Case Esports reach playoffs in VRL Finals

Case Esports have made it to the playoffs as they swept TENSTAR. In the first match of Group B, Angry Titans took down Team Falcons and started their VRL Finals journey with an important win.

Case Esports and TENSTAR were the winners of yesterday and today they battled each other to become the first team to reach the playoffs. TENSTAR picked Bind and the competition began. Even though the map was picked by TENSTAR, Case Esports dominated the first half by winning 10 rounds in total. They only lost 2 and took control of the game. TENSTAR failed to execute their attacking strategies in the first map of the series. Alexandr "falltw" Chernukhin had a great performance in the first half, grabbing 16 kills and holding a 1.82 rating. The Russian player also had a 321 ACS and a 4 K/D. Yesterday’s hero, Berkant "Wolfen" Joshkun helped him a lot with Chamber in his hands, holding a 1.46 rating and grabbing 13 kills, including 3 first bloods. The Spanish team only needed 3 rounds to win the first map and they did not waste any time. After grabbing the pistol round, TENSTAR looked lost and Case won 2 more to dominate the first map, 13-2. Wolfen reached 18 kills with his great second-half performance and he finished the game with a 1.66 rating.

Case Esports’ pick of the day was Haven. Yesterday, EXCEL picked Haven against them and they managed to hold onto the series by taking their opponent down on Haven. Today, it was their time to pick the map and they started the map by winning the pistol round. Štěpán "Ambi" Beránek stepped up with 3 kills on Raze and Case Esports’ dominance continued in the first half. The Spanish organization grabbed 8 rounds on the attacking side. Wolfen was the key part of them once again with a solid 1.41 rating and 13 kills on Chamber. He uses the early effectiveness of the agent so well that he secured 3 first bloods. Povilas "roxie" Krivelis followed him with 11 kills and a 1.33 rating. Jakub "maniek" Mańkowski’s Sova was not enough for TENSTAR, even though the Polish player held a 1.12 rating and grabbed 11 kills. TENSTAR’s second-half performance was surely better than their first-game efforts but in the end, Case Esports closed out the series after a 13-9 win on Haven. Wolfen had a massive Chamber performance once again with a 1.58 rating and 26 kills. maniek’s Sova continued to keep his team in the game in the second half but his efforts were not enough. The Polish player finished the game with a 1.59 rating and 26 kills.

The second game of the day was the competition between Angry Titans and Team Falcons. The opener of Group B started on Haven, Team Falcons’ pick. The Saudi Arabian team won the pistol round and grabbed a total of 8 rounds in the first half. Abdullah "OuTLaW" Sulaiman Al-Salem finished the first half with an impressive 1.89 rating and 16 kills on Fade. Andreas "Epzz" Vallvingskog’s Fade was also very effective for the side of Angry Titans as he held a 1.67 rating with 13 kills but the DACH team only won 4 rounds. Team Falcons dominated the second half and won the first map in style, 13-5. Khaled "Alvar" Abdallah had 21 kills at the end of the first map.

Secondly, Angry Titans chose Bind to prevent a possible sweep. However, it was Team Falcons again with a great start. Despite improving their attacking performance by the end of the first half, Angry Titans won 5 rounds in the first half whereas Falcons had 7. Taranvir "bipo" Singh’s Yoru was the main factor that kept the DACH team in the competition. Things changed in the second half as the sides were switched. Angry Titans had a great defensive half and managed to win the second map after securing 8 rounds and only losing 1 in the second half. bipo finished the game with a monstrous 1.86 rating and 28 kills and he also grabbed 7 first bloods.

The last map of the series was Breeze. Angry Titans started the game with great defense in the pistol round but then lost the second round. The first half went both sides but the DACH team managed to keep the lead, 7-5. Fabio "AFoxx" Veigas led his team on defense with a 13-kill Chamber performance and he also died only 5 times. Team Falcons started the second half with a pistol-round win but they failed to keep their performance up. Angry Titans closed out the map in 22 rounds, 13-9, and won the series. The DACH team came from 0-1 to make a great start to the group.

The Group A Elimination match and the second match of Group B will be played tomorrow. Either EXCEL or Team Vitality will be out of competition and we will be able to see the Turkish team, FUT Esports, competing for the first time in the tournament. More information can be found on the events page