Bad News Eagles secure playoffs in CCT Central Europe Malta Finals

FORZE will play the Group A decider match for a second shot at reaching the playoffs.

Bad News Eagles have prevailed in the CCT Central Europe Malta Finals Group A winners' match against FORZE, which was largely CT-sided on Overpass and Ancient until the final map, Mirage, which was split down the middle in the first half before the Kosovar squad ran away on the final attacking side.

Dionis "⁠sinnopsyy⁠" Budeci and company were light and joyful when the series started on Overpass as they took a 6-2 lead. The Kosovar players were laughing during a pause while their counterparts struggled to find their footing. Evgeny "⁠r3salt⁠" Frolov, who had just commented on how easy his team's match was against HONORIS, was off to a 0-9 start.

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The smiles in the Bad News Eagles camp quickly dissipated in the second half, though, as an 11-4 lead did not suffice on the attack. FORZE's youngster also made a momentous effort on the defense and turned around his personal performance to finish 21-18 with a 1.15 rating in his team's 16-13 victory.

FORZE started on the CT side on Ancient, BNE's pick, and were quick out of the gate with a commanding 8-1 lead early on. That's when things started to crumble and the squad now under the orders of Swedish veteran Jonatan "⁠Devilwalk⁠" Lundberg brought it back to a surmountable 6-9 deficit.

It was surmountable indeed, with FORZE lacking any impact from Vladislav "⁠Krad⁠" Kravchenko — who ended the series with a 0.36 rating — , and a 10-3 partial by BNE on the defense knocked away any doubt to usher in the decider, 16-12.

It was all decided on Mirage, where the CT-sidedness of the previous maps dissipated despite Bad News Eagles starting out 7-1 on the defense as FORZE brought it back and trailed only by one at the half.

The series finally came to a conclusion after over three hours in anti-climactic fashion. Just as FORZE were getting hold of a slow start they were put up against match point, 11-15, and after winning a round they were brought down by a Sener "⁠SENER1⁠" Mahmuti triple in a forcebuy.

Bad News Eagles, holding the top seed in Group A, will now head into the playoffs waiting for the second best in Group B, where ENCE, Movistar Riders, Sprout and Spirit are set to start their tournament runs with opening best-of-ones.

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FORZE meanwhile will have to wait for a rival from the Group A elimination match which will pit Eternal Fire and HONORIS on Friday at 10:00 . The Group A decider is then scheduled on the same day at 17:00 .