This article is part of our CS:GO Recap series.
The Week 7 action of the EU Esports Championship Series Season 3 concluded with FaZe Clan, Astralis, and Fnatic clinching their playoff spots, however, the final spot still remains open with just one week remaining. Here's how Week 7 unfolded.
FaZe Clan started its busy weekend on Friday up against Team Dignitas. FaZe started the series on Inferno with a slow start after Dignitas took a 3-0 lead early. However, the series shifted towards FaZe's defense, who closed out the half 10-5. Dignitas struggled in the second half and was unable to hold off the FaZe offense, who took all six rounds of the half for a 16-5 win. Game 2 saw FaZe continue to have a strong defensive showing with an 11-4 lead over Dignitas in the first half of Overpass. Dignitas rallied back on the defense to win five straight until FaZe Clan slowly sent the game to map point and secured the sweep by winning Game 2 16-10.
G2 Esports and Team EnVyUs continued the action on Friday with two highly contested series going into overtime. G2 started the series with a 3-0 lead, but an EnVyUs' trick play in Round 4 resulted in a run that ended with a 9-6 lead at the half. While G2 hunkered down with seven consecutive rounds to start the second half, EnVyUs rallied back and tied the game at 14-14 late. G2 then pushed out to map point, but EnVyUs managed to force the overtime rounds to eventually take Game 1 19-17. G2 got the offensive start they wanted on Inferno in Game 2 with another 3-0 lead at the outset, but EnVyUs then dominated on the offense for an 11-4 lead at the half. EnVyUs had a slow start to the second half as G2 began to overcome the odds to battle back to a 12-12 tie. EnVyUs then put its foot down and sent the game to map point, but G2 rallied back to force another overtime. This time EnVyUs struggled to win the extra rounds as G2 closed Game 2 19-16 to even the series 1-1.
Saturday featured a Fnatic and FaZe Clan clash as both teams looked to solidify their respective playoff spots. Fnatic started the series with a dominating defensive first half on Mirage taking a 12-3 lead over FaZe Clan. However, the multi-national team came back in the second half with a 12-3 half of its own to force overtime. Although the efforts didn't carry over into the extra rounds as Fnatic closed the series in overtime 4-2 for the 19-17 Game 1 win. The series then shifted to Train where FaZe Clan started slow, but bounced back on the offense for an early lead. However, Fnatic didn't let the half slip away that easy and came back to tie the game at seven all. Although it was FaZe that took the half 8-7, as Fnatic struggled to get the offense going on into the second half, which resulted in the 16-11 FaZe win to split the series.
Astralis had a strong start to Week 7 on Sunday against a battered FaZe Clan, who played its third series in three days. The Danes of Astralis thrashed the FaZe Clan offense, who only managed to win one round in the first half for a 14-1 deficit. Astralis then put a nail in the coffin winning the last two rounds in the second half for a 16-1 Game 1 win on Train. In Game 2, Astralis had a stellar defensive first half with a 10-5 lead over FaZe. However, it was FaZe Clan that won 11 straight rounds in the second half to shut out the Danes for a 16-10 Game 2 win on Nuke for the series draw as both teams punched tickets into the playoffs.
Ninjas in Pyjamas closed out Week 7 on Sunday in a series against Virtus.pro that gave some hope for the NiP playoff dream. NiP started the series with a rough start to Game 1 only earning five rounds in the first half that went 10-5 in Virtus.pro's favor. However, NiP dominated in the second half winning 11 out of 12 rounds to take Nuke 16-11. NiP carried its dominating Game 1 performance over into Game 2 where it crushed Virtus.pro on one of its legendary maps, Train. NiP took a commanding 13-2 lead into the second half as the Swedes of NiP silenced Virtus.pro in Game 2 16-2. NiP now sit just three points out from G2 for that fourth and final spot in the playoffs.
With Week 7 now in the books, the final Week 8 action will resume Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET after the ESL Pro League Finals in Dallas, Texas, which runs May 30 to June 4.
