ENCE, BIG join 2-0 pool after second day victories

ENCE followed up their opening day victory by dismantling Falcons 16-6 on Vertigo, with the European combine looking to put their disappointing EPL performance behind them by securing a place in the 2-0 pool.

Meanwhile on the A stream, BIG sent reigning EPL champions Vitality down to the 1-1 pool by defeating them 16-10 on Dust2, despite Mathieu “⁠ZywOo⁠” Herbaut‘s best efforts.

The battle between Falcons and ENCE was played on Vertigo, a map the European combine played just twice in the last three months. Valdemar “⁠valde⁠” Bjørn Vangså got his team off to a flying start in the pistol round with an ace, before Nathan “⁠NBK-⁠” Schmitt found several multi-kills to get his team tied up on the scoreboard as soon as Falcons got to a gun round. ENCE stabilized soon after and began to run away with the map, winning nine rounds in a row on their way to a 12-3 lead at the interval.

A late resurgence by the French squad made the scoreline somewhat respectable, but the deficit simply proved too much for them to overcome, with Marco “⁠Snappi⁠” Pfeiffer and company booking their spot in the 2-0 pool by closing out the map 16-6.

Vitality and BIG met on Dust2, with Vitality coming into the game with a five-match win streak on the map since adding Lotan “⁠Spinx⁠” Giladi. The start of the map was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams winning rounds from disadvantageous situations, such as Florian “⁠syrsoN⁠” Rische clutching a 1vs4 in the pistol round. The reigning EPL champions kept the lead all through the first half, which finished 8-7 in their favor after a late streak of rounds for the German side.

BIG looked much more comfortable once on the CT side, winning the pistol and following conversion to take the lead. Their utility usage in the entire game was second to none, shutting down Vitality‘s advances in crucial moments. They lost just two rounds in the second half, winning the map 16-10 to join the 2-0 pool.