BIG hammer forZe to qualify for ESL Pro League Season 12

The Russian team's nightmare day continued as they were torn apart in a quick two-map series.

BIG became the first team to qualify for ESL Pro League Season 12 through the European qualifier after dispatching forZe in a one-sided affair between teams in contrasting form. The German side, fresh off winning DreamHack Masters Spring and returning to the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time since December 2018, were in control of proceedings from the outset against an uninspired forZe team that were simply not up to the task.

It was a disappointing end to a forgetful day for the Russian team, who had earlier missed out on a spot in the second stage of the WePlay! Clutch Island closed qualifier after recording defeats to Nemiga and Gambit Youngsters. Andrey "⁠Jerry⁠" Mekhryakov's side will have a shot at redemption in the consolidation final against fellow CIS team Spirit, but they will have to quickly shift their mindset as it is impossible not to feel that they sleepwalked through this loss.

BIG qualify for ESL Pro League Season 12

BIG were in no mood to take pity on their opponents and immediately clicked into gear, storming to a 6-0 lead on Inferno. It then looked as though forZe were starting to get a grip on their map choice as they picked up three rounds in a row, but a lost anti-eco threw that outlook out of the window, with BIG heading into the break with a solid 10-5 lead. That trend continued in the second half as BIG continued to add to their lead and shut down any chances of forZe stringing rounds together as the map came to a swift conclusion.

Dust2 began with a lively start from the German side, who once again raced to a 6-0 lead. A 1v2 clutch by Evgeny "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev then finally put forZe on the scoreboard, but their respite wouldn't last as BIG quickly regained their momentum following another eco victory and never looked back. After a 12-3 half, BIG quickly wrapped things up on the offense, with Tizian "⁠tiziaN⁠" Feldbusch delivering the finishing blow with three Desert Eagle kills in a 2v4 situation.

ESL Pro League Season 12 Europe QualifierBest of 3

BIG

Matchpage

2

0

18th June 2020

forZe

16

Inferno

7

16

Dust2

4

BIG	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşXANTARES	49 - 18	+31	107.4	1.68
Florian 'syrsoN' RischesyrsoN	36 - 25	+11	90.6	1.40
Tizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschtiziaN	31 - 22	+9	78.0	1.18
Johannes 'tabseN' WodarztabseN	26 - 27	-1	78.4	1.07
Nils 'k1to' Gruhnek1to	21 - 23	-2	53.2	0.94

forZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Almaz 'almazer' Asadullinalmazer	30 - 27	+3	67.3	1.07
Andrey 'Jerry' MekhryakovJerry	24 - 29	-5	64.5	0.89
Evgeny 'FL1T' LebedevFL1T	28 - 33	-5	69.7	0.89
Bogdan 'xsepower' Chernikovxsepower	20 - 38	-18	51.8	0.68
Dmitriy 'facecrack' Alekseyevfacecrack	12 - 36	-24	43.2	0.51

BIG become the 18th name on the team list for ESL Pro League Season 12, which will kick off on September 2. ESL is currently studying the possibility of bringing the league back to a LAN setting after splitting the Season 11 tournament into regional online divisions because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The team list for the league currently looks as follows:

Partner teams
100 Thieves
Astralis
Complexity
ENCE
Evil Geniuses
FaZe
fnatic
G2
mousesports
Natus Vincere
NiP
Liquid
Vitality

Invited
BOOM
Renegades
Sharks
Qualified
FURIA
BIG
Europe Qualifier
South America Qualifier
Oceania Qualifier
Asia Qualifier
Global Challenge
Global Challenge