EPICENTER 2017 Group Stage: SK Gaming dominates, G2 Esports surprises
The second day of EPICENTER 2017 in St. Petersburg, Russia started with intense best-of-three matches in the group stage.
SK Gaming made a strong start by defeating Virtus Pro in Group A, while G2 Esports surprised Astralis in their Group B match. SK will face the winner of FaZe Clan vs. Gambit Esports, while G2 will go up against the winner of North and Team Liquid.
Related: FaZe and Liquid win Wild Card matches at EPICENTER
In the first match, SK comfortably defeated VP on Train (16-5) and Mirage (16-7). Despite having a stand-in, the Brazilians maintained their fragging power, especially on their Counter-Terrorist side. They outperformed VP with Marcelo “coldzera” David and Fernando “fer” Alvarenga leading the scoreboard on both maps.
In the second match, G2 made a spectacular comeback on Cache, winning 16-13, followed by a complete shutdown of Astralis on Inferno with a score of 16-4. G2’s successful retakes and site executes gave them the advantage on Cache and their momentum carried over to Inferno.
SK will compete for a spot in the EPICENTER playoffs tomorrow at 10am ET in the Group A winners’ match, while G2 will compete at 1pm ET in the Group B winners’ match.
EPICENTER 2017, Group Stage, SK Gaming, Virtus Pro, G2 Esports, Astralis, FaZe Clan, Gambit Esports, North, Team Liquid.