It’s day one of EPIC.LAN 44 and the games have gotten underway, here at UKCSGO we will be maintaining a live thread bringing you all the exciting details, after each round, from the champions league style group stage here at the KCC.
UKCSGO’s finest upsets LTH’s Flowstate to headline opening play.
Archie “RJS” Henry, UKCSGO’s photographer from EPIC.LAN 43, in game lead his team of TELOS to beat Lorenzo “LTH” Venanzi with a 13-8 scoreline. This is one of only two games where a lower seeded team beat one higher than them the other being from the 13-11 to REDACTED over 30AVG who are seed 20th and 21st respectively, whereas TELOS were seeded at 31st to Flowstates 8th.
The rest of the favourites dispatched of their opposition with relative ease with most teams losing less than three rounds. The last resort however were given a run for their money when the binmen managed to take seven rounds on their best of one on Mirage.
REY saw a tumultuous start to their day when a litany of tech issues plagued the start of their match, these tech issues persevered throughout the course of the game too when Harry “bog” hopkins’ headset mic didn’t work. The lack of comms proved troublesome but not insurmountable as REY eventually closed inferno out 13-9.
Edward “Hanno” Joyce’s NoReason Gaming suffered a comeback loss to Ross Kemp Bald in their debut. The ESEA intermediate roster were 10-7 up on but ended up losing 6 rounds on the bounce to allow Ross Kemp Bald to close out 13-10 on Anubis.
AMANEKMYSELF dispose of Godku’s proqfanclub in round 2
Favourites continue to dominate with ALASKA, Belfast Storm and 8Sins winning 13-1. Round 2 also saw the first draw of the event with the streamed game of VIVID UTD vs Recognised talent going the distance ending at the 15-15 scoreline. UKCSGO’s own Flowzz and Stetson claimed their first win of the LAN. Playing for Utter Woke Nonsense they saw off The Pensioners in a reasonably close 13-8 affair on Anubis.
seeded 17th, AMANEKMYSELF weren’t too far behind proqfanclub’s 10th seed so you’d expect a reasonably close game. Unfortunately for the Annex IGL only 6 rounds was what his mix team could muster going into mirage as AMANEKMYSELF get a big confidence boost going into round 3
Flowstate bounced back in round two, their surprise loss to TELOS clearly lit a fire under them as they delete Submissive and Readable 13-0 denying them any rounds. LTH’s mix is definitely a team with aims of playoffs and this bounce back was surely needed to make sure they make the top 16.
Belfast storm continues their unbeaten run in round 3 at EPIC 44.
The first of the big matches to be played at EPIC.LAN 44 in the form of Belfast Storm taking on Viperio Academy. Belfast storm take the Ancient game 13-8 handing Viperio academy their first loss of the event. Making a deep run at the last LAN Viperio Academy are looking to replicate that success, on the other hand Belfast storm are coming back with a vengeance after their surprise loss to PENJYMIN last EPIC. This win for Belfast storm takes them one step closer to playoffs and provides a massive confidence boost going into the rest of their group stage games.
One of the favourites for the event: ANTARCTICA had a close game against CTRL ALT DEFEAT, so close in fact that it ended in a 15-15 draw. ANTARCTICA will be looking to make a deep run here and this loss to Jack “Sorex” Renton-Cooper’s squad puts a dent in their title hopes and will make reaching playoffs that little bit harder.
Proqfanclub went the distance against Flowstate. Two mixes vying for a spot in playoffs were nearly inseparable and whilst the game went the full 30 rounds Flowstate managed to take the lead at the very last moment to clutch up 16-14 and grant them their 2nd win of the groups.
The Icelandic squad in the form of dusty have taken down one of the top UK teams in the form of Glitchtech. Dusty make their return to EPIC.LAN after having previously won EPIC.LAN 35, their return marks EPIC.LAN becoming an international LAN once again. They are proving they can take down the best of the UK teams but can they go the distance and win another EPIC.LAN?
Rhyss at EPIC.LAN 44
One-sided match ups are all the rage right after lunch.
Not a single losing team reached double digits against their opponents in the 4th round of play, with 3 games going the least possible rounds in the form of a 13-0.
The match on the EPIC.LAN twitch channel delivered a fun game where Jay “JayIsVexed” Franklin of BUHM took on childhood friend and university CS rival Rob “Ourob” Fowler playing for Rey. The underdogs in BUHM would finish their T anubis campaign with 5 rounds at end of the half, BUHM then went on to lose the second half pistol in an unfortunate manor.
The round seemed to be going great as BUHM’s Uwuan got a 4k to secure the defuse, unfortunately in classic UKCS fashion BUHM celebrated the round win too soon as they didn’t have enough time to defuse the bomb. Rey would go on to clean house and win all but one of the remaining rounds closing the game 13-6.
All of the favourites swept aside their competition with ease only TELOS gave ProqFanClub a run for their money when they managed to rack up 8 rounds against the Annex duo and their mix.
At the end of round 4 only 5 teams remain undefeated:
Belfast storm
Alaska
8Sins
Dusty
The Last Resort
Sorex fist bumping his teammates at EPIC44
8Sins sweep maintaining their impressive round difference after round 5
8Sins continue in their winning ways in round 5 with a 13-2 win against crusaders. Their “worst” win this event was a 13-7 to recognised talent every other win they prevented their opponent from gaining any more than 2 rounds, this dominating performance is exactly what 8Sins want to replicate their great performance from last Epic.
A few close games in round 5: The pensioners lead a close game against Ross Kemp Bald but in the end the pensioners falter and lose the series 13-10. Recognised Talent vs Redacted went the distance too requiring all rounds of regulation to decide a victor, ultimately Recognised Talent edged it out and won 13-11.
This wasnt the only 13-11 as 2 other teams went the distance. TELOS won 13-11 over 99p and Utter Woke Nonsense winning 13-11 over NoReason gaming.
Dusty drop out of the undefeated after having to forfeit to ALASKA.
Dusty were placed in the unfortunate position of having to forfeit lose a match to favourites ALASKA after a PC blue screened. Dusty still maintain a solid record of 5-1 despite the forfeit loss. This ‘victory’ keeps ALASKA in the undefeated bracket now going 6-0 the previous EPIC.LAN champions are full steam ahead to playoffs.
Speaking of favourites to make deep runs ANTARCTICA continue to post up great results, technically undefeated they have however had a draw placing them below those that have won all their matches. They are scheduled to play a final group stage game against The Last Resort which is sure to be a banger.
Many of the favourites continue to reign supreme though some of the matches are getting a little bit closer. Belfast Storm beat pigeons 13-8 whilst viperio academy took down Recognised Talent 13-8 as well. CTRL ALT DEFEAT win 13-9 over VIVID UTD to maintain their undefeated run too albeit with a draw. The Last Resort however, continue to make it look easy as they take down Yappachino 13-4.
Dweg celebrates a match win
The group stage comes to a close.
Many top UK teams did battle against each other in this final round of play before playoffs and there was some barn burners. Belfast Storm drew Glitchtech in their final game of the groups and this game went the distance. The best of one went to the maximum rounds available at EPIC and the teams were inseparable drawing 15-15.
It was a similar story for 8Sins who faced off against CTRL ALT DEFEAT who were also inseperable at the end of the only overtime available according to the ruleset here at EPIC.LAN 44 with the score ending 15-15. These draws mean that Glitchtech, CTRL ALT DEFEAT, Belfast Storm and 8Sins are still undefeated but they have dropped points due to drawing a match or two.
Alaska continue their dominant form becoming the only team to win all 7 of their games showing why they were seeded first in the tournament. Dropping only 5 rounds in the whole tournament they showed a flawless game to cruise through at the top of playoffs.
That concludes the live coverage for the Group stage, keep an eye on the UKCSGO twitter and website for more EPIC.LAN 44 coverage and interviews.
