This article is part of our CS:GO Recap series.
Thursday continued with the ELEAGUE Season 2 playoffs as four more teams battled it out for a chance to secure a semifinal spot. OpTic gaming and FaZe Clan earned their spots further in the tournament, but it wasn't without drama.
OpTic Gaming Sweeps
The first best-of-three series on Thursday showcased the only North American team to advance to the playoffs, OpTic Gaming, who recently were crowned champions at Northern Arena. As a result, the Green Wall certainly entered their matchup against the ELEAGUE Group A winners, mousesports, with plenty of pressure atop their shoulders. That seemed to be brushed away instantly on the first map Train, however, as OpTic put together a commanding 12-3 first half lead. Óscar "mixwell" Cañellas played a big part in the daunting score, picking up two quad kills, including one on the final round of the half to effectively silence mousesports. While OpTic's opposition put together a slight rally to start the second half, winning four consecutive rounds, that momentum evaporated after four quick wins by the North American team to claim Map1. Will "RUSH" Wierzba led the way with a dominant 22/9 KD and 110.6 ADR.
The second map of the series, Cache, was picked by the German team mousesports, as they looked to even the series. However, mouz struggled to get the first half started on defense as they fell behind 9-6. That deficit proved to be too much as OpTic continued their dominance into the second half, further extending their lead before mouz could catch up. Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz closed it out with a surprise triple kill to secure the second map 16-11 and the series 2-0, earning OpTic a trip to the semifinals.
FaZe Clan upset defending Champions
The second best-of-three series of the day featured the defending ELEAGUE Season 1 champions Virtus.Pro looking to defend their title against FaZe Clan. The Polish Plow came out early as Virtus.Pro took the first map, Nuke, in a 16-4 blowout. However, FaZe Clan was well equipped for a bounceback match as they selected Overpass for their second map pick. Down 8-7 in a highly contested first half, FaZe came out strong, winning nine consecutive rounds after giving up two to start the second half, securing the second map with a 16-11 win.
Down to a winner-take-all final Map 3, the two teams had a tightly contested start on Cache in the opening half before FaZe rallied to earn a 9-6 lead at the half. They would then win the opening round of the second half before seeing Virtus.Pro put together three round wins of their own to draw closer in the pivotal match. From their, each team seemed to trade momentum like a hot potato as the series creeped closer to a 14-14 tie. Needing to win two consecutive rounds to claim a berth in the semifinals, Havard "rain" Nygaard ended Round 30 with a swift double kill to scrape by for a 16-14 win. FaZe Clan will now move on to the semifinals to face-off against OpTic Gaming, after taking down the defending Season 1 Champions Virtus.Pro 2-1.
The final four teams have now been determined for the ELEAGUE Season 2 playoffs. The semifinals will showcase a best-of-three between Astralis and SK Gaming to start followed up by the aforementioned FaZe Clan and OpTic Gaming matchup. The winners of those matches will then head to the Grand Final on Saturday. The action will resume Friday with the semifinals set to start at 5:00 PM EST on Twitch and will conclude live on TBS at 10:00 PM EST.
