PGL Major Day 3 Recap: Eternal Fire Make Playoffs For The First Time

The third day of the PGL Copenhagen Major Elimination Stage was a crucial one, as all matches played determined elimination or advancement. G2 and FaZe live to see another day, while Eternal Fire reached the top eight, becoming the first Turkish team to reach a Major Playoffs for the first time in history. 

FaZe Get By, But Just Barely

The number one team in the world hasn’t been looking that great at the first Counter-Strike 2 Major, despite being the pioneers of the new game. They were lucky to have drawn Imperial as their opponents in the 1-2 elimination match.

FaZe opened the series on Nuke, and took an early 6-3 lead on their Terrorist side. However, a HEN1 stepped up for the Brazilian side, salvaging the half to end it 6-6. Still, Imperial did not find any footing on their offense, allowing FaZe to take the first map 13-8.

Again, the two teams could not be separated as the first half of Anubis also ended 6-6. However, FaZe was on the backfoot as they started on the Terrorist side on such a Terrorist-sided map. Despite FaZe winning the second pistol round, Imperial won seven straight to force a decider. 

Fortunately for FaZe fans, karrigan and the crew could defuse the potential upset by winning eight rounds on the first half of Mirage. Despite Imperial clawing their way back in the second half, the lead FaZe built was too much, as the favorites could close the map 13-8 to win the series.

Alive…. 2-1 vs imperial 😅😅😅

— karrigan (@karriganCSGO) March 23, 2024

Imperial has been sent home, while FaZe will play their final Swiss Stage match tomorrow. 

MAJ3R Rewrites History For Turkish Counter-Strike

Eternal Fire logged on the server on Day 3 after a stunning 13-1 victory against FaZe the previous day. However, Virtus.pro were no easy opponents.

Despite demolishing FaZe Clan on Overpass just yesterday, Virtus.pro dominated the first half, winning ten rounds on their offensive campaign, putting the score 10-2 at half time. Eternal Fire tried to strike back, but couldn’t and lost the map 13-6.

On Vertigo, Virtus.pro won the first pistol and the round after, but XANTARES and MAJ3R proved to be impenetrable walls, shutting down the VP offense and winning the half 8-4. After winning the second pistol round, the Turks sealed the map 13-6 to force a third.

VP were off to a 4-0 start on Inferno, but Eternal Fire could retaliate after MAJ3R stepped up for the team. It was 7-5 in favor of Eternal Fire at the end of the half. The Turkish in-game leader continued his lights-out performance and helped his team dominate the second half to win the map 13-7 and the series.

At 33 years young, MAJ3R pushed Eternal Fire to become the first Turkish team to ever qualify for a Major Playoff. He was the top performer of the series, posting a 1.45 at his age. 

Thanks a lot to everyone i love you guys. I give everything happy that it work today, proud of my team.
2-1 vs VP.

Playoff 🙏🏻

— MAJ3R (@Maj3r_) March 23, 2024

A Good Attempt From ECSTATIC Shut Down By G2

ECSTATIC has already impressed the community and won their hearts by how far they’ve gone. With nothing to lose, they faced the titans of G2 for elimination.

The first map of the series was Inferno. G2 bullied the young Danish squad in the first half, taking it 8-4. After a little bit of retaliation, m0nesy shut down the ECSTATIC offense to win 13-7.

On Vertigo, G2 replicated their first half performance on Inferno, winning the half 8-4. The game looked over when G2 expanded their lead to 10-6. However, if they were going to be eliminated, ECSTATIC wanted to go out fighting. The underdogs won seven out of the next eight rounds to pull off a comeback, winning the map 13-11. 

Unfortunately, their success was short-lived. ECSTATIC won the first four rounds of Anubis, but lost ten consecutive rounds and eventually dropped the series.

Content map and a W 😎 pic.twitter.com/6xRuOSXF7k

— G2 CS (@G2CSGO) March 23, 2024

ECSTATIC were sent packing from their first Counter-Strike Major, but they have won the hearts of the community.

A Struggling Vitality Still Secure Top Eight

The only North American team at Copenhagen was tasked to face the reigning Major champions for a crack at the top eight.

The first map started extremely scrappy for the Vitality side, as Complexity took an early 6-0 start. However, apEx could salvage the half with some great calls to end it 7-5. Complexity could not get much going on their offense, and overtime had to be played. After two overtimes, Vitality could clinch the win 19-17. Not the greatest performance from both sides.

Complexity’s hallzerk was hungry for a win and showed it on the server. Complexity could win the first half on Vertigo after the Norwegian import went 17-6 before the teams swapped sides. In the second half, Complexity’s defense repelled Vitality from reaching bomb sites, as the map ended 13-7 with a decider on the menu.

Again, hallzerk stepped up for the team and helped Complexity secure the first half 7-5 after getting 14 kills on the defensive side on such a Terrorist-sided map. However, Complexity’s offense turned out to be a total disaster, as Vitality could win eight out of the next eleven rounds to win the series 13-10.

Sorry to our fans for those heart attacks
We are not playing well but we are fighting on every rounds.
Gg wp @Complexity !
Cya in playoff guys.

— Dan Madesclaire (@Vitality_apEX) March 23, 2024

Team Vitality still does not look like the top one team they used to be, but they have at least secured their Playoff spot and have a few days to prepare for what’s next. 

paiN Carries The Torch For Brazil

The most surprising result of the day had to be the match between paiN Gaming and Heroic. With such an experienced roster, Heroic was predicted to dismantle the last Brazilian team to survive at Copenhagen. However, it was not the case.

After a clean pistol round, Heroic started Overpass up 3-0. However, disaster ensued as paiN won seven of the next nine rounds to win the half 7-5 on their offense. Heroic failed to win the second pistol round, allowing paiN to run away with the map 13-6. 

The Danish organization was publicly humiliated on the second map, Mirage, which they picked. Heroic could not get their Terrorist side started, losing one round after the other. Though Mirage can be considered a CT-sided map, nobody expected paiN to win the first half 12-0. 

The game looked over, but Heroic managed to string nine in a row to give local fans just a little bit of hope. However, paiN eventually closed it out, winning the map 13-9 and taking the series.

Out of the Major 😢😢

— kyxsan (@kyxsancs) March 23, 2024

Heroic has been sent packing and unable to play in front of their home crowd. HooXi and karrigan are the only remaining Danish players in the Copenhagen Major. 

Cloud9 Bested Na’Vi For Playoffs Spot

The final series of the day was the most anticipated one, with the former Na’Vi players on Cloud9 taking on the newest iteration of the Ukrainian organization. 

The first map, Mirage, was a streak-y type of game. Both teams strung numerous rounds in a row, but ultimately, Cloud9 found themselves up 10-7. However, the youngsters of Na’Vi, w0nderful and b1t, stepped up big time to force the game into overtime. After the Ukrainian AWPer dropped 33 kills, Na’Vi eventually won Mirage 16-14.

Unfortunately, w0nderful was unable to replicate his performance from Game 1, as Cloud9 stomped the next two maps 13-6 and 13-2 to qualify for the Major.

Im so happy to be here and compete vs best teams ❤️🔥
I love cs2 and its gonna be best game in the future or maybe already.
Thanks for support everyone and see you at Royal Arena!🫡

— Abay Khassenov (@HObbitcsgo) March 23, 2024

The Na’Vi boys still have a second chance to secure their Playoffs spot as they fall into the 2-2 pool. 

What Does The Final Day Of The Elimination Stage Look Like?

Only three matches remain in the Elimination Stage, all determining a Playoff appearance or an early flight back home. 

Here are the following matchups:

• FaZe Clan vs. Complexity
• Virtus.pro vs. G2 Esports
• Natus Vincere vs. paiN Gaming

Though the North American representatives have not looked too shabby, FaZe Clan should theoretically take the series and secure Playoffs. It would be odd to not see the best team in the world make it to the top eight. 

G2 Esports is favored to win against Virtus.pro, but you can never count out Jame and his boys. You don’t know what this team is cooking at times, and they could really surprise. There is a decent chance of an upset happening here. 

Natus Vincere should win against paiN Gaming ten out of ten times. The paiN roster will go into this matchup with the pressure of an entire country on their shoulders, but they have really good momentum after their win against Heroic. Still, it would be an unacceptable embarrassment if Na’Vi were to lose this series.

Header: Eternal Fire