ESWC Round of 16 recap

paiN vs. LDLC

The match between the Brazilian and European sides began on Cache with a pistol round won by LDLC who were starting as CT. On the third round, though, paiN won their first of five rounds in a row before LDLC reacted and brought it back even at 6 – 6. LDLC finally won the half and then ran away with the map, 16 – 8.

LDLC also started quite strongly on Overpass, as Kévin "⁠Ex6TenZ⁠" Droolans and co. went up 3 – 12 on the Terrorist side, with Alexandre "⁠xms⁠" Forté putting in work and tallying 15 frags at the switch. Things didn’t go well on the switch for paiN, as losing the anti-eco after winning the pistol round put them against the ropes, and LDLC were able to close the match out 16 – 4.

Gambit vs. PRIDE

The match started out with Gambit on the CT side of Train, where the Kazakh AWPer Rustem "⁠mou⁠" Telepov ran circles around PRIDE, ending the half with an 16 – 3 score. When PRIDE got on CT side things didn’t fare much better, as a won pistol round by the Kazakh-Russian-Ukranian side meant PRIDE were all but out of the map. Train eventually went to Gambit as they took the last four rounds of the map without much difficulty.

Gambit took the lead once again on the second map, taking the first half of Mirage 7 – 8 as terrorists. PRIDE was able to puff their chest, however, and slowly but surely bring the game back to a 16 – 13 and force the third map of the series.

Dust2 started out with pride on fire. With Piotr "⁠morelz⁠" Taterka spearheading the terrorist side’s ambitions, PRIDE took seven rounds before Mihail "⁠Dosia⁠" Stolyarov and company could answer back. The same way, though, the answer came in full force from Gambit who then won the last eight to take the half. After losing the pistol it looked like PRIDE could find their stride and not abide by Gambit’s rules. The Kazakh-Russian-Ukrainian team had different plans, though, and clawed their way to what seemed like a victory, but were denied in the last few rounds as PRIDE pushed it into overtime. Finally, though, Gambit threw their weight around and closed it 19 – 16 to earn themselves a spot in the next round.

Kinguin vs. Tricked

Mirage was the setting for the first map of the series, and Tricked came out no holds barred. The Danish team took the lead with Patrick "⁠es3tag⁠" Hansen and Jakob "⁠JUGi⁠" Hansen playing particularly strong as CTs. After a 10 – 5 win at the half, Tricked started to lose footing but were able to close it off in the end 16 – 14.

The second map, Train, seemed as if it was going to be a whitewash for Tricked, as the Danes went up on the half 13 – 2 with es3tag once again going HAM. With the pistol round in the bag, it was inevitable for Tricked to bag the map, which ended 16 – 3.

Heroic vs. fnatic Academy

The clear favorites to take this, Heroic, started out swimmingly on Train, giving up a total of seven rounds on both halves and bagging the map without issue. fnatic Academy didn’t back down, however, and did the same on the second map of the series, Cobblestone, giving up only eight.

Starting on the CT side of Mirage, the young Swedes really put up a wall, and brick by brick put Heroic in a more uncomfortable place with Aleksandar "⁠jayzaR⁠" Zarkovic displaying his prowess with the AWP with 20 kills in 15 rounds, 13 of which went to his team. No better way to put the nail in Heroic’s coffin for fnatic Academy than having every player on the team get a frag on the pistol round, all but sealing the deal for fnatic Academy, who ended up taking it 16 – 10.

ALTERNATE aTTaX vs. Preparation

One of the highly anticipated matches of the Round of 16 didn’t disappoint as the first map, Cobblestone, stayed neck-and-neck until the end, when the German team was able to make a T side comeback to snatch the map.

Nuke started out as a completely one sided affair for the German team, with ALTERNATE aTTaX taking nine out of the first ten rounds, and taking 13 out of the first 15 before the change. With Nuke being a volatile map, ALTERNATE aTTaX had all the numbers to be able to close it out, but a relentless T side by Preparation kept giving the Russian team hope as they slowly closed the gap. Finally, though, ALTERNATE aTTaX were able to put the lid on it and bag the map with a 16 – 9 final score.

Epsilon vs. Norse

The young Swedish stars played one of the quickest maps of the Round of 16, taking Cobblestone in only 19 rounds and leaving Norse in shock.

The second map, however, saw Norse react as the Norwegian team took the T side half of Train by a staggering 13 – 2. Cockiness or inexperience, however, kicked in when they switched to the counter terrorist side. Epsilon, not playing any games, won seven rounds in a row before Norse could even get one, bringing it all the way to 14 – 9. Finally, the Norwegian side was able to shut Epsilon down on the last round of Train to stop the choke and force a third map.

Mirage was to be the decider, and Epsilon’s flex abilities were about to be put on display, with the Swedish side taking the first half 11 – 4 on the CT side. The second half went integrally to Epsilon, who weren’t fooling around anymore, and closed it out 16 – 4.

Platinium vs. iGame.com

Platinium kept proving they are a force to be reckoned with after the first map 16 – 3 as the Finns watched impassively.

The second map, Cobblestone, started out much better for the Finns, who started out with a four round lead. The half, however, would go to Platinium, who won 8 as Terrorists to take the lead into the second half. iGame.com then won the pistol round and tied, but then lost against the forcebuy. From then on, the French team’s morale skyrocketed, and Platinium took it to 16 giving up only a total of 11 rounds to qualify for the quarter finals.

Space Soldiers vs. k1ck oldschool

The most anticipated match of the Round of 16, featuring a head-to-head of players like Ricardo "⁠fox⁠" Pacheco and Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş started out on Mirage. Things were looking up for the Turks at the half, having won the T side by one round. An incredibly on point Christopher "⁠MUTiRiS⁠" Fernandes tried to get his team back in the game, and succeeded by dropping over 30 en route to a 16 – 14 victory.

Space Soldiers were off to a great start, with a 7 – 1 lead on CT side in Train. fox and his Tuga crew had other things in mind, however, as they managed to do damage control and bring the half back to a much closer 8 – 7. With XANTARES carrying the team’s fragging load, Space Soldiers were able to win some rounds and get ahead 12 – 9. From there on out it was smooth sailing for the Turkish squad, who closed out the map 16 – 11.

With 10 frags and a death for both fox and MUTiRiS, k1ck oldschool were off to a flying start on the CT side of Overpass, winning the first six rounds. Slowly but surely, though, Space Soldiers started chaining rounds together to win a total of 6 rounds before the switch, keeping their options alive. And very alive they were, as Space Soldiers put up a wall on defense giving up only one round to k1ck oldschool after the switch for a 16 – 11 victory.

Quarterfinal match-ups:

Gambit	Space Soldiers
Tricked	LDLC
fnatic Academy	ALTERNATE aTTaX
Epsilon	Platinium