Last weekend saw the LAN event marking the end of the latest edition of the Galaxy Cup. It took place at the Kinguin Lounge in Gdańsk, and our sole representative – in the form of a partner – was ViBe Gaming. They qualified after an excellent run in the qualifiers, where they beat RRisk (13–7), Eppe (16–12) and Haspers (2–1). These were, of course, not top-tier opponents, and ViBe showed that they were keen to win the title.
Opening match – ViBe Gaming vs Armitra Esports
The first match to kick off the entire LAN was the clash between our partner and Armitra Esports at 10:00. Even before it began, the match was generating a lot of excitement, mainly because players from both teams had previously played together in the same squad. Nevertheless, in this match, personal feelings had to be put aside and the focus was on securing victory. We began with Dust 2, which Armitra had chosen.
Things didn’t go according to plan for ViBe at the start. They lost the pistol round, and their force buy in the second round also failed to deliver the expected results. However, there was a huge surprise in round 2, as our partner managed to win a full-economy round, which allowed them to bounce back to level the score and take a 3–2 lead. Although the start turned out to be quite good for the ViBe Gaming players, the first half as a whole wasn’t perfect and ended in a 6–6 draw.
Both teams, of course, saw the pistol round as a major opportunity, but it was our partner who proved the better side, taking an 8–6 lead which soon extended to 10–6. Armitr managed to respond, but crucially, they were unable to build a run of wins. Thanks to this, ViBe gained further momentum, which proved effective enough for them to close out the map with a 13–7 victory. Of course, after winning the map, the opposition stepped up their game, but we still had to finish the job on our own pick.
Dust 2
(Armitra Esports’ pick)
ViBe Gaming 13–7 Armitra Esports
ViBe’s pick was Mirage, a map Armitra hadn’t played very often, so we expected our partner to dominate. Although the pistol round didn’t go our favourites’ way, it didn’t matter much thanks to their victory in the force round. They thus started with a 3–1 lead. The rest of the match went perfectly, and they finished the first half leading 9–3 after the CT side.
It would seem that, in such fine form, ViBe would wrap up the match very quickly. Nothing could be further from the truth, however, as their opponents came to life in the second half, mainly thanks to winning the pistol round. They then managed to win a couple of rounds with full gear, and things got dicey, with the lead melting away to just one point. At the most crucial moment, however, they managed to secure the win, thereby depriving their opponents of funds, which allowed them to comfortably see out the match, winning 13–9.
Mirage
(ViBe Gaming pick)
ViBe Gaming 13–9 Armitra Esports
Semi-final against the overwhelming favourites – ViBe Gaming vs TNC Esport
Following that victory, the ViBe team naturally took some time to rest and played their next match the following day. There, in the semi-final, they faced the defending champions and clear favourites for the title – TNC Esport. Before this match, most people were saying that it was a ‘premature final’ and that our partner could win. Well… unfortunately, it seems they were wrong. We started on the Inferno map, which had been chosen by our opponents.
The start wasn’t great, as TNC quickly built up a sizeable lead. The problem, however, was that we couldn’t find a way back. Our opponents extended their lead very quickly and, unfortunately, the first half ended with the ‘Night Clan’ completely dominating the match, with a score of 12–0. In the second half, ViBe Gaming tried to fight back, but despite winning the pistol round, the opponents’ force buy dashed any hopes of a comeback, thus ending Map 1 with a 1–13 defeat.
Inferno
(TNC Esport’s pick)
ViBe Gaming 1–13 TNC Esport
After such a crushing defeat on their opponents’ map, it was certainly difficult to bounce back, and ViBe Gaming had to rebuild their morale for the second map. They chose Ancient, a map where they should feel confident and perhaps even secure a victory, giving them hope. The start, however, was not kind. Losing the pistol round and the force buy certainly didn’t help matters. They managed, however, to turn things round fairly quickly and get back on track with a 2–3 scoreline. TNC, however, quickly shook it off and extended their lead to 9–2, and even managed to end the first half leading 10–2.
The second half got off to a very good start, as we managed to make up some ground. After that, however, there were endless problems from which ViBe were unable to recover, and so they lost the second map 4–13 and the entire match 0–2, finishing this edition in 3rd–4th place.
Ancient
(ViBe Gaming pick)
ViBe Gaming 4–13 TNC Esport
ViBe Gaming (Facebook – x.com)
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