28.10.2020 - 07:53

The first two days of Elisa Invitational Fall 2020 ended with celebrations of MAD Lions and GODSENT. There were only one surprise, as Heroic lost their opener against Apeks. Other than that, favorites kept their cool.

PhaseTeamTeamScoreMap
Group A OpenerHeroicApeks16 – 19Inferno
Group A OpenerMAD LionsAGF16 – 13Train
Group A WinnersMAD LionsApeks16 – 7Nuke
Group B OpenerGODSENTLyngby Vikings16 – 7Inferno
Group B OpenerHAVUDignitas16 – 5Nuke
Group B WinnersGODSENTHAVU16 – 6Nuke

Day 1 – Group A Openers and Winners

Opening match #1 – Heroic vs. Apeks – Inferno

Heroic had a strong start, showing little to no signs of fatigue in their T side. They had won the best-of-five final of DreamHack Open Fall less than 12 hours earlier, so their best form wasn’t certainly expected. They lost pistol round without a bomb plant, but it didn’t stop them from winning the force buy right after. At their best, they led 7-2, before Apeks came back to 7-8 half time score.

Heroic won CT pistol round and stormed quickly to 12-7 lead. Apeks finally got their T side rolling, after breaking the economy of Heroic. Apeks won six rounds in a row to take the lead for a moment. In the end, they had a 15-14 before Heroic forced the match to overtime.

Momentum didn’t shift towards Heroic though, as overtime was as difficult for them as the second half. Apeks managed to close the surprising victory 19-16.

Opening match #2 – MAD Lions vs. AGF – Train

The first domestic battle was held between two Danish teams MAD Lions and AGF. MAD Lions started with a pistol round win, but force buys were won three times before AGF took three rounds in a row. Neither team dominated the half, and the halftime score was 8-7 for MAD Lions.

AGF had a strong start for their T side, as force buys were not so dominant anymore. They led 10-8, when MAD Lions had their first gun round and they put on a strong defence. Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen and Ismail “refrezh” Ali won their first official match with MAD Lions, as the match ended 16-13 in their favor.

Winners match – MAD Lions vs. Apeks – Nuke

MAD Lions lost their CT pistol, but turned the tide quickly by winning the following force buy. Apeks couldn’t hold their ground too well on CT side, as they couldn’t string two rounds in a row. MAD Lions won their T side convincingly 11-4.

Apeks had a glimpse of comeback by taking the first three rounds. Then it was all MAD Lions, as they took the first qualifier final spot by winning the map 16-7.

Day 2 – Group B Openers and Winners

Opening match #1 – GODSENT vs. Lyngby Vikings – Inferno

Lyngby Vikings replaced ENCE in the tournament and had a decent start by winning their CT pistol round against GODSENT. However, GODSENT came in guns blazing after that. After winning their force buy, they dominated rest of the half with 12-3 scoreline.

Vikings won the second pistol round as well, starting a comeback with four round wins. GODSENT won a partial buy round, and forced Vikings to try force buy after force buy, until they took the victory 16-7.

Opening match #2 – HAVU vs. Dignitas – Nuke

Dignitas didn’t have the best possible conditions, as their in-game leader Adam “friberg” Friberg reported about his positive coronavirus test a couple hours before the match.

He showed up during the pistol round though, as Dignitas took the lead with a nice retake. And then it was all HAVU after that. Dignitas won only two gun rounds during their CT half, as HAVU took a convincing 11-4 lead.

Once again, HAVU lost pistol only to win the second round. Dignitas had no chance, as HAVU won 16-5 in a quick fashion.

Winners match – GODSENT vs. HAVU – Nuke

The last match of the day settled the first group winner. Jesse “zehN” Linjala was on point against his former team, grabbing two knife kills during the first half. GODSENT won their first pistol round of the tournament, but despite their good 3-0 start, HAVU climbed to a decent 6-9 score in the end of their T-side.

That was literally all they could get, as GODSENT didn’t lose a single round as terrorists. Convincing 16-6 victory for GODSENT, and they moved on to qualifier final.

Schedule & broadcasts

Tournament continues with the following schedule (EET timezone, all matches are best-of-three):

Wednesday 28.10.
11:00 Group A Losers match: Heroic – AGF
14:00 Group B Losers match: Dignitas – Lyngby Vikings

Thursday 29.10.
11:00 Group A Decider match: Apeks – Heroic / AGF
14:00 Group B Decider match: HAVU – Dignitas / Lyngby Vikings

Sunday 1.11.
16:00 Qualifier final #1: GODSENT – Group A #2
20:00 Qualifier final #2: MAD Lions – Group B #2

Broadcasts