As the WESG Europe qualifiers for the UK, Iceland and Ireland (titled “Britain and Iceland”) kick off… soon, here’s a preview of who’s set to damage the opposition. Everyone is competing for a spot at the WESG European finals in Barcelona over the 22nd-26th November. It’s worth noting that this lies in a break of the Gfinity Elite Series S2, so Endpoint and Method can safely compete.
This weekend will see the start of the second season of the Gfinity elite series, and with it comes a number of familiar rosters as well as some shake-ups from the previous season. The changes within Reason Gaming see the league lose one British side and gain a Danish one, however the remaining British sides are still alive and kicking, albeit with some minor changes. Prophecy and Epsilon also see drastic changes to their sides, completely removing their previous European-mixtures and replacing them with Bulgarian and Swedish teams.
The first season of the elite series saw the top three spots go to the leagues three European teams, with the fourth place position being picked up by the UK’s excel eSports. Though, despite the final standings going, the Brits did manage to put up somewhat of a resistance in some of their match ups against the continental sides.
Obviously the international sides are all in with a shout of taking the first place position in the group stages, and naturally therefore the play-offs. The EnVyUs Academy side were strong throughout the last season’s group stage run, dropping only one map in their first round draw against the Endpoint side. The semi-finals saw their downfall, with Prophecy taking them in a three map series that looked almost over heading into the second map. The roster remains unchanged coming in to the second season, however their international escapades over the last few weeks have seen them slightly falter. Though with their company in the Gfinity elite series being perhaps of at a slightly lower calibre than some of their recent opponents, you could be forgiven for thinking that the French side are in with a chance at another almost-clean sweep.
The new roster for Epsilon is yet to be tested in the Gfinity arena, though a brand new season of the ESEA Mountain Dew League has seen them already take a highly contested win over the FlipSid3 tactics side, who are most known for playing amongst the tier one sides that Europe has to offer. They have also benched Owen “smooya” Butterfield for the season, and due to other obligations he has not made it onto the season’s roster. As a now all Swedish side, the team are somewhat of a wildcard. The first few weeks of the season will make it clear what the new composition will bring to the table.
Another new Scandinavian roster has entered the fray with the Reason franchise losing the British side and return to their Danish heritage. The team are currently holding the King of Nordic title having defeated the Swedish KoN roster just last week. They boast an interesting roster with mixed experiences, Oliver “MINET” Ari Minet with the richest, however they have little currently to show as a group of five so it’s really difficult to predict if they’re going to finish first or somewhere more like fifth. One thing is for sure, if Reason Gaming know how to pick their Danes (and history shows that they do) then we should expect to see a strong performance from this side. Plus, a team with Nick “zEO” Jugjeewon on the sidelines is no team to be underestimated.
Based on performances from last season, the exceL side could be in with a shout of maintaining a top four placement. With the question marks surrounding some of the newer rosters and the consistency that this team has delivered, both in terms of roster and performance, it is foreseeable that they could find themselves toppling one or two of the international sides. Especially given that this season is a best of one format, there is no longer the back stop of taking away an evens game for some of the other sides. All it takes is the right map on the night and Jake “jakem” McCausland’s team could be in with a shout for a top four finish.
Another side that finished the season with numerous draws against both the international sides and fellow Brits were Method. Despite failing to win a single series, they actually avoided bottom of the group stage by securing five tied series. Method are another team that might be heavily favoured by the single map format this season. The format changes along could have seen this side with four wins last season given they won the first map in four out of their five ties. The roster is certainly talented, especially given they have now drafted in some European talent of their own, as well as providing a home for Kia “Surreal” Man on his return from playing for compLexity.
Of course, there is also the Prophecy team who themselves have also had an overhaul of their roster. The ex-Outlaws side, or at least a few of them, have been brought in ahead of the second season of Gfinity along with some of their fellow countrymen. The former Outlaws have in the past taken a number of tier two teams on successfully, However as of yet, the new roster are yet to debut on the international stage, meaning they are untested and hard to predict. The new roster could be an easier target for teams like exceL, who will be hoping to take every win they can get their hands on to repeat last season’s performance.
The Infused side actually finished level with exceL last season, missing out on the playoffs only on points difference. In between seasons they have made a couple of changes, seeing the return of George “ZED” Bear to the roster after the departure of team captain James “redSNK” Littlewood. The change up in leadership could see the team advance further than they managed last season, however they will be challenged by all of the other British sides that they face. They have already but forth a bold challenge to the European sides this season, so they have big statements to back up. They could do it, but they could also go much the other way. Their coach, Neil “NeiL_M” Murphy is confident enough to bring out statements to the oncoming European sides. Despite his confidence, I don’t share his opinion.
Finally the Endpoint side, who have come hot off of the back of a ESL UK Premiership win with their new roster, are obviously in with a chance at a surprise top four finish. They too have acquired some overseas resource for the upcoming season, which seemed to help them no-end against their British opponents just a few weekends ago. They have taken a similar approach to the Method side and have access to a team house to enable them to focus on practicing for the Gfinity season. They are probably riding high with confidence coming in to the second elite series season and hence for the first few weeks they may pull some impressive results out of the bag.
Top three: EnVyUs, Epsilon, Reason
Best British Team: Method or Endpoint
Questionable performance: Prophecy
Most unpredictable: Infused
Of course, none of this really matters once the second season of the Gfinity Elite Series gets into full swing. The results will start to write themselves and as the weeks progress it will become clear how the new teams and modified rosters are developing. We will endeavour to bring a preview of upcoming games each week, starting with week one beginning this weekend.
With the second season of the Gfinity Elite Series CSGO tournament coming up this Saturday, the rosters for the UK-based competition have been released by the organisers. There have been some drastic changes to rosters in the build-up to this season, most surprisingly of which is last seasons winners, Epsilon, choosing to switch out their entire team despite a dominant season one. Epsilon’s roster is also missing three other players currently under contract, including Owen “smooya” Butterfield, who won’t be able to compete this season.
After Imperial removed their roster after picking up the Bulgarian MK line-up, many thoughts were placed on where the squad was heading next. The next announcement came out of left-field, as it seemed Jakem and the boys have headed onto the Gfinity Elite Series side exceL esports.
Gfinity have revealed the first four organisations to fill the spots in their new Elite Series. These four UK based organisations have been given ground floor access to what is set out to the be proving ground for UK players who want to push their gameplay to the next level. Alongside Counter Stike:Global Offensive, Rocket League and Street Fighter V will be part of the Elite Series giving a wide spread of gaming genres.
In the epic20 Grand Final Sunday morning, the exceL Endpoint mix team headed off against CeX. Team xLpoint had a long ride through the Lower Bracket, which included a 8:30am start this morning.
The Lower Finals match before we find out who the second finalist will be. Which one of the two teams will join Team CeX in the Grand Finals?
After Radix eSports were sent down into the Lower Brackets by Team CeX their run of convincing results end. They go head to head against exceL-Point in the Lower Finals.
As for exceL-Point, they regain confidence in the Lower Brackets racking up a series of strong results against the likes of DOG Gaming and ProjectX.
Both teams looking to take that second place in the Grand Finals. One team with the potential to take the entire event and one team to be sent home with a 3/4 placement alongside ProjectX. Between the two sides, they trade rounds until the end. First map going to Radix eSports with a 16-12 scoreline on Overpass.
Map one being stolen by Radix eSports leaves xLpoint in need of a map win to stay alive in the series. xLpoint head off to a flying start taking an 8-1 lead. Radix claims back some rounds closing the margin between the two teams. Coming down to a fine line the 15-14 scoreline in favor of xLpoint, xLpoint close it out 16-14. The series is tied up 1-1.
Advancing onwards to the third and final map it’s a must-win for either side. Both maps leaving no real standout team with both teams showing true potential. Kicking off the final map Radix take the lead at the half 8-7. Either side trade rounds until xLpoint take the 13-10 lead. xLpoint take it to match point against Radix’s 10 rounds. Radix pulls it to 15-14 after Smooya’s clutch play. In the final hurdle, a ninja defuse ruins Radix’s chances of making it into the finals with a second 16-14 scoreline.
xLpoint move into the Grand Finals against Team CeX. The matchup will go live on the epicLAN1 live-stream at 12:00.
If you want to catch up on the process of the event up until this point UKCSGO.com have plenty of articles reporting on the progress of the event. Also, make sure to follow us on Twitter & like our Facebook page.
One of the final games in the Lower Bracket of the main CS:GO event. The Lower Consolidation game between the two previous winners of the Lower Semis. ProjectX and exceL-Point.
After ProjectX stormed through the Lower Brackets after getting sent down. They worked their way through from the Lower Quarter Finals to the Lower Consolidation with a clean sweep.
exceL-Point favorites to take the entire event home were surprisingly knocked down into the Lower Brackets by Team CeX which was covered in an upset article written by Michael ‘Duck’ Moriarty. Knocking out DOG Gaming in a convincing fashion sent exceL-Point to the LC.
Coming into this series as the underdogs ProjectX manage to claim the pistol round and convert it into an early 3-0. exceL-Point bring it back to a 3-3 scoreline and begin to run away with the map. The half finishes at a rough 11-4 in favor of the exceL-Point side. It’s quickly shut down by exceL-Point 16-5.
Starting in a fresh map ProjectX gets off to a flying start making it an early lead at 5-1. Progressively exceL-Point scrape back rounds and bring it to a 6-6 score. Despite ProjectX’s efforts exceL-Point close out the map 16-9. ProjectX is knocked out of the tournament and exceL-Point advance to the Lower Consolidation Finals.
On the finals day UKCSGO.com are covering the remaining matches, make sure to follow us on Twitter & like our Facebook page. Plenty of CS:GO action is already underway on the epicLAN1 live-stream, make sure to catch the finals at 12:00.
As the epic20 tournament was settling down for the Saturday, with the expected results flying around, it happened. Tournament favourites exceL/Endpoint were thrown into the Lower Bracket by CeX.
The seeds for the epic20 LAN tournament have been released by the good old admin team sitting over on their desks. We’ll release the groups as soon as we get them, but for now here are the tournament seeds in an easy to read format.
1st – exceL Endpoint (Sliggy, MiGHTYMAX, Luzuh, Jenko, Kryptix)
2nd – Radix.EID (logzi, Kray, smooya, DanceyZ, dOMM)
3rd – Impulse UK (Samwell, JammyJames, Cynic, Alf, nukkye)
4th – Team CeX (resu, Brodyc, JDD, LiamS, Astro)
5th – Chrome Gaming (bmagic, JT, wafu, skuxz, Nukeddog)
6th – SKUM Gaming (NK, Hawkins, Muffin, DUKK, FiLLeR)
7th – ProjectX (tamsteR, Ruleh, ShaunSki, adamxoxo, Pommey)
8th – DOG Gaming (Yoshi, debaser, quiver, ashhh, mezii)
9th – Rasta Gaming (Xacty, Quartz, yan0, Hayden, psychiic)
10th – Team Descend (MontSta, Kai, 5haBo, iCY, DM_God)
11th – Dragon Esports (jamesta, Syphon, f00b, MITCHEN, walkeRR)
12th – wAVE’s Money Crew (wAVE, daydr3am, breezeee, whisk, Trials)
13th – The Goose House (LukeJM, EddieK2, Tattie, -King-, jackblk3)
14th – Warhogs (Norris, shorty, Gito, Slippy, CoN)
15th – Viperio Esports (Samsaker, winternet, zRni, f1ame, stix)
16th – SuckerPunch (Walter0_0, Creidann, Spud17, Revy, luNaRrRR)
We are live at the event taking photos, doing interviews, and bringing you lots of coverage to keep you up to date on epic.20 so make sure you stay tuned to UKCSGO.com over the next few days for full event coverage and photos. You can follow us on Twitter or like our Facebook page for all the daily news from epic.20.
