What a stunning day of Pro League gameplay we have had. If you had the misfortune of missing them, here is a quick roundup of all the four Quarter-Final matchups that happened earlier today.
QF 1: eiNs.GG vs Team Font
The game got off to a breakneck speed, with frags and counter-frags flying out from both teams. Aroer1na and ShiN, as expected, turned up big for eiNs on Bank while Muringa and gohaN responded for Fontt. However, the lack of team coordination from eiNs saw them only win a single round, as Fontt swept them away, winning the map decisively.
Oregon was much of the same, with Fontt absolutely decimating eiNs due to the Japanese side’s lack of an effective enough drone game and what seemed to be lack of intra-team communication. With the tough 1-5 1-5 loss, eiNs will definitely put in maximum effort during the next 4 months to improve upon their current level, and turn up even stronger at the Invitational next year. Fontt, on the other hand, represented loudly by their home crowd, move into the Semi-Finals where they will face ENCE Esports.
QF 2: PENTA Sports vs Mantis FPS
It was always going to be an incredibly hard fight for Mantis FPS, and that is exactly what they got. Taking PENTA to Consulate, which is seen by many as their strongest map, they were up against the wall from the start and ended up losing 5-1.
The second map started off brighter for Mantis FPS as they won their first defense round, however, once again the game slipped out of their grasp. PENTA Sports demonstrated exactly why they had won the previous two seasons, and took Oregon in another 5-1 victory. They now move onto face Black Dragons in the second Semi-Final game.
QF 3: Evil Geniuses vs ENCE eSports
Coming into the matchup, ENCE eSports were definitely considered the underdogs, having failed to perform at LAN since they beat Orbit.gg in Year 1 Season 1. Evil Geniuses (ex-continuum), on the other hand, came into LAN undefeated this season and were looking to win a Pro League title for the second time.
Despite a ban map heavily in favour of Evil Geniuses, the first map, surprisingly, went ENCE’s way in a closely fought 5-3 victory on Oregon. A traditional stronghold for Evil Geniuses, some stunning plays from Shatte, Kantoraketti, and even Bounssi saw ENCE take the map lead.
The second map was yet again a tightly won a 5-3 victory, but this time in favour of the North American side who turned on the style on Clubhouse, ensuring that the series did not end just yet.
Deciding the series would be the map Border, where Shatte and Pannari played some of the best Siege they ever have, and led the Finnish side to their first LAN win in 18 months. They now go on to face home side Team Fontt, in a matchup that has us licking our lips in anticipation.
QF 4: Black Dragons e-Sports vs 1nfamy
In the final Quarter-Finals matchup, 1nfamy looked strong against home favourites Black Dragons, trading rounds back and forth. They eventually pushed the first map, Clubhouse, to overtime, before Black Dragons took control and won 6-4 much to the crowd’s pleasure.
Oregon was a completely different story, though, as Black Dragons took the second map by the scruff of its neck, demonstrating just why they are the top team in the LATAM region. 1nfamy had absolutely no answer to them, as they slumped to a 0-5 loss. They will now move onto the Semi-Final game against PENTA -- a repeat of the Y2S1 Semi-Final when they were under the V3 Masters name -- and will look to derail the European team’s plans of achieving a record 3 Pro League title wins in a row.
