The Galaxy Cup tournament had only just begun, and is now slowly reaching its decisive stage: the LAN event in Łódź. Several of our partners were vying for a place at this LAN event, but only Young Stars Talents managed to reach the quarter-finals and secure a spot in the offline competition. You can read about their previous matches in our latest article; here, we’ll focus on this decisive one.
The one and only match for a place at the LAN – Young Stars Talents vs NoSurrenderGG
Our partner’s opponent in this crucial match was the NoSurrenderGG team. They compete, amongst other leagues, in the Arrmy Rising league, where they stand a chance of qualifying for the Masters this season. So, whilst they’re a slightly lower-tier opponent than Young Stars, they’re still a dangerous side. During the Swiss stage of the Galaxy Cup, they managed to beat the defending champions, Radar Bois, so they are capable of springing surprises. The match, naturally played in a BO3 format, began on a map chosen by the Young Stars, which, surprisingly, turned out to be Dust 2.
Our partner started the first half on the attacking side and showed their class right from the start. They managed to win the pistol round and, building on that momentum, took a 2:0 lead. But they didn’t stop there. They kept racking up the scores: 4–0, 6–0, 8–0, until their opponents finally managed to fight back. This response was rather modest, consisting of just a single round, which showed our partner that the opponents posed no threat to them on this map, and they ended the first half of their map of choice with a 10–2 lead.
In the second half of the map, we weren’t expecting any surprises, and indeed there weren’t any from the outset. Our partner won the pistol round and, with it, managed to secure 10 map rounds. They failed to capitalise on the first opportunity, but on the second attempt, the match ended 13–3. Thanks to this, Young Stars were just one map away from qualifying for the LAN.
DUST 2
(Young Stars’ pick)
Young Stars 13:3 NoSurrenderGG
The second map didn’t look like it would be so straightforward, especially as it was the opponents’ pick. Although our research into which maps our partner plays didn’t go too well, as Train – chosen by NoSurrenderGG – is one of our partner’s favourite maps. The start, however, wasn’t particularly good.
NoSurrenderGG won the pistol round and the first two rounds, but Young Stars managed to stop them in their tracks. We saw the score level, and shortly afterwards our partner took the lead. The 4–2 lead also lasted only a moment, as this time it was our opponents who levelled the score. The Young Stars managed to regain the lead, but another draw followed quickly. The 5–5 score meant that either team could still have been in the lead at half-time. To achieve that, they needed to win the last two rounds. NoSurrenderGG came close to doing just that, taking a 6–5 lead, but they failed to secure the second round.
A draw at half-time was, in theory, better for our partner’s opponents, as Train is considered a CT map. However, Young Stars were determined to disprove this theory, and to some extent they succeeded. Winning the pistol round allowed them to take the lead, and a failed force buy by their opponents only made it easier; before long, the score stood at 9–6. The pressure from the Young Stars, however, didn’t let up; in no time at all, they managed to extend their lead to 11–6. At this point, NoSurrenderGG managed to fight back and won a round, but this proved to be a one-off, and our partner took the match to a fifth round to secure a place in the quarter-finals. They managed to defend the first one, but there was no mercy the second time round. Thus, Young Stars won the second map 13–8 and the entire match 2–0.
TRAIN
(pick NoSurrenderGG)
Young Stars 13–8 NoSurrenderGG
| Young Stars Talents |  |
2:0 |  |
NoSurrenderGG | | | Dust 2 13–3 | Train 13:8 |
Who will our partner face in their first match at the LAN event?
We don’t know yet, but it will be the winner of the Radar Bois vs Kolba tie. Radar Bois are the clear favourites, as they are, of course, the defending champions from the previous two editions. However, Kolba are also a strong side. We’ll find out who our partner’s opponent is late on Monday 11 August.
Young Stars (x.com — Facebook — team profile)
English 
Polish 