On Wednesday, February 28, a grand tournament in the CS2 + Laser Tag discipline ended at the Kazan Tennis Academy.
Eight teams took part in the competition with a prize fund of $500 thousand. Each match consisted of two stages: in digital – two maps up to 13 wins, in Laser Tag – one round up to six wins. In the group stage, the teams played in a round-robin system. Two strongest teams from each four advanced to the playoffs. Details about the tournament scheme can be found at the link.
Match for the 3rd place
HOTU vs. LoveKazan – 2:0
At the beginning of the game, the Yakut HOTU team dominated on de_mirage – 8:1. In the second half, LoveKazan took the pistol round, after which they scored a few more points. But when they came to a full-fledged arsenal of weapons, HOTU was stronger again – 13:5.
LoveKazan started the second map more cheerfully – 5:1, but HOTU even before the change of sides equalized the score – 6:6, including making a beautiful three-in-five clutch. With the score 7:6 in favor of LoveKazan, Alexander casE Kornilov from HOTU took an important round, who did not allow the bomb to be defused, remaining alone against three opponents. In the very next round, he was left with four HP against two opposing players and was able to win the round again. After that, the leader did not miss his chance – 13:10.
“Clutches decided a lot in the game, we won many of them. In some places it was luck, in others it was skill. We came only to win, so after losing in the semi-finals, we played without pressure. It’s good that we didn’t bring it to the Laser Tag. We are confident in it, but still really wanted to make it 2:0. The third place is not bad, but we are upset with our performance, we wanted to climb higher,” summed up HOTU player Alexey znxxX Zlotkovsky.
“We understood that in this match we only had the option to win 2:0, because HOTU has strong laser taggers, they would not have left us a chance. It’s our own fault, we should have won the semi-finals. It left an emotional residue, which affected today. The condition was severe. Nevertheless, we are very pleased with the performance of our team at Games of the Future. At the beginning, I thought we wouldn’t even leave the group. But it was said that all LoveKazan players feel comfortable on stage, this gave us a certain advantage,” Ilya fANDER Bagreev from LoveKazan smiled. “I felt the main feature of Games of the Future. You don’t just sit at the computer all day, but jump, run, move. That’s the thrill of it. I even lost a few kilograms, despite the fact that I eat very well here.”
Final
xGod vs. Looking For 0rg – 2:0
The final started with an equal fight on de_inferno. The end of the first half brought a slight advantage to Looking For 0rg 7:5. In the pistol round, the highlight was presented to the spectators by Mikhail Dosia Stolyarov from xGod, who took a one-in-two clutch with a bomb installed. After that, his team made a series, bringing the score to 11:7. As a result, xGod won the map without any nerves – 13:9.
The second map was de_overpass. The fifth round turned out to be spectacular, when the commotion in the smoke next to the installed bomb ended with knife frags and successful blind shooting. Without fanfare Aidos kade0 Khairzhan from xGod neutralized C4 and brought a point to his team. However, the first half remained for LF0 – 8:4. After the change of sides, xGod made a comeback, which was initiated by Dosia. The additional rounds were close, but xGod kept within the main time – 13:11 on the map, 2:0 in the match, the Trophy of Games of the Future and the prize of $175 thousand.
“We lost all the key rounds. The opponents acted well, they guessed somewhere. We gave away three important clutches on de_overpass. We knew where the attack would go, but we were shot down – nerves and fatigue affected. We could even have won 2:0, but we were unlucky,” sighed Vladimir JACKPOT Dyakonov, captain of Looking For 0rg. “There were a lot of cool things during Games of the Future. It is very useful for esports players that there is a physical part here. It is important for everyone to remember that life is in reality, not just in a game. I was a professional athlete myself, but then I started playing Counter-Strike. It was interesting to participate in a competition related to classical sports again, to remember the past.”
“There is joy and euphoria in my soul. A long journey of a month and a half has ended for me. The energy of the audience, which was rooting for us, helped us a lot in this final. The opponents’ mistake was to choose a map that they themselves do not play, just because it is inconvenient for us. And on the second map, we were already on the rise, confident in ourselves. But even if we had lost, I’m sure Looking For 0rg had no chance in Laser Tag,” Mikhail Dosia Stolyarov shared his emotions. “I am very impressed with Games of the Future. There have not been many major esports events in Russia, but this is the largest. The tournament was wonderful. I hope that it will develop.”
Information:
Games of the Future is an international multisport tournament in the phygital concept, a sports show of a new format combining competitions in physical and digital dimensions. The technology partner is VK Play. More than 270 teams and more than 2,000 athletes from 107 countries are taking part in 21 innovative disciplines in the first Games of the Future. The competitions are divided into five categories, or challenges: sports, tactical, battle, technical, speedrun.
Title Sponsor is PAO Gazprom
General Sponsors:
PAO Gazprom Neft G-Drive
PAO Sibur Holding Sibur
OAO Russian Railways
OOO VK Company VK Play
PAO Sberbank SBER
OOO PMBK (Liga Stavok)
OOO INTERROS Holding Company Interros
PAO Megafon Yota
Official sponsors:
OOO PBO System– Vkusno – i Tochka
PAO Sollers / UAZ
PAO Aeroflot
OOO Wildberries
OOO NTS Gradient – Influence
Roscosmos State Corporation
AO Positive Technologies
AO Russian Post
OOO Nanobarrier – HyDrop
AO Kaspersky Laboratory – Kaspersky
More information about the tournament can be found on the official channels of Games of the Future: