The two semi finals were held yesterday at the Odense Arena with both the matches taking an unexpected turn of events. The good thing it that we were treated with some excellent counter strike and a grand final in which one cannot predict anything.
Here is a quick recap of both the matches:-
1. Natus Vincere vs Fnatic-
Fnatic beat Na’Vi 2:1 in the first semi final. The game started off by Na’Vi picking Inferno while Fnatic chose Nuke and Overpass was left out to be the decider. Fnatic dominated from the right go and were even tied at 14:14 in the first map. The only problem was that they did not have a economy to support any more losses and eventually lost the map 14:16. For Na’Vi it was “S1mple” who topped the scoring charts with 24 kills with “Bloomb4” closely following with 24 frags.
Fnatic who came mighty close in picking up the first map shifted their focus on the second map Nuke.The first half was again a closely contested affair with Fnatic edging out a 8:7 lead. Fnatic changed the pace in the second half and never allowed Na’Vi to get hold of their economy. It was more of a team effort from Fnatic with no single player shining out. Fnatic won the map 16:11 with their crisp and co-ordinated plays.“Electronic” had the most kills on the entire server with 27 frags while “Golden” and “JW” were tied with 22 kills.
Moving on to Overpass it was predicted that the team who can have more involvement with the AWP on the CT side would go on to win the match. Na’Vi were presented with the first chance to justify the claim but were shot down in their tracks by Fnatic. NaVi’s primary awper “Guardian” had a forgettable outing as he could not muster any of his shots. Hence it was left to the rest of the squad to cover their losses which they couldn’t do so. As a result of the ineffectiveness Fnatic raced to a 11:4 lead at the end of the first half. To make a comeback, Na’Vi needed the pistol round to go their way and it did go in their way. They converted the following round too but once Fnatic were able to bring out the rifles it was no stopping them. They won 5 rounds in a row to close out the map and the series 16:6 and move on the grand finals. “JW” top fragged with 21 kills and book a place in the grand finals.
2. Astralis vs Mousesports
This turned out to be a crazy crazy game of Counter Strike whilst lasting over 4 hours. At the end of this gruelling series it was Mousesports who came out victorious with a 2:1 scoreline. As for the map picks Mouz picked Train, Astralis picked Overpass and Dust II was left as the decider.
Starting on T side of Train, Mouz struggled with the double AWP set up bought up by Astralis which resulted in situations with very less bomb plants. Mouz somehow managed to claw 5 rounds and end the half with a 5:10 scoreline. Shifting to the CT side Mouz bought out their own double AWP set up to disrupt Astralis’s flow. The first 30 rounds ended in a stalemate with the score tied at 15:15. Going into overtime Mousesports held their nerve at 17:18 down to force a double overtime. After closing out the gap two times Mouz managed to close out the map 22:19. Expectedly it was “Woxic” who topped the scoring charts with 38 kills to his name.
Astralis pick of Overpass was a very logical one with Mouz not playing that map very often. The first half was a close contest which Mouz managed to win 8:7. Shifting to the CT side Astralis stood their ground allowing Mouz to win only a single round and win the map 16:9. Clutch minister “Xyp9x” had the most kills.(23)
Dust II was an absolute grind out with both desperate to win the series. At first it looked like Astralis would emerge victorious racing to 10:5 lead in the first half and then extending the lead to 14:8. Everything seemed to be going in Astralis favour and Mouz out of answers to conquer it. But all it required was a 2 vs 2 situation going in favour to Mouz to change the tide. Through hook or crook Mouz managed to hold some very nervy situations and were the first to reach match and series point. They continued their momentum and eventually won 16:14, stringing 8 rounds in a row at the end. Even though it was “Woxic” who had the most kills(78), the impact that “chrisJ” created could not be undermined. “Ropz” and “frozen” too had their moments and perhaps the biggest victory they had ever had in their professional careers.
