ENCE eliminate TYLOO; Spirit edge out BIG at Champions Cup Finals-case battle

The group stage elimination matches at the Champions Cup Finals have been played out, with ENCE and Spirit taking BO3 victories in Saint Julian's, Malta.

ENCE managed to avoid early elimination at the Champions Cup Finals by taking down TYLOO after an opening defeat to Movistar Riders. The Finnish side still didn't look impressive, but Miikka "⁠suNny⁠" Kemppi's great form pulled them through. The second series, between Spirit and BIG, was a back-and-forth affair, with Russian teenager Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev having great performances on the two maps that gave his team the win and brought BIG's year to a disappointing end.

ENCE started off the series by taking a 5-0 T-side lead over TYLOO on the Chinese side's map pick, Inferno. YuanZhang "⁠Attacker⁠" Sheng and co. then replied by taking four out of the next five, but the Finns were able to finish the half with a comfortable lead, 9-6.

That advantage was extended after a 4-0 start on the defense (13-6), but that is where issues started for Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli's men. With everyone except WingHei "⁠Freeman⁠" Cheung stepping up to the task, TYLOO managed to bring the score back to 14-13, but ENCE managed to compose themselves and with suNny reaching 30 frags, end the series 16-13.

The defeat to ENCE was perhaps BnTeT's last match for TYLOO

TYLOO was the team to grab the early rounds on the second map, Mirage, with ENCE only getting on the board after a 4-0 deficit. The Finnish side looked like the stronger one for the rest of the half, but TYLOO's sporadic round wins allowed them to stay in front until the switch. On the offense, ENCE kicked into a higher gear and with suNny and allu leading the way, took the win 16-10 on Mirage and 2-0 for the series.

Champions Cup FinalsBest of 3 TYLOO

TYLOO

Matchpage 0 2 20th December 2019

ENCE 13Inferno 16 10Mirage 16

TYLOO	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Hansel 'BnTeT' FerdinandBnTeT	43 - 36	+7	87.2	1.21
YuLun 'Summer' CaiSummer	41 - 42	-1	76.9	1.12
HaoWen 'somebody' Xusomebody	35 - 38	-3	69.7	1.01
YuanZhang 'Attacker' ShengAttacker	37 - 41	-4	69.2	0.95
WingHei 'Freeman' CheungFreeman	20 - 40	-20	46.1	0.66

ENCE	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Miikka 'suNny' KemppisuNny	58 - 35	+23	99.0	1.52
Jere 'sergej' Salosergej	43 - 35	+8	78.4	1.21
Aleksi 'allu' Jalliallu	40 - 32	+8	67.5	1.14
Sami 'xseveN' LaasanenxseveN	26 - 37	-11	75.2	0.96
Jani 'Aerial' JussilaAerial	30 - 37	-7	65.4	0.92

Spirit and BIG kicked off their matchup on Dust2, the map pick of the CIS side. Following BIG's 3-0 start as CT, it was all about Spirit, who dominated on the offense with magixx paving the way for his team. After Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov's 1v2 clutch on A, Spirit had won ten out of the last 11 rounds, with BIG managing the last one of their CT side on a half-buy to make it 10-5.

The German team was on the back foot again after the switch, losing the pistol and first buy, going down 15-6. With a couple of successful B pushes, BIG stayed alive on Dust2 a bit longer, but they eventually faltered in a 3v3 situation, making the final score 16-11.

16-year-old magixx was pivotal to Spirit's wins on Dust2 and Mirage

A second-round force-buy inspired Spirit to a 5-1 lead on Nuke, but then things started falling apart for the CIS side, who lost a number of rounds despite having man advantages. Johannes "⁠nex⁠" Maget was leading the offensive for his team as they came back on the offensive side, finishing it just slightly behind, 8-7.

BIG came out on top after the initial force buy wards in the second half and then won six rounds in a row (14-9), with Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş' 1v3 being crucial in that stretch. chopper clutched a 1v2 to stop that run, but BIG closed out the game shortly nonetheless, 16-10.

The team to be eliminated first from group B was to be decided on Mirage, where teams were neck-and-neck throughout the first half, finishing the half with an 8-7 scoreline. Each team secured two of the first four rounds in the second half (10-9) before Spirit pulled ahead, starting with a triple kill from Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev, reaching match point. BIG somehow managed to fend off their opponents and reach overtime, only to fall in the added rounds without picking up a single one, 19-15.

Champions Cup FinalsBest of 3 Spirit

Spirit

Matchpage 2 1 20th December 2019

BIG 16Dust2 11 10Nuke 16 19Mirage 15

Spirit	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Artem 'iDISBALANCE' EgoroviDISBALANCE	68 - 59	+9	80.0	1.18
Viktor 'sdy' Orudzhevsdy	56 - 50	+6	80.1	1.10
Nikolay 'mir' Bityukovmir	58 - 56	+2	77.3	1.08
Leonid 'chopper' Vishnyakovchopper	58 - 57	+1	74.0	1.07
Boris 'magixx' Vorobievmagixx	59 - 56	+3	68.9	1.04

BIG	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Owen 'smooya' Butterfieldsmooya	67 - 55	+12	77.3	1.16
Ismailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşXANTARES	58 - 61	-3	77.1	1.02
Johannes 'nex' Magetnex	51 - 55	-4	67.6	0.98
Johannes 'tabseN' WodarztabseN	54 - 65	-11	77.7	0.97
Tizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschtiziaN	48 - 63	-15	58.6	0.77

With these results, ENCE will be playing a rematch against Movistar Riders for a place in the playoffs, while Spirit will do the same against Hard Legion. Both matches will be played today as BO3s, with the winners joining G2 and FURIA in the playoffs.

ENCE #12 ENCE

Aleksi 'allu' Jalli

Jani 'Aerial' Jussila

Miikka 'suNny' Kemppi

Sami 'xseveN' Laasanen

Jere 'sergej' Salo

Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş