Apeks go 3-1 at RMR to secure Major spot

jkaem and his teammates edged past ECSTATIC in a hard fought three maps.

Apeks closed two maps against ECSTATIC in the 24th round, their map pick and the decider, to secure their spot at the PGL Major in Copenhagen. Their 3-1 record includes victories over Monte and OG, as well as a loss to Cloud9.

"For me, it wasn't that important to make the Major," Ådne "⁠sense⁠" Fredriksen admitted after qualifying, "but I know that for my teammates, like jkaem and STYKO, they've been in the game for so long and they're kind of getting old, so it was important for me to be with them while they were making that goal."

For the less experienced ECSTATIC, a first shot at reaching the Major all of the way from the open qualifiers was lost. After an opening 13-10 victory on their Inferno pick off the back of a strong 8-4 T-side showing, the Danes made a brilliant comeback on the defending side of Ancient from 6-11, but failed to push the map to overtime in the final round of regulation.

Apeks were quick to establish a lead on Anubis, the decider, where the two teams seemed more at ease on the attack, although a dominant 7-3 lead was softened to 7-5 with the Danes tallying two late CT rounds.

Jason "⁠salazar⁠" Salazar and Tobias "⁠kraghen⁠" Kragh Jensen led the way on the attack, with the AWPer particularly sharp in clutch situations as he won a 1vs1 in the pistol round and a 1vs3 afterplant situation while up against match point to keep his team in it going into the 24th round.

Alas, it was in vain, as Apeks' experience once again shone through in the toughest moments and they closed out the map and series, 13-11, to punch their ticket to the Major in Copenhagen.

ECSTATIC's dream isn't over yet, however, as they will have one more shot at making it to Denmark to compete on Counter-Strike's biggest stage. It won't be easy for the Danes, who will need to show mental fortitude not only to bounce back from such a close defeat, but to keep their cool in an all-or-nothing decider match in the final day of competition.