Brutality and Entity met each other in the first of the semi-finals, with Dust2, Cache, and Overpass the maps emerging from the veto. The match turned out to be a battle of the better T side halves.
Dust2 started with Entity on the CT side and it looked like the Blues will bag the pistol round, before a hurried entry into the B site from Marzil saw Brutality overcome a 2v3 scenario. Marzil
though, more than redeemed himself for the error, with a snappy 2k from the Deagle to answer back as Brutality failed to get the bomb down in time.
Entity did string together two more rounds before Brutality hit back with a mid control and a subsequent B hit to make the score 3-2 in Entity’s favour. Venom & co. then added three more rounds to bring the score to 3-5 as Marzil was unable to capitalise on a KQLY-styled awp shot to convert the 1v2 at the A Bombsite.
Entity hit back by cleaning the A short take from Brutals before breaking the T side’s economy at 5 all. The crowd then witnessed a whole lot of shebang as Psy hit two noscopes on the B defence – a total of 3 kills. But, Brutality recovered from the Psy-strikes to take the round on a quasi buy.
Entity hit back to level the score at 6-6 before Marzil channeled his inner Fer to push B right upto the T base with the CT side moneymaker to make it 7-6. With the score at 8-6 and Brutality facing
a daunting defence of the plant at A site, Astarr took it upon himself with a 3k, ending the half at 8-7 in Entity’s favour, with the highlight of the round being his successful stab on Psy.
The stab seemed to have ignited fire under Psy’s belly as he had consecutive multikill rounds tobring the score to 10-7 before Amaterasu chipped in with a 3k to push the lead to 11-7.
Entity ran to a 14-7 lead courtesy of a 1v2 from Psy, with Brutality not having enough time to defuse the bomb. The Brutals responded with their first round on the CT site on the back of a 2k
from Venom but were powerless to resist Entity, who took Brutality’s map pick with a scoreline of 16-8.
Brutality had to pull up their socks in Cache and that is exactly what they did starting on the T side, with captain Venom leading from the front. Entity lost the pistol round thanks to a quick 3k by f0xy on the defence of the A plant from Brutality.
Brutality did not falter on the anti-eco rounds and executed a fast paced A execute perfectly on the first buy round. The score soon read 0-5 for Entity, before Psy rose to the occasion with a 3k to get Entity on the board.
Astarr though, was determined to not let Entity in the game and returned Psy’s effort with a 3k of his own to break Entity’s economy at 1-6. Brutality put up four more rounds to push the lead to 10-2.
Entity somehow, woke up on the back of a nervy 3v2 retake on the B bombsite and got 2 rounds on the board before Venom hit back with a 3k to bring the score to 3-11. The half ended 12-3 in Brutality’s favour on the back of a brilliant effort from their captain Venom, who had 20 frags in the first half.
Entity chose to take Mid control in the second half pistol round before hitting the A site, a strategy that yielded them the round. The Blues then brought the deficit down to 6 rounds before it looked like Brutality had finally got Entity’s number on the back of Rix’s aggressive play at squeaky.
Marzil though, came up huge with a 1v3 – 4 kills in total – to continue Entity’s attempt to claw back into the match.
Entity raced to 8 rounds before a 3k from f0xy saw Brutality put up their first round on the defence. The Brutals then raced to map point, which they converted in the first try itself, thanks to a 4k from Venom to close out the map with the scoreline of 16-8.
The decider though, was complete domination from Entity on the back of some impressive shotcalling from Amaterasu, the new designated IGL, with Hellranger assuming the Lurker role recently.
Entity started on the T side and Falken did the honours this time around, with a 3k to win them the pistol round. Psy clutched a 1v2 on the first buy round as Entity raced to a 4-0 lead.
Brutality almost got a round back on the quasi buy, with Venom killing four. But, Entity held on to push the lead to 5-0. Rix though, made sure his effort was not in vain as he yielded the Big green
gun on the A defence and ensured Brutality’s first round on Overpass with a 3k.
Chaos ensued on the A site again as Marzil did break through the Brutal defence with a 3k but Entity failed to get the bomb down on time, gifting Brutality their second round of Overpass.
Entity then executed a slow B take to hit back with a round of their own, before pushing the lead to 9-2 on the T side before Marzil made sure Entity hit double figures on the offence with a 3k.
Falken then converted a low HP 1v3 situation at the A bombsite to extend the lead to 11-2. It looked like Entity will run away with the rest of the rounds but Brutality managed to win the last round of the half by thwarting a fast-paced B take from Entity.
Psy showed up big again, with a 3k propelling Entity to 13-3. Entity then raced to 15-3 before a 2k from f0xy saw Brutality delay the inevitable.
The match was then closed out by the star of the series, with Psy ensuring a 16-4 scoreline for Entity with a 3k on the B defence with a cheeky position beside the sandbags around the smoke.
In Bleh’s words,
it was the battle of the ‘Tity’s, with Entity coming out on top.
The second semi-finals saw Invictus being pitted against 2ez. 2ez went for Mirage as their choice of the map, with Invictus going with Train. Inferno emerged as the decider.
Mirage is considered 2ez’s homeground as far as the Indian scene is considered. But, Invictus schooled them in front of the Mumbai crowd, starting off with the pistol win to register a 2 advantage.
Rexy then brought one back with a 2k before Manan responded with a 2k of his own, this time from the connector with the Scout to thwart 2ez’s attempt to secure the A bombsite.
Invictus then devoured 2ez’s consecutive attempts at fast-paced B plays before a 3k from Pashasahil saw the legendary organisation race to a 6-1 lead. Invictus extended the lead to 9-1 before Huntr recorded a 3k of his own to push the lead to 10-1.
2ez did not seem to be getting any easy breaks anytime soon, with Pashasahil converting a 1v2 and Excali with a 3k on an A retake to push the score to 12-1. The half ended 14-1, with 2ez unable to unlock the Invictus defence.
And the Hyderabadi stack showed no signs of letting up, with Pashasahil opening up the B bombsite and ending up with a 4k. Pashasahil was the hero again as Invictus overturned a 2v4 situation to close the map 16-1 on the back of a 1v2 from Pashasahil.
In Archi’s words,
it was perhaps 2ez for Invictus on Mirage.
The start of Train set a similar precedence, with a successful A take before racing to a 7-0 lead. Recoilmaster though, made sure 2ez opened their account on the CT side with a 1v1 clutch on the A site.
2ez managed to string together 3 more rounds before Invictus hit back with 2 rounds of their own. Rexy then locked down the A defence with a 4k to record 2ez’s 5th round on the board. The half ended 10-5 as Tito was unsuccessful in his attempt to defuse in the smoke in a 1v2 situation.
Invictus looked intent on finishing things off quickly as they shut down 2ez’s attempt at B in the pistol round. Huntr then hit a 3k of his own to push Invictus to 13-5 and closer to the win.
But, this is where the real 2ez showed signs of waking up as Rexy clutched a 1v2 to record their first round on the T side of Train. Things looked dire though, as Invictus raced up to 15-6, with nine map and series points to their name.
Recoilmaster seemed to be delaying the inevitable with a 1v3 on the A site. But, the scoreline soon read 15-9 and as Poki opened up the B site with a sumptuous 2k, the crowd and the casters saw hope of another classic 2ez comeback.
Rexy did his best Poki impression on the B bombsite, opening up the Invictus defence with a 2k of his own to push the score to 15-12. in fact, the 2ez entry rifler was the reason for most of the rounds they managed to put on the board.
But, with the score reading 15-13, Invictus managed to lock down their defence on the A site, finally finishing the map and series. Huntr was undoubtedly the star with 37 frags on Train and was the highest fragger in the entire series.
With the 2-0 win over 2ez, Invictus set up their date in the final of the ESL INDIA Premiership Summer LAN Finals with Entity, who overcame Brutality in the first of the semi-finals. Make sure to watch the final of the Summer LAN Finals exclusively on Hotstar.
