Group B Just Ate Itself, Right on Schedule
NRG beat Paper Rex 2-1 and Karmine Corp upset Vitality 2-0 on EWC's opening day. The group I called the cruelest draw of the season is already living up to it.
I called NRG vs PRX the match I'd be watching in Group B. Turns out I was right for the wrong reason.
The Match I Called
NRG took it 2-1. PRX opened strong on Fracture, 13-9, and I thought that set the tone for the day. Then NRG flipped it. Lotus went 13-5. Breeze went 13-10. Two maps in a row from the team that got bounced by FUT in the Swiss stage at Masters London three weeks ago. That's not a fluke series. That's a team that decided a rough exit wasn't going to define its year.
Is it a full reset for NRG? Too early to say that. But it's the exact statement win I said would reshape the group. Just from the other side of the coin than I expected.
And Then Vitality Went Down Too
Karmine Corp beat Vitality 2-0. Home crowd, home country, and a scalp nobody outside France was calling before today. Vitality went top four at Masters London. Getting swept in an EWC opener by the wildcard I flagged three days ago is exactly the kind of chaos I said this group was built for.
Where That Leaves Things
Two Masters London finalists lost their openers on the same day, in the same group. Under EWC's format, the losers of the opening matches play an elimination game next. So PRX and Vitality, a grand finalist and a top-four side, are staring at each other with one of them going home before the playoff bracket even starts.
I said someone very good leaves this group early. I didn't think it'd be this obvious this fast.