G2, Entropiq and MOUZ secure victories as Group A concludes

With virtually nothing to play for on the final day, the only result of note was Entropiq securing a higher playoff seed at the expense of fnatic.

There was little to play for on the final day of Group A, with the playoff berths already decided and two of the three games on offer having no meaningful bearing on the standings.

In the only game that really mattered, Entropiq comfortably outplayed fnatic to secure a 2-0 victory and the higher seed heading into the playoff draw. G2 managed to claw some pride back after a poor group stage, besting Ninjas in Pyjamas easily 2-0 in their matchup. MOUZ sent Looking For Org packing in the other dead rubber, the Australian team exiting without a single win to their name.

The A stream featured fnatic taking on Entropiq, with this game being the only game with anything meaningful on the line; the winner of this matchup would take the higher seeding heading into playoffs.

The match kicked off on the fnatic pick of Overpass, and the European squad got themselves off to a cracking start. Starting on the T side, fnatic got out to a quick 7-2 lead off the back of a straightforward gameplan, tending towards faster paced plays and relying on William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman and Alex "⁠ALEX⁠" McMeekin to find openings, with Peppe "⁠Peppzor⁠" Borak also making some solid contributions.

It was at this point that Vladislav "⁠Krad⁠" Kravchenko and Igor "⁠Forester⁠" Bezotecheskiy came online for the Russian side and they never looked back, running the score all the way back to 8-7, with Aleksei "⁠El1an⁠" Gusev also contributing with some key opening frags.

Entropiq continued their momentum into the second half, picking up the pistol and converting, before fnatic took control of the half on their defensive side; the European squad picked up six rounds on the bounce, with mezii playing a key role playing around bathrooms. Entropiq did eventually find success with an A hit, and fnatic suffered due to the fact they hadn't built up a strong economy; this allowed Entropiq to pick up five rounds in a row to close the map out 16-13.

Next up was the Entropiq pick of Vertigo, and the Russian side set about showing everyone exactly why they felt comfortable picking the map. Starting on the T side Entropiq dominated the second the gun rounds began, reversing an 0-3 deficit immediately with an accomplished offense; the spacing was excellent, they understood the nuances of the map better than their counterparts and simply had more fragging power. fnatic did manage to grab a couple token rounds at the end, but a 5-10 half was going to be tough to overcome in the second period.

fnatic did well to run with a pistol victory in the second half, riding it all the way to a 9-10 score line, but once the guns came up for the Russian side they began to take control of the game, grabbing five of the next six rounds to get to 15. ALEX did manage to produce a spectacular 1v4 clutch to keep fnatic alive and get them to 13, but it wasn't enough as Entropiq eventually closed the game 16-13 to secure the higher seeding for the playoff draw.

Over on the B stream, G2 took on Ninjas in Pyjamas. The Ninjas had already secured first place in the group thus avoiding the first round of playoffs, whereas G2 were simply playing for pride after a rough group stage performance.

G2 opened the Ninjas in Pyjamas pick of Vertigo on the CT side, and they set about making a point after a woeful EPL campaign thus far. They absolutely demolished the Swede's offense time and time again, with Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač in particular playing like a man possessed, the European squad eventually finishing the half with a near-insurmountable 13-2 lead.

The Ninjas won the second half pistol to give themselves a glimmer of hope, but they only managed one further round off the back of it as G2 quickly closed the map 16-4; huNter- deserves immense credit for his 2.05 rated performance.

The second map was G2's pick of Inferno, with the European squad starting on the offense. The first half was a back and forth affair, with G2 throwing a 4v2 early in the half that would have given them a strong grip on the map. This allowed Ninjas in Pyjamas to get to a 7-4 lead and it looked like the Swedes would produce a dominant half, but G2 came alive to take the final four rounds in a row, with Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač particularly key in grabbing the opening kills.

G2 continued their good form onto their defensive half, not really allowing the Swedes much of a look in as they romped to a 16-10 victory with the Ninjas only managing three rounds in the second half. huNter- continued his recent scintillating form, topping the scoreboard once again with a 1.58 rated showing on Inferno, posting a 1.78 and 111 ADR across the whole series.

The C stream hosted MOUZ and Looking For Org, with both teams already eliminated from the tournament and nothing to play for bar a modest amount of extra prize money.

MOUZ and Looking For Org started on the Aussie's pick of Dust2, and the org-less squad struggled to match the Europeans; Aurimas "⁠Bymas⁠" Pipiras and Christopher "⁠dexter⁠" Nong ran riot for MOUZ, finishing the map with over 100 ADR each, as the Australians struggled to make any headway in the opener. The map eventually finished 16-6, and the result was never really in doubt as Looking For Org struggled in every facet of the game.

The series continued on the MOUZ pick of Nuke, and they were made to work for it by their Australian counterparts. Looking For Org started out 4-0 on their CT half before MOUZ answered and the teams traded rounds throughout the rest of the half, to a 9-6 half in favour of Looking For Org. Unfortunately the Aussies couldn't find much success on their T half, finding three isolated rounds as MOUZ took control of the game and finished things 16-12, sending Looking For Org home without a single win in the group.