The first half of the Quarter-Finals came to a close yesterday, following an intense series of games from four very talented teams.
FACEIT Quarter-Finals start off with a bang
Yesterday, the first day of the Major Finals took place and we are half-way through the Quarter-Finals phrase. We witnessed two excellent matchups between four of the best teams in the world. While certain parts of the game did go how they were expected, others came as a complete surprise. So let’s take a look at what happened on the first day of the FACEIT Major Finals.
BIG vs Natus Vincere
The first matchup of the day was between NaVi and BIG and while everyone knew that the deck was stacked against BIG, not many would have predicted how NaVi would dominate their opponent. The first game of the best-of-three took place on Dust2 and NaVi took the advantage from the get-go. They won the pistol round on the CT side and this lead snowballed throughout the first half. BIG were able to steal two rounds but NaVi quickly bounced back and took the remainder of the half. Even when the sides switched, NaVi remained dominant winning 3 rounds from T side in quick succession.
The second game of the series was no different. It took place on Nuke and while BIG did take the pistol round from the CT side, NaVi quickly turned it around in the next one, planting the bomb and taking the second round. BIG were able to take another round at the start of the mid-game, however, NaVi came back and ground their momentum to a halt. The reset in BIG’s economy forced them to play Eco and Anti-Eco for the remainder of the half, though they did take the 15th round.
The second half saw BIG play on the T side, winning the pistol round and capitalizing on their advantage for the next two. Of course, if the Germans were to win this map, they would have to play perfectly, given NaVi’s immense round lead. Still, it was not meant to be and NaVi came down hard on BIG, winning the next four rounds and the matchup.
compLexity vs MIBR
The matchup of compLexity vs MIBR was rather shocking for fans of the NA team. CompLexity had been playing near perfectly throughout the Major, only dropping a single game to Astralis, to gain a record of 6 – 1. In fact, the New Legends stage saw compLexity in the 1st – 2nd bracket next to Team Liquid, with a record of 3 – 0. However, that meant nothing yesterday in their matchup against MIBR.
The first map was Train and we saw MIBR immediately take the advantage from the pistol round onward. The Brazilians played on the T side and they were relentless in their attacks. Losing 8 rounds in a row must have affected compLexity to be sure. They were able to take the 9th and 10th rounds, though that streak would be short-lived. MIBR came back and won three rounds, but lost the final two to compLexity.
The second half of the game was no different. compLexity were able to plant the bomb in the pistol round only to be defused. From then on, it was clear that there was no hope for compLexity and that the first game would go to MIBR, who picked up the next four rounds.
The second game was much more contested and MIBR certainly had a hard time against their opponent. It took place on the now-iconic map for the FACEIT Major – Inferno. For the duration of the first half, it was anyone’s game. The first three rounds did go to MIBR, who were on the CT side, but compLexity quickly came back to form and won the next five. The Brazilians did manage to sneak in a round after that, but the next one saw their economy being reset and even more rounds went to compLexity. Still, MIBR were not out of it yet and brought in three more rounds. Ultimately, the half concluded at 8 – 7 in compLexity’s favor.
With a solid score, things were looking up for compLexity and it even seemed that they could win this map and proceed to the tie-breaker. MIBR took the pistol round in the second half, but compLexity employed a force buy in the second and the pendulum swung again to their side. The next few rounds were taken by the NA team, however, after that, we saw the same dominant MIBR as we did on the first map. The Brazilians came in strong and were able to reset compLexity’s economy. After that, things really went downhill for the US-Canadian team.
STANNNNN @peterjarguz@compLexity 12 – 10 @mibr #FACEITMajor
🔴 https://t.co/RueSYniwFV pic.twitter.com/vx2GVAJcaf
— FACEIT (@FACEIT) September 20, 2018
The fog of war is a real aspect in competitive games and nowhere has this been better exemplified than in the 25th round of the Inferno game. With hindsight, this moment is rather comical but in the heat of the moment, neither team would have had any idea what was happening.
At around the 1:15-minute mark, the four still-alive members of compLexity gathered around the A site to protect it against the coming MIBR assault. This left the B site completely exposed and while Stewie2k was pushed up on Banana, he did not notice the lack of enemies and returned back to Ramp. Thus, both teams gathered around the A site, with the whole MIBR roster in Apartments, while the compLexity team began moving towards Mid. Just as the compLexity team moved half-way into Mid, MIBR ambushed them and killed off three players. It was a brutal display of what can happen in uncertain situations and it also ensured compLexity’s defeat. They were not able to come back, even after a risky Eco on the penultimate round. The game concluded 12 – 16 for MIBR and the Brazilian team is going to the Semi-Finals.
When you reach the semi-finals of a Major 😎 @tarik #FACEITMajor pic.twitter.com/glkn11MetA
— FACEIT (@FACEIT) September 20, 2018
Quarter-Finals continue on Day Two
We are half-way through the Quarter-Finals and there are still two matchups waiting to take place. In the first one, the undefeated Team Liquid will take on HellRaisers, who just narrowly managed to qualify for this stage. The next matchup will be between Astralis and FaZe Clan, who had a questionable run in the New Legends Stage.
You can tune in on Twitch.tv and YouTube where the event will be streamed live across the world. The matches are best-of-three and the winners will advance onto the Semi-Finals.
