EPT
We’re headed into the E-League semifinals, and if there’s one certainty, it’s that the finals lineup will be intriguing. The four teams still in the race have been mired by the lack of final appearances. Think about this:
Fnatic haven’t made a finals in about four months, stopped by 
Team Liquid once and 
G2 twice. 
mousesports never made a final of any premier tier event. 
Virtus.pro and 
Natus Vincere were last in a tournament finals when they met each other at Starladder i-League Invitational #1. These two matches will thus determinate who continue through their drought, and who finally get to end theirs.Na`Vi vs Fnatic
This match-up is interesting because it features two teams that came right out of a rather disappointing finish at the major, both at the hands of the same team nonetheless. Both teams fell to the power of
Oleksandr “S1mple” Kostyliev’s Team Liquid, and will be hungry to get back on track.Recently, Fnatic have been slowly doing just that. After
Olof “Olofmeister” Kajbjer Gustafsson’s return from his injury break, Fnatic has yet to find its former levels of dominance, capable of easily breaking any team. Yet, they’re getting there little by little, and these days they struggled mostly against 
FaZe and the outside-of-major G2. It should still be noted that they haven’t faced 
SK Gaming since their win at IEM Katowice four months ago.Na’Vi on the other hand have been in form recently. A first place finish at Counter Pit League Season 2, second place finish at the MLG Columbus major, second place finish at DreamHack Masters in Malmö, and second at StarLadder i-League even though their defeat against Virtus Pro was quite unexpected there. Then, the Cologne major happened and broke their string of top two finishes during the springtime. After reaching so many finals, including the two major finals before Cologne, and not winning there, one has to wonder how long can this Na’Vi cope with this situation.
Quite frankly, this matchup will be a hard one for
Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács and compatriots, as Fnatic will be a really tough team to play. This match should go to the deciding map, with the likely scenario of Na’Vi picking and winning Overpass while Fnatic nets a Dust2 win for themselves. The series should end up on an explosive third map, possibly Cobblestone.Prediction: Fnatic 2 - 1 Na’Vi
mousesports vs Virtus.pro
It’s not a common sight observing mousesports this deep in a tournament. And yet, the squad led by
Nikola “NiKo” Kovač made it that far, and on the back of a run that is quite impressive. One can find lying in their trail of destruction 
Astralis in the quarterfinals, FaZe, and G2 in the Last Chance qualifier. The key factor as to their performance is well known: NiKo. He has been, as usual, the engine of the team. From the Last Chance qualifier until now, he boasts a combined +53 K/D difference, and an combined 94.7 ADR, for these eight maps. The numbers for the second best player on mouz, 
Chris “ChrisJ” De Jong, are only +26 and 76.They now face quite a challenge in these semifinals, as they go against a tough team to play against: Virtus.Pro. The poles have shown less than a month ago in Cologne that their struggles and poor performances in 2016 vanish as soon as the stakes are high. This is a team that’s been relegated to ESEA premier and yet landed a top four at the last major, grabbing at the same time the unique award of the “Team that took a map off SK Gaming”. Their run in the Last Chance qualifier and in the quarterfinals has been way easier than mousesports though. And despite their couple good performance recently with their major placing, the win at StarLadder i-League and overall form, you can’t help but wonder if VP will show up. This is a dangerous match for them as Mousesports is on a hot run. They will have to find an answer to NiKo should he be on a tear and is expected to. This is also one of their greatest advantage, as they have a plethora of experiences with deep runs in tournaments. The pressure on mousesports will be high, and most importantly, new to them.
Now this series is a bit less predictable as to which maps will be played. In all likeliness, we should see mousesports ban Cobblestone, a map with an abysmal record while serving as one of VP’s best maps. We will probably see either Dust2 or Cache, depending on VP’s ban, as well as Mirage. Then, Nuke should be out as both teams want to avoid it. The decider would be Train or Overpass, the former being more likely as both teams would be fine with it. Both cases are slightly in favor of VP on paper, but the momentum favors mousesports whose form in this tournament cannot be underestimated. It might just be what they need to overcome the odds and push past the polish squad.
Prediction: mousesports 2 - 1 Virtus.Pro
Writer: Ragnarork
Editor: Amazingxkcd
CSS: FO-nTTaX
Graphics: David-Scott
