BIG and TYLOO fall at Stage 2's final hurdle

B8 pulled off a reverse sweep to deny BIG entry into the third stage.

Young AWPer s1zz1 had an absolute stormer as he appears to have levelled up at this event in the way B8 must have hoped he would; his 25 kill haul on Overpass came at the expense of just eight deaths, and was a large part of the reason that map was so one-sided. His ace against the half buy near the end of the first, to put B8 on double figures, pretty much summed up how that map went.

He was then the deciding factor on Dust 2 with another 20+ kill haul, with BIG wiltering under the pressure and failing to get much done, outside of JDC, who in fairness had a very good series.

Right up alongside s1zz1 in two of those maps was kensizor, which is an excellent sign for B8 when it comes to going far in this event. s1zz1 was the one big worry, and if kensizor, s1zz1 and npl can form a genuinely top tier fragging core, this team is legitimately scary.

The problem has always been, especially for those two, doing it consistently.

Mercury and Moseyuh had a nightmare day as Legacy cruised into the third stage over TYLOO.

Both failed to get double figure kills on either map as the Brazilians cleanly overpowered them on both Mirage and Inferno. This was a total non-event in the end, as TYLOO couldn't live with the Brazilians' speed and power, especially saadzin's AWP on Inferno, who racked up 15 kills on the CT side as Legacy raced into a 10-2 lead.

For TYLOO it's a real shame after some stunning performances leading up to this, not least from JamYoung, but they ultimately fell woefully short in the third series with advancement on the line.

It wasn't all good news for the Brazilian sides, though, as paiN's run was ended by Monte.

AZUWU had a stellar day - a prerequisite for Monte doing well in this event - and pulled off a filthy Deagle ace (well, four Deagle kills in an ace) that ended up being crucial as Monte won map two 13-11.

Nuke was a complete blowout with Monte going in 8-4 up at the half, and quickly winning five of the next six to close out paiN's pick with aplomb.

Dust 2 was far closer, as mentioned above, but Monte eventually came out on top in a back-and-forth map. This is a huge proof of concept for the team, but also a pretty big bounce-back after losing to G2 in such heartbreaking fashion.