After seven weeks showing the top caliber of teams from the BeNeLux region and a staggering total of one pizza ordered to the ESL studio, BNL presents it’s season finals from the Bright Day 2018 Expo in Haarlem, Netherlands.
Semi-Final 1: Trust Gaming 2 - 0 Flash Point
Maps: Oregon (6-4), Border (6-3), Bank (Not played)
Trust: Snuf, Leonski, Quadzy, Deapek, Avaiche
FP: Dark, Deox, TigerB, ScorpZ, Sejinex
Trust’s record throughout the entirety of BNL has proved their caliber as a team, not dropping a single match and continuing their trail of wins with an impressive 7-0 record over season two. They look to continue their dominance in BeNeLux to become the season champions and become the first in the league to win two back-to-back seasons. Flash Point come in after a 4-3 season record, with losses against Guidance (fmr. OG), Trust, and Demise. In a rematch from their October 24th matchup, the two contend for the first spot in the BNL finals.
Map One: Oregon
The previous time these two have faced, happened to be on the same map and ended in a 6-4 scoreline in favor of Trust. Their second encounter on this map started off very back-and-forth, seeing a 3-3 and even 4-4 scoreline after the halftime. However, in the final two rounds, it would be Trust to close out the map 6-4 to repeat history from their previous encounter on Oregon.
Map Two: Border
Flash Point heads into this round with a notable 4-1 record on Border, this being their map pick for the matchup. The map starts off with Trust’s continued dominance, securing rounds one and two before FP takes up round three to gain a footing in the score. This wouldn’t last for long, as Trust heads up with a tremendous 4-1 lead heading into the second half. Round six, and FP’s first round on attack sees an aggressive runout by Deapek whittling down the numbers to a 1v1 between Quadzy and Deox, won by Deox. Trust would gain the match point advantage in round seven, before another catch-up by FP in round eight. It would be FP’s downfall in round nine to give Trust their final needed round win, putting them in the finals with a 6-3 victory!
Semi-Final 2: Team Demise 2 - 0 Guidance Gaming Benelux
Maps: Border (6-1), Coastline (6-3), Oregon (Not played)
Guidance: NXRO, Dawiid, Dildosor, Craxan, Fantomia
Demise: Farooq, Staed, rxwd, sNKy, NoerA
Guidance makes their BeNeLux debut after the acquiring of the OG SQUAD roster, adding on to their compendium of Rainbow Six teams in LATAM Challenger League and the U.K. Premiership. However, Roby would not follow suit, instead seeing Craxan on the new lineup, picked up from MnM BeNeLux. Guidance (fmr. OG) finished with a 5-2 season record, only seeing losses to Demise and Trust, whereas Demise finished the season 6-1 with one loss to the usual suspect, Trust.
Map One: Border
The first map’s history would lean in the favor of Demise, having much more success than the former on Border. Demise capture rounds one and two, featuring an incredible near-clutch from Craxan. Guidance would continue their disjointed plays, giving Demise the remainder of the first half to put Demise up 5-0 with the map point advantage. The role swap placed Guidance in a must comeback spot, but were only able to gain one rd win in round six.Round seven behind the agressive plays from sNKy, saw Demise take the map 6-1.
Map Two: Coastline
Coastline’s history would favor Guidance in the records, with a 3-1-2 record as opposed to Demise’s 1-1-1. Demise start off with the first two rounds until Guidance stops them in their tracks for their first win on round three by an incredible clutch from Craxan. Guidance plays catch-up with another clutch on round four, turning an unwinnable situation on its head. Demise picked up wins in rounds six and seven for the lead heading into the second half, also forcing match point leading 5-2 after round seven. Round eight heads into Guidance’s favor, but to no avail as Demise close out the match 6-3, heading to the finals with Trust Gaming.
Grand Final: Team Demise 2 - 0 Trust Gaming
Maps: Clubhouse (6-4), Bank (6-1), Villa (Not played)
Trust: Snuf, Leonski, Quadzy, Deapek, Avaiche
Demise: Farooq, Staed, rxwd, sNKy, NoerA
Both teams have worked hard for this moment, the rematch of BNL Season 1, Trust vs Demise. Granted, lineups have changed, but familiar faces like Leonski, Avaiche, and Snuf look for their second BNL title where Staed, Farooq, and Deapek work for the title that has slipped from their hands previously.
Map One: Clubhouse
Both teams have equal records on Clubhouse, with a 1-0-1 for both Trust and Demise. Demise starts off strong on defense, catching rounds one and three as Trust grabs two and four. The halftime advantage goes to Trust after a last-minute stall and plant play on Basement. On the role swap, Demise comes up two rounds to go in the lead at the end of round seven, 4-3. Trust is able to pick one round up, but it’s Demise with the victory at rounds nine and ten to close out the map 6-4, up one map against the titans of Benelux.
Map Two: Bank
With a staggering five bans, Trust raises eyes when looking at the potential of the teams to win the map, versus Demise only having one win out of one time played. It could mark the sign of a map weakness- or strat hiding during the season. The match begins with a win for Trust, before Demise would follow it up with a five-round win streak from rounds two to six- placing them in the match point advantage after the first round of the second half. The light slips from Trust Gaming, the titans on the brink of collapse, fall to Demise on round seven. Demise stand tall after all of the events, 6-1.
This concludes the events of the BeNeLux Season 2 finals, coming down from an incredible season for the teams and an astounding win from Demise. Keep your eyes peeled for Season 3 of BeNeLux, coming to you sometime in the near future!