Banner Image: Ubisoft / Kiril B. @ItsKirillVision
Here's a complete look at what happened on the second day of action in the Europe League 2024 Stage 1 Day 2!
ENCE 8-6 WYLDE
Just like on the first day of the Europe League 2024 Stage 1, ENCE got us started as the Finn organization played against Usain Bolt's team WYLDE.
Playing on Kafe, the Frenchmen's three successful attacks in the initial six rounds of the match were crucial, especially Théo "AzoXx" Eudine's 1v1 clutch on round five.
After winning the team's first two defenses of the second half, ENCE looked like they were on the verge of securing their first regulation win of the season. However, WYLDE still had something to say as the roster put the match point on the scoreboard after three successful attacks.
As both teams headed to overtime, ENCE's win in round thirteen saw the Finn organization climbing to match point. However, a strong WYLDE push to Kitchen seemed to send us to round fifteen.
Then, the unthinkable happened: after WYLDE planted the defuser, Peter "Pacbull" Bull, who was playing Osa in a comfortable spot behind her glass, killed himself with a grenade. That made it easier for ENCE to retake the side, as the French squad disabled the defuser without major issues.
Wolves Esports 8-7 Virtus.pro
Wolves Esports and Virtus.pro met in a very classic Oregon performance where winning attacks is almost impossible. Curiously enough, the Frenchmen lost against Into the Breach the day before for not being capable of winning an attack against the British-majority roster on Consulate.
Just like on the day before, Wolves Esports finished the first half of the game with a 5-1 advantage. However, the Russians were determined to comeback from behind as they won their first three defenses. Fortunately, the pack won an attacking round and confirmed themselves, at least, one point.
After the Bears pushed the map to overtime, the Russians were suddenly the favorites to win the game as they started from defense. Against all of the odds, following Virtus.pro's win in round thirteen, Wolves Esports managed to take the two points home after winning their final attack.
Team BDS 7-2 G2 Esports
Team BDS obtained their third victory in ten days against G2 Esports after having won against them twice in the Malta Cyber Series VII.
The match on Chalet started with a close round that ended in Loïc "BriD" Chongthep's second clutch of the season. Minutes later, G2 Esports won the second round to put the tie on the scoreboard.
Despite how even the match looked after the first two rounds, Team BDS ran over G2 Esports completely from round three and onwards. The Six Invitational 2024-bound could only win another round when Jack "Doki" Robertson successfully hid from Stéphane "Shaiiko" Lebleu, who was on the verge of completing a 1v3 clutch and only lost because he spent ten seconds cleaning an injured defender.
Without a doubt, Team BDS look like the strongest team in Europe right now. It's worth mentioning that two of Team BDS's five lost rounds this week have been clutches, one against WYLDE and another one against G2 Esports.
Fnatic 7-4 Into the Breach
Last but not least, Fnatic's roster won its first match for the orange organization as they defeated Into the Breach on Chalet.
The roster led by Leon "LeonGids" Giddens had an outstanding start to the map as the Europeans won their first three defenses and swapped roles with their opponents while being 4-2 ahead on the scoreboard.
Into the Breach's great start to the second half saw the roster cut down the distance to just one round. Unfortunately for them, the Finn Jesse "Jeggz" Ojanen went berserk in the final two rounds as six of his eleven kills came then.
With this result, Fnatic climbed to second place, only behind Team BDS. Meanwhile, Into the Breach finished the first week of the season in fourth place.