For the second time in a month, G2 and Luminosity faced one another – this time at the CSGO Esports Championship Series Season 1 finals in London. Oscar Pelling reports on the final from Wembley’s SSE Arena.
Just under a month ago these teams met at the finals of the ESL Pro League finals at the O2, where Luminosity took the win after a close-fought game.
So this time, G2 were out for revenge. For the second time they had defeated multiple higher-seeded teams to meet the first-seeded Luminosity in the finals.
This time around, the final was a best of 3, and G2 were determined not let this opportunity pass.
The first map, the classic Dust2, was a back and forth game with each team struggling to get a lead. The first half ended with the score at 8-7 in favour of G2.
Despite winning the pistol round, G2 then lost momentum and Luminosity managed to win three rounds in a row. After the gold had stabilised, G2 managed to break Luminosity’s stride and swiftly took four rounds to force Luminosity to timeout at 13-10.
The timeout did not achieve its purpose, however, as G2 were able to close the game out cleanly, only losing one more round to make the final score of game one 16-11.
“There was no question after game two as to who the stronger team was. This makes G2 the Esports Championship Series Season 1 champions – which is their first major title.”
Game 2 on Overpass saw G2 send a message. Luminosity has selected Overpass from the map pool so they were clearly confident in their ability to play the map. G2 had gathered some considerable momentum and this could be seen heading into game 2.
A scorching start on T side claimed seven straight rounds. After what looked like a potential comeback for Luminosity at the hands of Lincoln ‘fnx’ Lau with a 4k, G2 held it together to take first half 11-4.
A break and some time to regroup in the half time period may have been a lifeline for Luminosity, but this was quickly dismissed by an incredible series of one taps from Richard ‘shox’ Papillon’s USP-S to take four kills and secure the round for G2.
In a decisive 16-5 win, G2 secured game two to take the series. After the first close ESL finals at the O2, this series was far more convincing at showing which team performed better.
There was no question after game two as to who the stronger team was. This makes G2 the Esports Championship Series Season 1 champions – which is their first major title.
The team were given little time to celebrate their victory, as ESL One Cologne is just around the corner where they have a very challenging group stage.
We asked G2’s Richard ‘shox’ Papilllon how he felt about the group and the team’s chances in the upcoming tournament.
“I wouldn’t say we are confident for the major because we have a really hard group,” he told eSports News UK.
“It will probably be best of one and in a best of one, anything can happen. Judging by the skill of all the teams there, it will be a case of who can carry momentum into the tournament and who is on form on the day.”
G2 take the first game on Dust II, crowd are loving it #ECSWembley pic.twitter.com/SaeMMse8TT
— OscarP eSports (@OscarP_eSports) June 26, 2016
Analysis
eSports News UK’s Reece “Maestro” Barrett looks back on the predictions he made ahead of the ECS finals – and picks his MVP of the tournament.
The ECS Finals have just passed; an event which contained shock events, upsets and lots for us to takeaway. After I previewed the event it was only fitting that I also reviewed it, analysing my predictions, sharing my thoughts and reviewing the event overall.
Reviewing our predictions
Here were my predictions:
Group A:
- Luminosity Gaming
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- G2 eSports
- Team Liquid
Group B:
- Astralis
- Fnatic
- Cloud 9
- Team SoloMid
The real results were:
Group A:
- Luminosity Gaming
- G2 eSports
- Team Liquid
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
Group B:
- Fnatic
- Team SoloMid
- Astralis
- Cloud 9
As you can see, my predictions were quite far off. One of the teams that shocked me the most was Team SoloMid, as they quite shockingly advanced from the group stages.
I only got one out of eight picks right; my one correct pick being Luminosity to win Group A.
Takeaways from the tournament
The biggest takeaway from the ECS Finals for me is that Team SoloMid have the ability to play at a very high level. They proved it by beating both Astralis and Cloud 9 – two very established and top tier teams.
G2 really stepped up this tournament with all of their players performing. They beat the world’s best team on LAN in the final – a shock result.
Nobody saw the French winning this one, but they did, beating teams like Fnatic along the way too. Like @Foxtrot205 said, when Shox and Scream are on fire, there is no stopping G2.
MVP of the tournament
My most valuable player of the tournament was Richard “shox” Papillon. The entry fragger for G2 did a great job in leading his team to success using unorthodox tactics at some points (Thorin said it well), but leading them to victory nonetheless.
He was a very consistent player too, getting the second-highest rating in the tournament of 1.24, only 0.11 away from his teammate Scream. Others rated shox highly.
We all thought olof was the return of the king.
But shox is the OG… and now he’s back
— Jason O’Toole (@OnFireMoses) June 26, 2016
“I wouldn’t say we are confident for the major because we have a really hard group. It will probably be best of one and in a best of one, anything can happen.”
Richard “shox” Papillon
Overall verdict
In conclusion, the ECS Finals were everything they said they would be. There were upsets, shock results, amazing plays, everything you would expect to see in a great CSGO event.
Paired up with an excited and drunk crowd who chanted some amazing things at the SSE Arena, this event was an action-packed tournament which came to a thrilling conclusion, with the French picking up the win.
