With the brackets set, eUnited and Ghost gaming getting the bye the final weekend of ZOTAC Cup in the Americas had started.
Complexity v. Furia
In the first matchup, Complexity from the United States and Furia from Brazil, squared off.
Mirage would be the starter and Complexity were ready to roll. They quickly jumped out to a lead thanks to plays like Dephh’s 4k in the fourth round. Complexity were able to control most of the first half thanks to strong grenade placement and ruining early eco-rounds from Furia.
This would change though as Furia started to come back thanks to their ability to get some kills on save rounds. They tried to bring it all the way back and had some momentum but, Complexity shut them down taking the first map.
It was on Nuke that everything would change. Complexity again got off to a good start but, faltered at the end of the first half. They let Furia back into it due to missed callouts and some bad overall teamplay when having the advantage.
This match would go to OT and Furia would dominate it allowing them to pull even at one map a piece.
The back and forth game would not continue on Train. Furia came out swinging and jumped out to a substantial lead without much of a response from Complexity. The team from the US was never able to get any momentum on this map at were sent away quietly allowing Furia to move onto the semi-finals.
Swole Patrol v. YNG Sharks
Again, Mirage was the map to start this match off. It was pretty close to start with a 5-3 advantage for the Swole Patrol at one point; then, the team from the US took a commanding lead. Like their counterparts, Complexity, the Swole Patrol finished the first half up 11-4.
But, once on the offensive, YNG started to come back. In round 24 they were only down 10-13 and their economy was looking great. They took this momentum and pushed this map into overtime. This match could not have been closer by the end as the Swole Patrol were up again but YNG fought back and forced a second overtime.
In this second overtime it came down to the wire but with YNG leading 21-20. Big plays from RCF and exitzinho finalized mirage in favor of the YNG Sharks.
On Inferno we saw more of the same. The Sharks and the Swole Patrol were about as even as CS:GO teams could be. It was like watching a heavy weight match in boxing. Each team matching the other blow for blow.
They would get to overtime again after a great comeback from Swole Patrol and believe it or not, we would see yet another second overtime. These teams continue to go back and forth leading to a third overtime. Neither team was giving an inch, both wanting the chance to play Ghost. Finally in the fourth overtime Swole Patrol started to pull ahead 27-24 but, were unable to close it out leading to an already unprecedented fifth overtime. Nearly everyone was in disbelief at this point.
Someone needed to come up big and it wouldn’t happen until the sixth round of overtime, when the YNG Sharks would finally finish not only the map but the match 2-0.
eUnited v. Furia
The winners of the first match ended up facing what many believed to be the favorite heading into the tournament, eUnited. They would start on Overpass, a map known for being ct-sided.
EUnited would prove this to be the case as they took an early lead 9-6 in the first half. They would follow up a great defense with an even better offense as they showed the with the right strategies Overpass could be a good t-sided map. They wouldn’t give up a single game in the second half winning the map 16-6.
Next would be Inferno. Furia similar to their last match came out strong on map two. They took a commanding lead in the first half going up 11-4. But, also like their earlier match they started to let eUnited back into the game. They would let the lead dwindle down until eUnited was only down 9-11. Furia decided to turn it back up though and tie up the match winning the second map 16-9.
The last map would be Cache and this one was much closer at the beginning but fell into the same trap as other maps before as Furia would hold a lead 12-3 going into the half. Furia was not a well known team in the NA scene but, were clearly here to try and upset US fans. They would continue to capitalize on their great team play and ability to hold down the point on offense or defense giving them a 16-7 win and a place in the day two finals.
After over 12 hours of games day two will include the semi-final match between Ghost and the YNG Sharks to decide who will go on to play Furia. Then the charity match and the finals. Make sure to watch today as the Zotac Cup continues on their channel starting at 2 pm est and 11 am pst.
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