Highlights of the European Masters Knockout Stage 2

Knockout Stage, Night 2

The second night of the knockout stage of the European Masters saw two series in Bo3.

First series

First, starting from 6 PM CEST, the UK team ExceL eSports put some sweat against the Swedish Team Atlantis. Even though ExceL came to this game as favorites and won the series with 2-0, they still struggled in both games. However, their higher scaling compositions and Team Atlantis’ inability to close the games earlier let them take this series, ultimately allowing them to continue in the quarterfinals.

Second series

Later that evening we experienced some more thrilling events. We saw Illuminar Gaming and Movistar Riders fight till the end for the spot in the next stage. This was the first series in which all three games were played in a Bo3. Illuminar Gaming won the first match by taking a healthy composition of damage dealers and engagers. This let them win the prolonged fights in late game as they constantly engaged and disengaged.

In the second game, Movistar Riders tried out an unusual tactic for the current meta. They’ve picked Orianna on the mid lane and Poppy on the top, something that we haven’t seen for some time. This tactic allowed them to catch their opponents unprepared and eventually win them the game.

However, in the final match, Illuminar Gaming played much cleaner. We saw coordinated team fights, great shotcalling decisions and subtle micro outplays. These factors let them snowball the game and finish it by the 36th minute.

Scroll down to the end of this post to see the results and highlights of the previous matches of the European Masters.