Photo courtesy of EPICENTER
The second day of EPICENTER XL Major is now over with the results recorded and teams starting to settle into the new patch meta.
With all 12 teams now having completed one full series in the group stage of EPICENTER XL Major, the first results have been recorded and teams have gained a basic understanding of their strengths and weaknesses in the new patch. There are still four more days of group stage matches for teams to navigate through but four teams will be eliminated by the end and each series is an important win towards the highly coveted DPC points in this last leg of events.
Group A
FlyToMoon's upset over compLexity Gaming was perhaps the most surprising series of the group, or even the day for most. The North American team opened up the series with the first pick of Techies for competitive play. Despite the fuss over the hero being added into the mix and revered as overpowered, their debut was underwhelming. FlytoMoon completely decimated compLexity in 21 minutes. It took almost one hour for the CIS team to close out the second game, but it was all within their grasp and control for almost the entire match. The 2:0 sweep gave the Dark Horse of the event a considerable start to the event and group stage.
PSG.LGD's debut under their new banner and colors was pleasing for their new partners no doubt. The Chinese team has continuously been rising through the ranks and radar in the last few months. Mineski has gained a serious momentum and built up their strength and skill to claim the 4th place in the DPC. The series between these two teams were very evenly matched and competitive. The Chinese team was able to conquer the SEA kings in the first and third matches after some ups and downs with a snowball finish at the end. Mineski's win in the second one looking like a mirrored reflection of those games.
It wasn't surprising to see Team Liquid overpower Team Empire in a 2:0 sweep. What was surprising was to see Team Empire putting up a valiant fight and proving to be a tougher nut to crack than the European giants had most likely anticipated. Both matches in the series were riddled with pivotal fights and swings, pushing Team Liquid to claim the lead and wins in only the last moments of the games.
Group B
The real winner of the day in Group B was OG who swept through Na'Vi with relative ease. The first match of the series between the two teams was a complete stomp for OG as the coach and recent stand-in player Sébastien "7ckngMad" Debs came out with a 16:0:1 record on Gyrocopter in a stellar performance. The second game of the series started a bit more even with Na'Vi even taking the lead at one point. Unable to maintain a firm grasp on the advantage, they dropped their momentum and lead about 27 minutes in, along with the series.
Team Secret continued to prove that they didn't earn their third place DPC ranking and formidable reputation for nothing. In a roller coaster first game against the TI7 runners-up and Chinese juggernauts, Team Secret was able to outplay and overpower Newbee for the first game advantage. Newbee was quick to recover and a flawless performance by Song "Sccc" Chun on Lina put the series back on even grounds between the two teams, tying the series up at one apiece. The last game belonged all to Team Secret with Newbee barely able to even land a firm footing in the match.
The action resumes tomorrow with Group A starting things off between Mineski and FlyToMoon at 09:00 CEST.
