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CS2 has its first world champions, apparently. We're not sure if Majors also count for that, or who makes those decisions.
We're just glad anything happened this weekend or we'd have to write about politics. Or worse, VALORANT.
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EWC 2024 Playoffs recap
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Wonderkids World Cup
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After a fairly routine Opening Stage, the Esports World Cup reached its final phase.
MOUZ, FURIA, NAVI, FaZe, Team Spirit, G2, Team Vitality, and Virtus.pro have all moved one step closer to the $400,000 prize and the honor of being crowned World Champions.
Well, no one will actually call them that - it’s just for dramatic effect.
On one side of the bracket, MOUZ faced off against FURIA, with Jimpphat stepping up with an impressive 1.61 rating to secure a 2-1 series victory.
Meanwhile, in a Major Final rematch, NAVI found FaZe to be a tough nut to crack, but managed to prevail after two hard-fought maps.
In the semifinal matchup, w0nderful went supernova, obliterating MOUZ with a 1.61 rating in a 2-1 victory to secure a Grand Final spot. s1mple, get ready to learn Chinese buddy.
On the other side of the bracket, m0NESY confirmed his ‘highlight machine’ status in G2’s 2-1 victory over Team Spirit, sending donk packing with an unusually low 1.04 event rating.
In VP’s case, Jame really didn’t want to go home. In a display of mental fortitude, the fragging IGL and his team quickly got rid of Vitality after dropping the first map in a grueling 18-round overtime.
It didn’t take long for VP to pick de_airport though. The second semis matchup saw G2 dispatch them with a commanding 2-0 sweep, largely thanks to 2017 NiKo making a comeback and putting up a 1.89 series rating. Okay, it’s happening. Everybody stay calm. NiKo is (finally) back. Oh, and m0NESY is also pretty good.
In the end, the Grand Final matchup proved to be everything we hoped for and more.
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Staff recommendations
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Slow week, so here’s a few things we recommend
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Our podcast editor, beekeeper, blessed us with a song that has never had a title that matched it’s vibe more: a live performance of 🎶 Neon Grave by Dayseeker. Neon meets Grave, futuristic vocals meets a classically metal sound.
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Everything Else specialist and regular writer napz can’t seem to realise Eurovision is over, as his Spotify has been playing Joost’s new song Luchtballon on loop 🔁 for the last month and a half straight.
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Graphics guy novah and tactics guy simba both agreed 🤝 Pile’s punk new production A Labyrinth With No Center goes very hard. Solid thumbs up from both of ‘em.
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M3CHATR0NIC chipped in with something that isn’t a song. College Football 25 is his pi- wait no, actually, it’s his replay of Pokémon Platinum. Scratch that, his pick is the loomy and dark indie game called DREDGE ⚓. “It was really good, I had a really good time playing it.” He has such a way with words, no wonder he hosts our podcast.
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NAVI win EWC 2024
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The World Champions, we think
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Ancient was the first map as both teams took the stage in Saudi Arabia to a decent crowd, although not one that compares to any S-tier tournament we’ve come accustomed to.
Snax played a blinder of a map alongside his two-star rifles, but NAVI had enough in JL and Aleksi to push it to OT. Still, the G2 superstar vibes were too strong, and malbs just bulldozed on a rush B to close the map 16-14.
A great start for this new look G2 roster, and one they were looking to build on as they set out to play Nuke for map 2.
Unfortunately for G2 that didn't happen, they got shut down.
malbs looked miscast in his roles, which was mirrored by b1t putting in an anchoring masterclass. A masterclass that guided NAVI to a 7-0 CT half to win the game.
The decider, Inferno, didn't look much different.
NAVI exposed G2’s CT side and ran through their lines like prime R9. b1t much like on Nuke, was a monster, but he wasn't alone. All of NAVI were on fire and none of them got below a 1.1 rating for the map, which was enough to easily close the final 2-1.
Congrats to NAVI for being world champions. Since it's either this or the Major, they're qualified for the title. Aleksi 1 World Cup, Ronaldo 0.
The final standings at EWC:
1st 🇪🇺 NAVI - $400.000
2nd 🇪🇺 G2 Esports - $175.000
3-4th 🇪🇺 MOUZ - $85.000
3-4th 🇷🇺 Virtus.pro - $85.000
5-8th 🇪🇺 FaZe - $40.000
5-8th 🇧🇷 FURIA - $40.000
5-8th 🇪🇺 Vitality - $40.000
5-8th 🇷🇺 Spirit - $40.000
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Everything else
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😠 In m0E’s voice HE’S CHEATING
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🧠 Absolute genius
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🤔 What is even happening
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This TL;DR was written by shoko, Horizzon and napz.
Welshy coded the email and Crash_ copy edited.
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How did you like this edition?
Help us improve by clicking a smiley below.
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NAVI
V.Pro
