Season 2 finals preview

With BESL Pro Season 2 finals set to start on Saturday, we bring you the finals preview that takes a closer look at both semi-final match-ups and analyses them throughout the lense of different factors.

 

The culmination of €9,000 CS:GO tournament is taking place on the 20th of October at Saku Suurhall arena in Tallinn, Estonia with the event being hosted as part of the HyperTown Tallinn Urban & eSports festival (tickets can be found here).

 

The defending champion Carcass is facing wolsung in the semi-finals

 

The final stage of the competition is going to feature the four best teams from the online stage. These teams are going to be placed in a single elimination bracket, with all the games being played out as a best-of-three series.

 

The winner of the event is not only going to be crowned as the best team in Baltic states, taking home the beautiful BESL Pro Season 2 champions trophy, but will also receive the lion share of the prize pool in form of €2,200!

 

Here is the list of the teams that managed to qualify for the finals:

 

As per usual in our competitions - the team that finished in the 1st place at the end of the regular season had the benefit of choosing their semi-final opponent from the 3rd-4th place team pool, while the 2nd place team was then left facing the team from 3rd-4th place team pool that was not chosen.

 

With that in mind, XGR eSports, as the team that finished the regular season in the #1 position, have chosen to play their semi-final game against their fellow countrymen of WORTEX, who finished their regular season run in the 4th place.

 

That sets up the second semi-final duel to be played out between Lithuanians of 1337HUANIA, who finished the regular season in 2nd place, and Latvians of wolsung, who found themselves in the 3rd place at the end of the 8 week competition.

 

For more information about the BESL Pro Season 2 finals, head over to our viewer's guide, where you'll find all the information you need to follow the event, including the bracket, event schedule, broadcast talent and prize pool distribution.

 

*Statistics used are from the regular season of BESL Pro S2

**WASD Sports are now known as XGR eSports

***AUTOCLUTCH are now known as WORTEX

Regular season games between finalists

Pre-finals interviews with the teams

Semi-final #1

XGR eSports

Player statistics:

  1. Rainer “Dodz” Trossek - 97 ADR, 1.43 KDR, 46% HS, 5 clutches

  2. Kristjan “shokz” Jakobson - 89 ADR, 1.56 KDR, 50% HS, 12 clutches

  3. Mihkel “sperr” Alamaa - 82ADR, 1.30 KDR, 41% HS, 4 clutches

  4. Kevin “ViztA” Kolomainen - 78 ADR, 1.28 KDR, 55% HS, 6 clutches

  5. Hans “bitchiR-” Tint - 74 ADR, 1.20 KDR, 47% HS, 6 clutches

 

Map statistics:

  • Cache (1-0, 100% winrate)

  • Mirage (1-0, 100% winrate)

  • Inferno (2-1, 67% winrate)

  • Train (1-0, 100% winrate)

  • Dust2 (1-0, 100% winrate)

  • Overpass (5-0, 100% winrate)

  • Nuke (2-0, 100% winrate)

 

WORTEX

Player statistics:

  1. Markus Jan “Sickta” Martinonis - 84 ADR, 1.13 KDR, 50% HS, 8 clutches

  2. Aaron “Ph1lEba” Pajula - 81 ADR, 1.12 KDR, 52% HS, 7 clutches

  3. Erik “DoisTa” Uba - 74 ADR, 1.02 KDR, 50% HS, 8 clutches

  4. Marcus “KrassNer” Kangur - 72 ADR, 1.00 KDR, 54% HS, 5 clutches

  5. Kevin “zteeek” Rohurand - 71 ADR, 0.95 KDR, 38% HS, 6 clutches

 

Map statistics:

  • Cache (4-0, 100% winrate)

  • Mirage (0-2, 0% winrate)

  • Inferno (2-1, 67% winrate)

  • Train (2-0, 100% winrate)

  • Dust2 (1-0, 100% winrate)

  • Overpass (0-1, 0% winrate)

  • Nuke (N/A)

Head-to-Head

During the regular season match between these two teams, XGR eSports were the ones who came out on top with scoring a somewhat easy 16:5 victory on overpass.

 

Additionally, both of these teams were also part of the first season of our competition and back then the games were pretty even. WORTEX opened up the two Best-of-One game series with a 16:11 victory on cobblestone, while XGR eSports (known as WASD Sports at the time) answered back with taking inferno 16:12.

 

Though, a caveat here is that these Season 1 games were played during week 8 of the regular season and at that point in time, Dodz & co had already secured themselves the #1 spot in the standings. So, in theory, they had nothing to play for except bragging rights over their countrymen.

 

With that in mind, the Head-to-Head advantage in this matchup goes to XGR eSports as not only have they won the majority of the duels played between these two teams, but they have also taken the most recent fight in a pretty convincing fashion.

 

Advantage: XGR eSports

Map pool

Looking at the overall map pool of both of these teams - they both look pretty versatile, but XGR eSports definitely takes the cake!

 

During the eight weeks of regular season play, XGR eSports have played all the 7 maps that are currently in the Active Duty map pool, while their opponents, WORTEX, have their battles spread around 6 maps, with nuke being the only map that they have not played a single time.

 

Knowing that, it’s hard to not give the advantage here to XGR eSports as they literally can play every single map in the map pool right now, and while WORTEX do somewhat share the same depth in their map pool, that one map (nuke in this instance) is the difference maker between a good team and a championship winning one.

 

Advantage: XGR eSports

Possible veto

For the sake of this theoretical veto, we assume that XGR eSports, being the higher seed here, are going to choose for WORTEX to start the veto.

 

With that in mind, the first phase ban from WORTEX is somewhat clear - they should be getting rid of the map that they have never played namely nuke, while XGR eSports should take out cache, which is not only WORTEX’s most played map, but also - the most successful one.

 

Coming in to the map picks, this is were things start to get tricky for WORTEX! From the five maps remaining, there is no clear-cut favorite that gives them the upper-hand in the duel. However, we’re gonna predict that they’re going to go with dust2 - the map that they found their most recent success on against 1337HUANIA at the end of the regular season. On the other hand, XGR eSports’ pick is pretty straight forward and it should be, without a doubt, overpass. It’s not only their best map, but also, the one they won against WORTEX during the regular season.

 

The maps that are then left in the pool are train, mirage and inferno. From these three, WORTEX should take out mirage as it’s the map they have had least success on, while XGR eSports should be scratching inferno - the map that they have shown glimpses of weakness on (the only regular season loss). That would leave train as the last map to be played and while WORTEX guys have had one successful game on it, XGR eSports is notoriously known as a good train team.

 

If veto results in these three maps (dust2, overpass and train) as the maps that are going to be played, XGR eSports are the clear favorite here. Not only are they heavily favored to take both overpass and train, WORTEX taking dust2 is in no way a given.

 

Advantage: XGR eSports

Win conditions

For XGR eSports the win conditions are pretty obvious - just play like you always do! The sheer level of teamplay and skill that XGR eSports boasts is something that has kept them at the top of the Baltic states scene for years. It’s no surprise that they came out of the regular season as the #1 seed with only dropping a single map. If they just keep performing like they always do and sperr doesn't miss easy shots, then there’s no way that they don’t come out victorious in this duel.

 

As for the guys of WORTEX - if they want to reach the grand final here, they have to show up with their A+ game. Yes, that is correct! Not A-game, but A+ one! A team like XGR eSports is not beatable with just few good plays or couple of players being on point. Teams like XGR eSports are merciless and they will use every single one of your mistakes against you. So, if WORTEX really wants to take the revenge on XGR eSports, literally all of their players have to perform good not only skill wise, but also - gameplay wise (not making silly mistakes). There is just no other way around it!

Predictions

“This is a match-up that we should’ve seen played out in the Season 1 finals as last time around XGR eSports (or WASD Sports back then) wanted to their semi-final game against WORTEX, but they didn’t as the finals event conflicted with another event that they wanted to attend. Since this is a domestic duel and it is even played on the home turf of both of these teams, the outcome is hard to predict. XGR eSports do have the upper hand, but this semi-final could definitely bring out the best out of the guys of WORTEX. If my prediction game is as strong as it was during the regular season, I think that we’re gonna see XGR eSports crumbling once again, so WORTEX are going to take this 2:1!”

Renārs “Emvy” Dzintars

 

“Looking at this match-up, I just can not stop myself from giving the upper hand to XGR eSports here. At this point they have shown everything that anyone need to know about them with winning two consecutive regular seasons in a row. As for WORTEX - these guys have grown very fast as a team and with a solid veto here they could make this semi-final a close one. To spice things up, I’m looking forward to seeing maps like overpass or maybe even nuke thrown into the mix, oh my lungs! The possibilities of one team outplaying the other here makes this match exciting as hell. All in all - I am giving XGR eSports the advantage here, but I do feel that WORTEX could make things interesting if they turn up to play.”

Renārs “Veneficus” Šēnfelds

 

“Coming off a close-to-perfect regular season, XGR eSports are looking to clinch the title that they didn’t have the chance to take in Season 1 finals in Riga. With that in mind and the fact that all the evidence is clearly stacked against the guys of WORTEX, my pick here is XGR eSports. While I definitely admire WORTEX for making it this far, quite frankly, I just don’t think that they can match the level of play that Dodz & co have showed lately. Not to mention, this is a LAN event and while WORTEX guys are still somewhat inexperience in this kind of setting, the guys of XGR eSports have attended multiple big stage events rarely underperforming in them. Additionally, I think that the fact that this is a domestic duel actually plays in the hands of XGR eSports as they are used to eating fellow Estonian teams like WORTEX for breakfast!”

Bruno “Gekons” Gailītis

Semi-final #2

1337HUANIA

Player statistics:

  1. Martynas “Butters” Juodagalvis - 97 ADR, 1.37 KDR, 41% HS, 3 clutches

  2. Ričardas “Boo” Lukaševičius - 89 ADR, 1.23 KDR, 48% HS, 6 clutches

  3. Robertas “Carcass” Mikuckis - 83 ADR, 1.36 KDR, 34% HS, 5 clutches

  4. Edvinas “Aikas” Zemaitis - 78 ADR, 1.22 KDR, 45% HS, 5 clutches

  5. Dovydas “LaimB” Oržekauskas - 68 ADR, 1.18 KDR, 40% HS, 8 clutches

 

Map statistics:

  • Cache (4-0, 100% winrate)

  • Mirage (N/A)

  • Inferno (2-0, 100% winrate)

  • Train (N/A)

  • Dust2 (3-1, 75% winrate)

  • Overpass (1-0, 100% winrate)

  • Nuke (2-1, 67% winrate)

 

wolsung

Player statistics:

  1. Ilja “Whiskas” Rastopčins - 88 ADR, 1.29 KDR, 53% HS, 5 clutches

  2. Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis - 86 ADR, 1.24 KDR, 60% HS, 4 clutches

  3. Helvijs “broky” Saukants - 82 ADR, 1.24 KDR, 41% HS, 13 clutches

  4. Kristaps “krii” Bricis - 82 ADR, 1.29 KDR, 48% HS, 13 clutches

  5. Reinis “hyskeee” Grīnbergs - 70 ADR, 1.07 KDR, 48% HS, 2 clutches

 

Map statistics:

  • Cache (2-0, 100% winrate)

  • Mirage (2-0, 100% winrate)

  • Inferno (1-0, 100% winrate)

  • Train (3-0, 100% winrate)

  • Dust2 (2-0, 100% winrate)

  • Overpass (2-1, 67% winrate)

  • Nuke (0-1, 0% winrate)

Head-to-Head

In the regular season duel between these two teams, the guys of 1337HUANIA took the better of wolsung as they came out victorious on nuke with a scoreline of 16:12.

 

Though, it’s important to note that back then wolsung were playing the match with a substitute player. Their captain hyskeee had an official game with the team he was trialing for at the time, namely forZe, so Warden was standing-in for him.

 

This is the only time the core of these two teams have met in BESL Pro competitions as wolsung were not participating in the first season of our league.

 

While it’s definitely hard to speculate how big of an impact hyskeee not being on the server had in their duel during the regular season play, we still have to give the Head-to-Head advantage in this matchup to the guys of 1337HUANIA as they did take the game fair and square.

 

Advantage: 1337HUANIA

Map pool

If we take a look at the overall map pool of both of the teams, we immediately see that wolsung guys stand out quite drastically with a really deep map pool compared to the one 1337HUANIA has.

 

During the regular season, wolsung have played all the 7 maps that are currently in the Active Duty map pool. On the other hand - 1337HUANIA’s map pool looks a bit shallow for a team of their caliber as they have played only 5 of the 7 maps.

 

With that in mind, the Latvians of wolsung definitely have the the map pool advantage in this matchup. As for 1337HUANIA - a map pool of 5 maps would be more than enough if they were to play a Best-of-One series, but, as we all know, that is not the case in the finals.

 

Advantage: wolsung

Possible veto

For the sake of this theoretical veto, we assume that 1337HUANIA, being the higher seed here, are going to choose for wolsung to start the veto.

 

Knowing that, wolsung should open up the veto with a ban of nuke as it is their least successful map, while the guys of 1337HUANIA play it very often. As for 1337HUANIA - this is where things start to get tricky! They would love to get rid of both train and mirage, as they just do not play these maps, but they can only ban one. While it’s hard to tell which one of the two they choose for sure, we think that it should be mirage as it’s a map that is definitely more puggy than train and wolsung have bunch of players that do like to play a free-for-all style.

 

Coming in to the map picks, wolsung should definitely exploit Lithuanians not playing train and pick it as their map. On a contrary - if 1337HUANIA do end up banning train instead, Latvians should go for mirage as their pick. On the other hand, 1337HUANIA should be picking dust2 as their map. Despite losing their last regular season game on it, dust2 seems like a map that they usually like to play when given the chance.

 

The maps that are then left in the pool are cache, overpass and inferno. From these three, wolsung should take out inferno as it’s the map that the core of this team has always struggled on, even in local LAN events. 1337HUANIA then should close out the map veto with a ban of overpass, thus leaving cache as the last map to be played.

 

If the veto does result in these maps being played (train/mirage, dust2 and cache), then we would say that overall wolsung do look a bit more favored in the duel if we’re to compare them to 1337HUANIA. The thing that gives Latvian side a small advantage here is them being heavily favored on winning their map pick, whereas 1337HUANIA’s map pick (dust2) and the decider of the series (cache) is pretty much up in the air in terms of who should be taking it.

 

Advantage: wolsung, by a hair

Win conditions

In order for 1337HUANIA to come out as victors in this duel, they firstly have to have their usual star players performing like they always do. Those most definitely are Butters, with his insane ability to frag people, and the AWP duet of Carcass and Boo. Secondly, Aikas has to come up clutch in situations where his team needs someone to make a round winning play. And lastly - their newest, and inarguably most inexperienced, team member LaimB has to show up on the big stage, because if he does, then Lithuanians definitely have what it takes to take down wolsung.

 

As for the guys of wolsung - their X factor most definitely is broky. While he does spend his days playing FPL with bunch of players from the top level teams, this still is his first ever LAN event and him replicating the level of performance he has online is a must if Latvians want to reach the grand final. Other than that - YEKINDAR has to always be kept in check by hyskeee as not to overextend when he’s making the usual aggressive plays, while Whiskas and krii have to keep showing the solid gameplay they have done all throughout the regular season.

Predictions

“This is going to be such an exciting match to witness! Season 1 champions 1337HUANIA against the Latvian powerhouse of wolsung. Judging from the  regular season results, 1337HUANIA should have this one in the bag, but Latvian fans know - you can never count out wolsung. Even if Latvians lose the first map, their comeback potential is through the roof. This definitely cites at this semi-final being action packed to say the least. Overall, though, I’m predicting that 1337HUANIA are going to take this one in a 2:1 fashion as they are such a stable and consistent team.”

Renārs “Emvy” Dzintars

 

“This semi-final is going to be a true brawl! On paper - both of these teams are very similar in my opinion as they both are seemingly capable of playing any map on any side with showing an in-depth knowledge of the game in either scenario. For me, wolsung have a good chance of showing something amazing here as long as they can contain their machine-like composure in this match. Though, I’ve been incredibly impressed by 1337HUANIA this season, so wolsung should definitely not take this match-up lightly. With that in mind - I’ll say that this is going to be a 2:1 victory for wolsung here.”

Renārs “Veneficus” Šēnfelds

 

“While I do think that this series is bound to be a close one, knowing how evenly matched these teams are, the facts presented in the preview, combined with the feeling I've got from talking to the team captains, makes me a little bit more of a believer in Latvian side reaching the grand final. It's just that I feel like wolsung are a bit more hungry and confident as a team when compared to 1337HUANIA. Additionally, the thing that seals the deal for me is that, funnily enough, yesterday, both of these teams met each other in the GameOn semi-finals and wolsung came out on top with taking two two maps in a row (16:11 train, 16:7 dust2). I think that they are ready to do the same in Tallinn!”

Bruno “Gekons” Gailītis

 

During the event you’ll be able to follow all the action LIVE from Saku Suurhall arena in Tallinn on our YouTube channel! The preview of the Grand Final is going to be done LIVE our analyst desk via stream!

 

News article by: Bruno ‘Gekons’ Gailītis

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