The group stage of EPIC39 has come to a close. There has been upsets, stomps, and the most unlikely of all… two Binmen teams have made playoffs. Join us on a journey through the day as we look at the highs and lows of the group stage.
Round 1 – FIGHT
In the round one matches, it seemed every team was in a hurry. The closest games were a pair of 16-7 wins, as mix Team 7PM overcame Saviours of the UK Scene and top-seeded Verdant took down Unscrew the Bleach. There were one-sided victories for Team 7AM, Next in Line, Royals, Neighbours, Al Fatiaq, genetexe, The Lizards and Linx Legacy as the favourites in each matchup swept all before them.
ROUND 2 – A quick 16 and a full 30
The first 16-0 of the day was dispensed by Al-Fatiaq to ghil‘s genetexe in the second round of games. At the other end of the scale, a thrilling comeback from Linx Legacy saw them recover from a 13-4 deficit to tie 15-15 with Cardiff Pirates in the Welsh derby. Next in Line, Royals and Neighbours swiftly moved onto a 2-0 record, as did Advanced sides Verdant and 7AM, while Binmen International picked up their first win of the day with a strong T-side on Inferno to dispatch Diablo Esports.
Round 3 – After lunch, the favourites march on
The lunchbreak did little to slow the momentum of The Neighbours who stormed to a 16-3 win over Diablo Esports, while Next in Line pummelled men with ven 16-2. Royals survived a scare against Binmen International to emerge 16-11 winners while Genetexe bounced back from their stomping in round 2 to win 16-1, as did Al-Fatiaq who have conceded just 2 rounds up to this point. Team 7AM took a 16-9 win over Linx Legacy, while Cardiff Pirates, 7PM, The Lizards and Grouped One Last Time completed the winners in round 3.
Round 4 – cryths and Wolfie shout their way to a tie
The highly-anticipated match between Al-Fatiaq and Next in Line in group B ended in a 15-15 draw on Vertigo, with the two sides at a stalemate despite lots of noise from their star players. The Neighbours faced their toughest test yet as the Lizards took them to double digits, but emerged victorious 16-10. The hotly-anticipated (by Dweg) Binmen derby ended with a 16-10 win for Ryan “Retr00” Barnard’s Bin Chilling, while Binmen’s international wing secured a comeback win over DE_LADS. Also victorious were Royals, genetexe, The Free Agents and Verdant.
Round 5 – Neighbours salvage draw, but lose top seed
Royals took on Neighbours in Group A and despite failing to close out a win from 2 match points, their draw secured them top spot in the group on round differential. There were dominant performances from Verdant, Al Fatiaq and Next in Line, dropping just 7 rounds between them, while it was a clean sweep against the Binmen as The Lizards took down Binmen International, Linx Legacy crushed Bin Chilling, and Cardiff Pirates restricted Bin Drinking to just a single round. Rounding out the results, DE_LADS took down Diablo Esports, and Grouped One Last Time, led by TheDombox, edged out Team 7PM – denying us the dream 7AM vs 7PM matchup, at least for now.
On to playoffs
There are some tantalising fixtures in the first round of play-offs, with Neighbours due to play Al-Fatiaq while Royals take on Next in Line pitting Swaggy against Dutchy. 7AM’s run would begin against Grouped One Last Time while Verdant would need to dispatch Linx Legacy. Meanwhile in the lower bracket there were not one but two Binmen teams plus The Lizards, Cardiff Pirates, Genetexe and 7PM plus Sloppenheimers* and Unscrew the Bleach.
*formerly M6 Toll Road
