Group B saw action yesterday with the games between FunPlus Phoenix and Guild Esports, and between Alliance and Dfuseteam.
The evening started with the clash between FPX and Guild. Two top teams battling it out in the opening game meant one of the two would drop down to elimination territory immediately.
Seven out of the ten players on the server had the Swedish nationality, inviting fans to call this a Swedish derby.
Guild Esports picked Split to start off the series but were welcomed with an 0-4 start by FPX. After these early-round jitters, Guild managed to fight back and win five rounds on the attacking half.
The Swedes continued their good form by winning their first four rounds on the defensive half, before trading a few rounds with FPX. Their lead was too big to overcome, and Guild took Split 13-10.
A lot of people were looking forward to this series, and quite a few fans thought they were in for a treat.
Unfortunately for the Guild Esports fans, Split seemed like a wake-up call for FPX, as the European team took their map pick Ascent en decider map Icebox in dominating fashion, 13-4 and 13-2 respectively, thus taking the series 2-1.
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First upset of the EU Masters
Up next we saw the giant killers Dfuseteam taking on Alliance. After beating G2 in Challengers 3, a lot of eyeballs were on this matchup. Was their surprise win an actual fluke, or did everyone sleep on the French team?
Dfuse started the best on Ascent, Alliance’s pick, by winning six out of the first seven rounds. Alliance struck back with three consecutive round wins before trading the last two rounds for a 7-5 lead at halftime for Dfuse.
The rest of the map continued to be very close, with Dfuse eventually winning with the closest margin, 13-11.
Alliance was now with its back against the wall and needed a reverse sweep to remain in the upper bracket.
The second map was a dull affair. Alliance was nowhere to be found and lost 4-13.
Jonathan “TakaS” Paupard, on Jett, demonstrated just how easy the French team had it against Alliance by acing them.
Every member of Dfuseteam had highlight reels for days, and this shows the French side -orgless at the end of the month- is increasing their value for their potential new employer.
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Image credit: Dfuseteam