Has the world gone to sh-t?

The MongolZ lose to HOTU and Inner Circle back-to-back, Gentle Mates take down Vitality, FaZe forget basic rules of tournaments, karrigan drops a 1v3 ace, Maka channels his inner ScreaM, cairne smashes his mouse in rage, Astralis gets wiped out 0-3…

Nevermind, that last one’s business as usual these days.

After a chaotic Stage 1, we expected Stage 2 to settle down a bit. Instead, it got even wilder. Well, sort of.

Most of the top teams still managed to pull through and secure their Playoff spots, though not without a few scares along the way. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

3-0

In the undefeated group, things went mostly as expected.

Falcons went through Astralis, NAVI, and MOUZ, in a run that finally gives some confidence to what’s been a shaky season. It also helps that the m0NESY is back. We’re not sure who was impersonating him at FISSURE Playground 2, but we’ve got the real one in Stockholm.

Spirit had an easier road to the Playoffs, taking down Inner Circle, HOTU, and G2. Still, that doesn’t diminish how impressive tN1R looked in his debut. He might just be the missing third star Spirit needs to push their ceiling even higher. And with the Major right around the corner, the timing couldn’t be better.

3-1 & 3-2

Vitality, FURIA, and MOUZ punched their tickets to the Playoffs in similarly convincing fashion - each with a single stumble along the way - on the back of standout performances from mezii, KSCERATO, and Spinx.

That said, Vitality’s lone loss will sting for a while. They somehow fell to Gentle Mates, a French org with a Spanish roster. Poor Napoleon must be turning in his grave.

FaZe, NAVI, and 3DMAX took the scenic route, qualifying on the final day of play. Their advancement doesn’t come as a surprise, but honestly, neither would an early exit.

For teams like FaZe and NAVI, making Playoffs should be the bare minimum. We’ll see how they hold up when it really matters. And no, we’re not cutting FaZe any slack for not playing with their full lineup. That’s their f-ck up.

2-3 & 1-3

The teams that just missed out - Aurora, The MongolZ, and G2 - ended up being a bit of a letdown. Sure, with only 8 Playoff spots for 11 realistically competitive teams (we’ll leave you to guess which ones), it’s very tight. But we still expected more from a group that needs to prove their recent success wasn’t a fluke.

In the single-win department, we got Gentle Mates, Inner Circle, and HOTU. Sorry to fans of these squads, but they’ve had their moment. And honestly, it’s been pretty fun watching them wreak havoc, but it’s time for things to get back to normal.

Honorable mention goes to Dawy, though - this kid is absolutely cracked. We have a feeling he won’t be in the circle for too long. Oh God, not fnatic…

0-3

At the bottom of the table, Astralis and GamerLegion.

Sure, most people expected them to at the very least grab a win, but to give them some credit, their matchups weren’t exactly easy. Still, that’s no excuse.

The funny part is that the new additions, Magisk and hypex, were actually the top performers on their teams. Ok, ‘top performers’ might be a stretch. They were still pretty bad, don’t get us wrong, but somehow their teammates were even worse.

In the end, EPL’s Stage 2 gave us exactly what we wanted: exciting games, crazy moments, and a stacked Playoff bracket ready to kick off tomorrow, with Counter-Strike action all day long.