The last day of the ESL One Stockholm 2022’s Group Stage ended after numerous epic games. Even though the number of matches was significantly lower than in the last three days, we saw a couple of amazing games.
Unfortunately, Evil Geniuses was unable to overcome their opponents from South America in their most crucial match. Despite winning the first game, EG lost the second one and became the first eliminated from the event.
EG vs BC
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This was definitely the most important match for EG in this tournament. After failing to live up to the expectations during the first three days, Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko and the rest had one last chance to save themselves. Before this series, EG was last in Group A, but BC was close.
The only way for the NA team to advance to the LB was to secure themselves a 2-0 victory. EG’s superstars were motivated to win because their performance was impressive, especially in game one.
The team won the laning stage, which gave their Chaos Knight enough time to outfarm BC’s cores. Jean Pierre “Chris Luck” Gonzales and the rest relied heavily on their Void and Jakiro combo because it has proven itself numerous times. However, it was not effective against EG”s lineup because their cores were too tanky.
After gaining an enormous lead, EG closed the first game and prepared themselves for the second map.
Game 2
EG was one game away from winning their first and most crucial series so far. Despite the excellent start and Abed Azel “Abed” L. Yusop’s excellent mid-lane performance, the NA team failed to impress.
Beastcoast’s Bloodseeker took advantage of several mistakes from EG and got himself a couple of crucial kills. This gave him a massive lead over Arteezy’s CK, and it seems like it was enough for the South Americans to win.
Although the two teams had equal kills at one point, beastcoast had more than a 15k net worth advantage. TA eventually surpassed Lina, and BS had almost two times more items than CK. Needless to say, it was just a matter of time before BC ripped through their opponents.
EG tried to initiate a fight near the Rosh put, but as expected, it went wrong. BC killed almost everyone, which forced the NA team to use the GG call.
BB Team vs OG
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The first match that people expected to watch was between BB Team and OG. Even though Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev and his squad already secured themselves a slot for the Upper Brackets, OG was not in the same position. Despite dominating on Day 1, the two times TI champs made several mistakes on Day2 and Day 3.
The first game between BB Team and OG turned out to be a lot more interesting than expected. People thought that the CIS squad would win easily because it dominated in the laning stage. Although it gained a substantial lead in terms of kills, OG relied on its late-game monsters and tried to delay the game as much as possible.
As expected, BB team tried to end this game as fast as possible because their late-game was not as good as the one from OG. Sadly, they made a couple of crucial mistakes that allowed OG to push and destroy their throne in seconds. Despite having the lead the entire game, BB team lost the first map.
Game 2
Since BB team dominated throughout most of game one, people expected them to do the same again. However, things didn’t go according to plan because OG picked a very different draft that allowed them to focus on the mid-game.
Having Puck, Razor and IO in the same team allowed them to take constant fights. BB Team also had a solid draft, but it was better for the late game. OG knew that, so they’ve decided to play aggressively. This paid off because the team got a solid advantage and defeated their opponents from Eastern Europe.
This victory was very important for OG because it secured them second place in Group A. In other words, they will compete in the upcoming Upper Bracket of the playoffs.
Fnatic vs GG
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The match between the European team and the SEA powerhouse was very important because one of them might miss out on the Upper Bracket. As expected, both teams gave everything they had.
The first match provided us with tons of action from the start. Fnatic’s TA and GG’s Ember and CK combo tried to gain a lead over their opponents by taking loads of fights. Fnatic had a slight edge in the mid-game, especially after a very decisive battle near the Rosh pit. However, this was not enough for the SEA team.
The most important fight took place around the 25th minute. The massive 5v5 encounter ended up favoring GG and gave them enough advantage to secure a comfortable lead. The team used it to its full potential and won the first map.
Game 2
Despite having Storm Spirit in its draft, Fnatic was unable to defeat their European rivals, who secured the first place in Group B. Miroslav “BOOM” Bičan and this team had an explosive start that allowed them to snowball quickly. Fnatic did everything they could to delay the game, but their efforts were not enough.
Tiebreakers & Other Results
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Aside from the three series mentioned above, we also saw T1 vs Tundra and TA vs TSM. Tundra won their match against T1 with little to no effort and definitely deserved to be first in Group A.
As for the match between South America and North America, neither team was victorious because the series ended in a draw. This meant that it was time to watch Tiebreakers that included Team Spirit, Team Liquid, TSM, and TA.
Surprisingly, Thunder Awaken defeated the powerful Team Liquid in the deadly Bo1 format of the Tiebreakers. This allowed the team to secure a slot for the Upper Bracket of the event.
One of the biggest surprises was Team Liquid’s loss against Thunder Awaken. In spite of the fact that they were the favorites, TSM’s Storm and MK combo didn’t give them any chances of winning. Hence, MATU and co. will have to compete in the Lower Bracket.
The last match was between Team Spirit and Thunder Awaken. Even though the odds favored the TI winners, the South American squad’s overpowered Chaos Knight gave them the victory.
