StarSeries S3 Finals: Day 2 results, Day 3 schedule

The second day of action at the StarSeries Season 3 finals is in the books and the day was action-packed from start to finish.

It was a day one losers match that kicked off day two’s action as 0-1 Gambit took on 0-1 TyLoo. The map was Cobblestone.

Gambit are considered the best team in the world on Cobblestone and it would take a big performance from TyLoo to get their first win of the finals. It started well. The Chinese side won the initial pistol round on the t-side with a fast A bomb-site execute. They also picked up the following two rounds. Gambit took control from there and won six-in-a-row and had a 6-3 lead before TyLoo were able to get back into it. TyLoo tied the scores at 6-6 and, after trading rounds, Gambit took an 8-7 lead into the second half.

Gambit won a clean pistol round to kick off their t-side and moved into an 11-7 lead. TyLoo tightened their defense quickly and strung together four rounds to take a 12-11 lead. It wasn’t until his team were on the losing end before ‘Zeus’ found a way to penetrate the Chinese defense. Gambit would win five out of the next six rounds to take the map 16-13.

Gambit 16-13 TyLoo

The second match of the day was another initial day losers match. North American side CLG took on Chinese outfit UYA. The map was, again, Cobblestone.

CLG won the ct-sided pistol and dominated the first half from start to finish. UYA managed to pick up two rounds, one of which was down to costly mistakes made by CLG whilst on an anti-eco round. CLG headed into the second half with a healthy 12-3 lead.

It was the North American’s who again picked up the pistol round, this time on the t-side. With an impressive performance throughout from ‘Nahte’, CLG were able to close the map 16-3.

CLG 16-3 UYA

Perhaps the biggest game in the losers bracket was up next as FaZe took on Immortals. The map was Mirage.

FaZe had beaten Immortals on Mirage as recently as IEM Katowice. However, it was the Brazilian side who picked up a t-side pistol round win and the following anti-eco round. In what turned out to be a slug-fest of a match – the two traded rounds throughout the remainder of the first half. ‘Allu’ managed to secure a crucial triple-kill with the AWP/Glock combo to give his side a 9-6 advantage at half time.

FaZe managed to pick up the second pistol round with a flawless A bomb-site execute. If it wasn’t for ‘fnx’ stopping ‘karrigan’ from making a 1v3 clutch the game could well have been over early. However, Immortals hung in there a while longer. After ‘Allu’ won another clutch, this time a 1v2, Immortals economy was broken and it enabled FaZe to kick on and close out the game with a 16-10 win.

Faze 16-10 Immortals

It was the battle for Danish supremacy next as reigning major champions Astralis took on North. The map was Inferno.

After two of the first three rounds were restarted due to technical issues, we managed to get the brawl underway. To put it mildly, North had b-site’s ‘banana’ on lock-down throughout their ct half. MSL and Magisk completely denied any control of the famous part of Inferno to Astralis. Seemingly unwilling to push the A bomb-site, Astralis struggled tremendously on their t-side and North took a massive 11-4 lead into the second half.

Had North won the second pistol, it could have been a stomping. However, ‘gla1ve’ and his men were able to win their t-side pistol and the following anti-eco rounds and eventually brought the score even at 11-11.

North dug deep, managing to string three round wins in a row together. It left them winning 14-11. An absolute god-like play from Device denied his Danish counterparts match-point, though. He secured a quad-kill with the AWP which included an outstanding 1v3 clutch on the b bomb-site. Astralis picked up the next three rounds and were at match point. A big play from Magisk on banana secured North overtime, though.

Whether tiredness from Astralis or just outstanding banana defense again from MSL’s men, North picked up overtime with a round win of 4-1. They took the game 19-16 in overtime.

North 19-16 Astralis

Next up was French super-team G2 as they took on HellRaisers, with both teams looking to go 2-0 in the group stages. The map was Cobblestone.

G2 got off to an excellent start with help from an ‘NBK-‘ triple kill. The French team would run riot over HellRaisers at every turn in the next five rounds to take a 6-0 lead. Whilst the European outfit managed to hold off G2 twice, shox and co would take a commanding 13-2 lead into the second half.

Once bodyy’s triple-kill secured G2 the second pistol it was pretty much over. After shutting out HellRaisers in the following two force-buys, G2 closed out the map with a comfortable 16-2 win.

G2 16-2 HellRaisers

It was a clash of legends next as Na’Vi took on Fnatic. The map was Overpass and 2-0 status was on the line.

Na’Vi secured the pistol and the following two anti-eco rounds. It would be Fnatic who would win the first gun round, however, with a big play from JW. That round would be the last for a while, as GuardiaN turned god-mode with the AWP and shut down the Swedes at every turn. Na’Vi stormed into a 12-1 lead. Fnatic did manage to pick up the remaining two rounds of the first half but would need to overcome a 12-3 deficit in the second half.

GuardiaN and co piled on the misery by winning the second half pistol and next anti-eco round – leaving the score at 14-3. Renowned for their comebacks, Fnatic didn’t disappoint. They managed to string together the next six rounds. With Na’Vi rightly on the back-foot, the CIS team stepped it up and broke back. At match-point for Na’Vi, Fnatic’s economy was in dire straits and Na’Vi were able to secure the win 16-9.

Na’Vi 16-9 Fnatic

The penultimate game of the day saw the last of the 0-1 pool games played out. It was NiP vs. MVP Project and the map was Cobblestone.

After an extremely underwhelming performance on the opening day, NiP would be looking to dominate the lesser team. They picked up the t-side pistol and following two rounds with ease. However, MVP snapped back, winning the next five rounds to take the lead. NiP took a time-out and slowed down the pace, with helped them secure more t-side rounds. MVP did manage to pickup the last two rounds of the half, leaving them trailing 8-7 at half time.

GeT_RiGhT’s triple kill secured NiP the second pistol round. That, followed by Xizt’s own triple kill in the first gun round saw NiP leading 13-7. MVP managed to take the next round but NiP again shut them down swiftly. At 14-8, and with MVP’s economy in tatters, it didn’t take long for the Ninjas to close out a relatively comfortable the game 16-9.

NiP 16-9 MVP

The final match of day two was the headline act. SK took on Virtus.pro. The map was Mirage.

SK would start on the t-side and execute on the A bomb-site to take the pistol round. The Brazilian team won the anti-eco’s followed the by the first gun round. With VP’s money in the toilet, SK continued piling on the pressure – it was pressure VP couldn’t handle. After a completely dominant first half, SK took a shocking 14-1 lead into their ct-side.

VP looked to start a comeback of sorts by winning the second half pistol. SK, however, had other ideas. The Brazilian won the following force buy round and quickly closed out the map to win 16-2 in dominating fashion.

SK 16-2 Virtus.pro

Below is the schedule for day three at the StarSeries Season 3 finals. Day three will see teams advance to the play-offs, as well as teams heading home.

Thursday, March 6th Schedule
10:00 TyLoo vs. MVP Project *
11:30 Immortals vs. UYA *
13:00 Gambit vs. FaZe
14:30 CLG vs. HellRaisers
16:00 Natus Vincere vs. North **
17:30 NiP vs. Virtus.pro
19:00 SK vs. G2 **
20:30 fnatic vs. Astralis

* Loser leaves StarSeries Season 3 finals
** Winner advances to StarSeries Season 3 finals play-offs