Going into the second day of LAN is always an exciting thing. The start of playoffs and the start of BO3s add a lot more tension to the games. Losses hurt that one bit extra, wins feel like you have earnt it more, upsets occur and teams are able to secure top four and make HLTV.
The day started at 11am with only three matchups as the top five seeded teams from the groups stage had a bye.
The international squad of Ocelot which fielded the North Macedonian, FPLC star Ahmet “2High” Baftijari who almost aided BLUEJAYS in making the European RMR later this year but failed in the final stage, beat P without any problems 2-0.
This led us to the Upper Bracket Quarter finals in which Temperate, yet again, got bested by a mix. 1fredde took the series in close fashion 2-1, with Temperate being forced down to the lower bracket early.
Ocelots winning streak was halted by EKO but they didn’t go down without a fight. Matěj “SHINIGAMI” Pátek unleashed hell on the first map of inferno going 34-19 but ultimately the team ran out losers in the three map series.
Leicester 5 and ONE HAG both went through 2-0, although, ONE HAG were taken to the very limit by Horus on both maps, needing overtime in map one and the full 30 rounds in map two.
In the upper bracket semi’s we saw the two favourites go through in their respective match-ups to setup a tantalising upper bracket final, where the teams will be fighting for a place on the stage. Leicester 5 beat out 1fredde comfortably, in contrast, EKO and ONE HAG took four hours to complete their matchup, with EKO coming out triumphant.
This sets up a tasty upper final, with the two top seed going head to head for a guaranteed place on the grand final stage.
Delving into the lower bracket now. The top dogs of Temperate, Horus and Ocelot were left fighting for survival. Temperate vs P, the established team has already shown struggles against mixes, but this time they walked away with a clean 2-0.
They also agreed with OldMEN to play their round three match tonight and so just before 11:00pm they finished off todays matches with a swift 2-0. This means that they will have a rematch with ONE HAG who bested them in the Swiss format groups. The other losers round four tie will be between 1fredde and the winner of Ocelote vs Horus.
