GamerLegion scrape past TYLOO to secure EPL Stage 2 spot

ash's troops needed to come back from 2-7 down on the Inferno decider.

GamerLegion have qualified for the ESL Pro League S21 Stage 2 after a hard-fought 2-1 win over TYLOO (Mirage 13-7, Nuke 5-13, Inferno 13-11).

With the victory, GamerLegion met expectations and became the first team to qualify for the next stage, where they will meet the eight directly invited sides.

TYLOO, meanwhile, have two more chances to make the top 16 after being sent to the 2-1 pool by Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner and company. Given their form at the event so far, though, the Chinese squad should be among the favorites to make it through.

GamerLegion go 3-0 without being at their best

Despite going 3-0 in EPL S21's Stage 1, GamerLegion have not looked imperious among lower-ranked competition. They began their campaign with an unconvincing three-map victory against NRG before bouncing back with a 2-0 win against a struggling MIBR.

Their game against TYLOO was also far from easy, as they couldn't build on their Mirage demolition, where REZ put up a 2.14 rating. TYLOO fought back on Nuke with the help of a well-rehearsed T side, and while GamerLegion got the job done on Inferno, they needed to mount a 2-7 comeback to secure the victory.

"A lot of relief," Ashley "⁠ash⁠" Battye described his post-match thoughts in a broadcast interview with Tres "⁠stunna⁠" Saranthus. "We're able to find and grind out games, but we're struggling to put away teams when we have them beaten. We've got a very young team, and we get frustrated pretty easily."

JamYoung's reign of terror interrupted

Yi "⁠JamYoung⁠" Yang came into the game as the highest-rated player at the event with a 1.54, but he couldn't reach his previous heights against GamerLegion. He finished the series with a team-low 0.86 rating and had two anonymous maps on Mirage (0.53) and Inferno (0.74).

TYLOO can take positives from the fact they almost got the better of GamerLegion without their star man, however, as his supporting cast came agonizingly close to winning the series and securing a spot in Stage 2.

While no individual shone on Mirage, Jingxiang "⁠Mercury⁠" Wang and Qianhao "⁠Moseyuh⁠" Chen took turns in carrying the fragging burden on the other two maps in what was nearly a continuation of an unexpected upset run that also included wins over Eternal Fire and 3DMAX.