After months of competition, it all comes down to this, the EU Masters playoffs. The 8 contestants had worked hard for weeks on end to get to this stage, and week 1 certainly displayed some high quality Sideswipe that meet our expectations.
Spineur Wins Epic Series
In the battle of the BS + Competition, both Spineur and brofgod put on a show for the audience. Spineur was an absolute brick wall in net, and brofgod’s incredible angles helped keep the series level at 3-3.
And after brofgod opened up a 2-1 lead in game 7, with time ticking down, the series seemed to be done and dusted. But Spineur wasn’t finished just yet, keeping the ball alive at zero seconds before finding an unreal top corner finish to tie the match. With the momentum firmly on his side, Spineur quickly finished the series in overtime, capping off an excellent series with a well deserving victory, and securing his spot in the upper bracket semi finals.
NKS Outpaced
One of the top players in the earlier stages of this tournament, the Sentient player NKS has just managed to keep his head afloat thus far in the Masters. But unfortunately today, despite a few defensive master classes, with back to back shut outs against the undefeated DerLotus, NKS largely struggled to keep up with the game’s speed.
He was dismissed 4-2 by Team Mystic’s Der Lotus, before falling 4-1 in lowers to Galaxio. Although he still exhibited strong game sense and a fighting spirit to the end, his offence appeared slightly out dated, and he had no real answer to Galaxio’s perfectly placed angles.
NKS goes home in a respectable 7th-8th finish, hopefully not the last we’ll see of him in Sideswipe competitive, and certainly has the potential to take his game to the top in future seasons.
Leny Falters Under Pressure
The Friendly Fire supported Leny had been one of the stand out performers thus far in the EU Masters 1v1 series, with an incredible 6-1 record in groups seeing him through as Group B’s #1 seed.
But when it mattered most in the playoffs today, the French rising star was unable to rise to the occasion. After racing out to a 3-1 series lead against Mikalva, we were reminded why Mika is one of the outside contenders for the title, completely dismantling Leny’s defence to score 15 goals in 3 wins and take the win in 7.
Having been sent to the lower bracket, Leny still had a good opportunity to push for a high finish, yet once again, cracked under the pressure. His stalls were being cut off, he found himself overcommitting on the play, and for the second time in the space of a few hours, Leny was defeated 4-3.
After such a great tournament, it’s a shame to see Leny eliminated in such heart breaking fashion. But a 7th-8th finish, amongst Europe’s best, is still something to be treasured, and hopefully this can work as a learning experience before Thursday’s 2v2 playoffs begin.