Complexity's Pro League campaign halted by BIG
Complexity has had their backs to the wall since their shock loss to Movistar Riders, a loss that sent them to the last chance stage of ESL Pro League Season 17 Group B. Overcoming Imperial in a tense showdown yesterday, the North American team came head to head against the team that initially sent them into the lower bracket on the opening day, BIG.
An almost identical veto to their initial encounter saw the two teams land on Vertigo first, which was the closer of their three-map affair previously. Complexity's CT side was even more impressive than it was on the opening day, improving on their 9-6 defensive half today making it 11-4 on the German's map pick. Håkon "hallzerk" Fjærli continued to build on his phenomenal form. being the main driving force behind Complexity with multiple important rounds and a 20-5 stat line.
The second half was much more difficult for Complexity to find a foothold in, with BIG mounting an impressive comeback. The rounds that the NA team was managing to win were not sustainable, with Justin "FaNg" Coakley clutching a 1v2 and a 1v1 to give maintain Complexity's lead at 13-10. hallzerk was nearly the hero in round 30, bringing a 1v3 down to the 1v1 but it was not enough as the teams went to overtime.
After BIG claimed the first round in OT, hallzerk continued to flex his AWPing prowess by evening things up with an ace before FaNg recorded another 1v1 clutch to make it 17-16. A solid B-site defense would conclude Vertigo with a 19-17 scoreline, as hallzerk capped off his masterclass with a 2k, bringing his stat line to 44-22.
In their previous encounter, the German side selected Ancient and was swept aside 16-8, however since then Complexity has lost on the map in historic fashion against Movistar Riders. Undeterred, the NA side trusted their Ancient today and got off to a flying start off the back of Johnny "JT" Theodosiou's fast tempo and excellent fragging. With the high-pace offense being set by the NA squad, BIG only managed to find five rounds, with the halftime scoreline reading 10-5.
All the hard work Complexity put in to secure a five-round buffer at halftime quickly dissipated as BIG leveled things up quickly at 10-10. Complexity's woes continued despite nearly forcing a round victory on just pistols, with BIG claiming the lead for the first time at 13-12. With nothing else to really offer on the side of Complexity, the Germans kept their playoff hopes alive by sending the fixture to Nuke, closing Ancient 16-12.
The first half of Nuke was a different story from the first halves of the previous two maps, being contested in a tight fashion. Complexity looked the stronger of the two teams on their T-side, shifting tempo across the half with Ricky "floppy" Kemery being the strongest performer for the NA side. Marcel "hyped" Köhn would hand his team the slight advantage with an ace to close the half, making the scoreline 8-7 in BIG's favor.
Complexity moved out to an 11-7 lead quickly after an aggressive pistol round win and following up in a comfortable fashion. BIG began to build into the half however, evening things up at 11-11 following some mistakes and whiffs from hallzerk and FaNg in round 21. In round 24 the Counter-Strike gods were in Complexity's favor, with BIG failing to plant the bomb in time as floppy survived in the 1v3. Back-to-back fast A plays moved BIG even closer to eliminating Complexity, going up 14-12. There was to be no dramatic comeback for the NA team, with BIG closing it out 16-12 and sending Complexity home.
With this loss to BIG, Complexity's run at EPL Season 17 comes to an end, placing 6th in the eight-team group.
ComplexityBIG| Complexity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Håkon 'hallzerk' Fjærli |
75 - 63 | +12 | 84.0 | 65.2% | 1.15 |
 Justin 'FaNg' Coakley |
61 - 57 | +4 | 71.6 | 66.3% | 1.02 |
 Ricky 'floppy' Kemery |
43 - 59 | -16 | 61.7 | 72.8% | 0.92 |
 Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
49 - 69 | -20 | 61.7 | 70.7% | 0.86 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
53 - 75 | -22 | 66.1 | 62.0% | 0.83 |
| BIG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Karim 'Krimbo' Moussa |
72 - 50 | +22 | 82.7 | 84.8% | 1.33 |
| Nils 'k1to' Gruhne |
68 - 60 | +8 | 86.1 | 72.8% | 1.22 |
| Marcel 'hyped' Köhn |
67 - 54 | +13 | 67.5 | 69.6% | 1.11 |
| Josef 'faveN' Baumann |
54 - 58 | -4 | 69.7 | 83.7% | 1.05 |
| Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz |
57 - 59 | -2 | 71.0 | 71.7% | 0.98 |
