Day 2 at MLG Columbus saw four teams secure their spots in the playoffs. Those four squads are now directly qualified for the next major, as they have earned the status of "Legends" going forward. On the other hand, the first four teams were knocked out of the tournament. Twelve teams remain as we enter Thursday, which will see an additional four teams eliminated.
Wednesday's opener instantly set the schedule back a couple of hours, as FlipSid3 and mousesports's elimination game lasted into the fifth overtime, where NiKo's team finally eked out a 31-28 win. Notably, markeloff had a great game, as he put up 51 kills with a 100.1 ADR and a 1.26 rating, but it was not enough. In the end, with 59 rounds played, three more players joined the 50 club -- namely NiKo, Shara and chrisJ.
Two American teams were sent packing early on Wednesday. Both SPLYCE and Cloud9 could only muster three rounds against FaZe and G2, respectively. Neither team had any chance against far superior opponents, but fortunately for local fans, the other two American teams remain in competition as we enter day three in Columbus, with one of them having already secured a spot in the playoffs -- the first North American team to do so at a major since ESL One Cologne 2014 in August of that year.
In the first key upset of the day, wayLander led Gambit to a 16-13 win over EnVyUs, despite losing the opening half 6-9. In becoming the first Legend to be eliminated in groups -- ending Happy's streak of making the playoffs at every previous major -- the French team won the opening halves as terrorists versus CLG and Gambit but finished a combined 4-19 on the defense. In a terrorist-favored game, that is a sign of lack of practice and team work.
In group A's winner's match, fnx powered Luminosity to a comfortable 16-5 win over NiP, despite trading the first five rounds. In effect, the Brazilians finished the match with a 13-3 run, with fnx boasting a 29-9 K-D difference, 2.20 rating and a magical 147.7 ADR. Neither of f0rest or GeT_RiGhT showed up, leading to the Ninjas having no chance at an upset in a key match with pyth missing from their starting lineup. They are still in the tournament. though, and will take on mousesports in hopes of keeping their playoff streak alive.
In the juiciest match of the day, Liquid turned a 1-5 deficit as terrorists on Dust2 into a 10-5 halftime lead against Fnatic. Trailing 13-14, s1mple managed to save JW's AWP, and the Americans forced overtime, with adreN playing an especially good game individually. EliGE also contributed an important ace when the game was tied at 12-12 and the Swedes were on their way back into the game. Ultimately, Fnatic fell short in the second overtime, 19-22 overall, and will need to beat FaZe to retain their Legend status.
That. Just. Happened. 22-19. THIS IS NA CSGO #MLGCSMAJOR pic.twitter.com/1OktCtr5Bk
- TeamLiquidPro (@TeamLiquidPro) March 30, 2016
The Danes of Astralis came into their winner's match against CLG with an obvious goal -- to win, this, despite the fact Fnatic's loss could mean that winning a group may pit a team against the clear favorites already in the first round of playoffs. In any case, CLG put up a valiant effort with an 8-7 lead at half on overpass but were rolled over 9-1 by Astralis after switching sides. CLG will take on Gambit for a spot in the playoffs.
In the eighth and final match of Day 2, Na`Vi took down Virtus.pro in a one-sided affair. Starting on terrorists on cobblestone, the ex-CIS powerhouse racked up a 12-3 lead at half, and with NEO's team giving away a favorable pistol round after plant, the game was quickly in the books with a score line of 16-4, guaranteeing Na`Vi a playoff spot while the Polish side will be paired up against G2 -- who they beat on Day 1 16-1 on train -- on Thursday in a best-of-three series.
Thursday will feature four best-of-three series, determining the other four teams who will be competing in the playoffs for the first -place prize of $500,000.
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