control of the game, closing the first half with a convincing 10-5.

The CT side of FORZE started with promise, taking the pistol round and converting the following five to retake the lead at 11-10. FL1T started to shine on the defensive half, with G2 often unable to deal with the Russian's effective use of the AUG. Despite a worrying series of rounds in which the French-Balkan side exploited a weakness on the B site, FORZE were ultimately able to close the map 16-14.

Nuke started with G2 winning the pistol round and taking the following two. After the first full buy FORZE were able to pick up the pace, masterfully taking control of both bombsites on their offense to take an 8-3 lead. A successful eco round allowed the defense to marginally close the gap but it was not enough, with FORZE closing the half 10-5.

The Russians managed to win the first three rounds of their CT side, extending their lead 13-5. Unfortunately, G2's offense was unable to pick up momentum in the second half as every attempt to win successive rounds was stopped by Jerry and Almaz "⁠almazer⁠" Asadullin. FORZE were ultimately able to shut down G2 16-7, 2-0.

ESL Pro League Season 14Best of 3

G2

Matchpage

0

2

25th August 2021

FORZE

14

Mirage

16

7

Nuke

16

G2	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Nemanja 'nexa' Isakovićnexa	36 - 34	+2	65.5	73.6%	0.97
François 'amanek' Delaunayamanek	30 - 33	-3	60.4	64.2%	0.87
Nemanja 'huNter-' KovačhuNter-	32 - 43	-11	66.9	62.3%	0.76
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	23 - 42	-19	61.8	54.7%	0.74
Audric 'JACKZ' JugJACKZ	25 - 42	-17	61.1	58.5%	0.72

FORZE	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating2.0
Evgenii 'FL1T' LebedevFL1T	52 - 27	+25	96.6	73.6%	1.51
Aleksandr 'KENSI' GurkinKENSI	41 - 32	+9	86.8	79.2%	1.29
Andrey 'Jerry' MekhryakovJerry	42 - 31	+11	74.1	75.5%	1.21
Aleksandr 'zorte' Zagodyrenkozorte	32 - 27	+5	61.4	81.1%	1.10
Almaz 'almazer' Asadullinalmazer	26 - 30	-4	61.4	71.7%	0.98

At the end of day four, Group B's standings look as follows:

Group B

TEAM

M

P

OG

4

12

FORZE

4

9

Complexity

4

9

Virtus.pro

4

3

SINNERS

4

3

G2

4

0