This article is part of our CS:GO Recap series.
The third day of the Group Stage of the StarSeries Season 3 Finals in Kiev, Ukraine saw some teams advance to the playoffs while others were sent packing. Here's how Day 3 went down.
After MVP took down TyLoo in an overtime thriller to keep its playoff hopes alive, FaZe Clan earned a win over Gambit to advance in explosive fashion on Cache, winning the first three rounds on offense before a quad-kill from Gambit's Rustem "mou" Telepov stopped it dead in its tracks. Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov and Abay "HObbit" Khasenov clutched the following round 2-vs-3, leading to a 4-3 lead for Gambit. After a fluke round win via a FaZe failed bomb plant gave Gambit a two round lead, FaZe stormed back, eventually taking the half 9-6. Gambit took a three round lead to start the second half, though FaZe won three of its own shortly afterwards. Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko commanded Gambit to take three more round wins and a 13-12 lead but FaZe Clan shut down Gambit late in the second half for a 16-13 win.
Natus Vincere went head-to-head with North with both teams looking to clinch a playoff berth on Inferno. North shut down a quick A-bombsite attempt from Natus Vincere in the pistol round but the CIS-based team quickly evened the score. Both teams traded rounds before Natus Vincere took a 4-2 lead, putting the Danish economy into shambles. Natus Vincere capitalized on the economic advantage for a 6-3 lead, finishing the first half with a crushing 11-4 lead. North won the initial pistol round to start the second half but Natus Vincere made took control in the following round and more. Natus Vincere secured match point at 15-6 before North began a late comeback with five round win streak before the CIS team clinched a playoff berth, winning 16-11.
Virtus Pro continued to struggle in Day 3 with a crushing loss to Ninjas in Pyjamas on Nuke. Virtus Pro came out of the gate with a quick early bomb plant, though NiP stole the round win with a bomb defuse. The Swedes took the first two rounds before the Poles picked NiP apart one-by-one to secure two of its own. Virtus Pro couldn't get past the Swedish defense, only accumulating a couple of rounds for a huge 11-4 deficit at the half. NiP took the pistol round and the entire second half by storm allowing only one round for Virtus Pro in the 16-5 win.
G2 continue to dominate the field against the Brazilians of SK Gaming. Both teams struggled to take the helm as rounds went back and forth until Kenny "kennyS" Schrub picked up a double kill to give G2 its first lead of the half. Alexandre "bodyy" Pianaro then followed up with an ace as G2 lead 7-2. SK only managed to grab one more round in the first half as the Frenchmen took a commanding 12-3 lead at the half. Epitacio "TACO" de Melo saved the Brazilians from an ace by Nathan "NBK" Schmitt in the pistol round, sparking a small run of rounds for SK. Although G2 then won three rounds in a row to bring the game to match point, SK won one more round with a half buy. The Frenchmen would not be denied, however, closing Overpass out 16-8 and advancing to the playoffs with Natus Vincere.
Astralis and Fnatic ended Day 3 with a hard-fought matchup on Mirage. Starting on the offensive, Astralis won the pistol but was stopped by Fnatic in the following, lead to a four round win for the Swedes. Faced with the outcome of a blowout, the Danes took a timeout and regrouped, winning five straight rounds. Fnatic took the final round of the half thanks to Robin "flusha" Ronnquist's timely kill on the bomb planter, then exploded with four rounds to start the second half. Astralis wouldn't give in, though, as Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander's entry kills on an eco round led the Danes to regain control and take three rounds late to close the show 16-13.
Day 4 action will start on Friday at 2:00 AM ET on Twitch as teams face elimination or a playoff berth.
