Recap of Elisa Invitational Day 3 – Playoffs
ENCE qualified for BLAST Premier Spring Showdown Europe with a 2-0 win against Apeks in the qualifier final. Apeks had advanced to final match after they defeated KOVA 2-0.
KOVA-Apeks (0-2)
Norwegian forces must have been surprised about getting another underdog as their playoff opponent. They were third-placed team in Group A by winning against GODSENT, while KOVA took second place of Group B by beating North and Nordavind.
Map veto offered no surprises. Apeks removed their permaban Train and KOVA removed Overpass. Apeks picked Mirage and KOVA picked Vertigo. Nuke would have been the decider map.
Mirage (Apeks 16-12)
Apeks looked lost in their T-side pistol, but starting from their first gun round, it was a completely different story. Dennis “dennis” Edman showed his experience, as he was quite a menace to KOVA’s defence, and eventually Apeks had a solid 7-2 lead. KOVA found their rhythm and took five of the last six rounds. Half-time score 8-7 to Apeks.
Apeks won CT-pistol and had no trouble at all shutting down KOVA’s following force and eco buys, increasing their lead quickly to 11-7. After a couple of back and forth rounds, KOVA managed to broke the CT economy. Finnish fellowship had the perfect chance to tie the score 13-13 against full eco.
It wasn’t completely full eco though, as Kristian “akEz” Kornbakk had saved AK from the previous round. KOVA had 5v4 against three pistols and one AK, but akEz turned the round over to Norwegians with three AK frags and some help from his teammates. KOVA had to make two force buys as a last-ditch effort, but Apeks ran to victory 16-12.
Vertigo (Apeks 16-11)
Pistol rounds weren’t favoring KOVA too much today, as Apeks started once again with a solid 3-0 lead in their CT side. KOVA took three back to make it a 3-3 tie, before Apeks found one to shake KOVA’s economy to two weaker buys. KOVA couldn’t get their attacks going, as akEz was once again making plays. Apeks might have won the half 11-4, if it wasn’t for KOVA’s Tec-9 train to take their fifth round win. Apeks had no money for the last round, allowing KOVA to make it 6-9 half-time score.
Needless to say, Apeks won pistol round and strolled to 12-6 lead, despite cost-effective rounds by KOVA. The first gun round was successful, and KOVA managed to cut the lead to 12-11. Then it was Tec-9 time, as Apeks won their half buy with three kills by akEz. The next round looked like KOVA had 3v1 retake in the bag, but dennis stopped the defuse through the smoke. Apeks went on to seal the qualifier final spot with a 16-11 victory.
Player highlight: akEz
During their three group stage maps, akEz averaged only 0.95 Rating, despite the massive 1.55 Rating performance against GODSENT with 29 kills. Unfortunately for KOVA, that same akEz was seen in the server in both Mirage and Vertigo. His eco round heroics helped Apeks close Mirage, and he dropped a 30-bomb on Vertigo. He had 51 kills, 1.42 Rating and 95.5 ADR to carry his team to qualifier final against ENCE.
ENCE-Apeks (2-0)
ENCE was the obvious favorite for the qualifier final, but Apeks put up a good fight, until the latter half of the second map. Map veto started with no real surprises as both team removed their perma bans – Train (Apeks) and Vertigo (ENCE). Apeks picked Nuke, as they aimed to extend ENCE’s eight map losing streak. ENCE picked Dust2, which hadn’t been victorious for Apeks for their last five attempts in HLTV matches. Mirage was left out as the decider, but it wasn’t needed.
Nuke (ENCE 16-13)
Apeks kept their pistol win streak going, but ENCE didn’t let them off the hook easily. ENCE lost force buy, but saved a few weapons for the following full eco. Ole Kristian “Marcelious” Langan had to clutch 1v2 to make it 3-0. Therefore, only one gun round win was enough for ENCE to make a break. Finnish team won four rounds in a row, making some bank in the process.
Apeks took the lead back to 5-4, and finally broke the money of ENCE by winning one more. However, allu had saved his AWP, and five-seven was everything Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen needed to put a stop to secret push.
ENCE took back control to finish the half 8-7, and came in their T-side guns blazing. After ENCE’s five-round long dominance, Apeks finally stopped them in their tracks. The losing streak of eight Nukes seemed to continue for ENCE, as Apeks came back from 7-13 to 13-13.
ENCE decided that enough is enough, and took the lead back with a beautiful A-hall rush by Jere “sergej” Salo and Jani “Aerial” Jussila. The comeback died swiftly and ENCE went on to close the map 16-13.
Dust2 (ENCE 16-8)
Apeks kept impressive pace in their CT-side, starting from the pistol round. They put constant pressure for ENCE, and took 4-1 lead in the process. That one round win for ENCE was beautifully clutched by Jamppi.
The momentum shifted for ENCE’s favor, when they took their second round win and Apeks faced economic challenges. The rounds were traded back and forth, until Apeks ensured the half win by winning three rounds in a row, making it 8-6. Little did they know, that was it for their tournament.
ENCE won their last T-side round, and all their nine CT rounds to close match and the BLAST Premier Showdown Europe spot with a 16-8 victory. And they closed it with style, as Jamppi and allu smashed the opposition with the double AWP setup.
Player highlight: allu
Nobody can stop GOD allu, when he’s on point. His statistics pretty much speak for themselves:
- Nuke: 34 kills, 116.5 ADR, 1.86 Rating, 8-1 entry duels.
- Dust2: 20 kills, 84.6 ADR, 1.32 Rating, 3-1 entry duels.
- Overall: 54 kills, 102.1 ADR, 1.61 Rating, 11-2 entry duels
One down, one to go
It’s the last day of Elisa Invitational. We shall see, who gets the next spot for BLAST Premier Spring Showdown Europe, among Ninjas in Pyjamas, Vitality, Astralis and ENCE.
North and Dignitas start the day 17:00 EEST, while Heroic waits in the qualifier final 21:00 EEST. Remember to follow ElisaEsports on Twitter and either ElisaViihdeSport or BLASTPremier on Twitch to catch the action.
Group Stage is over for Elisa Invitational. Group B definitely delivered, as Heroic topped the group with three wins and KOVA was surprisingly the close second. North won the last playoff spot by defeating Nordavind.
KOVA vs Nordavind (Nuke 16-6)
Group B started with a bang – provided by Finnish young hitters. KOVA started on the T side, winning pistol round. Nordavind won the following force buy, but KOVA hit back by winning their own. After that, it was all KOVA. They marched to victory, round after round, eventually to 10-1 lead before Nordavind got a grip. The Finnish underdogs led 11-4, when the sides were swapped.
Second half didn’t last long, as KOVA won pistol round, the following anti-force and anti-eco. Nordavind’s comeback never really started as KOVA closed the match 16-6 with no trouble at all.
Player highlight: derkeps
The 17-year-old star AWPer Nikita “derkeps” Sirmitev eliminated everyone in his sights. Even though the match lasted only 22 rounds, derkeps still had 31 kills. What’s even more incredible, he had 147.9 ADR and astonishing 2.42 Rating. He also won all of his eight entry duels.
North vs Heroic (Nuke 6-16)
The scenes didn’t change much for the second game, as Danish teams battled in Nuke as well. North won their T-side pistol, but Heroic answered back right away by winning the following force-buy. North had good attacks, but Heroic took the Ws, leading 11-2 before North grabbed two last rounds of the half.
Once again, North won pistol round but their momentum didn’t last too long. Heroic won their first gun round and didn’t look back. First two matches of Group B had the same map with the same result, as Heroic ran over North 16-6.
Player highlight: stavn
Young hitters have been on fire during this tournament and this match kept that thing going. Heroic’s youngest player, 18-year-old Martin “stavn” Lund was hitting his shots. 24 kills, 102.2 ADR and 1.65 Rating, in addition to 95.5% KAST were the leading factor for their win, as North won entry duels 12-10, but couldn’t convert the round wins against their countrymen.
Heroic vs Nordavind (Dust2 16-12)
Nordavind won T-side pistol and the following anti-eco, before Heroic won their first gun round and forced Nordavind to eco. Fortunately for the international roster, they won that eco and three following rounds to take a solid 6-1 lead. Heroic had the last laugh, as they won all the eight rounds to close the half 9-6.
Heroic took 10-6 lead by winning T-side pistol with massive 1v3 clutch by Johannes “b0rup” Borup, but Nordavind won the following force buy and two more. Neither team could get the momentum going, before Heroic took the lead 12-11 and destroyed Nordavind’s bank in the process.
After two lost eco rounds and one gun round, Nordavind had their backs against the wall 11-15. Their comeback lasted only one round, before Heroic closed 16-12.
Player highlight: b0RUP
Heroic had a lot of performers, as all five players had 1+ Rating. Stavn top-fragged with 25 kills and 93 ADR, but b0RUP wasn’t far off with 23 kills and 88.7 ADR. He had the best Rating – 1.30 – and his pistol clutch was one to remember.
North vs KOVA (Vertigo 14-16)
KOVA surprised many by destroying Nordavind, but they had a lot more left in their tank. North won T-side pistol and two more, as KOVA’s force buy wasn’t successful. And that’s pretty much it for the terrorist side success for North. KOVA won round after round, until North took one back with a half-buy on 13th round, before KOVA closed half with a confident 11-4 lead.
That wasn’t it though, as North won the pistol once again and even though KOVA did some damage, North came back to 8-11. KOVA needed only one round win to push North to eco, and they seemed to be cruising away when they took 14-9 lead, as North was forced to a weaker buy.
You couldn’t write any better script than this, as North won four nail-biter retakes in a row to close the gap to 13-14. Next round ended with a 1v1 clutch, as KOVA’s Lauri “pietola” Hietala and North’s Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen looked each other in the eye before the time ran out: 14-14.
Finally KOVA pulled themselves together, won the following round by – surprise, surprise – excellent openings on B site by derkeps and closed the match confidently with A site execute, 16-14.
Player highlight: uli
Unsurprisingly, derkeps destroyed the opposition on the CT side with 18 kills and 115.2 ADR. He was also top fragger with 27 kills, but the more difficult T side was led by Samu “uli” Leirilaakso. He gathered 11 kills, 98.4 ADR and 1.23 Rating, the one and only 1+ Rating of KOVA’s T-side. Overall he had 22 kills and the best ADR – 97.8.
North vs Nordavind (19-17 Nuke)
Both teams needed the W to stay on tournament, as Heroic and KOVA had beaten both of them. Despite their match losses, North had won all pistol rounds so far, and that streak kept going as they started their CT side. Their 3-0 lead didn’t last long though, as Nordavind broke their money and managed to tie it up 4-4.
North got their guns back, and their confidence with them, sweeping the rest of the half with only one bomb plant by Nordavind. Half-time score was 11-4 for North as Philip “aizy” Aistrup (CT-side: 25 kills, 111.7 ADR, 100% KAST) and Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye (CT-side: 15 kills, 111.9 ADR) stopped Nordavind’s efforts on their tracks constantly.
Nordavind needed the pistol round desperately, and they put an end to North’s win streak. The comeback train kept its schedule, as Nordavind lost only two of their first eleven CT rounds, tying the game 13-13. The Danish lions woke up and finally broke the defence two rounds in a row, but Nordavind fought their way back to 15-15.
Nordavind took the lead in their CT side 17-16, but North’s defence was even stronger. No T round wins for Nordavind, so North made their way to playoffs with 19-17 win.
Player highlight: aizy
Interestingly, even though aizy top-fragged with massive 38 kills, 1.46 Rating and 86.1% KAST, his ADR was “only” 83.9. Kjaerbye topped that with 91.2, as he provided 12 assists to his teammates. Five of aizy’s frags were entries, out of eight entry duels overall.
Heroic vs KOVA (Nuke 16-13)
The last match of the day had interesting stakes, thanks to surprising results. The loser of the match would face Apeks in the semifinal, and potentially ENCE in the qualifier final after that. The winner would have spot in the qualifier final on Sunday, but the opponent would be either Dignitas or North.
It looked like both teams wanted to take that spot in the qualifier final, even though KOVA had a rough start. For the same day, it was the second time KOVA won T-side pistol, and the second time they lost the following round against CT force buy. KOVA looked really lost, as Heroic dominated their way to 7-1 lead. The Finnish forces woke up slowly, eventually making it 4-11 half-time scoreline.
And then it was time for the derkeps show. KOVA took the first five rounds, but the bomb plant of the last one of those allowed Heroic to buy once more. They took their first T-side win with AKs, and 11-9 lead was quickly grown to 15-10. KOVA won with a desperate force buy, and one more round to break Heroic’s economy. KOVA was two rounds away, trailing 13-15, when Heroic bought and managed to close the game.
Player highlight: b0RUP
On Heroic’s CT-side, stavn and Casper “cadiaN” Møller boasted 108.3 and 107 ADRs, but b0RUP helped them close the match and seal the group victory with his T side efforts. In total, b0RUP had 23 kills, 82.7 ADR and 1.25 Rating. He won 5/7 of his entry duels.
Honorable mention: Despite KOVA losing, derkeps had 30 kills, 101.6 ADR and 1.57 Rating. Seven entry frags with only two entry deaths for the youngster.
Playoff bracket
Now we say goodbye to best-of-ones, as playoffs will be played completely as best-of-three matches. KOVA versus Apeks is our first semi-final matchup, and the winner fights ENCE to take the first BLAST Premier Spring Showdown Europe spot. Sunday starts with a banger, as North and Dignitas want to advance to final against undefeated Heroic.
Semi-finals start 17:00 EEST, qualifier finals 21:00 EEST. Remember to follow ElisaEsports on Twitter and either ElisaViihdeSport or BLASTPremier on Twitch to catch the action.
First day of Elisa Invitational was full of action. After six best-of-one matches, ENCE went straight to the qualifier final, Dignitas and Apeks claimed semi-final spots and GODSENT saw the end of their tournament after three maps.
Dignitas vs Apeks (Nuke 16-8)
The first match of the day offered no surprises. Dignitas started off with a strong performance on their terrorist side, taking confident 8-2 lead. Apeks couldn’t string two round wins together during the first ten rounds, leaving their economy in a bad state. They managed to win four of the last five rounds, climbing the half-time score to 6-9.
Dignitas was leading confidently coming in their CT side. They won pistol round and three more, to gain 13-6 lead. Once again, Apeks couldn’t win two rounds in a row, meaning that Dignitas didn’t have to leave their comfort zone too much. Norwegians didn’t stand a chance, as hallzerk and NiP legends stormed their way to 16-8 victory.
Player highlight: hallzerk
The Norwegian ZywOo, Håkon “hallzerk” Fjærli, definitely delivered, as he top-fragged with a 23 kill performance (99.1 ADR, 1.48 HLTV-Rating). He also led entry kills, winning six of his eight entry duels.
GODSENT vs ENCE (Dust2 10-16)
The debut match for Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen started a little slow for ENCE. GODSENT won pistol round and quickly gained 3-0 lead, but ENCE came back with guns, winning three rounds in a row. International side hit back by stealing the next round with pistols and five more, thanks to two clutches by Martin “STYKO” Styk. ENCE won the last three, cutting GODSENT lead to 9-6.
ENCE lost their terrorist pistol round after the most awkward scenes. Allu couldn’t hit his USP shots during afterplant, granting GODSENT 10-6 lead. However, it was all ENCE after that, as they won round after round before sealing the deal 16-10.
Player highlight: allu
Jamppi had a solid debut match, but Aleksi “allu” Jalli was once again the winning factor for ENCE. Pistol round loss wasn’t his greatest moments, but in the end he grabbed 22 kills (17 with AWP), 94.8 ADR and 1.43 Rating. He was also the best entry fragger, getting six entry frags out of nine entry duels.
ENCE vs Dignitas (Dust2 16-11)
Another Dust2 followed, and it was another #EZ4ENCE. During their T-side, ENCE lost twice against weaker buys by Dignitas. In spite of those surprising victories, Swedes couldn’t get enough momentum, letting ENCE win the half 8-7.
The second half started a little slow by ENCE. Dignitas won four of the first six rounds, including pistol, taking the lead 11-10. ENCE might have started slow, but once again they grabbed the momentum back and rolled into victory with six consecutive round wins.
Player highlight: Aerial
Allu was on fire once again with 20 frags, but Jani “Aerial” Jussila managed to top that with 24 kills, 101.5 ADR and 1.53 Rating. He was the king of A Long, winning important entry battles. During their 12 CT rounds, he had amazing 100% KAST and 14 frags.
GODSENT vs Apeks (Nuke 11-16)
The first upset emerged in our third match, as Apeks shocked GODSENT with 16-11 victory. Similarly to their disappointing defeat against Dignitas, Apeks started Nuke in the CT side. Norwegians had a rough start, as GODSENT won pistol and quickly had a solid 4-1 lead. Suddenly Apeks stole the momentum by winning the next round with only pistols, and ran off to 10-5 halftime lead.
GODSENT had won both pistol rounds, but they still found themselves trailing 7-14. They started their comeback strong, but eventually lost against the Desert Eagle of Dennis “dennis” Edman. Apeks sealed their first victory with pistols, 16-11.
Player highlight: akEz
Kristian “akez” Kornbakk was easily the man of the match. Norwegian in-game leader led by example, gathering 29 kills, massive 115.2 ADR and 1.55 Rating. His aggressive yard plays seemed to throw GODSENT off a lot in the first half. Nuke might be CT-sided map, but 21 kills is still a lot for one half.
GODSENT vs Dignitas (Inferno 11-16)
GODSENT needed to win Dignitas to keep their hopes alive. Their terrorist side started slow, as Dignitas won pistol and three following rounds. They gained some confidence by winning the fifth round with a half-buy, but Dignitas won the half 10-5 in the end.
The second half started once again by dominant showing by terrorists, and GODSENT quickly reached 9-10 scoreline. It didn’t last too long though, as Swedes started to get the momentum back. GODSENT just couldn’t get their T side going during the gun rounds, and Dignitas closed Inferno 16-11.
Player highlight: hallzerk
One again, hallzerk and his AWP gave a lot of good early rounds for Dignitas. Dignitas won entry frags convincingly 18-9 – hallzerk mastered his entry duels 6-0. In addition to winning all his entry duels, hallzerk got 23 kills, 80.3 ADR and 1.48 Rating.
Honorable mention: Adam “friberg” Friberg was rolling back the years as he top-fragged with 24 kills, 91.3 ADR and 1.31 Rating.
ENCE vs Apeks (Mirage 16-11)
ENCE was the clear favorite against Apeks, as they had already won convincingly against both GODSENT and Dignitas. Apeks had no pressure though, since they had already clinched playoff spot. GODSENT had lost their last match against Dignitas, meaning that Apeks was already in the playoffs, as GODSENT had been eliminated.
Apeks won T-side pistol and started with a solid 3-0 lead. When ENCE bought weapons, the momentum shifted right away, as they won eight of the following nine rounds. Double AWP setup by Jamppi and allu worked like a charm, even when they needed to retake in a 2v2 situation. Finally Apeks broke through and won the last three rounds, making it only 8-7 lead for ENCE before switching sides.
ENCE had a flying start for their T-side, as Apeks couldn’t find their first CT-side round win before ENCE was already leading 14-7. Soon it was 15-8, and the comeback efforts didn’t go too far as Jere “sergej” Salo and Jamppi closed the match 16-11 with a pistol buy.
Player highlight: Jamppi
The young prodigy stole the show with 25 kills, 79.1 ADR and 1.25 Rating. He had 16 kills during their CT side and his AWP delivered 10 of those.
Honorable mention: sergej bounced back from practically invisible CT-side of six frags and 45.5 ADR, to destroy Norwegian forces with 17 T-side kills, massive 138.8 ADR and 2.06 Rating to close the game for the Finns.
Group B awaits
Group A is done and dusted, Group B starts 13:00 EEST today when KOVA and Nordavind meet for the first time.
Remember to tune in! Check the Group B Preview and Viewer’s Guide.
Elisa Invitational is set to begin on the 30th of April! Here’s how you can catch up with all the content for the Elisa Invitational.
All you need to know about the Elisa Invitational:
- Where: Online
- When: 30.04. – 03.05.
- Teams: 8
- Prize Pool: 2 teams qualify to BLAST Premier European Spring Showdown
Viewers can catch all the action from the official Twitch Channels, linked below.
Format
Group Stage
- 2 groups of 4 teams, round-robin
- 3 points for win, 0 points for loss
- In case of overtime: 2 points for win, 1 point for loss
Playoffs
Group A 3rd plays against Group B 2nd. The winner of that match will play against Group A winner for a spot in BLAST Premier Spring 2020 European Showdown.
Group B 3rd plays against Group A 2nd. The winner of that match will play against Group B winner for a spot in BLAST Premier Spring 2020 European Showdown.
Teams
- GODSENT – Swedish Invite
- ENCE – Finnish Invite
- DIGNITAS – Swedish Invite
- APEKS – Norwegian Qualifier
- NORTH – Danish Invite
- HEROIC – Danish Invite
- NORDAVIND – Norwegian Invite
- KOVA – Finnish Qualifier
Talents
FIN Broadcast – twitch.tv/elisaviihdesport
- Kalle “gaLezki” Kareinen – CASTER
- Tomi “toMi” Pitkänen – CASTER
- Joona “joona” Puumalainen – CASTER
- Esa “Snapple” Kaisjoki – DESK HOST
- Niklas “lotibros” Pehkonen – ANALYST
- Lauri “NiNLeX” Vanhanen – ANALYST
ENG Broadcast – twitch.tv/blastpremier
- Alex “Snodz” Byfield – CASTER
- Jack “Jacky” Peters – CASTER
Schedule
Follow Brackets for results and real time schedule.
Group B of Elisa Invitational starts on Friday 1st of May, 13:00 EEST. Group B consists of Heroic, KOVA Esports, North and Nordavind. The winner of the group claims a spot in the second qualifier final, which is played on Sunday afternoon. Only the last-placed team is eliminated before the playoffs.
North
| Nationality | Age | Player |
| Denmark | 30 | René cajunb Borg |
| Denmark | 25 | Mathias MSL Lauridsen |
| Denmark | 23 | Philip aizy Aistrup |
| Denmark | 21 | Markus Kjaerbye Kjærbye |
| Denmark | 25 | Nicklas gade Gade |
| Sweden | 33 | Jimmy Jumpy Berndtsson (coach) |
North is seeking their way back to top-tier Counter-Strike. Last year was rough, and 2020 hasn’t been looking too good either for the team that won the Dreamhack Masters Stockholm 2018. Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen led the team to take that trophy, but was benched less than a month later after disappointing London Major. MSL came back in January and North is definitely the favorite team to win Group B under his leadership.
Heroic
| Nationality | Age | Player |
| Denmark | 24 | Casper cadiaN Møller |
| Denmark | 20 | Johannes b0RUP Borup |
| Denmark | 21 | Nikolaj niko Kristensen |
| Denmark | 18 | Martin stavn Lund |
| Denmark | 19 | René TeSeS Madsen |
The roster of Heroic has gone through a lot during these last few months. Originally, they should have been part of ESL Pro League Season 11, but their roster was bought by Chinese FunPlus Phoenix to participate in Flashpoint Season 1. However, that wasn’t the whole story.
The deal was never finished, and when Astralis announced Patrick “es3tag” Hansen will join their ranks right after his Heroic contract ends, everything fell apart. Players left Flashpoint and returned to Heroic. After adding René “TeSeS” Madsen and Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen, Heroic wants to come back like they never left.
KOVA Esports
| Nationality | Age | Player |
| Finland | 22 | Samu uli Leirilaakso |
| Finland | 22 | Lauri pietola Hietala |
| Finland | 18 | Samuli twixie Herrala |
| Finland | 23 | Petteri peku Jaakkola |
| Finland | 17 | Nikita derkeps Sirmitev |
Young Finns of KOVA surprised many, when they managed to grind their way to Rio Minor Closed Qualifiers. That wasn’t enough for them though, so they swapped primary AWP in the hands of their entry fragger Nikita “derkeps” Sirmitev. Petteri “peku” Jaakkola had been leading and AWPing at the same time, and the change was definitely for the better. They won the Elisa Viihde Spring Challenge to claim their spot in the Elisa Invitational and now they have a chance to show the strength of their new roles against international teams.
Nordavind
| Nationality | Age | Player |
| Norway | 24 | Jorgen cromen Robertsen |
| Denmark | 23 | Niels-Christian NaToSaphiX Sillassen |
| Estonia | 23 | Kevin HS Tarn |
| Denmark | 25 | Jesper TENZKI Plougmann |
| Norway | 23 | Haris H4RR3 Hadzic |
| Denmark | 32 | Dennis Rytter Rytter (coach) |
Niels-Christian “NaToSaphiX” Sillassen took leading duties while Ruben “RUBINO” Villarroel is recovering from hand surgery. Haris “H4RR3” Hadžić has been standing in for nearly two months. During this time, Nordavind has attended multiple online tournaments, but success has yet to come. They might not be in perfect shape waiting for RUBINO, but they can definitely do damage in their group.
Schedule
Group B is kicked off by KOVA and Nordavind on Friday 1st of May, 13:00 EEST. See the full tournament schedule on Brackets.
| EEST | Team 1 | Team 2 |
| 13:00 | KOVA | Nordavind |
| 14:30 | North | Heroic |
| 16:00 | Heroic | Nordavind |
| 17:30 | North | KOVA |
| 19:00 | North | Nordavind |
| 20:30 | Heroic | KOVA |
The Group Stage of Elisa Invitational starts on Thursday 30th of April, 13:00 EEST. Group A consists of GODSENT, Dignitas, ENCE and Apeks. The winner of the group claims a spot in the first qualifier final, which is played on Saturday afternoon. Only the last-placed team is eliminated before the playoffs.
GODSENT
| Nationality | Age | Player |
| Montenegro | 21 | Pavle Maden Bošković |
| Finland | 28 | Jesse zehN Linjala |
| Slovakia | 24 | Martin STYKO Styk |
| Sweden | 28 | Mikail Maikelele Bill |
| Germany | 26 | Kevin kRYSTAL Amend |
| Sweden | 29 | Jonatan Devilwalk Lundberg (coach) |
Among the four teams, GODSENT is the only team with no roster hassle and they are also the best-placed team in the HLTV ranking. The international roster of five different nationalities has had good results in qualifiers lately. ESL Pro League Season 11 Europe wasn’t a great success, but their entry-fragger Pavle “Maden” Bošković put up impressive numbers – winning 62.5% of the entry duels he took 28% of the rounds. GODSENT is definitely one of the front runners of Elisa Invitational.
Dignitas
| Nationality | Age | Player |
| Norway | 19 | Håkon hallzerk Fjærli |
| Sweden | 28 | Adam friberg Friberg |
| Sweden | 29 | Richard Xizt Landström |
| Sweden | 29 | Christopher GeT_RiGhT Alesund |
| Sweden | 31 | Patrik f0rest Lindberg |
| Sweden | 32 | Robin Fifflaren Johansson (coach) |
Dignitas might find their form now that they’re back with their Norwegian AWP star Håkon “hallzerk” Fjærli. They had a disappointing Flashpoint season, being eliminated after the long group stage. The legendary Swedish quartet couldn’t get the ball rolling with Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács and hallzerk couldn’t travel to the United States because of visa issues and the outbreak of coronavirus. Elisa Invitational is the perfect opportunity for them to show the younger teams that they still got it.
ENCE
| Nationality | Age | Player |
| Finland | 27 | Aleksi allu Jalli |
| Finland | 26 | Jani Aerial Jussila |
| Finland | 25 | Miikka suNny Kemppi |
| Finland | 18 | Jere sergej Salo |
| Finland | 18 | Elias Jamppi Olkkonen |
| Finland | 32 | Slaava Twista Räsänen (coach) |
ENCE has been struggling a lot since the infamous benching of Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen after Berlin Major. They’re trying to redeem themselves by adding the young star Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen in their roster, replacing Sami “xseveN” Laasanen in all competitions except the Major circuit. Additionally, in-game leading is now in the hands of Miikka “suNny” Kemppi, allowing Aleksi “allu” Jalli to focus on his AWPing. Elisa Invitational will be the first tournament with this roster. It’s interesting to see how ENCE looks, when suNny takes xseveN’s roles while leading and Jamppi plays secondary AWP, taking notes from allu.
Apeks
| Nationality | Age | Player |
| Norway | 27 | Kristian akez Kornbakk |
| Norway | 23 | Erik truth Hansen Dyrnes |
| Norway | 20 | Ole Kristian Marcelious Langan |
| Norway | 22 | Sander Grusarn Iversen |
| Sweden | 29 | Dennis dennis Edman |
| Norway | 29 | Pål Polly Kammen (coach) |
Apeks is the obvious underdog of Group A. Norwegians won the Telenorligaen Spring 2020 to qualify for Elisa Invitational. However, they’ve already made a roster change after that. Swedish free agent Dennis “dennis” Edman was brought in after spending a difficult year with NiP and GamerLegion. He can offer a lot of experience and firepower, so they shouldn’t be overlooked. Especially, when it comes to best-of-one matches of the group stage.
Schedule
Group A starts 13:00 EEST on Thursday 30th of April, when four Swedes and one Norwegian – Dignitas – meet four Norwegians with one Swede – Apeks.
For the whole tournament schedule, remember to check the Brackets.
| EEST | Team 1 | Team 2 |
| 13:00 | Dignitas | Apeks |
| 14:30 | GODSENT | ENCE |
| 16:00 | ENCE | Dignitas |
| 17:30 | GODSENT | Apeks |
| 19:00 | GODSENT | Dignitas |
| 20:30 | ENCE | Apeks |
KOVA Esports beat their biggest rivals and claimed the Elisa Invitational spot
KOVA Esports lost only two maps out of ten during the round robin season of Elisa Viihde Spring Challenge. They weren’t the only team to win eight maps, but the runner-up Conquer Gaming lost the tie-breaker by round difference as their head-to-head match ended in a 1-1 draw.
KOVA clinched the Elisa Invitational spot and 5000 euros by winning their map pick Vertigo against VETO Esports. They lost the following Overpass narrowly 14-16, but it mattered only for VETO with their race for bigger prize money. VETO overtook SJ Gaming, and placed third.
Spring Challenge was battled between six Finnish teams:
| # | Inv./Qual. | Team | Prize |
| 1 | Invite | KOVA Esports | 5000e + Elisa Invitational |
| 2 | Qualifier | Conquer Gaming | 2500e |
| 3 | Qualifier | VETO Esports | 1500e |
| 4 | Invite | SJ Gaming | 1000e |
| 5 | Invite | Helsinki REDS | |
| 6 | Qualifier | Team CrazyCoco |
The most important victory for KOVA was the clean 2-0 against SJ Gaming. Only weeks before the match, the more experienced SJ had been victorious at Lantrek 2020 – with no resistance from KOVA. After the closed qualifiers of Rio Minor, KOVA made some role changes.
AWP was given for their 17-year-old star player Nikita “derkeps” Sirmitev, allowing Petteri “peku” Jaakkola to lead with a rifle in his hands. Following the role change, they stomped all the four maps against their biggest rivals Helsinki REDS and SJ Gaming. Apart losing 14-16 against Conquer Gaming and VETO Esports, KOVA won all maps losing only six rounds per map by average.
The role change didn’t cause any trouble for derkeps, and the young gun averaged 89.8 damage per round, biggest in the league.
League average ADR: 73.8
| # | Player | Team | ADR |
| 1 | derkeps | KOVA Esports | 89.2 |
| 2 | jemi | VETO Esports | 88.3 |
| 3 | zks | Conquer Gaming | 87.2 |
| 4 | uli | KOVA Esports | 85.9 |
| 5 | Nksu | Conquer Gaming | 82.9 |
Unsurprisingly, he also led kills per round convincingly.
League average kills per round: 0.66
| # | Player | Team | KPR |
| 1 | derkeps | KOVA Esports | 0.92 |
| 2 | uli | KOVA Esports | 0.81 |
| 3 | jemi | VETO Esports | 0.78 |
| 4 | Nksu | Conquer Gaming | 0.78 |
| 5 | zks | Conquer Gaming | 0.78 |
Derkeps also claimed the fourth-most amount of entry frags per round.
League average entry-frags per round: 0.10
| # | Player | Team | Entry-frags per round | % of entry duel rounds | Success-% of entry duels |
| 1 | spargo | hREDS | 0.18 | 28.8% | 62.5% |
| 2 | arvid | SJ | 0.15 | 26.8% | 56.3% |
| 3 | jemi | VETO | 0.15 | 26.5% | 55.4% |
| 4 | derkeps | KOVA | 0.14 | 22.9% | 61.1% |
| 5 | zks | Conquer | 0.13 | 22.0% | 60.7% |
SJ Gaming and Helsinki REDS were the most obvious under-achievers, placing 4th and 5th. Both were invited, only to be 2-0’d by Conquer Gaming and drawing against VETO Esports. It’s not as clear anymore, which teams belong in the top five in Finland – behind ENCE, HAVU Gaming and KOVA Esports.
KOVA Esports is one of eight teams competing in the Elisa Invitational, a BLAST Premier qualifier. The event is played online, starting 30th of April and ending 3rd of May. Two teams advance from Elisa Invitational to BLAST Premier Spring European Showdown among Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Vitality, Astralis and five other teams. Four teams will advance from European Showdown to European Finals of BLAST Premier Spring Series.
