First Nuke win of 2024 secures EPL top 8 for Complexity
It was always going to be a tough match against the reigning Major champions, but Complexity proved to the world that they could hang amongst the best. Their three-map contest today showed the strength that the American squad has in the international competition. While this match wasn’t necessary for determining playoff qualification, its importance of skipping at least two rounds was not ignored by the squad.
Ancient was a difficult map for Complexity despite their familiarity. Natus Vincere got things started off on the right foot as they created some distance with a 4-0 lead, but that soon collapsed as Complexity fought back to make it 5-7 on their CT-side. It was heartbreaking as Complexity lost the second pistol of the map, putting them behind 9-5 and scrambling for an opening. Despite the positive effort, they could only muster a few rounds as NAVI secured the opener 13-8.
Anubis was a much different story for the Americans as they were incredibly comfortable on their map pick. Complexity again recovered from a 4-0 deficit to make it 6-6 at the half. They would continue their momentum into the second half as they utterly dominated on the T-side to even up the series score thanks to a 13-9 win.
Heading into Nuke, things started to look tricky as the final map was not something Complexity was super familiar with. COL started to turn some heads with an early 4-2 lead, but then stalled on a vent push that was foiled by some well-placed smoke spam. That had the chance to be the turning point for Natus Vincere, but Complexity immediately bounced back with resilience that gave the NA faithful hope for their future playoff run. That optimism would prove to be short-lived however as they would concede the remaining rounds in the half, leaving them at a 5-7 deficit prior to their CT side.
After the switch, the North American battalion dug in after conceding pistol, winning seven in a row to secure match and series point at 12-8. With a direct ticket to the quarterfinals on the line, Complexity made things remarkably simple and closed the series the following round to lock up a top-eight finish at EPL Season 19 with a direct path to the quarterfinals.
Natus VincereComplexity| Natus Vincere |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy |
49 - 40 | +9 | 89.6 | 76.6% | 1.33 |
 Mihai 'iM' Ivan |
48 - 43 | +5 | 78.2 | 70.3% | 1.06 |
| Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov |
44 - 46 | -2 | 64.2 | 70.3% | 0.95 |
 Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius |
38 - 50 | -12 | 73.4 | 71.9% | 0.87 |
 Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen |
31 - 47 | -16 | 57.6 | 62.5% | 0.78 |
| Complexity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski |
51 - 48 | +3 | 98.3 | 78.1% | 1.30 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
55 - 37 | +18 | 84.7 | 79.7% | 1.30 |
 Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
47 - 42 | +5 | 71.0 | 71.9% | 1.04 |
 Håkon 'hallzerk' Fjærli |
41 - 39 | +2 | 60.2 | 65.6% | 0.94 |
| Ricky 'floppy' Kemery |
30 - 44 | -14 | 63.0 | 67.2% | 0.86 |
Complexity's playoff pool features GamerLegion, Virtus.pro, and TheMongolz. The victorious team of those three will meet COL in the quarterfinals.
