COVERAGE: eLeague Major: Day 2 - Semi-finals
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Following Faze Clan, NaVi (Natus Vincere) and Cloud 9's win yesterday, today's eLeague Major has the following team matches:
- SK Gaming vs Fnatic
- Cloud9 vs winner of SK Gaming/Fnatic match
- Faze vs Natus Vincere
There was a packed stadium by noon, but there was no escaping the technical difficulties that also plagued their systems yesterday. It frustrated not only the fans in the stadium, but viewers on the Twitch stream.
MATCH 1
SK Gaming vs. Fnatic
19 - 22
16 - 14
16 - 12
Fnatic started with a fantastic lead of 14 games to 8, but lost ground as SK Gaming fought back to bring them into overtime. Both teams step-laddered each other until Fnatic pulled ahead, winning the first round 22 games to SK Gaming's 19.
Round 2 was just the opposite. SK Gaming gave up their lead of 11-07 games to let Fnatic catch up, 13-13. They finally pulled ahead and won 16-14, resulting in a third round after 3.5 hours of gameplay so far.
The match has been going on for 5 hours straight. The most interesting thing is that most spectators are still on their toes rooting for their teams, though not everyone has been able to keep it up. One couple is snoozing and one young lady who's sitting next to her boyfriend is intently looking busy on her smartphone. But to her credit, she's playing a game, which technically makes her a gamer. (right?) In the end, SK Gaming comes out on top fighting tooth and nail for each win.
MATCH 2
Faze Clan vs Natus Vincere
16 - 09
16 - 07
Faze Clan killed it giving their opponents no hope for an early 8 game to 1 lead. By-stepping certain doom, S1mple led the way sniping down enemies and bringing NaVi back to life for six straight games (bringing the tally 8 games to 7). Alas, the comeback was short lived - Faze Clan overwhelmed NaVi with two straight match wins.
SEMI-FINALS
MATCH 3
Cloud9 vs SK Gaming
16 - 03
08 - 16
16 - 09
In round 1, Cloud9 is whupping SK Gaming's behind, leading 8 games to 0 in the first round. The final game of round 1 saw the whole SK Gaming team decimated in one fell swoop, and that's no exaggeration.
To be fair, SK Gaming has only had a few hours to rest after a 5 hour long battle, but then life is never fair. What makes a team great is if they can prove their mettle even under immense pressure - for SK Gaming, it's not only physical fatigue, but the mental one they're fighting in a pro-American environment rooting (very loudly) for Cloud9.
Round 2, the tables have turned as the game is played in SK Gaming's chosen environment. They lead 0-7, until Cloud9 finally get their first break and catch up 7 games to 7. It's a see-saw battle as SK Gaming wins the next 8 rounds in a row after losing the previous 7.
Things are getting tense - a clearly frustrated Coldzera continues shooting a dead Stewie2k after the fact. But what is also clear is that SK Gaming is back with a round 2 win of 16 games to 8.
Round 3 - in the first game, SK's Taco is alone and backed into a corner with five opponents closing in like wolves. Taco takes out 3 Cloud9 players before he's taken out in a desperate effort to stay alive, leaving everyone with their mouths on the ground. This third round is feeling like an unfortunate repeat of the first round, with SK gaming getting decimated in bulk.
It's weird that Taco always seems the last man standing in SK. But in a twist of fate, it happens again - though this time being surrounded 2 to 1, Taco comes out on top. He is shows his frustration by shooting up the last fallen Cloud9 member.
Cloud9 is winning 6 games to 3 - and again it's Taco, last man standing. This time, Stewie2k gets his revenge, shooting up a fallen Taco after finding his hiding place.
The match ends in favor of Cloud9 advancing to the finals. There, they'll face Faze Clan in one final battle for the biggest share of the $1 million pot.
