FCL: Round 2 recap

The second round of fnatic PLAY CS league 2012 is behind us, but if you missed any action, you can find all the info here. Natus Vincere left the league in the meantime, while Wikipediots proved that they should be taken very seriously in the future.

The main story of the second round was Natus Vincere pulling out of the tournament mere hours before their scheduled match with Alternate. In the mean time, their fellow countrymen KerchNET have been added in their place, while Wikipediots are the ones to regret the situation the most, as the 3 points they won against Na`Vi in the first round were dismissed.

However, the Danes have continued playing well, and this time their victims were the Swedish team Lemondogs. ESC Gaming got their first win after a big battle against E2G, while in the other group the only real surprise is WinFakt's lack of resistance to Moscow Five.

Group A

#	Team	W	T	L	RW	RL	Diff	Points
1.	Lemondogs	1	0	1	28	21	+7	3
2.	Alternate	1	0	0	16	9	+7	3
3.	Wikipediots	1	0	0	16	12	+4	3
4.	ESC Gaming	1	0	1	25	29	-4	3
5.	KerchNET	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6.	E2G	0	0	2	18	32	-14	0

May 6, 2012	ESC	vs	E2G	16:13	Click for further info
May 6, 2012	Wikipediots	vs	Lemondogs	16:12	Click for further info

Group B

#	Team	W	T	L	RW	RL	Diff	Points
1.	fnatic	2	0	0	32	18	+14	6
2.	SK Gaming	2	0	0	32	20	+12	6
3.	WinFakt	1	0	1	21	19	+2	3
4.	Moscow Five	1	0	1	22	21	+1	3
5.	Anexis	0	0	2	24	32	-8	0
6.	myRevenge	0	0	2	11	32	-21	0

May 8, 2012	SK	vs	myRevenge	16:8	Click for further info
May 8, 2012	Moscow Five	vs	WinFakt	16:5	Click for further info
May 8, 2012	fnatic	vs	Anexis	16:12	Click for further info

 

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ESC Gaming vs E2G
Result:	16:13 (5:10; 11:3)
Map:	de_train
Stage:	Group A (Round 2)
Media:	HLTV Demo
Fans' MotM:	Filip "Neo" Kubski (44%)

Match report

Two teams that suffered losses in their opening matches of FCL met in the first match of the second round. ESC Gaming were the heavy favorites in their clash with E2G and they did grab the 3 points, but not in an easy fashion. Also, E2G used a stand-in for this match, as their in-game leader Steeve "Ozstrik3r" Flavigni was unable to play, so Warren "CosMo" Boisnard was called up.

The teams selected de_train as a suitable battleground, on which the Polish team is considered to be one of the best in the world. Once again as in their previous match against Alternate, ESC lost the knife round and started on the less favored, Terrorist side, which even though they are known to be able to excel on, would prove to give them troubles in this encounter.

The French squad claimed the pistol-round and a 2-0 lead, but due to allowing the Poles a bomb-plant on the second round glock-eco, ESC was fully armed in the 3rd round. They took their chance and got onto the scoreboard early, making the score 2-2 shortly after.

E2G was put to the test in the next few rounds, as they easily could have crumbled under the pressure, but they showed that they have what it takes to play with the best. Thanks to some great AWPing by Fabien "atLaNtis" Deguiraud, they got to a 7-2 advantage before allowing ESC to increase their score again. One round later Deguiraud was in the spotlight again, winning a 1vs1 situation with a great reflex AWP shot, which brought the French to a 9-3 lead after another eco by the Poles.

ESC finally managed to string a couple of rounds with quick attacks on the outer bombsite which brought the score to 9-5, but the French got the last round of the half despite being armed with Desert Eagles only.

After the sides changed, the Poles started getting back into the game by winning the pistol-round, and although the French won the first buy for an 11-7 lead, ESC's perfect anti-eco in the previous round enabled them to remain fully armed. In this important round, Jakub "kuben" Gurczynsky and Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas stopped an inner-bombsite rush which brought the economy control to their team. They rode that advantage and denied the French team's attacks over and over, getting 7 rounds in a row to put themselves ahead 14-11.

E2G finally broke the streak, and just as it seemed they were on a good path to reducing the deficit even further with a solid start in the next round, Wojtas won a 1vs2 situation to bring ESC onto match point at 15-12. Although E2G replied with their 13th round in a semi-buy, ESC was never going to allow them to get back and they closed the deal with a 16-13 scoreline.

Match statistics

Individual performances

ESC Gaming didn't win this match thanks to any particular individual performance, seeing as all of their players contributed in some way.

The team's star and Fans' Man of the Match, Filip "Neo" Kubski had a mediocre performance overall, as he couldn't get anything going in the first half, being entry killed on 5 occasions. On the other hand, as the team started getting back into the game near the end of ESC's T-side, Kubski stepped up and recorded 16 kills in 11 rounds (helping to turn a 3-9 deficit into a 12-11 lead for ESC).

But it was Wiktor "TaZ" Wojtas and Jakub "kuben" Gurczynski who stood out the most in the Polish team. Wojtas was ESC's best fragger in the second half (18-7 score) and he won the important 1vs2 clutch when the score stood at 14-12.

Gurczynski, the team's in-game leader, was once again ESC's most stable player, same as in their first match. He had the most kills in total (27-17 score) and was the only one to play well in both halves.

The French team put up a better fight than expected, and they did that with a stand-in Warren "CosMo" Boisnard who turned out to be their best fragger. Team's best player from the last round, Michel "mshz" Nguyen was right behind him, and has perhaps left an even better impression thanks to some heroics with the AWP near the end of the match, and thanks to having 5 entry kills (all in full-buy rounds).

The third and the most stand-out performer from E2G was Fabien "atLaNtis" Deguiraud, whose first half display (15-6 score) was the main reason that the French even had a lead. He was by far the best player of the first 15 rounds, mainly thanks to the 10 AWP kills he recorded in that part and due to winning an important 1vs1 situation.

HLTV.org's MotM: Jakub "kuben" Gurczynski

Since Kubski was ineffective for the majority of the match, and in the part when he stepped up he didn't really win rounds on his own, I will have to disagree with the fans on this one. Therefore the choice falls down to either Wojtas or Gurczynski for the Man of the Match, and I'm gonna go with the in-game leader Gurczynski.

Although Wojtas was slightly better in the second half, in each round that he excelled in, Gurczynski made something happen too. And in addition to that, the latter was the most responsible for those 5 rounds ESC won in the first half, which proved to be very important, as the French showed they are able to pull out a few attacks themselves when the sides changed.

Dreamteam - Who you should have had in your team

Player	Pre-match price	Value increase	Role bonus
kuben	102853€	+4950€ (5%)	Camper (+575€)
TaZ	110941€	+3350€ (3%)	Sprayer (+1000€)

 

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Wikipediots vs Lemondogs
Result:	16:12 (6:9; 10:3)
Map:	de_tuscan
Stage:	Group A (Round 2)
Media:	HLTV Demo, POV Demo (coloN, turkizh), highlight (coloN)
Fans' MotM:	Morten "coloN" Johansen (72%)

Match report

The most interesting match of the round was once again directed by the fast-rising side Wikipediots. After defeating Natus Vincere (even though that match was voided in the meantime due to the Ukrainians dropping out of the league), the Danes overcame Lemondogs on de_tuscan 16-12.

Both teams played that map in the previous round as well (Lemondogs defeated E2G 16-5), and they were both confident on it coming into this match. Wikipediots won the knife round again and chose to start on their apparently weaker CT side, same as against Natus Vincere.

The match quickly started to resemble that one, as Lemondogs got up to a good start and a 5-0 lead. But this time Wikipediots didn't allow the result to slip away from them easily, as they defended successfully in the next few rounds, with Morten "coloN" Johansen's AWP 4-kill round inside the A bombsite bringing the score to 5-3.

However, Lemondogs were able to reply with a few clutch rounds, firstly Emil "FYRR73" Karlsson and Frej "kHRYSTAL" Sjöström won a 2-on-3 situation, and soon after Björn "threat" Pers won a 1vs2 to bring the Swedes further ahead 8-3.

After an eco round, Wikipediots gathered their strength and won the remaining rounds of the half, with another notable performance coming from Johansen in the meantime, as he again took out 4 opponents with his AWP defending the B bombsite.

With a 9-6 deficit, the Danes had to mount another second half comeback if they wanted to win, and Lemondogs weren't about to allow that. The Swedes took the pistol-round and brought the score to 11-6, before attempting to surprise Wikipediots with an aggressive setup in the first buy round.

Most of the Danes were caught off guard by that, except for Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth and Martin "trace" Heldt, who kept their calm and took out all of the Swedes, eventually winning this important round thanks to an excellent headshot through a box by Heldt in a 1vs1 situation.

That ignited the comeback by Wikipediots and gave Lemondogs money troubles, so a few successful attacks later the Danes were in the lead for the first time at 12-11.

Lemondogs finally broke the 6 rounds streak when Jim "zneel" Andersson won a 1vs2 with time expiring for a 12-12 scoreline, but Wikipediots replied right away and came into the closing rounds with very high confidence and economy control. Lemondogs were unable to recover and the match ended 16-12 in favor of Wikipediots, bringing them their first 3 points for the second time around.

Match statistics

Individual performances

Runner-up for Player of the Round last time around, Morten "coloN" Johansen repeated and perhaps even bested his performance from the Na`Vi match. He had 24 AWP kills against Lemondogs and his two highlights this time helped his team win important rounds of the first half.

The 29 kills, accomplished by him and his teammate Christian "turkizh" Bindslev, were the highest in a match in this round. Bindslev was also of great use to the team, especially in the second half when he was the best with a 16-7 score, and he had a few important entry kills near the very end.

The team's latest addition Martin "trace" Heldt struggled with internet problems throughout the match, as his ping reached over a 100 during the second half, but he dealt with the situation well and even clutched that important 3rd round of Wikipediots' Terrorist side.

The team's in-game leader Timm "ArcadioN" Henriksen and the young rising star Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth weren't as effective as last time, but they didn't disappoint either, and Højsleth was also crucial in that round that brought on the comeback.

Lemondogs shouldn't be too disheartened by the result, as they didn't underperform as much as they were outplayed by the Danes in the second half. All of their players had their moments, but the only one with more kills than deaths in the end was their last round's Man of the Match Niklas "niko" Johansson.

Johansson was the most responsible for Lemondogs' first half lead, as he was the only one playing above average for his team with an 18-10 score. He also started great in the second-half pistol-round, practically securing the round-win himself thanks to 3 headshots in "banana", but after that he couldn't get anything going.

HLTV.org's MotM: Morten "coloN" Johansen

Although Bindslev was the most stable player in the winning camp, everyone will probably agree that Johansen's moments of brilliance were more useful to his team, especially in the first half. Apart from those two highlight rounds, he also made a number of important and difficult AWP kills throughout the clash, which made him the definite choice for Man of the Match.

Dreamteam - Who you should have had in your team

Player	Pre-match price	Value increase	Role bonus
coloN	125447€	+7350€ (6%)	Sniper (+1000€)
turkizh	107800€	+6350€ (6%)	Sprayer (+850€)
niko	113466€	+2700€ (2%)	Pistoleer (+1000€)

 

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SK Gaming vs myRevenge
Result:	16:8 (11:4; 5:4)
Map:	de_dust2
Stage:	Group B (Round 2)
Media:	HLTV Demo
Fans' MotM:	Johan "face" Klasson (58%)

Match report

Coming from a difficult win over Anexis, SK Gaming met with the group's lowest seed myRevenge, who were overran by WinFakt last time out. Although a 16-8 scoreline might indicate that the Swedes had some difficulties in this match, there was actually never any doubt about the winner.

The German team once again wasn't in its full composition, this time using a different stand-in André "Kirby" Kempa instead of Jan "jaenson" Stuhldreher, while Max "avenue" Höltgen was back in contention after missing the first match.

The map was de_dust2 and myRevenge was handed the tough task of defending first. They actually made a perfect start, winning the pistol-round with no men lost thanks to a great setup by Marten "mat" Gehrke and Rainer "maKz" Hofmann-Wellenhof at "catwalk".

But SK bought Desert Eagles in the next round and immediately destroyed the German team's hopes. Even though myRevenge almost managed to surprise the Swedes with a buy in the next round, SK took the lead and never looked back.

myRevenge did manage to win a few more rounds until the end of the half (11-4 score), but it must be pointed out that SK's attacks were as direct as possible and they seemed sure of the victory by just rushing to bombsites in most of the rounds.

The German team did win the second pistol-round too, which secured them 3 more rounds in total after adding the ecos by SK, making the score 11-7. But as soon as the Swedes got hold of the big guns, they encountered no more problems, apart from dropping a round after reaching 14, as Marcus "Delpan" Larsson's AWP made the difference in the rest of the match.

Match statistics

Individual performances

Three members of SK stood out individually and collected over 20 kills each, but apart from them it's also worth mentioning Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg, who despite playing far from his best, still made great impact in several rounds.

Marcus "Delpan" Larsson, who recently returned to the team, continued playing well after his Player of the Round performance against Anexis in the previous match. This time he collected 16 AWP kills and 5 entry kills, as myRevenge couldn't find a way to get past him in the second half.

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund had another very consistent display, while Johan "face" Klasson was the best rated player of the match, and he stood out in a few tough situations once again.

On the other side, Max "avenue" Höltgen, who was once named Rookie of the Year in EPS Germany, showed solid skills in his first match of this league, getting at least one kill in 16 of the 24 rounds, and finishing with a 21-16 score, 6-0 entry score and two 1vsX situations won.

HLTV.org's MotM: Johan "face" Klasson

The Fans' and my selection for Man of the Match is the top rated Klasson, who however did get a lot of kills in anti-eco rounds, which made the choice between him, Alesund and Larsson a bit harder. But looking back at the start of the match when SK was still acquiring the lead, he was the one who stepped up the most.

After a crucial role in winning the second round Deagle-buy, he was involved in overturning all rounds that started badly for SK in the first half, helping them win a 2-on-4, a 2-on-3 and finally a 2-on-5 with Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg, which made him the clear choice in the end.

Dreamteam - Who you should have had in your team

Player	Pre-match price	Value increase	Role bonus
face	112768€	+8300€ (7%)	Sprayer (+1000€)
GeT_RiGhT	125550€	+3700€ (3%)	Sprayer (+1000€)
Delpan	125705€	+3150€ (2%)	Sniper (+1000€)
avenue	98088€	+2550€ (3%)	First Fragger (+1000€)

 

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Moscow Five vs WinFakt
Result:	16:5 (12:3; 4:2)
Map:	de_inferno
Stage:	Group B (Round 2)
Media:	HLTV Demo, POV Demo (Fox), highlight (Fox)
Fans' MotM:	Eduard "ed1k" Ivanov (46%)

Match report

Following a 16-6 defeat to fnatic in the first round, the Russian team Moscow Five met with WinFakt in what was expected to be a tight match. However, the Finns severely underperformed and were unable to put up even a decent fight, making this the most one-sided match of the league so far.

Moscow Five again played without its star player Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov who is still on vacation, so Alexander "xek" Zobkov was called up for this match too.

The start of the match itself indicated that Moscow Five will dominate, as they stacked four players in the small bombsite, expecting and easily neutralizing a pistol rush from WinFakt. They fought off a Deagle buy and a few more rounds after that, quickly bringing their lead to 6-0.

Even when WinFakt finally won a round, their money system was reset right away and the Russians continued piling on their misery. Near the end of the half, Moscow Five got a little complacent, allowing their opponents to win a 2-on-4 situation, as well as the last round of the half when the Finns were armed with Deagles only.

That made the score 12-3 before sides were changed, and even though WinFakt won the second pistol-round, Moscow Five had enough money to buy a few rifles in the next round, which they took advantage of. Soon after, the match ended with a 16-5 victory for the Russians, certainly much easier than they expected.

Match statistics

Individual performances

Considering the dominant nature of Moscow Five's victory, it's clear that all of their players enjoyed a good performance. That made a few of them the perfect picks for your Dreamteam, especially considering that their prices dropped after last round's defeat to fnatic.

Roman "ROMJkE" Makarov and Alexander "xek" Zobkov were overshadowed by their teammates for the most part, but Zobkov did stand out with several good entry kills.

The newest member of the team who had a forgettable debut against fnatic, Roman "hacker" Abramov, showed why he was brought on. His 10 AWP kills made very good impact in the first half, during which he also helped win a few close rounds.

Sergey "Fox" Stolyarov was one of the two stars of the match, as he played great in the first half and even recorded a highlight round when he singlehandedly stopped an attack to the B-bobmsite.

Fans' Man of the Match, Eduard "ed1k" Ivanov was the top rated player in both halves, and with a 2.04 rating in the end he was top rated in this round among all players. His aggressive style was one of the main reasons that M5 broke WinFakt, as he recorded 6 entry kills.

In WinFakt's camp no one will be happy with their efforts, as even their star player Timi "aslak" Verkkoperä and last round's Man of the Match Aleksi "allu" Jalli woke up too late when the match was already decided.

HLTV.org's MotM: Eduard "ed1k" Ivanov

The obvious choice from this match is Ivanov, who excelled from start till the end and recorded the highest rating so far in the league. He had a very nice 3-kill round with the AWP near the end of the half, and he also stood out in the last round of the match with 4 kills, including the entry.

Dreamteam - Who you should have had in your team

Player	Pre-match price	Value increase	Role bonus
ed1k	109156€	+9750€ (9%)	Hacker (+1000€)
Fox	101301€	+5350€ (5%)	Camper (+890€)
hacker	103015€	+3600€ (3%)	Sniper (+1000€)

 

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fnatic vs Anexis
Result:	16:12 (8:7; 8:5)
Map:	de_inferno
Stage:	Group B (Round 2)
Media:	HLTV Demo
Fans' MotM:	Michael "Friis" Jørgensen (50%)

Match report

After putting up a great fight against SK in the first round, Anexis repeated the solid performance against another Swedish powerhouse, but still remained without points. This time fnatic had to fight hard for the 3 points against the Danes, which they eventually took following a 16-12 victory on de_inferno.

This match-up produced the most even fight so far in the league, as neither team managed to build up a lead larger than 4 rounds difference, while the result was tied on four occasions.

Anexis started off by winning the pistol-round thanks to the most talked about player from their team in the last week, Jonas "zanoj" Velling, who won a 1vs2 situation.

That eventually turned into a 3-0 advantage for the Danes, but as soon as fnatic saved up some money and Michael "Friis" Jørgensen equipped himself with the AWP, the Swedish-Danish squad started rolling. They won 7 rounds in a row to take a commanding 7-3 lead, but Anexis wouldn't give up just yet.

The Danes picked up their first buy-round wins with a couple of well executed attacks and a clumsy rush by fnatic, and soon the score stood at 7-6. The last two rounds of the half were exchanged and fnatic went into their T-side with a minimal advantage.

Anexis won the second pistol-round as well and after an ace against a glock eco by Velling, they were once again in the lead, 9-8. A real battle ensued when fnatic bought rifles, as then they turned the score around to 11-9, but Anexis fought valiantly and brought it to 11-11, at which point it was anyone's match.

In the next few rounds, fnatic's main AWPer Jørgensen stepped up getting some crucial kills which brought fnatic onto match point at 15-11. An impressive solo performance from Nicolaj "Nuggi" Larsen with 3 quick and no-scope AWP shots brought back some hope to Anexis, but in the last round it was Jørgensen again with 4 kills in a 3-on-5 situation that decided the match in fnatic's favor, 16-12.

Match statistics

Individual performances

Due to this being such a close match, no one will be very happy to have picked some of these players for their Dreamteam.

Rasmus "Gux" Ståhl didn't seem to be in form during his debut in the league, but the rest of fnatic's players, even though they didn't excel, all played important roles in some way.

Their Man of the Match from last round, Andreas "MODDII" Fridh has definitely had much better performances than this, but he still defended well in the first half. Finn "karrigan" Andersen was the team's most stable player, while Richard "Xizt" Landström was involved in almost every close round win for his team.

After an unnoticeable display in the first match, and despite some easy shots missed in this one, Michael "Friis" Jørgensen's AWP played a crucial role against his former teammates. In total he had 15 AWP kills, while particularly stepping up in the final stages of the clash, which was rewarded by the fans who voted him Man of the Match.

As far as the members of Anexis are concerned, a few of them also contributed significantly to making this a close match. Their main threat was their star player Nicolaj "Nuggi" Larsen whose 11 AWP kills closely rivaled his opposing AWPer.

The best rated player of the match was actually 18-year-old Jonas "zanoj" Velling, and although that was mainly thanks to his ace against a glock-eco (first ace of the competition), he still had quite a solid display as the best entry killer of the match (6-2 entry score).

HLTV.org's MotM: Michael "Friis" Jørgensen

On this occasion, statistics weren't of any help during the decision making, as four of fnatic's players were very similar in that regard. But when we dig in deeper to see how much influence they had at which rounds, it becomes apparent that Jørgensen must be the Man of the Match.

One of the best AWPers in the world proved himself once again by stepping up when it mattered most. As the score stood at 11-11, he stepped up and recorded 8 kills in the next 6 rounds, each more important than the one before.

Firstly he opened up a round with an excellent entry kill; then in the next round he took out two opponents to help win a 2-on-4 situation. The round after that he had another important kill in a 3-on-3 situation to enter the small bombsite, and in the last round of the match he topped it all off with 4 kills in a 3-on-5.

Dreamteam - Who you should have had in your team

Player	Pre-match price	Value increase	Role bonus
zanoj	112539€	+4350€ (4%)	Pistoleer (+1000€)

 

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In the previous vote, Marcus "Delpan" Larsson was selected as the Player of the Round with 39% of the votes. Let's see what you think about this round's best performer.

[playerpoll=26]

In case you missed the recap of the first round, you can check it out here.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below about any of these matches, teams, players and of course, your Dreamteam progress.

Stay tuned to HLTV.org for full coverage of the league, as we will keep you up to date with matches, demos and statistics.