The preview of EPICENTER 2018

The championship has recently finished in Moscow. The time has come to make a conclusion.

The organizing of the tournament

All viewers were satisfied with the tournament. The organizing of championships by Epic Esports Events is memorable, first of all, for a creative design approach to the stage decoration and the hosting of the tournament, in general. Big technical issues were not noticed. Many viewers think that Epic Esports Events deserve to host one of the CS:GO Major tournaments.

For those who missed the opening ceremony of EPICENTER 2018, we offer to watch the following video:

The teams-losers

Swole Patrol

The American team managed to surprise viewers with its appearance in the LAN final, having beaten 5Power and Virtus.pro in the Wild Card stage. In the final stage, Swole Patrol was not able to show a decent performance and lost against such opponents as Team Liquid and Ninjas in Pyjamas with a score 0-2. They earned a money prize in the sum of $5,000 for their efforts.

ENCE eSports

After the recent good performance by ENCE eSports, many people expected from the many something more than the 4th place in the group and an advancement to the playoffs. It was not difficult to get to the playoffs at this championship as, according to the rules, the decision had been made to allow the top three teams to advance to the playoffs from each group instead of a regular advancement of two participants from each group. The team HellRaisers was in Group A, which, according to the expectations of many viewers, had to be the first to be eliminated from the tournament instead of ENCE, however, the Finns played worse than they had been expected and placed 7th-8th, having earned a consolation prize in the sum of $5,000.

HellRaisers

Nobody expected too much from HellRaisers but this team was able to perform better than they were supposed to. In Group A, they faced such opponents as Natus Vincere, FaZe Clan, and ENCE eSports. They managed to prevail in the match against ENCE and made it to the playoffs. In the quarterfinal, they met the best possible option, the team AVANGAR, with which HR coped well. As a result, HellRaisers were not able to win more than ten rounds on the first map and they achieved victory in nine rounds on the second map. In such a way, they finished their participation in EPICENTER 2018 and earned a money prize in the sum of $10,000.

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Ninjas in Pyjamas enters the top ten of the best teams now and holds the 9th place there. This time, their performance was over in the quarterfinal. In the group stage, they were put in Group B together with such teams as Liquid, AVANGAR, and Swole Patrol. Due to the existence of an obvious underdog in the face of Swole Patrol, no one was surprised with an advancement of NiP to the playoffs but the Swedish roster’s success was over with this. In the quarterfinal, the Europeans from FaZe Clan played against NiP and achieved victory, not in the easiest match. NiP earned a money prize in the sum of $10,000 for the 5th-6th place.

The teams-winners

AVANGAR

The Kazakh team managed to exceed the viewers’ expectations. Many people thought that the group stage was the roster’s limit but Fitch with his team proved that it was not so. In Group B, AVANGAR was put with such teams as Team Liquid, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Swole Patrol. The Kazakhs played the first match against NiP with a score 2-1 and guaranteed themselves an advancement to the playoffs and the team lost the second match with a score 0-2, which was hosted against Team Liquid, and had to start its participation from the quarterfinal. When everyone thought that the players from HR will achieve victory in the match between AVANGAR and HellRaisers, AVANGAR beat their opponents and made it to the semi-final where they were waited by Natus Vincere. The match with the CIS team became AVANGAR’s last match at EPICENTER 2018. Na’Vi won with a score 2-0 and became the finalists. AVANGAR earned a money prize in the sum of $20,000 for the 3rd-4th place.

Team Liquid

Liquid got in Group B with such teams as AVANGAR, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Swole Patrol. Having beaten Swole Patrol and AVANGAR with a score 2-0, the Americans advanced right to the semi-final and were waiting for the winner of the match FaZe Clan vs Ninjas in Pyjamas. Many people thought that Liquid will be able to prevail over FaZe Clan in the match for an advancement to the final but this didn’t happen. As a result, Natus Vincere played the final match against FaZe Clan and Liquid placed 3rd-4th and earned a money prize in the sum of $20,000.

Natus Vincere

Natus Vincere reached the final of a large championship once again. This time, they didn’t become the champions of EPICENTER 2018 because FaZe Clan gained momentum and beat Na’Vi in the rematch of the second match in the group stage. In the first stage, Natus Vincere performed great, having beaten HR and FaZe with a score 2-1 and 2-0, respectively. This allowed the team to advance to the semi-final of the tournament. In the match for an advancement to the final, Na’Vi faced the other representative of the CIS scene, AVANGAR. The battle was not the easiest but as a result, Natus Vincere finished de_dust 2 and de_train with a score 16-11 and 16-12, respectively. Natus Vincere managed to win 12 rounds on the first map of the final match but achieved victory only in three rounds on the second one. Due to their efforts, Na’Vi held the second place and earned a money prize in the sum of $75,000.

FaZe Clan

FaZe Clan has exceeded all viewers’ expectations. Many people supposed karrigan together with his team to finish their participation in EPICENTER 2018 in the quarterfinal but after FaZe beat NiP, the team managed to overcome Team Liquid on a high moral. In the final, the Europeans faced Natus Vincere where tried their best to achieve victory on the first map and finished de_mirage with a score 16-12. On de_dust 2, they crushed their opponents and finished the match with a score 16-3.

According to NiKo’s words, the team understood after the victory over Ninjas in Pyjamas that it was able to become the champion of the tournament, which it managed to do. Nikola “NiKo” Kovac has become the MVP of the tournament and FaZe proved that it’s still too early to write off them. Besides the trophy, FaZe Clan earned the main money prize in the sum of $150,000 for the first place.

G-Drive Challenge

An interesting feature of the tournament was that nine representatives of various esports organizations took part in G-Drive Challenge. They played Assetto Corsa with a help of VR glasses and the simulation of a driver’s seat and competed who would finish a lap faster than everyone. The player of Liquid, Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, appeared to be the best in the business who finished a lap in 1:26.338. Twistzz earned a money prize in the sum of $8,000 for this result. The second place with the result in 1:28.580 was held by the player of AVANGAR, Timur “buster” Tulepov and received a prize in the sum of $3,000. The rest of the participants earned $1,000 and $500.