The Main Qualifier for January's ELeague Major kicked off Thursday with 16 Counter-Strike teams battling for the final eight spots for the Major. Dignitas and Immortals looked comfortable, while Cloud9 and Counter Logic Gaming might want a do-over. Here's how Day 1 played out.
Dignitas took the first win of the day over Spirit on Mirage with a tight, competitive first half that resulted in a 9-6 lead. However, a second-half pistol-round triple kill by René "cajunb" Borg gave Dignitas all the momentum they would need. The Danish squad raced ahead to a 15-6 lead, surviving a late surge by Spirit to take the map 16-11.
Immortals had a strong showing of their own, only this time in the first half, as they jumped ahead of Team EnVyUs 11-4 to start their match. EnVyUs finally found their ground in the second half, but a clutch 1-vs-2 play by Immortals' Henrique "hen1" Teles in Round 26 all but silenced the French team's chance at victory. Immortals would go on to win the match 16-11.
Following a string of uncharacteristically poor performances, Cloud9 found their footing against FaZe Clan in the first half on Mirage, cruising to an 8-0 lead. A late, first-half rally seemed to propel FaZe Clan; the group slowly managed to erase the deficit and eventually push the match into overtime. In overtime, FaZe immediately took charge, grabbing two quick round wins, only for Cloud9 to knot up the contest. Unfortunately for Cloud9, those would be the only two rounds they would claim in overtime, as FaZe Clan edged out a 19-17 overtime win.
In yet another nail-biting match, Vega Squadron defeated Counter Logic Gaming on Mirage after a thrilling first half. Both teams were neck and neck before CLG seemed to grab the momentum with an 8-4 lead, only for Vega Squadron to take the remaining three rounds to bring the score to 8-7 at the half. However, the Russians prevailed in the second half as they clawed their way back to an 11-11 tie. Although CLG had the Russians right where they wanted them on a double eco, Vega Squadron capitalized on their eco rounds to reach match point and finish off the map at 16-14.
A shaky, first-half performance by both sides of the TyLoo/OpTic Gaming battle saw the Green Wall solidify a 10-5 lead at the break. That lead could have come crashing down if not for an impressive play by Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz in an unlikely 2-vs-4 retake, drawing OpTic within two rounds to take the match. An armorless pistol round broke the barrier for TyLoo, as OpTic capitalized on a fluke round to secure the final 16-9.
GODSENT closed out the first round of the Swiss format against G2 in a highly contested match. Both teams went back and forth in the first half with huge round wins on each side, but the Swedes came out on top, clinging to an 8-7 lead at the half. Markus "pronax" Wallsten led his team on the T-side with an explosive start to the second half. GODSENT forced G2 to save back-to-back rounds to no avail, and the Swedes survived a desperate force buy to claim a 16-11 win.
With one round of the Main Qualifier in the books, Round 2 will start Friday at 10:00 a.m. ET on Twitch. The Day 2 schedule of the ELeague Main Qualifier can be found here.