EPL Group C Review: Gambit Power Through to First Place!

About a month after their victory at IEM Katowice, Gambit have proven their intent to remain at the top. Facing a stack of opponents that featured Cloud9, FURIA, and Natus Vincere, they nonetheless secured a perfect 5-0 finish.

Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov and his men continue to flourish. Ever since their defeat to Evil Geniuses in Katowice, the boys have not lost a single match and – from the looks of it – aren’t about to lose one anytime soon.

GAMBIT DEFEAT EVERYONE FOR 5-0 FINISH

On the first day, they faced MIBR. While the Brazilians did manage to play on par with them on Overpass, Gambit only needed two short maps to eventually secure the win. Their 2-1 over Cloud9 unfurled in similar fashion. After a 12-16 defeat on Overpass, they did quick work of Alex “ALEX” McMeekin and the rest to position themselves at the top of the leaderboard.

Natus Vincere really took them to the brink – even if it was just for one map. After a 22-19 victory, NaVi held the lead, but Gambit struck back with two 16-11 maps. Team oNe fell on two quick maps, after which FURIA were the only ones left to beat. However, this match was of utmost importance for the Play-Ins qualification. FURIA had the chance to get up to par with Gambit for a 4-1 score in the bracket. Their head-to-head advantage would eventually have handed them the first place of Group C.

Gambit kicked things off with a 16-12 win on Vertigo. FURIA then struck back with a 16-13 win of their own on Inferno, after which the two teams headed for a third map. There, Gambit had the upper hand and ended the match on a 16-9 scoreline, which granted them first place as well.

This massive success was once again driven by Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov. This time around, though, Sergey “Ax1Le” Rhykhtorov made his way to the top of the standings as well. With a 1.30 rating, he has placed among the very best of the league. From his Group C rivals, only Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev managed to topple him again.

NATUS VINCERE AND FURIA REACH PLAYOFFS

Unfortunately, it has become common to see the rest of his team gravitate towards the bottom of the scoreboard. Even with s1mple performing as well as he did, NaVi only narrowly scraped by. With three victories to their name, they barely held onto third place and secured their playoffs spot.

FURIA had a much better time at first. They kicked off their tournament run with an easy 2-0 over oNe and even took down NaVi later on. After beating MIBR with a 2-0 on the third day, they were well on their way to make first place of Group C. Then, suddenly, they completely collapsed in their fight against Cloud9. The Brazilian team only scored seven round points in the entire Best-of-Three. On Nuke, ALEX mounted a 2.27 rating, which was a career-high for the Brit. Their loss to Gambit eventually sent them back to second place, which they managed to retain thanks to their head-to-head advantage over NaVi.

MIBR, CLOUD9 AND ONE ARE GOING HOME

With this playing field, it was hardly a surprise to see these teams at the bottom of the bracket. Team oNe and MIBR have never really managed to contest FURIA in their domestic rivalries. Gambit and Natus Vincere were obvious favorites after IEM Katowice and most recently, Cloud9 had produced underwhelming results in qualifiers, losing to mix-teams and unknown rosters. While they have shown a shimmer of potential in Group C, they are a long ways away from being on the same level as Gambit or NaVi.

So what’s next? FURIA and Natus Vincere can make themselves comfortable in the playoffs. Before Gambit can join them, they will first have to enter the Play-Ins. Going up against the first-placed team of Group D, they will either secure a Semi- or Quarter Finals slot. In any case, they are already safely tucked inside the Top 6, but the winners of IEM Katowice will obviously aim for a bigger trophy.