Yesterday, the playoffs for the ESL Pro League Season 5 Finals started and mouz was the first team to be eliminated from the six-team bracket.
The first map played was Mirage between SK Gaming and mousesports. Mirage was SK’s first pick and Cache was mouz’s pick. Cobblestone was the remaining map from the veto process.
Mirage
SK had control over the bombsites and lanes against mouz’s Terrorist side. FalleN’s one-versus-three retake early in the game gave SK more momentum on the scoreboard. FalleN and coldzera also pulled off an impressive two-versus-four retake on A site, preventing mouz from making a comeback in the first half which ended at 9-6.
However, the second half of Mirage was a different story for mouz. They only won one round from an eco where SK were disorganized. Mouz played passively and were scared before SK’s site executes during their Counter-Terrorist half. SK won Mirage 16-7 with FalleN as the top fragger (24).
FalleN and fer also had high average damage per round values, with 104.6 and 103.0 respectively.
Cache
SK started off well on Cache, with coldzera defending B site on pistol round with a 3K. However, mouz took the lead at 7-3 after their economy stabilized. SK eventually came back as they became more comfortable with mouz’s playstyle. The first half ended 8-7 in favor of mouz.
SK had a strong second half, not losing any rounds on their Terrorist side. They had first blood kills, smart lurks, and a great two-versus-four A site clutch from coldzera and felps. SK closed out the quarterfinals with a 16-8 victory on Cache, sweeping the international European team.
The Playoff Picture
SK will now move onto the semifinals where they will face G2 Esports on Saturday. G2 previously beat SK on Cobblestone, SK’s primary map pick, during the group stage. This may make SK reluctant to play them on Cobblestone again. If both teams perform at their highest levels, the semifinal matchup could be close on every map, including the decider map.
ESL Pro League Season 5 Finals, playoffs, mouz, SK Gaming, Mirage, Cache, Cobblestone, FalleN, coldzera, quarterfinals, international European team, semifinals, G2 Esports.