It wouldn’t be a UK CS event without copious group stage upsets, and EPIC.42 is no exception. While the clear-cut upsets are the underdog teams vanquishing the favourite teams, we’re also including a couple results here that went closer than people would have expected
We’ll be updating this article as the Group Stage moves on, so keep an eye on here and our X page as we’ll do our best to update this article as the upsets come in thick and fast.
Round 1
Group A: Belfast Storm 13-10 123PEEKNICE
While not an upset in terms of results, Joe “Dexie” Demmon and Luke “Nem” Mear’s return to competitive LAN play may have been slightly dampened by taking slightly longer than expected to pick up the win against the mix team they came up against.
Round 2
Group A: 123PEEKNICE 11-13 Invictum
The 123PEEKNICE mix team continue on with taking established teams to the edge, admittedly Invictum’s status still establishing their new players into the roster may take a part, this would’ve been slightly closer than they’d have preferred for Lorenzo “LTH” Venanzi and co in their quest for the upper bracket.
Group B: BLUEJAYS Royal 13-3 TYREECESIMPSON
The first proper upset here at LAN – and it’s a juicy one. TYREECESIMPSON made waves before LAN after their deep runs in the UKIC qualifiers, with three-time EPIC.WAN winner Oliver “Maza” Mazarelo in play. But their big LAN charge appears to have hit the brakes a little bit, facing a pretty comfortable loss against a lesser known BLUEJAYS roster. This will shake up the balance of power in Group B for those teams vying for the all important playoff spots this evening.
Round 2 at @EPICLAN kicks off with two 13-0s, but the main surprise comes from @BLUEJAYS_ATP demolishing TYREECESIMPSON 13-3 pic.twitter.com/kNhVnQMcEI
— UKCSGO (@ukcsgo) July 19, 2024
Round 3
Group C: DreamsToLegends 9-13 Girl Scouts
The mix team battle sees DreamsToLegends head into a nightmare. A semi-rematch of the UKIC Division 2 finals, a heavy hitting team including Zy “yz0” Esponilla fall in what appeared to be quite a comfortable match, as Liam “m1n1mal” Reynolds’ team produce a masterclass in the hunt for those coveted playoff spots. While these two teams are in a smaller group, so in theory reaching this evening’s games will be easier, the balance of power in missing the lower bracket is certainly now up in the air.
Group B: GET BDOG’D 10-13 TYREECESIMPSON
Initially missed due to the result being inputted incorrectly, TYREECESIMPSON bounce back from their earlier loss to take down Shuaib “Shoobie” Saddique’s squad, featuring former RAPTORS duo Arkadiusz “ifan” Dabkowski and Reegan “ReegaN” Ward. While both mix rosters are pretty close on paper, its worth a mention here for two reasons. One, as the quality of the teams and Maza‘s squad coming back from being utterly demolished and its good to follow this online team, and secondly because the admins made a mistake in reporting the score and “Mischief” has been making fun of me this LAN.
Group D: Annex Esports 15-15 hedgehogpeek
While not the first overtime this tournament’s seen, its the first one between two teams that don’t feature UKCSGO’s Arnie “Stetson” Petty. This mirage match went the distance, with Joseph “godkU” Fowkes’ team fresh from being picked up the evening before LAN, they’d likely have hoped to have not been hit by a draw this early in the competition. But, coming up against a mix team featuring Jake “KicA” Harter and Jack “JackB” Burton its not exactly the most unexpected LAN result in the world, but still an upset here in Kettering.
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