Na’Vi’s stars would flex their muscles against Fnatic, and Mousesports’ newest star would propel them to a win against FaZe Clan on Day Two of the ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier.
Natus Vincere were looking like one of the strongest CS:GO teams in the world. Their performance at ESL One Cologne was a testament to their teamwork, as well as their firepower. Star player Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev is arguably the best player in the world at the moment. They look to prove themselves once again, facing off versus some of the best competition in the CS:GO scene.
FaZe Clan looks to avenge a subpar ending to their ESL One Cologne run. However, we all know that Cologne was home to many upsets that tournament. They now return to the stage with a familiar face, Olof “Olofmeister” Kajbjer, who was absent for four months. His replacement, Jørgen “cromen” Robertsen had a great showing while standing in. FaZe Clan also want to go into the FACEIT London Major on a high note. Their quest for the Intel Grand Slam could be finished if they can win that trophy this coming September.
Fnatic would also be coming to the ELEAGUE Premier with revenge in mind. They were sent home early at ESL One Cologne by eventual winners Na’Vi, with a 2-0. The newest addition to the team, AWPer William “draken” Sundin aims to build on an unconvincing performance. We will need to see if in-game leader Richard “Xizt” Landström can help guide this team to another Major appearance.
Finally, Mousesports might have had the most disappointing showing at ESL One Cologne out of all the teams in Group B. They were looking weak as a squad and did not seem to have much synergy. They would finish in ninth place after losing to G2 Esports and Finnish organization ENCE eSports. Also, their acquisition in former Virtus.pro star Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski did not seem to bring much fruition, but they could prove people wrong this time around.
Na’Vi Take Down Fnatic
Natus Vincere and Fnatic would kick off the events for Group B with a bang. After a back and forth affair on Mirage, Na’Vi would jump out to a one map lead. The second map Inferno would prove to be the same. Many rounds, Fnatic would barely scrape by with a win, with multiple members on single digit HP. Draken would play extremely well on Inferno, counting for the most frags at the end of the map with 34. A big stat to look out for is Draken’s 10 opening duel wins out of 13. He was the most important player on the team, and he would help Fnatic take the W to force a third map.
.@electronicCsgo and @flamiecsgo with a monstrous 2v5 pistol round win. pic.twitter.com/ltQPk6SfNW
— ELEAGUE (@ELEAGUETV) July 22, 2018
Unfortunately, Fnatic would lose their footing on Train. After using their momentum from Inferno to an early lead, Na’Vi would find their stride in the second half. Fnatic would actually fumble on multiple chances to get more momentum for themselves, and Na’Vi’s stars would step up in a big way. For example, S1mple would perform like the beast he is with 27 frags to his name. Flamie would also contribute with 20 frags, and Na’Vi would take their first win of the tournament.
Mousesports Spoil FaZe’s Return Party For Olofmeister
It was an impressive day for returning FaZe Clan member Olofmeister. However, it wasn’t enough to lift FaZe to victory, as Mousesports had no care for the return party.
It would look great for FaZe early, on their first map, Train. Olofmeister would lead his team and the server with 25 kills at the half. FaZe would also go into the half with a big lead, 11-4. However, FaZe would take their feet off the gas pedal. Mouz manages to bring it back on the CT side, winning 7 rounds. Luckily, Olof and the boys would find their footing later in the match and close it out. Also, NiKo gave fans a styling finish for the last round of the map:
Superhuman play from @fazeniko and @FaZeclan takes the first map! pic.twitter.com/PWeKXPDwWv
— ELEAGUE (@ELEAGUETV) July 22, 2018
Unfortunately, FaZe would not be able to use this momentum to take any other maps. On the next map, Cache, Mousesports would look much more coordinated and focused, with a lot of diversity with their strategies. Also, Snax would finally show up for Mousesports, with 27 kills and leading the team in all categories for the team on the map.
The third map would be very back and forth, with Mousesports taking an early 6-1 lead, only for FaZe Clan to come back and take an 8-7 lead at the halftime. Suddenly, FaZe would lose five rounds in a row and lost all steam after their strong half. Olof is a bit quieter on Mirage, with only 13 kills and the star-studded lineup not showing up. Also, Oskar and chrisJ were influential players, finding high impact kills on rounds that could have gone either way. As a result, Mousesports look great heading into the Upper Bracket of the tournament.
What are your thoughts on the results of the ELEAGUE Premier’s Group B? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! If you want more CS:GO content, check us out here!
Published: Jul 23, 2018 12:29 am