Image via Ubisoft
Winners and Losers
Winner: APAC. The whole region.
APAC went 3-0 on the first day, and are the only region to be undefeated after the first day of play. SANDBOX and Elevate were expected by many to lose to Ninjas in Pyjamas and DarkZero, respectively. DWG KIA took care of business against Team oNe, topping off a great day one for APAC. They’re looking like a top region, if not the top region early.
Winner: Oxygen Esports
Oxygen looked extremely good in the most one-sided game of the day – a 2-0 (7-2 7-1) stomping of NAVI. Put in perspective: Oxygen nearly won as many maps as NAVI won rounds. That definitely counts as one of the day’s big wins.
Winner: Spacestation Gaming
Halfway through map two of Spacestation’s SI-opening bout with FaZe Clan, they looked like they were in trouble of bombing out 0-2 to the Sweden Major champs. The opposite happened. Spacestation didn’t flinch, and took home two overtime maps in a row to win 2-1. They beat a team that might be one of the best two teams in the tournament. Well played to Spacestation, who hadn’t won a best-of-three in 14 months.
Loser: BDS
This is unfair. Adrien "RaFaLe" Rutik was unable to play with the team, for reasons that are still opaque. However, it’s certainly looking like BDS are going to have a long tournament without him. They fought valiantly, but still fell 0-2 to FURIA, a team widely considered to be on the lower tier of their group.
If RaFaLe comes back, BDS will have a puncher’s chance. If he doesn’t…well…it could be a quick flight home to France.
Loser: DarkZero
Elevate beat them, and it didn’t look great for DZ. They struggled in a bunch of areas and were beaten by a mostly-unknown team. DZ has the talent to make some plays, and assuredly should be better than this. They’ll take on a hobbled BDS tomorrow for a bit of redemption.
Stat of the day
Gryxr notches 45 in a loss
Soniqs were close. They were so very, very close. They were a round away from putting away Team Empire 2-0, until the Russian side came back to win 2-1.
In the process, Pablo “Gryxr” Rebeil dropped a staggering 45 kills and posted a 9-2 entry record. Statistically, this loss isn’t on him, not by a long shot.
Soniqs have struggled internationally, but today was heartening for their chances. Team Empire is one of the all-time great LAN teams, and pushing them to the brink is a solid result – COVID-hobbled or not.
Day two games to watch
NiP vs. Team Empire
These two titans are colliding again in a BO3. NiP are likely pissed off and ready to get a win on the board. Team Empire are hobbled by a pair of COVID-19 diagnoses but are coming in hot off a comeback win over Soniqs. This one’s going to be a bucket of fun.
Rogue vs. CAG
I think these two teams match up well playstyle-wise, and CAG could be the next APAC team to take home an upset in their first BO3 of the tournament. This one’s going one of two ways — all the way to OT on map three, or over in a quick 2-0 for either side. I can feel the crazy vibrating from this matchup.