Finnerdt

<div>Championship Sunday in Copenhagen culminated in the climax to a sensational story: Gentle Mates completed their Cinderella run to claim a Major trophy. Catch up on all the action with this detailed recap.</div><div><br></div><h2>G2 defend North America's honor</h2><div>The first semifinal on the concluding day of the Copenhagen Major put <a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/teams/fc9c-team-vitality" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Team Vitality</a> up against <a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/teams/23a5-g2-esports" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">G2 Esports</a>. The previous time the two organizations met in a 3v3 event was <a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/events/30e5-dreamhack-montreal-2019" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DreamHack Montreal 2019</a>, when G2 won out against a Vitality that still fielded current coach Victor "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/3dad-fairy-peak" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fairy Peak!</a>" Locquet on the pitch. A nervy game 1 on Mannfield was cracked open by Massimo "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/3fe6-atomic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Atomic</a>" Franceschi's early challenge on Alexis "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/41dd-zen" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">zen</a>" Bernier in the midfield, but the American's goal was cancelled out by Yanis "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/3ee3-alpha54" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alpha54</a>" Champenois finding a ball-sized gap in the G2 net. G2's go-to play reared its head with a minute left when Landon "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/41b8-beastmode" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BeastMode</a>" Konerman clattered the crossbar. A largely unremarkable end to regulation sent the first game into overtime, where zen narrowly prevented a backboard double touch from BeastMode going through. Atomic returned the favor not longer after by keeping out zen, a rare opportunity for the French squad as they had difficulties producing offensive pressure. Nevertheless, the much-criticised Andrea "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/41d5-radosin" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Radosin</a>" Radovanović made the difference as BeastMode and Atomic were tripped up and demolished by zen and Alpha54 respectively, allowing free passage to the goal.</div><div><br></div><div>On game 2, Vitality began to dominate and silence G2, with Alpha54 creating the first goal with a superb backboard touch to drop the ball dead in front of net, where zen eagerly mopped up his first of the series. BeastMode turned away an aggressive challenge by Radosin, who started to find his groove after a quiet game 1 and eventually poked home the second goal after Atomic got in the way of Daniel "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/4363-daniel" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Daniel</a>" Piecenski's goalline save. With G2 continuing to withstand significant pressure, Daniel played the hero in a sensational comeback from the North American titans. The former SSG star forced in the first goal at 0:36 after following up an initially solid effort before producing a flip reset from a challenging angle with eight seconds left to draw level. Then, on zero seconds, BeastMode secured a big win in the midfield and Atomic pounced on Alpha54 being unable to read the backboard bounce, sealing G2's first game victory.</div><div><br></div><div>&lt;iframe src="https://clips.twitch.tv/embed?clip=HardDreamyFungusShadyLulu-6XEuXWnnAvhLyuMN&amp;parent=www.shiftrle.gg&amp;autoplay=false" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" height="378" width="620"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</div><div><br></div><div>Momentum swung as a result of Forbidden Temple's events, although Daniel was forced to his limits to withhold zen from opening the scoring a minute into game 3. Another goal from Atomic off a BeastMode pass found its way over the line crossbar down, signalling a shift in G2's accuracy in attack. An impressive save from Alpha54 on an attempt from Daniel preceded BeastMode almost breaking through the skill ceiling before Matthew "Satthew" Ackermann's men finally found a way through to double the lead with Atomic adding his second. However, Vitality returned the favor from game 2 and set up a last-minute comeback of their own with goals from Radosin and zen. The ensuing overtime saw G2 dominate the run of play, though it took almost two and a half minutes for Atomic to follow up on BeastMode's ceiling double touch that forced half of Vitality's defense to commit.</div><div><br></div><div>A Vitality timeout marked the European side's attempt to regain control of the series, but a chaotic five minutes followed during which Vitality often failed to put up threatening attacks despite having large amounts of possession. A patient G2 eventually struck in overtime when Atomic bumped zen off the backwall and Radosin failed to make contact, giving Daniel the only chance he needed to secure series point for his team.</div><div><br></div><div>Now on the brink of their first elimination from an RLCS LAN since zen joined the starting roster, Vitality dug deep. The prodigy himself left no doubts as to who was going to lead that charge as he managed to take on the entire G2 team and came out on top 13 seconds into game 5. Numerous promising G2 plays were left unconverted, allowing Vitality to collect some much-needed momentum in the series. Atomic put G2 up by one in the first minute of game 6 by sending the ball flying into the top corner after zen's dreadful backboard clear. The capeless hero of zen yet again came to the rescue with a 1v3 outplay, successfully 50/50ing Atomic and BeastMode simultaneously to push the ball over the line. With 90 seconds on the clock, Atomic escaped embarrassment by barely recovering from a monumental fumble in front of his own net, but the former Envy player was powerless to resist Alpha54 and Radosin's shots in the final 30 seconds to send the contest to Champions Field.</div><div><br></div><div>Ahead of the deciding game, G2 phoned in coach Satthew for a timeout to calm the nerves. As the crowd charged up the Iceland clap, with the desk talent joining in, the six players took to the pitch for one final time in the semifinals. After two minutes of possession changing hands, the ball briefly balanced on Vitality's goalline until Alpha54 cleared it to the side, with a double commit from G2 cancelling out a double commit from Vitality up the other end. A pressured Radosin denied Atomic with a Squishy save halfway through the game and BeastMode hit the post after a fake from Daniel opened up the defense. In the final minute, BeastMode came to his teammates' rescue to keep out a shot from zen as well as an outstanding parry on a close range strike from Alpha54, with the two reversing roles up the other end to prevent a late G2 lead. The game hurtled into overtime, which was once again commanded by G2. The North American top seed eventually decided the clash when third man Alpha54 crept past the midfield line, and by the time the veteran realized his mistake, Atomic had already punched the ball past him to guarantee an NA vs EU grand final.</div><div><br></div><div>&lt;iframe src="https://clips.twitch.tv/embed?clip=WealthyHyperTriangleBloodTrail-mdXeA-3aSqDqLOIq&amp;parent=www.shiftrle.gg&amp;autoplay=false" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" height="378" width="620"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</div><div><br></div><div><img src="https://octane-content.s3.amazonaws.com/5758_team_vitality_vs_g2_esports_59a9b8b8f7.jpg"></div><div><br></div><h2>Gentle Mates avert the inevitable</h2><div>The other semifinal produced the first EU vs EU confrontation of the tournament as the region's fourth seed took on its triple crown winners. <a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/teams/689c-gentle-mates" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gentle Mates</a>' mighty form throughout the tournaments still couldn't keep them from the underdog label, but the newly formed team claimed a deserved game 1 victory thanks to early goals from the red-hot Charles "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/d214-juicy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">juicy</a>" Sabiani and LAN specialist Amine "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/a477-itachi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">itachi</a>" Benayachi. A Finlay "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/3f9e-rise" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">rise.</a>" Ferguson conversion assisted by Axel "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/9570-vatira" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vatira.</a>" Touret brought the difference down, but the Blue Wall was unable to mount a complete comeback. The pink club continued their dominance in game 2, with Enzo "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/96a5-seikoo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Seikoo</a>" Grondein profiting from a rare panicked moment from rise following juicy's mind games. Gentle Mates maintained their pressure on Karmine and doubled the lead due to a weak shot from juicy falling just out of reach from rise. The Englishman cut the deficit in half around the halfway mark when all three Gentle Mates defenders anticipated a shot on target from Tristan "<a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/players/441b-atow" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Atow.</a>" Soyez, but the Belgian intelligently dropped it down to rise. Itachi bounced a speculative effort just wide of the mark, but the Moroccan eventually restored the bigger lead by burying a shot into the goal from up high. A clean team play between Atow and Vatira put the 3-2 up on the scoreboard, but, other than the latter smashing the crossbar and the post with a sidewall rocket, the blue side failed to muster up an equalizer.</div><div><br></div><div>After Karmine unsurprisingly called a timeout, they flew out the gates as Vatira opened the scoring in the first minute of game 3. KC's offensive superiority continued for the remainder of the game, although Seikoo capped off a successful run of attacks with a little over a minute left. Nevertheless, as is tradition, rise pushed the winner across the line in the final minute after the ball spent nearly five seconds rolling on the goalline. The Englishman then pulled a remarkable save out to deny juicy's flip reset effort from drawing the game level, and a long zero second drive from Gentle Mates did not bear fruit, allowing Karmine back in to the contest.</div><div><br></div><div>A long stalemate in game 4 was cut short by Atow intercepting a suboptimal juicy clear and converting the subsequent backboard double. A heroic Squishy save from Vatira kept juicy from redemption, and Atow flicked it to the crossbar to round off a breakaway from rise and the Belgian. With a minute to go, Atow's determined early challenge ambushed Seikoo and resulted in a second KC goal, which was followed by another itachi goal in the final thirty seconds. Victor "Ferra" Francal's troops were able to see out the game and tie up the series.</div><div><br></div><div>&lt;iframe src="https://clips.twitch.tv/embed?clip=DrabVainEmuKappaWealth-sZ85luahQieatfxm&amp;parent=www.shiftrle.gg&amp;autoplay=false" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" height="378" width="620"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</div><div><br></div><div>Following a Gentle Mates timeout, <a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/teams/dcbd-karmine-corp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Karmine Corp</a> scored the opener on Aquadome with another rise clean-up act. A waterfall double touch attempt from Atow was blocked by Seikoo at the half, before rise smashed the inside of the post a minute later without scoring. A series of narrow escapes from Gentle Mates in the final minute almost allowed a creative play from itachi to be converted, but juicy was unable to get a clean shot. Now on series point, Karmine Corp looked poised to claim their spot in the grand final.</div><div><br></div><div>On Neo Tokyo, Seikoo was forced to make a save on an Atow attempt early on as a fierce opening salvo from Karmine Corp was withstood by Gentle Mates. Itachi produced the opener a little later, courtesy of a perfect juicy flip reset. The former Moist Esports member had been the catalyst for Gentle Mates all series and managed to find another gear the longer the series went on. Both rise and itachi fired flip reset shots at the net but were sent packing before a succinct redirect from rise promoted a shot from Atow into the equalizer. The pink army held their heart as the clock hit zero, with the ball just barely hitting the ground before crossing the line, causing an overtime to keep Gentle Mates alive. A preposterous redirect effort from juicy almost split the crossbar in two, though the Frenchman eventually found the game winner by slotting a backwall read beautifully into the far corner.</div><div><br></div><div>&lt;iframe src="https://clips.twitch.tv/embed?clip=WealthyTolerantEchidnaPeteZarollTie-AlAoPpwyrOYArQDV&amp;parent=www.shiftrle.gg&amp;autoplay=false" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" height="378" width="620"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</div><div><br></div><div>On Champions Field, a back-and-forth first two minutes was called to a halt by itachi getting on the end of juicy incredulously creating something out of nothing and dropping it middle. The star man then doubled the lead himself immediately afterwards when a kickoff went awry for Karmine Corp. Rise resuscitated Blue Wall dreams by pouncing on Vatira sowing chaos in the Gentle Mates defense, but despite a seemingly endless zero-second drive, Gentle Mates crossed the finish line with an incredible upset, beating Karmine for the first time this season and setting up a grand final confrontation with G2 Esports.</div><div><br></div><div><img src="https://octane-content.s3.amazonaws.com/5757_gentle_mates_vs_karmine_corp_9b2a28548e.jpg"></div><div><br></div><h2>Gentle Mates crowned champions</h2><div>With four out of six playoffs series having gone all the way to game 7, and Gentle Mates and G2 being involved in three of those, fans had high hopes for a tight grand final. It featured Seikoo and Atomic renewing acquaintances, with the Frenchman denying G2's most experienced player a world title back in 2022. Three of the six players were yet to play in an RLCS LAN grand final prior to Copenhagen, further increasing the stakes and anticipation of the trophy match.</div><div><br></div><div>In game 1, Gentle Mates set the one early on as itachi was found by juicy's clear while Seikoo demolished Atomic out of the way to clear the path. G2 had difficulty producing offensive opportunities until the final minute, with both itachi and Seikoo having to make heroic saves to get the game win over the line. On Forbidden Temple, juicy was assisted by Seikoo to open the scoring in the first minute before G2 offered a response in the form of a bump attempt on last man Seikoo, but the former world champion stood tall to save Atomic's effort. Daniel neglected to put away a clear double touch chance, but the youngster was saved by Atomic's lightning-quick brace to overturn the deficit. An ambitious double touch from itachi was blocked by BeastMode, and two additional shots from Seikoo and itachi failed to find their intended target. Eventually, juicy slotted the equalizer after a grounded pass across from itachi to send the game into overtime. A threatening drive from juicy a minute into added time was met by Atomic's block, but this only delayed the Frenchman's golden moment: a minute later, he came off the sidewall to grab a ceiling reset and smash the game winner past G2.</div><div><br></div><div>&lt;iframe src="https://clips.twitch.tv/embed?clip=OutstandingBlindingClintCmonBruh-mY8uVlBRpKgwUvq5&amp;parent=www.shiftrle.gg&amp;autoplay=false" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" height="378" width="620"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</div><div><br></div><div>G2 elected to use their one timeout after this and saw game 3 kick off with a series of attacking exchanges from both sides. Atomic struck the crossbar after almost a minute and a half, which was followed by Daniel's opener a minute later after Atomic floated it into the middle, with juicy and itachi reacting too slow. Seikoo launched home the equalizer from his own half when Atomic was caught out of position. Juicy attempted a late winner when he won out in a one-on-one but was unable to put it past the post, as G2 survived by the skin of their teeth to reach overtime. Just like game 2, juicy made the difference when Seikoo dropped it down perfectly for the former to seal championship point for Gentle Mates.</div><div><br></div><div>The nerves seemed to finally hit Gentle Mates previously ice cold attitudes, with G2 storming into a 4-0 win in game 4, courtesy of an Atomic hat trick. G2's eleven shots on Utopia Coliseum blew Gentle Mates' three attempts out of the water as a marked shift in the series took place. Another 4-0 lead in game 5, with Daniel sinking an outstanding ceiling double touch into flip reset, shrunk to a two-goal difference when itachi and Seikoo capitalized on carelessness from G2. A seriously threatening offensive push from Gentle Mates in the final minute passed without additional goals for the French side as their previously comfortable 3-0 series lead was diminished to just one.</div><div><br></div><div>&lt;iframe src="https://clips.twitch.tv/embed?clip=ElatedSpeedyPuddingRiPepperonis-cwh2d69EjozzpHl4&amp;parent=www.shiftrle.gg&amp;autoplay=false" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" height="378" width="620"&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</div><div><br></div><div>Nevertheless, the side chose not to recruit coach Wagner "Eversax" Benjamin for a timeout prior to game 6. Their confidence turned out to not be misplaced as Seikoo knocked in the opener in the opening minute at the end of a series of offensive attempts from Gentle Mates, including a point blank open net miss from itachi. Seikoo doubled the gap by placing in a laser from the side, with Atomic unable to get enough on the ball to keep it out. A pair of woodwork strikes from BeastMode and Daniel highlighted G2's loss of form, with further attacks lacking a convincing finish. BeastMode was a much-needed level head as he slowed down the play at a crucial time to force in a double touch with a minute to go. In spite of a number of chances for G2, the North Americans were unsuccessful in their hunt for a game 7, and once again exited an RLCS LAN grand final as runners-up. Gentle Mates became the second team in history to win an RLCS LAN as Europe's 4th seed after <a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/teams/62de-northern-gaming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Northern Gaming</a> did it first at the <a href="https://www.shiftrle.gg/events/304c-rlcs-season-3-world-championship" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Season 3 World Championship</a>.</div><div><br></div><div><img src="https://octane-content.s3.amazonaws.com/5759_gentle_mates_vs_g2_esports_d00b4469f3.jpg"></div><div><br></div><div><strong>Writer</strong>: Finnerdt</div><div><strong>Thumbnail</strong>: Michal Konkol</div>

Championship Sunday at the K.B. Hallen Arena culminated in the completion of the unlikeliest of runs.

large_Gentle Mates trophy lift - RLCS 2024 Copenhagen Major - Michal Konkol.jpg

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