FLASHPOINT Week 1 Roundup
Round one of FLASHPOINT is done, and though nobody threw a knockout punch, there were a few knockdowns already. MAD Lions, MIBR and FPX took a big hit, and we’ll have to wait til round two to see if they can keep swinging afterwards.
If you replace HUNDEN, to much ire from the community, you better get somebody who at least frags like crazy so you can at least have that. AcilioN didn’t really go ham, and his calling wasn’t any better either. MAD Lions lost both Nuke and Train in a 2-1 loss to HAVU, a team who few fancied to do well - though they might have a claim to being the best Finnish team. Doto, sLowi and ZOREE all had claims as the best player in the server, while only sjuush and acoR showed up for MAD Lions.
A stellar performance from SHiPZ saw c0ntact smash Copenhagen Flames in another Danish disappointment. In fairness, CPH did just lose their IGL to MAD Lions, so they have an excuse - but then c0ntact have coach emi as their fifth player. When SHiPZ goes +18 in two maps, though, firepower isn’t so much of a problem. The Bulgarian crushed them on Mirage with a 1.99 rating and a soul crushing 1v2 at 6-1 up that made sure there was no chance of a comeback.
Gen.G had koosta to thank for dragging them through a scare against Envy. Requiring OT to win Train, with koosta dropping 32, and he once again top fragging on the final map Mirage, isn’t the best look for Gen.G. For Envy, though, it’s reassuring that they can hang with and take maps off of the better teams. New boy Calyx looked sharp, especially on Inferno, and Nifty looked rejuvenated - we’ll see if this was Gen.G underperforming, or if Envy are actually alright.
MIBR took the L after a pretty weak showing in round one against Chaos. steel and smooya combined for 91 kills over two maps in a swift 2-0, while the top three for MIBR combined for 92. kNg and TACO looked completely lost, with neither of them doing much of anything, getting run over by the North Americans - and the only UK representative. MIBR picked Train, and despite a relatively solid six-round T-side, they were quickly dispatched with seven T rounds in a row back from Chaos. A closer game on Nuke followed, but the calling from steel turned out to be pretty clutch, as Chaos posted eight T rounds on Nuke.
Dignitas recovered from a 0-1 start to take the best of three against a buoyant Orgless, thanks to some not-quite-vintage-but-not-far-off GeT_RiGhT and f0rest performances. GuardiaN wasn’t quite there just yet, but he did his job filling in for hallzerk. f0rest pushed DIG over the line on Nuke, while GeT_RiGhT put up big numbers on Inferno to edge out the underdogs, who can be very proud of their performance. yay in particular - he obviously has looked strong at this level before on Complexity, but another crazy map on Nuke was the only reason Orgless were even in the game.
FPX made it a full house of poor showings from Danish teams, as they started out badly under their new title, losing to C9. A comfortable victory on Nuke put them in a good spot, despite Sonic’s 1v5 victory threatening to turn the tides, but Train went downhill quickly, with C9 taking a massive lead and having six map points - mainly due to the insane firepower that floppy was bringing. cadiaN did everything he could to grab FPX by the scruff of the neck and drag them into it - and he did, recovering from 15-9 to take it to OT, and three rounds in a row to take it to second OT - but eventually, C9 proved too much.
The final map was a complete wipeout, though. C9’s Inferno is their statistically best map, and it proved to be pretty damn strong. cadiaN was powerless to resist this time around, as C9 took Inferno 16-3 for the 2-1 victory.
Image via BLAST
