The first week of ELEAGUE which saw Group A played out is now complete and it is time for us to take a look at the matches and the best performers.

ELEAGUE has been broadcast on national TV in the US and on different platforms in various other countries. Time will show if the TV broadcast was a success, but the games surely were.

The $1.4 million tournament kicked off with Group A, which consisted of Brazilian powerhouse Luminosity, the not so simple Liquid, Cloud9, who have a fairly new IGL in Alec "⁠Slemmy⁠" White, and the Aussies of Renegades. The league started out with a double round-robin stage in which each victory accounted for one point.

The competition took place at the Turner Broadcasting Studios

In the first match of the tournament, the #1 team in the world, Luminosity, went up against Renegades on Cobblestone and got a close 19-17 win  thanks to Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David's 1.31 rating performance. The second map, Train, was a 16-0 blowout, earning Luminosity a second point, with Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga leading the charge on a 2.24 rating.

The Brazilians confronted the struggling Liquid in their next matches and they secured Dust2 with a 16-6 result as Lincoln "⁠fnx⁠" Lau posted a 1.99 rating with a 27:8 score. Cobblestone was a vintage one as Liquid had a 12-3 lead at halftime but failed to close it out, allowing a 16-14 Luminosity win.

Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo & company secured two more points against Cloud9 after beating them 16-7 on Dust2 and 16-10 on Train and guaranteed the #1 seed. coldzera, who is now considered the best player in the world by many, was relentless on the second map as he had a 28:10 score and a 1.83 rating.

Hiko's team said goodbye 

Liquid were pushed down to the #4 seed as they lost four more matches, two to Cloud9 (16-11 on Dust2, 16-2 on Cache) and two to Renegades (16-14 on Mirage, 16-10 on Train). Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip absolutely demolished Liquid on Cache with a 29:7 score, a 150.4 ADR, and a 2.55 rating.

The group playoffs pitted Cloud9 against Renegades as they were the #2 and #3 seeds, respectively. The North American team won the series 2-0 after taking Cobblestone 16-3 and Cache 16-11. The new hairstyle of the Reddit front page king Mike "⁠shroud⁠" Grzesiek gave him an extra boost as he finished the series with a 48:21 score and a 1.63 rating. The captain of the Aussies, Chad "⁠SPUNJ⁠" Burchill, on the other hand, struggled to make an impact, posting a 0.41 rating.

fnx feasted on Liquid in the second semi-final as he averaged a 1.75 rating, contributing to his team's 2-0 victory (16-6 on Train, 16-12 on Nuke). Liquid's Eric "⁠adreN⁠" Hoag delivered a poor showing with a 14:38 score and paltry 0.46 rating.

FalleN & co. only dropped one map 

A spot at the ELEAGUE playoffs was up for grabs in the group final between Luminosity and Cloud9 and these teams put on a fantastic show for TBS viewers. The American side were the victors on Mirage with a 16-11 scoreline as Jordan "⁠n0thing⁠" Gilbert put in a great performance, posting a 1.83 rating and a 33:18 score.

Tyler "⁠Skadoodle⁠" Latham's 35:23 score on Cobblestone wasn't enough for Cloud9 to close it out as the Brazilians picked it up 19-16. FalleN took total control on Dust2 and brought the series home with a 1.60 rating. With this result, Luminosity have qualified for the ELEAGUE playoffs and Cloud9 have booked themselves a spot at the Last Chance Qualifier.

Group A MVP: Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David

The 21-year-old Brazilian has added another dominant LAN performance to his résumé as his sensational performances in Atlanta were unmatched. coldzera's impact showed up right from the get-go as he was the best in the pistol rounds with a 1.46 rating. His 1.28 ranking across 11 maps was also the highest in the group. coldzera had the second least deaths per round and was successful in 67.3% of his opening duels. If he keeps going at this rate, we already know who will win the Player of the Year award.

Final standings of Group A:

1. – Luminosity: 12 points (6p GS + 2p SF + 4p GF) + A spot at the ELEAGUE playoffs
2. – Cloud9: 5 points (3p GS + 2p SF) + A spot at the Last Chance Qualifier
3. – Renegades: 3 points (3p GS)
4. – Liquid: 0 points

*GS: group stage – SF: semi-finals – GF: grand finals

The ELEAGUE journey of Liquid is over while Renegades still has a chance as the two third-placed teams with the most points will earn a spot at the Last Chance Qualifier.

The tournament will continue next Tuesday with Group B and you can visit our tournament page for more information.

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