The Final Four at ESL One Birmingham
The ESL One Birmingham tournament is nearing its conclusion, with the final four teams now set. Let’s recap the exciting matches that took place in the playoffs.
Brazilian Squad paiN Gaming Continues to Impress
Brazilian team paiN Gaming, coming off a surprising upset victory over International 7 champions Team Liquid, carried their momentum into the quarterfinals. They faced off against DAC 2018 winners Mineski, defeating them in two games that lasted just over an hour in total.
In game one, paiN Gaming’s player William “hFn” Medeiros delivered an outstanding performance as Slark. With 16 kills and no deaths in 36 minutes, he helped his team secure an early advantage that Mineski couldn’t overcome.
The second game was even faster, thanks to Aliwi “w33” Omar’s impressive play as Death Prophet. He contributed eight kills, 19 assists, and nearly 24,000 points of damage to eliminate Mineski from the event.
This victory puts paiN Gaming on the leaderboard for the first time this season, although their points won’t matter since they won’t be participating in the upcoming China Supermajor.
Fnatic Triumphs Over OG
In the other quarterfinal matchup, Southeast Asian team Fnatic triumphed over European team OG in a three-game series. OG started strong in the first game but couldn’t maintain their advantage. Fnatic’s Abed Yusop delivered another stellar performance, leading his team to victory.
Although OG managed to win the second game, Fnatic came back in the decisive third game. They shut down OG’s hopes with a solid strategy that prevented Sébastien “7mad” Debs from obtaining a fast Radiance on Spectre.
By the mid game, Fnatic had gained a significant net worth advantage, securing their spot as the fourth semifinalist in the tournament.
Semifinal Matches: PaiN Gaming vs. Virtus Pro and OpTic Gaming vs. Fnatic
The semifinal games will kick off today, starting with paiN Gaming facing off against three-time Major champions Virtus Pro. Following that, OpTic Gaming will take on Fnatic in an exciting contest between two teams vying for a last-minute invitation to TI8.
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