With both teams showing up quite early and setting up to play their most important match of the tournament yet, both Immortal eSports and REGret eSports were still a bit asleep at the start of the game, both not reacting as well and in general, having a very quiet demeanor.

While Immortal eSports have probably surprised the most people so far, they still did not head into this match as the favourite and still had everything to prove and would need to keep up their yesterday performance if they wish to advance even further. Having won the coin toss, they felt confident in the opening map of the game, playing mp_citystreets, meanwhile tidde told me that they do not feel so great on that map and especially this early in the day.

mp_citystreets

That the Swedes, REGret eSports, were not at ease or not feeling fresh before the match started was quite clear, the team acted quite laid back and the focus seemed absent. The first round they won definitely pumped them up, but the effect passed quickly and when Immortal eSports chose to play an aggressive defensive side and push up from both B and mid to get the early kills and keep up the numerical advantage throughout the rounds. Especially Almost and Fake managed to push the REGret eSports side quite quickly and had better nades to counter the rush of mAAmu and midnajt into mid and/or B.

This in itself was very effective and the rounds quickly stacked up, with Immortal eSports having 10 rounds before REGret eSports managed to get their next and second round on attack, immediately closing out the half with that score. Nothing the Swedes tried seemed to work, pushing mid, B or A was all ineffective and tidde was often left in 1on3 situations, some four times, which he could not close out.

So the more controlled and more aggressive opening play in the rounds by Immortal eSports definitely worked out, as it always gave them the advantage and by pushing up, they remained a tight grip on the map and not allowed for REGret eSports to win the 2on3 or 2on4 situations, effectively giving them the round win after 20 seconds worth of nades and SMG/Scope pushing.

After the switch, it looked impossible for Immortal eSports to still give away this match. REGret eSports still wanted to try and make an impact in this match and not lose too embarassingly. It came down to surviving the early onslaught of nades and then REGret's chances immediately improved, which they managed to convert into rounds. Yet there was no need to get super enthusiastic and still have hope in the Swedish comeback, as tidde himself called to his team mates "use this as warm-up" (but in Swedish then) and before long, Immortal eSports got the match point and secured the first map in this Best-of-Three with a 13 : 05 score in their favour.

mp_backlot

After a small break inserted, both teams returned and it looked as if the REGret eSports had splashed their faces with some water or drank a liter of coffee, as, all of a sudden, they were loud and roaring and ready to go for this match and keep their chances in this tournament vivid.

Unlike the previous map, the game really slowed down and they were both more cautious about how to approach this. Immortal eSports dabbled with keeping their aggressive style, often attacking the A site with a strong sense of urgency, rushing in quite well and going for broke. It seemed they decided to dismiss the B side, have only one in mid and group the rest of the team in A. A tactic that worked, but at the same time, didn't work.

It definitely caught REGret by surprise and they needed at least 6 rounds to truly understand what was going on and make some adaptations. The perhaps too A-focused attacks by Immortal were now countered by quicker pushes from the back and just moving in around them like a vice, until they had no choice but to give up the frags. Rounds were traded once again and only when the 10th round was in the bag for REGret, did they managed to increase the gap to two.

The preparation and knowledge of mp_backlot was definitely in favour of the Swedes too, as they would have better nades and more variety in their play. Something now had snapped in the Immortal eSports side, not being able to put up a united front anymore. Perhaps they suddenly became aware of where they were and what their mission was, having already secured the first map and being very close to winning 2 : 0, it seemed as if the nerves started to vibrate off the players themselves.

Quickly became apparent that mp_backlot would be a lost cause and Immortal eSports only got one more round tallied up on their scoreboard, to close out the half at 07 : 05. Yet no more rounds would be theirs on the defensive side, seeing a REGret eSports that used midnajt really well, a player who did not impress on mp_citystreets but played anew on mp_backlot. Nothing seemed to stop the Swedish freight train now and all 6 needed rounds were quickly theirs to tie the match up at 1 : 1 in maps and mp_crash would decide who would go through or who would have to be happy with TOP 8.

mp_crash

The map of last and only chances. REGret eSports was doubting which map to pick before the match and opted mp_backlot in favour of mp_crash, but through elimination, still ended up playing mp_crash as the decider. Therefore, it can be assumed that they felt quite comfortable on the map and were eager to play the young and inexperienced Immortal team.

The map started off as not being so close as the previous one, with REGret eSports hovering between the 2 round and 3 round advantage at all times during the first half and both mAAmu and midnajt played a very strong and solid A house defense. Especially during the opening rounds, the A building was as sealed as a hazmat inspection suit and Immortal could not force their way in. Some gaps appeared later on, but Immortal eSports became increasingly nervous in the later round play, when they had to defend the bomb from being defused, often mistiming the peeks and losing a critical 1on2 versus mAAmu.

But once again, when the teams switched sides and REGret eSports were pushed into attacking, they shone and were more effective in running their strats. Especially the block nades towards mid and blue from Immortal eSports need work and were thrown too late, as REGret eSports was seen rushing into A some three or four times and arriving simultaneous with the Finns, which shouldn't be the case.

This of course meant that the rounds were tallying up rather quickly on behalf of the Swedes and they both kept trading rounds. Yet with the already bigger round difference, it meant Immortal eSports would have needed to put their defense into an overdrive, a level of play they could not attain anymore and they had to concede the loss on mp_crash and the entire match with a score of 09 : 13.

This means that REGret eSports have done what they set out to do, already being sure of a TOP 4 finish, whatever may happen from this point onward. They will still try to topple Team YoYoTech, but the match will surely not be an easy feat and the Finnish top team have shown here that they are playing even more comfortably and more relaxed than their Outpost on Fire 4 adventure.

At the mean time, Immortal eSports are out of the tournament and will be disappointed at the way they were out. I feel they could have gone at least one round further and they are definitely a team to watch out for in the future. With this being their first team showing on LAN as well as a first LAN for many of them individually, they are a young team that still has much more to show and prove.

02		01
Maps: mp_citystreets: 05 - 13 mp_backlot: 13 - 05 mp_crash: 13 - 09
REGret eSports Markus "mAAmu" Pasuri Andreas "midnajt" Forsberg Adam "jesuz" Blänning Tim "oxider" Nilsson Daniel "tidde" Asp		Immortal eSports Joonas "Fake" Oikarinen Topi "tobijas" Stolp Ville "ARMIS" Paajanen Sami "Almost" Koskinen Jani "synde" Koskinen

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