In a relatively quiet week of Counter Strike: Global Offensive action, some of the teams in desperate need of points finally got on the North American Esports Championship Series' leaderboard. With few matches but plenty of action, here's how Week 2 went down.
Counter Logic Gaming kicked Week 2 off on Tuesday with a matchup against NRG Esports on Cobblestone. Throughout a back-and-forth first half, NRG held a tenuous lead on the T-side through the first nine rounds before getting stuffed in an eco-round win for CLG in Round 10. The clutch win helped CLG close out the half with a 9-6 lead before running away with the second half. NRG only managed to pick up four round wins as CLG took Game 1 with a 16-10 score. With Game 2 postponed, NRG Esports will have to wait for a later day to enact its revenge.
Next up, OpTic Gaming took on GHOST and obliterated the upstart squad in Game 1 on Train. OpTic took 12 straight rounds on the T-side to open up the first half before GHOST finally got on the board in Round 13. Although GHOST ended the half with three straight round wins, OpTic was too far ahead for GHOST to stand a ghost of a chance, with Will "RUSH" Wierzba posting a 19/6 KD (kills/deaths) by the end of the first half to lead the Green Wall.
Appropriately enough, a triple kill from RUSH closed out the 16-3 OpTic win, adding to his final KD of 24/7 as OpTic took Game 1. Game 2 was much closer, as GHOST fought hard on a return trip to Train. Staying even with OpTic throughout the first half, GHOST threatened to force overtime as the game went all 30 rounds, but OpTic had more big individual performances to lead the way, this time coming from Oscar "mixwell" Canellas and his red-hot AWP to take the 16-14 win and 2-0 series sweep.
In the final matchup of the week Wednesday, Counter Logic Gaming took on Luminosity Gaming, and CLG made an emphatic statement while moving up the standings. CLG dominated Game 1 on Train, with Pujan "FNS" Mehta picking up a big triple kill in Round 13 to put the finishing touches on a 12-3 lead heading into the second half. Luminosity struggled immensely as only one player, entry fragger Lucas "destinyy" Bullo, secured double-digit kills while CLG, led by Kenneth "koosta" Suen and Ricky "Rickeh" Mulholland, easily took Game 1 by a 16-3 margin.
The teams returned to Train for Game 2, and CLG again took an early lead, but Luminosity fought back this time. While the game seemed like it could go in Luminosity's favor, a dominant second-half performance from koosta, who earned a 22/12 KD, led to a 16-7 CLG victory.
After two weeks, SK Gaming and OpTic Gaming sit atop the standings with nine points, and CLG's big week put it in a three-way tie for third with Detroit Renegades and Team Liquid. Next week's NA ECS play will kick off on Tuesday with Immortals taking on NRG Esports at 6 p.m ET, followed by Cloud9 squaring off against Luminosity Gaming at 8 p.m ET.