Mousesports’ primary AWPer Özgür ‘woxic’ Eker proved why he’s worthy of holding the legendary rifle with an electrifying ace against Evil Geniuses in front of a raucous crowd at the ESL Pro League finals.
Who would win in a fight: a team full of Evil Geniuses or one Turkish boy with a single AWP? The answer might surprise you if you hadn’t already read the title. As amazing as an ace in CSGO is on its own, there’s something special about each kill being accompanied by the roar of a crowd.
In their quarterfinals matchup at the ESL Pro League finals, mousesports took an early advantage with a commanding victory in their first map, winning on Train 16-6 on the shoulders of mousesports veteran Chris ‘chrisJ’ de Jong.
Toward the end of the first half of map two on Inferno, Evil Geniuses looked to correct their course to avoid elimination, but mousesports’ primary sniper woxic had other plans for the North American squad.
Woxic first eliminated the Genius in underpass, then grounded Vincent ‘Brehze’ Cayonte who came flying out of the Boiler room. After dropping two more players who tried to peek him from boiler and Mid, Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik lept from balcony, over the hay cart, onto a bench where he promptly took a seat as woxic finalized the ace.
Woxic is no stranger to being clutch, however. And he loves doing so against North American teams.
The Evil Geniuses squad could only put their hands on their head in disbelief as woxic single-handedly won the round for his side.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
The Odense, Denmark crowd went absolutely wild. The Danish crowd firmly planted behind the mousesports squad led by Danish in-game leader Finn ‘karrigan’ Andersen.
But the ace didn’t completely break the backs of the Evil Geniuses yet, as both teams traded rounds throughout the second half to force overtime. Both teams showcased exceptional defenses on the CT side, but Evil Geniuses finally broke through with a masterful fake on the last round to take Inferno 19-17.
With that finish, the teams will square off in one more map, on Nuke, with a trip to the semifinals on the line.
WE'RE GOING TO NUKE!
This series is going the distance!
🇺🇸 @EvilGeniuses 1 – 1 🇪🇺 @mousesports
📺 https://t.co/ZvDWXMCAnq#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/oIxonPsN1x
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) December 6, 2019
If mousesports do advance, karrigan and mous are unlikely to retain that support when they meet Astralis, the dominant all-Danish roster, and karrigan’s former teammates. If Evil Geniuses claim the third map, they will be one step closer to winning their third major tournament in less than three months.
Here’s hoping it’ll be rife with highlights on par with woxic’s ace, which you can follow on our ESL Pro League finals coverage hub.