p

LCK series last upwards of 6 hours due to technical issues

LCK’s Sunday broadcast was seemingly cursed from the start. What should’ve been a normal day at LoL Park, lasting no more than six hours, ended up turning into a marathon for both the talent and the players.

 

LCK’s Pauses Galore

 

It all started to go South 9 minutes into the first game of the DRX vs DK series. The pause, which was reported as a “ping issue”, and lasted around 10 minutes. Although this isn’t too out of the ordinary, things started to get weird quickly.

Less than 10 minutes later, another pause happened, this time lasting nearly 20 minutes. The game returned for a grand total of 3 minutes, before heading straight back into another pause. This was the first big one, lasting nearly 40 minutes. Emphasis on first.

Game one of the series, which theoretically lasted 25:50 mins, took nearly two hours of broadcast to get through. Still, the nightmare was merely beginning.

2:21 mins into game two of the series, the pause to rule all pauses happened. The network and ping issues that were affecting players in game 1 seemingly remained, and the game had to be interrupted for 2:30 hours.

 

LCK broadcastImage via LCK

The issue was severe enough for Riot Korea to be considering postponing the entire day of matches. Although the series technically resumed before the cut-off point of 19:30 KST, the BO3 between DRX and DK, which went to a third game, only came to an end at 21:45 KST. As caster Atlus jokingly put it:

[DK] are celebrating because they just played the longest series in LoLPark history to date. We’ve never started at series at 3PM and finished at 9:45PM!

 

The Never-Ending Day

 

Players were looking visibly tired, and understandably relieved when they were finally done with the series. Dplus Kia left the rift victorious in this grueling 2-1 affair.

In this unforeseen marathon, both the players and cast showed their professionalism  despite the tough circumstances. Atlus and Chronicler held the english cast together, while Valdes, Aux and Huni held down the fort over at the analyst desk.

 

ImageImage Via LCK

In their announcement, the LCK described the issue as “chronic ping”, which was returning repeatedly despite being supposedly fixed.

Journalist Ashley Kang confirmed with the LCK PR team that the game was being played on an internal network, so it isn’t clear why these issues were happening.

 

LCK BroadcastImage via @AshleyKang on X

The broadcast isn’t over yet, though. After this insane turn of events, BRO vs KDF was postponed. At the time of writing this, the LCK hasn’t confirmed when that series will be played.

Featured Image via LCK.

For more content like this, check out our LoL directory.

Flashpoint 2 Grand Final Match Report: Virtus.Pro Crowned Champions as OG Plowed Aside

Key Prematch Stats:

  • Odds to win the Grand Final:
    • Midnite Odds: OG 1/97 / Virtus.Pro 1.81
    • HLTV Fan Picks: OG 64.4% / Virtus.Pro 35.6%
  • Team Avg. Ratings: OG 1.11 in 21 Maps / Virtus.Pro 1.02 in 17 maps
  • Highest Rated Player: Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså (OG, 1.26 Rating)

The Final Frontier

It was the final showdown between OG and Virtus.Pro in the Grand Final with a rematch of the group stage final where these two teams met with OG coming out on top 2-1, so Virtus.Pro were out for revenge.
The first map was OG’s pick of Mirage and they started strongly on the T side with Issa “ISSAA” Murad coming up big for his team as they picked apart the Virtus,Pro defence to storm into a 8-3 lead. However, some great opening picks from Dzhami “Jame” Ali with the AWP helped Virtus.Pro recover 3 rounds in a row and it was 9-6 to OG as they went into half-time.  With the scores close it was all to play for.
The second half started with a rapid pistol round that was over before it had begun as OG began strongly on their CT side. They continued to shut Virtus.Pro out and Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski even went full Coldzerawith a multikill on the B site to extend OG’s lead to 14-7.
Virtus.Pro finally started shift the momentum after a quality flank from Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis opened up the B site for the rest of his team to plant the bomb and win the 22nd round. It seemed to spur them on to a 3 round win streak, but OG were stubborn and an outstanding performance from the IGL Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen sealed the deal as they took the first map of the series 16-10.

Key Stats:

Map 1 (Mirage)
  • Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski was dominant for OG, picking up 24 frags and a 1.47 rating.
  • In the battle of the AWPers, Dzhami “Jame” Ali was on top with 11 AWP kills, but it wasn’t enough for his team to win.

OG Derailed on Train

The series moved to Train and this time it was Virtus.Pro who started strongly on their own map pick as the T side. Despite some aggressive plays from OG catching them by surprise, Virtus.Pro rallied back to close out the rounds and take a 4-1 lead. Then it was some solid fragging from Dzhami “Jame” Ali who led the scoreboard for his team to keep the momentum going as the lead was extended even further to 10-2. Despite Train being a map that favours the CT side with its narrow chokepoints, OG could only manage the odd round here and there as the score stood at 11-4 at half-time.
Virtus.Pro carried their form into the second half as they picked up the first two rounds, but OG were able to shift the momentum with a three round streak of their own to bring it to 13-7. They kept plugging away bit by bit as they forced Virtus.Pro into eco rounds, but in the end the difference was just too big to make up as Virtus.Pro closed out the game 16-9 with Inferno next up.

Key Stats:

Map 2 (Train)
  • Jame has easily been the best AWPer this tournament and he did it again for Virtus.Pro with 17 awp kills contributing to his 22 kill total.
  • Alexey “qikert” Golubev was outstanding on Train, coming up with the goods to close out rounds for his Virtus.Pro with 20 kills, 89.0 ADR and a leading 1.34 rating.
<insert ad>

The Return of the Virtus.Plow?

Everything now rested on Inferno. The winner would take home $500,000 and the trophy. The loser would have to settle for $250,000.
OG started on the favoured CT side, but it was Virtus.Pro who drew first blood and picked up the first 3 rounds. Once OG picked up their first full buy they shut the door in Virtus.Pro’s face and held them out with some smart utility usage to bring the score back to 3-2.
Despite the setback and the challenges of the map advantage, Virtus.Pro racked up a streak of wins, outmanoeuvring OG and picking up 5 crucial T side rounds in a row to take a huge 9-3 lead. Virtus.Pro went into half-time with one hand on the trophy as the scores stood at 11-4, giving OG a mammoth mountain to climb.
In the second half it went from bad to worse for OG as Virtus.Pro picked up the pistol round, but they recovered quickly to pick up the next three rounds and the score stood at 12-7 with a pivotal full buy round for Virtus.Pro to come.
An absolutely insane pop-flash from Timur “buster” Tulepov set up Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis for a crucial triple kill on Banana and it was the killing blow for OG. There was nothing left in the tank to give and Virtus.Pro were on match point at 15-7.
OG responded with a banana rush and despite a collateral kill from Jame, they overwhelmed the B site and it turned the tide in their favour,  winning five consecutive rounds and bring it back to 15-12. The game became frantic and chaotic, but Jame and qikert kept their cool to hold off OG who ran out of time to plant the bomb and with that, ran out of time to win.
Virtus.Pro finally took the trophy in dramatic fashion, walking away with the $500,000 prize.

Key Stats:

Map 3 (Inferno)
  • Nathan “NBK” Schmitt led the way for OG with 23 kills and a 1.44 rating.
  • Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis was again crucial in opening up rounds for Virtus.Pro and he finished the game top of the scoreboard for his team with 19 frags, 6 of which were opening kills.

Vacant’s Analysis:

  • Virtus.Pro have seen their potential come to fruition in this final. With the AWPing prowess of Dzhami “Jame” Ali, the entry fragging of YEKINDAR, and the rifling of Alexey “qikert” Golubev and Timur “buster” Tulepov, the whole team had the capability of stepping up when it mattered. On Inferno they swept away OG with conviction and confidence and as soon as the momentum went their way they became so hard to stop. Even when they hit a set back in the final game with everything on the line, they took their time, saved their money, and regained their composure once they were able to full buy again to claw out the winning round. Have we seen a return of the fabled Virtus.Plow?
  • OG showed why they got this far with some big brain calls from Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen and impressive fragging across the team. Even Nathan “NBK” Schmitt, who has often found himself at the bottom of the scoreboard for his team throughout this tournament, did very well in this final series picking up a total of 51 kills. Aleksib has a tendency to call stacks on the CT side and while this can work out favourably on occasion, it often let the other team simply walk into the other site for free and you could argue it was throwing valuable rounds away.

The Final Word:

What a tournament it has been. Congratulations to Virtus.Pro and commiserations to OG. We hope you enjoyed our coverage of Flashpoint 2 and look out for future CS:GO features on EsportsHeaven.com. Thank you to our partners at Midnite.com and we hope everyone enjoyed gambling responsibly this tournament.

Flashpoint 2 Match Report: OG Stun Fnatic in Clean Sweep and Book Their Place in the Grand Final

Key Prematch Stats: 

  • To win this series: 
    • Midnite Odds: Fnatic 1.89 / OG 1.89
    • HLTV Fan Picks: Fnatic 30.3% / OG 69.7%
  • Previous Meetings:
    • 2-1 Win to OG at Dreamhack Open

A 30-Round Epic on Mirage

On the final day of Flashpoint 2 it was Fnatic and OG to begin proceedings in the consolidation final on Mirage, OG’s map pick. Jesper “JW” Wecksell started with aplomb, picking up 16 kills as Fnatic raced to a 9-3 lead on the CT side. With JW on the AWP and Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin dominant with the AUG, OG looked like they were in trouble as Fnatic just kept shutting them down. Eventually though, cracks started to appear in the Fnatic defence as Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså stepped up with a series of multi-kills to help OG pick up three rounds on the bounce and finish the half only 9-6 down.

In the second half Fnatic came out fighting. They picked up the pistol round with ease and despite a close call in the 2nd round as OG did a lot of damage with SMGs, a confident clutch from JW closed it out for Fnatic and put him on 24 kills in only 18 rounds. 

Fnatic chipped away at the OG defence getting through onto the sites time and again. It was scrappy though and some good retakes from OG meant they picked up 4 rounds in a row and the lead narrowed to only 13-12 in favour of Fnatic. It was back and forth between the teams as rounds were traded to bring it to 14-14, before some crucial frags from Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså and Issa “ISSAA” Murad finally gave OG the lead as they wrapped up the match 16-14, taking a 1-0 lead in the series.

OG Outgun Fnatic on Overpass

OG kept the momentum going into their CT-Side on Overpass as they opened up a 8-3 lead over Fnatic, with Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski and Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså picking up 12 kills apiece. Fnatic took one round back, but it was only a blip as OG stormed into half time with a 11-4 lead. 

The second half was more of the same for OG, who picked up 4 consecutive rounds from the off to get to 15-4 and the Grand Final within their grasp. Fnatic pulled back a round and it came to an all-or-nothing clutch for Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson, but it wasn’t to be and OG sent Fnatic home with their tails between their legs, finishing the map with a resounding 16-4 victory to complete the 2-0 clean sweep and go into the Grand Final to face Virtus,Pro.

Key Stats:

Map 1 (Mirage)
  • Jesper “JW” Wecksell was imperious on Mirage, picking up 36 kills including 17 AWP kills with a 1.62 rating.
  • OG managed to win 3 out of 4 of their force-buy rounds against all odds, which was enough to take them over the line and win the map.
Map 2 (Overpass)
  •  Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså was the star man for OG, picking up 23 kills and a 1.73 rating
  •  Issa “ISSAA” Murad was the opener for OG, picking up 5 opening kills and putting his team into favourable man-up scenarios time and again.

Vacant’s Analysis:

  • OG did it the hard way coming all the way through the lower bracket into the Grand Final to face Virtus.Pro. However thanks to two 7-round winning streaks in the match over the two halves and some fantastic calling from Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, they find themselves in the final. 
  • Fnatic go home and have every right to be disappointed in their performance. At times they had rounds wins in their grasp, but they were sloppy and let too many points slip out of their grasp. Whether it was against force buys or ecos, or a lack of communication where they failed to deal with a flanking opponent, they let OG in again and again.

Next game:

It’s the final showdown between OG and Virtus.Pro in the Grand Final. Midnite.com have Virtus.Pro at 1.97 and OG at 1.81, so go and get your bets in now before it all kicks off at 7pm GMT!

Flashpoint 2 Match Report – OG Knock Out MiBR in Late Night Thriller

Key Prematch odds: 

NBK Goes Nuclear

It was late in the evening in the UK after the earlier delays to the schedule, but for both MiBR and OG it was crunch time. The winner of this game would face Fnatic for a chance to play in the Grand Final and the loser would go home. With so much hanging on this game it was sure to be a showstopper. 

We kicked off on MiBR’s pick Nuke and they started well by taking a 5-2 lead on the T-side. Just as soon as it was looking rosy, OG brought the barriers firmly down and it was Issa “ISSAA” Murad and Nathan “NBK” Schmitt who were the defensive stalwarts for OG, picking up 14 kills apiece. They helped OG pick up 6 rounds in a row with some solid site holds to take the lead and eventually go into half-time 9-6 up. 

In the second half it was once again NBK who was the key man. Supplemented by the AWPing of Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski with 9 AWP kills across the game, they bullied their way through a traditionally CT-sided map to pick up 7 T-Side rounds and a 16-10 victory. They had reversed MiBRs map pick and it was now their own pick of Inferno next to play.

The VSM Show

On Inferno though it was MiBR who started strongly on the favoured CT side, opening up a 7-0 lead with Vinicius “vsm” Moreira getting 10 kills to only 1 death. OG finally picked up a solitary round at 7-1, but MiBR slammed the door shut again as they extended their lead and the half finished 11-4 to the Brazilians. 

MiBR blitzed through the second half, preventing OG from picking up a single round as they closed out the map 16-4 and took the game to the final map of the series, Train.

The Decider

It has become a common theme for Train to be the deciding third map this tournament and this series was no different. OG would start on CT side and they made an impressive start going 7-1 up, but MiBR bounced back yet again and were in the lead 8-7 at half-time with Lucas “LUCAS1” Teles leading the way with 14 frags.

In the second half MiBR won the pistol round, but out of nowhere it looked like they had thrown it all away as they lost the 2nd round to an OG side who were on a full eco. OG snowballed to win the next 4 rounds and the match started to look out of MiBR’s grasp. They clawed back a streak of four rounds, but OG found themself on match point at 15-13.

Vito “kNgV” Giuseppe AWPing prowess almost dragged MiBR into overtime, finishing the game with 37 kills, but it wasn’t to be as a rush onto the A site sealed the win for OG and sent them to the Lower Bracket final to play Fnatic.

Key Stats:

Map 1 (Nuke)
  • It was Nathan “NBK” Schmitt who was, unusually, the top fragger for OG this time with 23 kills a 100.9 ADR and a 1.33 rating. He came up big when needed with some huge impact frags.
  • Issa “ISSAA” Murad completed OG’s dream duo as he picked up 21 kills, 7 assists and the highest rating on the server with 1.33
Map 2 (Inferno)
  • Vinicius “vsm” Moreira was like the Van Dijk of Counter-Strike on the CT side for MiBR with 16 kills and 6 deaths on the CT side. He finished the game at the top of the scoreboard at 21-8 with a 1.77 rating.
  • Vito “kNgV” Giuseppe wasn’t far behind for MiBR with 20 kills and a 1.74 rating as they trounced OG 16-4.
Map 3 (Train)
  • Vito “kNgV” Giuseppe dominated on Train with 37 kills including 24 AWP kills and a 1.64 rating, but it wasn’t enough to carry his team over the line.
  • For OG it was Issa “ISSAA” Murad who came up with the goods, topping his team’s scoreboard with 26 kills and a 1.29 rating.

Vacant’s Analysis:

  • OG were formidable and every player took turns to step up throughout the series. The calling from Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen was fantastic as they stole away round after round on Train. MiBR couldn’t handle their changes of pace when they attacked and they caught them by surprise repeatedly on B. Against a more experienced team like Fnatic they may struggle, but it is sure to be an exciting matchup.
  • MiBR have to be disappointed with this result, but they can go home with their heads held high to make the top 4. It seemed like inexperience showing again as they struggled to close out the game in key moments. 

Next game:

OG will face Fnatic in the Lower Bracket Final for a chance to then take on Virtus.Pro in the Grand Final. With two epic matchups to play, place your bets on midnite.com

Flashpoint 2 Match Report – Virtus.Pro Derail Fnatic to Book Their Place in the Grand Final – Upper Bracket Final

Key Prematch odds: 

Three Map Thriller After Delay

After a 4 hour delay due to a Covid-19 outbreak amongst the event staff, the match finally started with the hosts and casters streaming from their individual hotel rooms. It was an exciting matchup between two of the best teams with a place in the Grand Final at stake.

The opening map was Vertigo and it started frantically with a back and forth first half which finished 8-7 to Fnatic. In the second half though, Fnatic stormed ahead to open up the lead. Thanks to an outstanding performance from Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin with 30 kills, Fnatic stole away Virtus.Pro’s map pick and could march on with confidence onto their own pick of Overpass. 

Overpass looked like it was starting brightly for Virtus.Pro with an insane triple kill in the pistol round from Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis, but Fnatic hit straight back as they raced to an 7-4 lead. Virtus.Pro were repeatedly swept away on the bombsites and Fnatic were pulling off some flawless executes. Virtus.Pro responded by stacking the sites and clawed a couple of rounds back, but it went into half-time at 9-6 to Fnatic.

In the second half Fnatic kept up their momentum as they raced into a 13-8 lead, Virtus.Pro didn’t lie down easily though as they picked up 6 rounds in a row to bring it back to 13-13. It was back and forth in the final stages of the game with some fantastic multikills from Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis and Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson on each side. Both teams traded rounds, but a fantastic final round from Dzhami “Jame” Ali clinched the win for Virtus.Pro and took the series to Train at 1-1 apiece.

Virtus.Pro Derail Fnatic

It was a scrappy first half on Train as both teams traded rounds. Virtus.Pro took control of the game though and stormed into the half-time break 11-4 up thanks to 5 opening kills from YEKINDAR, taking his total to 64, the highest in the tournament.

In the second half, Fnatic just couldn’t find a way back into the game despite winning the pistol round. They kept getting onto the bombsites, but twice were unable to prevent the defuse. Virtus.Pro went on a 5 round streak to take away the map and clinch the series to secure a place in the Grand Final.

Key Stats:

Map 1 (Vertigo)
  • Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin was utterly dominant on Overpass with 30 kills, and a 1.97 rating.
  • Brollan was doing everything for his team, closing out rounds and coming up big when needed, but it was his 6 opening kills which were crucial in opening up Virtus.Pro.
Map 2 (Overpass)
  • Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin was once again the best player for Fnatic, picking up 23 kills and a 1.28 rating.
  • By the 20th round Dzhami “Jame” Ali had only had 3 kills, but he managed to pull it back to 14 kills included a crucial multi-kill in the final round.
Map 3 (Train)
  • Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis was the point man for Virtus.Pro as he carved open Fnatic time and again with 6 opening kills in the map.
  • Alexey “qikert” Golubev led the way for his team with 17 kills, 96.1 ADR and a 1.60 rating.

Vacant’s Analysis:

  • Fnatic: The Swedes started so well and almost looked like they were going to take it in only two maps, but they let their lead slip on Overpass and the series seemed out of their hands from that point on. They were far too easily beaten on Train too and they will have to go away and quickly work out what went wrong if they are to find a way back into the Grand-Final from the Lower Bracket.
  • Virtus.Pro: While they had looked good this tournament making it all the way through the upper bracket to this stage they had struggled against the best teams. They didn’t start well, but after coming back on Overpass the momentum was with them and they managed to pull an incredible performance off here against Fnatic.

Next game:

Virtus.Pro have booked their place in the Grand Final while Fnatic will face the winner of MiBR vs OG in the Lower Bracket for another chance to face Virtus.Pro in the final. You can find the odds for those games on Midnite.com

Flashpoint 2 Match Report: OG Deliver Knockout Blow to BIG in Lower Bracket Heavyweight Showdown

Key Prematch odds: 

OG Deliver KO in Only Two Maps

Going into this tournament this matchup was what many people predicted would be the grand final game, but it’s in the second round of the lower brackets where these two heavyweights in OG and BIG would be going face to face.

The series started on OG’s pick of Inferno and they started brightly, picking up 9 rounds on their T side as they repeatedly brushed the BIG defence aside. Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså was the key man as he came up with 18 frags in the half and clutched out a crucial 1v2 for OG near the end of the half. At halftime it was 9-6 to OG and it looked like anyones game.

Going into the second half it was BIG’s turn to attack on the T side and they hit straight back with a pistol round win and the two subsequent rounds to bring it back to 9-9 with Florian “syrsoN” Rische leading the way. However as soon as OG were able to full buy the drawbridge was pulled up and the defence was impenetrable as OG picked up 6 rounds in a row to take them to match point, and only two rounds later a 16-10 victory was theirs as they took a 1-0 lead in the series going into Dust2.

BIG made a blistering start going 7-1 up on Dust2 and Florian “syrsoN” Rische and Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş once again were the playmakers in the first half. However, BIG let OG back into the game and the score stood at only 8-7 to BIG at half-time.

At the start of the second half, Xantares went huge with some incredible multikills to extend BIG’s lead. Despite getting the bomb down repeatedly, OG just couldn’t hold off BIG’s retakes as the lead was extended even further to 13-9. Just as it looked like BIG were cruising to victory, the tide turned and cracks started to show in their defence. OG brought it back with a streak of 6 round wins in a row to take a 15-13 lead with two rounds to secure the series. It started to look like all hope was lost for BIG, but they pulled two rounds out of the hat and the game went to overtime.

In overtime it was back and forth, but BIG seemed to lose all composure on their T side, making desperate plays as OG held them off easily to finally win the map and the series with a 19-17 victory which sent them through to the next round of the Lower Bracket and sent BIG home.

Key Stats:

Map 1 (Inferno)

  • Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså  was dominant in the first half with 18 kills on T side, including 6 multikills and a 129.7 ADR. He finished the game with 26 kills and a 1.77 rating.
  • Florian “syrsoN” Rische was BIG’s best player, picking up 12 AWP kills and leading his team with 24 frags.

Map 2 (Dust2)

  •  syrsoN had a massive impact on the game with his AWP plays as he racked up 32 kills in total and led the server with a 1.31 rating.
  •  However in the battle of AWPers, it was Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski who came out on top with 22 AWP kills and 7 opening kills.

Vacant’s Analysis:

  • OG were impressive as they swept what was possibly their toughest opponent in this tournament in only two maps. They can largely thank the performances of Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski and Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså, but the whole team was in good form. They don’t have too many weaknesses and their lowest fragging player Nathan “NBK” Schmitt only had a -3 K/D difference over the whole series which shows he was performing his role well – showing BIG how to play a supporting role without being detrimental to the team.
  • I believe an unusual weakness of BIG is that they are overly reliant on the performances of Florian “syrsoN” Rische and Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş, especially because the rest of the team doesn’t perform. On Inferno the duo topped the team scoreboard with 24 kills each. On Dust2 it was more of the same with a massive gulf in frags between them and the rest of the team. The problem with being reliant on a select few players to perform is just like the problem of having only one species of crop. If a disease strikes that targets that one species, there’s no protection from variety and the species goes extinct. If teams can deal with BIG’s dynamic duo they essentially win the game – especially when the rest of BIG have as poor performances as they did on Inferno. Those players will need to step up with their fragging contributions and take some of the burden off their star duo if they are to improve as a team.

Next game:

OG will face MiBR in the next round of the lower bracket, with only one more game after that standing between them and the final. It’s sure to be a fantastic series against an up and coming MiBR team who have improved a lot this tournament, so get your bets in at Midnite.com!

 

Flashpoint 2 Match Report: MiBR Bounce Back to Send MAD Lions Packing – Lower Bracket Round 2

Written by Vacant

Key Prematch odds:

MiBR Exorcise Their Demons

After a grueling match against Fnatic, everyone was looking to see how MiBR would react against a good MAD Lions side. However it was as if yesterday never happened as MiBR swept MAD Lions aside in two maps.

On Mirage, MiBR’s CT side was solid as MAD Lions just couldn’t find a way through. MiBR snowballed as they were able to build a strong economy that was hard to break, especially when they started to play a double AWP setup. By halftime it was 12-3 to MiBR, largely thanks to Lucas “LUCAS1” Teles who was key for MiBR hitting some crazy shots and opening up rounds time after time, but all over the map MiBR were solid and winning their aim duels, brimming with confidence. It was a formality in the second half for MiBR as they picked up four easy rounds and seal the 16-3 victory, opening up a 1-0 lead in the series.

On Nuke this time it was Leonardo “leo_drk” Oliveira who led the way in the first half as MiBR on their T side took a solid 9-6 lead going into halftime on a map that traditionally favours the CTs. MiBR picked up the first three rounds in the second half after a ninja defuse in smoke in the pistol round, but MAD Lions refused to give in and brought it back within three rounds at 13-10. MiBR stayed on top, but MAD Lions were never far behind as rounds went back and forth thanks to some insane multi-kills from Rasmus “sjuush” Beck and Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen who tried their best to keep their team in the game. Ultimately though, MiBR held out to win 16-13 and clean sweep the series 2-0, securing their place in the next round of the Lower Bracket to play the winner of BIG vs OG.

Key Stats:

Map 1 (Mirage)
  • Lucas “LUCAS1” Teles racked up 6 opening kills, giving MiBR crucial man advantages that led them to a dominant win. He led the server with the most opening kills, had an a 120.6 ADR and a 1.72 rating.
  • Vinicius “vsm” Moreira was dominant for MiBR, picking up 24 kills and a rating of 1.96.
Map 2 (Nuke)
  • Alencar “trk” Rossato was the best fragger on the map with 26 kills and a 1.49 rating. 15 of his frags came on the CT side, mostly from the top of Hut on A where he was a constant thorn in MAD Lions’ side.
  • Vinicius “vsm” Moreira was crucial on MiBR’s T side by picking up 17 frags to lead the scoreboard at half time, including 6 entry frags.

Vacant’s Analysis:

  • MiBR did well to pick themselves up after yesterday’s match against Fnatic where they lost in triple overtime on Overpass and lost their own map pick on Vertigo. However they utterly dominated against MAD Lions, sweeping them aside in only two maps and nobody can doubt their mental fortitude now. One of the strengths of MiBR is their teamwork and depth of ability. They don’t rely on an individual superstar and the burden of frags is shared across the whole team. Over the two maps, there was only 11 kills between the highest and lowest players in terms of total frags. A strength of their CT side is that every player on the team can frag out and the relief and confidence they will take from this game as well as the lessons learnt from the game against Fnatic will set them in good stead for the rest of the playoffs. 
  • MAD Lions should go away satisfied with their performance this tournament. They were predicted to be the sixth best team and they finished in the top six. They performed as expected and even claimed a scalp in the group stage with a win against Fnatic. 

Next game:

MiBR will face the winner of BIG vs OG in the next rounds of the lower bracket, competing for a spot in the lower bracket finals, the winner of which goes to the Grand Final. With some great games to play as teams set their sights on the final, it’s the perfect time to get your bets in on Midnite.com!

 

Flashpoint 2 Match Report: Fnatic Sweep MiBR in Dramatic Series to Reach Upper Bracket Final

Written by Vacant

Key Prematch odds:

  • To win this series: 
    • Midnite Odds: Fnatic 1.73 / MIBR 2.08
    • HLTV Fan Picks: Fnatic 22.5% / MiBR 77.5%
  • Outright odds to win at the start of the playoffs:
    • Fnatic: 4/1
    • MiBR: 16/1

  • Read our group stage review for more details

Fast and Furious as Overpass goes to Overtime

The series started frenetically on Overpass. The pace was relentless with both teams trading rounds back and forth and neither were able to build up any significant streak of rounds. The first half finished 8-7 to MiBR, but the halftime break did nothing to stop the relentless pace of the game.

The second half was still scrappy with both sides taking turns to land punches and the final six rounds were a flurry of clutches. In the 30th round, Fnatic pulled off a miracle force buy and defused the bomb with milliseconds to spare to take the game to overtime.

In OT it was more of the same with a frantic back and forth. Despite MiBR performing marginally better and opening up rounds throughout, Fnatic just refused to lose. The first overtime came and went. It went into a second overtime and despite both teams landing blows neither could land the knockout punch as the game went to a third overtime. It was all about endurance and at long last Fnatic found the edge, winning four rounds in a row in the Overtime 3 to finally bring the map to a close and pick up the first point of the series.

MiBR Left Dizzy on Vertigo

After giving everyone a moment to breathe after the absolute madness on Overpass, the series moved on to MiBR’s map pick, Vertigo. MiBR were going to have to pick themselves mentally up after the agony of losing the marathon first map. However it was Jesper “JW” Wecksell who dominated, showing absolutely no fear of heights. He was incredible on Fnatic’s CT side, popping up with his AWP all over the map to open up rounds with entries and pick up a series of multi-kills. MiBR just couldn’t deal with him as Fnatic stormed to a 12-3 lead at half-time.

Four quick round wins in the second half for Fnatic sealed the series win in style and sent them through to the Upper Bracket Finals to face Virtus.Pro and fight it out for a spot in the Grand Final.

Key Stats:

Map 1 (Overpass)

  • Jesper “JW” Wecksell finished the game with 39 kills and 12 assists. His total kill contribution of 51 was the highest on the server.

  • Leonardo ‘leo_drk’ Oliveira and Lucas ‘LUCAS1’ Teles were the highest rated players in the game, but it wasn’t enough to get their team over the line

Map 2 (Vertigo)

  • JW was a thorn in MiBR’s side during the entire game on Vertigo. He finished with 11 AWP kills, 5 opening kills and a rating of 1.85.

  • If MiBR tried to avoid JW, it was Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson waiting for them instead. He picked up the most kills in the game with 24 frags and a 1.81 rating.

Vacant’s Analysis:

  • Fnatic- Jesper “JW” Wecksell has been picking up the rifle a lot more this year, but this tournament his AWPing has been prolific like the JW of old. He picked up 29 AWP kills over the series and his total kill count of 62 was the best of any player. Three of Fnatic’s players are the legendary lineup that won majors a few years ago and right now they are in red hot form. Their experience combined with the young talents of Maikil “Golden” Selim and Ludvig “Brollan” Brolin have proved to be a recipe for success and right now they look absolutely unstoppable.

  • MiBR- The Brazlians seemed to lack the killer instinct in this game. They had a lot of chances to close out Overpass and failed to take them as they fell in triple overtime. A key moment on their T side was when they pushed into the A site through long. They were spotted and the CT rotate started coming in, but they just didn’t press the issue quick enough and allowed Fnatic to get players onto the site before the bomb had even been planted. They seemed to struggle mentally after the first map and they will have to pick themselves up and go again in the lower bracket.

Next game:

Fnatic will face Virtus.Pro in the Upper Bracket final to battle it out for a place in the grand final, whilst MiBR will face MAD Lions in the lower bracket for a chance to play in the lower bracket final against the winner of OG vs BIG.

We’re coming into the final stretch of Flashpoint 2 with some huge games left to play, so get your bets in at Midnite.com and check out their offers!

Keep an eye out this weekend for our feature previewing the Grand-Finals of Flashpoint 2 with all the key stats, odds, and analysis you need!

 

Flashpoint 2 Match Report – Virtus.Pro a Step Closer to the Final After Defying Expectations Against BIG – Upper Bracket Semi-Final

Written by Vacant

Key Prematch odds:

The Map Pick is Lava

Virtus.Pro started strongly on Mirage, wiping the floor with BIG as they stole their map pick. BIGs T side was toothless as they struggled to get onto the sites and plant the bomb. Virtus.Pro were able to hold them off with ease and held a near insurmountable 13-2 lead going into halftime. In the second half it was a valiant attempt to come back from BIG, but the damage had already been done and Virtus.Pro only needed to eke out three rounds to clinch the first map 16-9.

However, BIG showed no signs of shellshock as it went into Vertigo, the map pick choice of Virtus.Pro. They wasted no time in displaying their incredible mental fortitude to come back with a vengeance. Led by an incredible performance from Tizian “tiziaN” Feldbusch they stormed to a 12-3 half-time lead. Virtus.Pro picked up the pistol round and the subsequent two rounds as BIG saved their money, but as soon as BIG could buy everything they needed they were able to pick up the next four rounds and secure the map to level the series at 1-1 and take it to Overpass.

Comeback Controversy

Despite winning the opening rounds on Overpass BIG looked like they were running out of steam. An 8 round streak for Virtus.Pro on their CT side followed as they kept BIG at bay and finished the first half with a 10-5 lead, largely thanks to the performance of Alexey “qikert” Golubev who picked up 17 kills in the half. In the second half it started to look worrying for BIG when Virtus.Pro got themselves in sight of the finish line at 14-5, but once again BIG showed their resilience and went on a 7 round streak to bring it back to 14-11. There was controversy though as the following round was reset in the middle of a site take where BIG were a man up. It could be argued that this killed the momentum that BIG had built up, but Virtus.Pro took advantage and picked up the two rounds they needed to claim the map and the series to advance to the Upper Bracket final.

Key Stats:

Map 1 (Mirage)
  •  On Virtus.Pro’s CT side they won 8 rounds in a row with BIG only managing to plant the bomb three times in the entire half.
  • Dzhami “Jame” Ali dominated with 22 kills, 10 of which were AWP kills.
Map 2 (Vertigo)
  • Tizian “tiziaN” Feldbusch was utterly dominant with 27 kills, 123.6 ADR and a 1.93 rating. 22 of his kills were in the first half.
  •  Sharing is caring. BIG shared the spoils in the second half as every player picked up 5 kills each, only Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dörtkardeş had 6.
Map 3 (Overpass)
  • Timur ‘buster’ Tulepov and Alexey ‘qikert’ Golubev were the dream duo for Virtus.Pro with 25 and 24 kills respectively. Qikert led the server scoreboard with 9 assists, 102.5 ADR and a 1.46 rating. 
  • In the battle of AWPers, Florian ‘syrsoN’ Rische dominated with 12 AWP kills whilst Dzhami ‘Jame’ Ali had an unusually poor game for Virtus.Pro, with only 16 kills in total putting him at the bottom of the scoreboard for his team.

Vacant’s Analysis:

  • Virtus.Pro were excellent throughout and the most significant aspect was their diligence and discipline. They left little to chance by using their utility well and trading frags consistently. It was a complete team performance across the series for Virtus.Pro, with no one player really standing out as an MVP of the series. Even when star man Jame didn’t perform on Overpass they managed to pull off a convincing win which really shows how much of a solid unit the team is as a whole. Based on today’s performance, a case could easily be made for them going all the way and winning this tournament .
  • On Mirage and Overpass it was the T side where BIG let themselves down. They kept making unforced errors and were a little sloppy and undisciplined in their play, particularly in post-plant situations they were making unnecessary peeks and allowing Virtus.Pro to retake the sites too easily. Their best T side performance came on Vertigo where they hyped themselves up to blow Virtus.Pro out of the water with sheer aggression and insane plays from Tizian, but it’s hard to sustain those levels of energy. Coming into this tournament as favourites it’s surprising to see them drop into the lower bracket so early, but they’ll now be favourites to make it through the lower bracket to the Grand Final.

Next game:

Virtus.Pro will face the winner of Fnatic vs MiBR in the Upper Bracket Final, whilst BIG drop down into the lower bracket to play against MAD Lions in what will surely be a hotly contested match after MAD Lions swept Envy aside in only two maps yesterday. Fnatic play MiBR this evening with the loser facing OG in the other lower bracket game tomorrow after BIG vs MAD Lions. It’s all to play for, so get your bets in at Midnite.com!

 

Flashpoint 2 Match Report – OG Take Down Dignitas in Clean Sweep – Lower Bracket R1

Written by Vacant

Key Prematch odds: 

OG Fend Off Early Scare

After a closely fought 30 round thriller on Nuke, OG got the job done in just two maps, picking up a convincing win on Inferno to sweep the series and send Dignitas home, booking their place in the next round of the Lower Bracket to face the loser of Fnatic vs MiBR. 

OG had come into the tournament as one of the favourites to win and despite finding themselves in the lower bracket after yesterday’s loss to MiBR they were overwhelming favourites to win this matchup against Dignitas. It didn’t quite start as planned as Dignitas went into the halftime break on Nuke with a 9-6 lead after a some sensational clutches from Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg and Ludvig ”HEAP” Alonso, but OG pulled it back in the second half as Dignitas just couldn’t cope with their aggression. Dignitas never gained a strong enough foothold in the half and fell to a 16-14 defeat.

On Inferno OG simply steamrolled through Dignitas, led by Nathan “NBK” Schmitt who topped the scoreboard with 21 kills. On what is usually a CT-sided map, OG picked up 10 rounds on their first half T-side, leaving the second half as a formality, picking up six rounds without reply to seal the win and the series.

Key Stats:

Map 1 (Nuke)
  • Valdemar “valde” Bjørn Vangså was dominant on Nuke with 28 kills, seven of which were crucial round-openers to open up the Dignitas defense
  • Dignitas were forced into four full-eco rounds on the CT side – highlighting how much they struggled to maintain a run of rounds needed to build a strong economy
Map 2 (Inferno)
  • Nathan “NBK” Schmitt dominated for OG with 21 kills, 116 ADR and a 1.57 rating 
  • Ludvig ”HEAP” Alonso had a torrid time for Dignitas with only 4 kills in the entire game

Vacant’s Analysis:

  • OG did the job they were expected to do, even if Nuke was a little too close for comfort. The rifling duo of Valde and NBK combined with the AWPing of Mateusz “mantuu” Wilczewski makes them a force to be reckoned with. Mantuu is the third best AWPer in the tournament and is also leading in K/D difference with +65. With such impressive firepower, an easier route through the lower bracket could be ideal for OG to find their consistency and make it all the way to the Grand Final.
  • Dignitas performed valiantly, but it the end it wasn’t to be and they can look back on this tournament with a lot of positives to build on, especially with their ability to clutch out some crucial rounds.

Next game: 

OG will go into Round 2 of the lower bracket to face the loser of Fnatic vs MiBR. Meanwhile, MAD Lions will face either BIG or Virtus.Pro in the other lower bracket match. There’s still plenty of action to look forward to, so get your bets in on Midnite.com!