English
Gamereactor
news
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Upsets and surprises at first day of MLG Columbus

Both French teams are in shambles at the American major, while Virtus.Pro showed up looking for a fight.

Subscribe to our newsletter here!

* Required field
HQ

The first day of MLG Columbus turned out to be just as exciting as one could hope for. The top contenders mostly prevailed, but the matches between lesser teams were full of surprises.

A handicapped Ninjas in Pyjamas were up against FlipSid3 in the opening match. Visa issues have forced the team to play with their coach THREAT as a stand-in for pyth, who wasn't granted entry to the United States in time for the tournament. That means NiP will have to play all their games with THREAT, and while he's done an admirable job of renewing the team's tactics, his play isn't up to par with the rest of his team or the competition.

That made the match a very even affair, with both teams playing strong T-sides. NiP eventually closed out the game 19-17 in overtime, but it's doubtful they'll make it far in the tournament with this line-up.

Though Luminosity Gaming defeated Mousesports, the Germans put up more of a fight than one might have expected. Led by NiKo, Mousesports worked wonders with their pistol and eco rounds. But Luminosity withstood the pressure and won the game 16-13.

Team Liquid pulled the first upset of MLG Columbus in their game against FaZe Clan, beating the mostly-Nordic mix team handedly. FaZe got decimated by the American team in the first half, only winning three rounds against their T-side. After a half-time score of 12-3, FaZe did manage to put eight rounds on the board in the second round, but it wasn't enough to break Liquid's defense. Final score was 16-11 in favor of Team Liquid, and with FaZe having only won 5 of their last 22 maps, the team seems on the verge of collapse.

Quite the opposite can be said about Fnatic, who dispatched Splyce with a 16-5 score. The favorites to win the tournament looked as strong and comfortable as a team riding a six-tournament winning streak should.

Whether Counter Logic Gaming's 16-8 win over EnVyUs was an upset is debatable, but it was clear from that game that the French team, who won the last Major at DreamHack Cluj-Napoca, is still in shambles. Whatever ails them, they certainly haven't found the cure yet, and it looks increasingly likely that they won't make it out of their group.

Why is that, you ask? Because their opponent in today's loser's match, Gambit Gaming, hit the ground running against Astralis and had the Danes worried. Gambit built an early 5-1 lead, forcing Astralis to take a time-out and recompose themselves. That bit of breathing room put the Danish team back on track with a 9-6 lead at halftime and a final score of 16-10. Still, a strong performance from a relatively unknown team.

Na'Vi started off on the wrong foot as well, looking bewildered as Cloud9 blitzed ahead with an early 6-0 lead. And like Astralis before them, Na'Vi took a time-out to regroup and turned the tables completely. The team rallied to a 16-9 final score as Cloud9 - who are attending the tournament without their coach - couldn't find a way to respond.

Virtus.Pro have performed terribly this year, but you wouldn't know it from the final game of the day. Taking on the former Titan-players from G2 Esports, the Poles only gave up a single round throughout the game, destroying the French-Belgian team 16-1.

Today's schedule
Today will see both the winners and losers matches of each group played, meaning four teams will move on to the playoffs today while another four are knocked out of the tournament. Games are scheduled to begin at 15:00 GMT / 16:00 CET.

Facing each other today are:
Group A losers: FlipSid3 vs Mousesports
Group A winners: Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Luminosity Gaming

Group B losers: FaZe Clan vs Splyce
Group B winners: Fnatic vs Team Liquid

Group C losers: Gambit Gaming vs EnVyUs
Group C winners: Astralis vs Counter Logic Gaming

Group D losers: Cloud9 vs G2 Esports
Group D winners: Na'Vi vs Virtus.Pro

The decider matches, determining the final four teams that will move on to the playoff bracket, are played tomorrow as a series of Best-of-3s.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Fnatic hardly broke a sweat in their game against Splyce. Photo: MLG

Related texts



Loading next content