Elite League Round-robin Stage Day 2: 23savage Returns; Team Spirit's Run Looks Bleak
The second day of the Elite League Round-robin stage has ended. Most of today’s matches ended in draws, but the main highlight was Team Falcons continuing to struggle. They are currently sitting 1-5 in the group stage. Another thing to note is 23savage has returned to the competition after taking a few days off to go back to Thailand. He came back in the middle of the day to play the team's second series against Team Liquid.
Group A
Entity Gaming, a team that hasn’t looked the greatest in the past few months, is continuing to find its form. Fishman and the crew maintain their flawless run, sitting at the top of the group with a 4-0 record.
The most anticipated match of the group today was the meeting between Team Falcons and Team Spirit. In the first map, the game was dead even until the 39-minute mark, where the Dragons took an excellent engagement and built a 10,000 net worth lead. However, skiter and the Falcons could win the following fight to steal the game.
The MENA-based squad looked to continue their perfect record at the Elite League, building a 23,000 net worth lead at 35 minutes. It looked all over, but Larl and Yatoro could drag the team to make a miraculous comeback, drawing the series 1-1.
To end the day, watson and Entity Gaming defeated Team Spirit with a 2-0 result. The Western European roster has yet to drop a single map since the Elite League Swiss Stage, winning five matches in a row, all 2-0 victories.
Group B
Despite 23savage’s absence, Aurora still leads Group B with five wins. Three Western European teams are tailing them with three wins and less matches played.
With King as a stand-in, Aurora had their toughest challenge in the Elite League so far: the Gaimin Gladiators. In the first game, the Southeast Asian squad maintained a significant lead after shutting down Quinn’s Sniper but threw it all away, allowing the Gladiators to take the first map.
A similar story happened in the following game, but the Gladiators were in the lead this time. The game was stalled to the 60-minute mark, where Aurora pulled off a miracle. King led the team to a massive comeback to tie the series 1-1.
After the series against the Gaimin Gladiators, 23savage returned to the scene and played in the team's next match against Team Liquid which ended in a draw. This means King's run at the Elite League has come to an end, and Aurora will continue playing with its original roster. Overall, the kid has been showing an outstanding performance. It's only a matter of time before a Tier 1 team picks him up.
Xtreme Gaming faced a 0-4 BetBoom Team in their second series of the day. Things looked terrific for the bookmakers, building a 17,000 net worth lead. However, a failed smoke gank attempt at the 42-minute mark turned into a disaster, as the Chinese side won the crucial team fight and ended up winning. Still, the BetBoom Team could avoid tilting and played a clean second game to tie the series.
Other than these two matches, nothing too interesting happened in Group B.
Team Spirit and the BetBoom Team continue to be at the bottom of their respective groups, and they must display strong performances in the coming days.