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After three very close maps, Imaginary Gaming defeated 3DMAX in the semi-final of ESL Major Series Winter (13-16 on de_mirage_csgo, 16-14 on de_inferno_se and 16-13 on de_dust2_se).

The 5,000€ ESL Major Series Winter 2012 season is slowly coming to a close, as the first semi-final match took place tonight. Danish side 3DMAX, who made it past k1ck and MaxFloPlay in the playoffs so far, was set to meet Imaginary Gaming who only had to dispose of n!faculty before getting to this stage.

Unfortunately, the French team, who were the favorites in this match due to being the 11th best team in the world according to our latest ranking, lost their star player Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom yesterday, as he is reportedly on his way to VeryGames. Replacement was quickly found in Engin "MAJ3R" Kupeli who would actually have his CS:GO debut in this clash, as he only just now officially moved from CS 1.6 where he was one of the best players in his country.

The Danes also had lineup problems recently, losing Tomas "xlo" Falden to retirement two weeks ago and adding former Copenhagen Wolves member Malte "Herden" Boelt as his replacement for this tournament.

Ozstrik3r's team had to quickly deal with the rising lineup issue ahead of their EMS match

After over an hour of server searching the match started on de_mirage_csgo with Imaginary on the attacking side. Steeve "Ozstrik3r" Flavigni's squad looked good at the start despite of featuring a new player, as they went ahead 6-0. The sides changed with the French in the lead 9-6 and eight rounds into the second half, they were still ahead by three, 13-10. But the Danish team then won an eco round which kick started an unexpected comeback, as they completely turned the score around and took the first map 16-13.

The Danes continued piling on the pressure on de_inferno_se, taking an 8-1 lead as CT with Søren "socN" Falke already sitting on 15 frags at that point. Imaginary did manage to save their skin by the end of the half, with Kevin "Uzzzii" Vernel's 1-on-2 making the score 9-6. But then having lost the pistol round, the French had a mountain to climb after going down 12-6 and already being down 1-0 in maps.

Impressively enough, they managed to make their own big comeback in this match, stringing a staggering 9 rounds in a row for match point at 15-12. Falke's three opening kills (he had map-high 33 frags in total) kept his side in the game a while longer, but the deciding 30th round went to Imaginary Gaming, who somehow fought their way back to equalize the score in maps to 1-1 with this 16-14 win.

socN's good play in 2nd map didn't help 3DMAX to clinch the match

The third and deciding map was de_dust2_se, as now Imaginary took early control and went up 5-0 as Terrorists. But despite of making it 7-2, nothing was over yet in this match and 3DMAX confirmed that by shutting down their opponents for the rest of the half, winning their CT side 8-7. The Danes took the pistol round and increased the lead to 11-7, but a 1-on-2 by Michel "mshz" Nguyen in the next round and an excellent 4-kill round by Richard "shoxie" Papillon brought this match into an exciting finish, with the score standing even at 11-11.

3DMAX's latest addition Malte "Herden" Boelt took matters into his own hands in the 23rd round, getting four kills and winning a 1-on-3 clutch. He found himself in a another 1-on-3 two rounds later, with his team up 13-11, but this time Imaginary's new player Kupeli got the last frag in an exciting 1vs1 duel and saved his team from going on an eco in a crucial time.

In his CS:GO debut, MAJ3R saved the team in one of the crucial rounds

In the very endings of close matches like this, individual skill often comes into play more than tactics as the nerves play a big part, and Imaginary Gaming's Papillon certainly had no problems showing who is the best player in the server, as he got 8 kills in the next 3 rounds to help his team reach match point at 15-13. To top it off, the French team's forever criticized experienced leader Flavigni was the one who won the nail-biting 1vs1 situation at the A bombsite in that penultimate round, as right after that Imaginary clinched the map, and the match, with a 16-13 win.

ESL Major Series Winter Season 2012Best of 3 ImaginaryMatchpage 2 1 10th January 2013 3DMAX 13Mirage_ce 16 16Inferno_se 14 16Dust2_se 13

Imaginary	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Richard 'shox' Papillonshox	76 - 59	+17	-	1.21
Kevin 'Uzzziii' VernelUzzziii	69 - 61	+8	-	1.12
Michel 'mshz' Nguyenmshz	54 - 56	-2	-	0.92
Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliMAJ3R	58 - 61	-3	-	0.92
Steeve 'Ozstrik3r' FlavigniOzstrik3r	44 - 63	-19	-	0.73

3DMAX	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Søren 'socN' FalkesocN	79 - 65	+14	-	1.24
Malte 'Herden' BoeltHerden	71 - 57	+14	-	1.16
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	64 - 55	+9	-	1.06
Kristian 'tabac0' Simonsentabac0	49 - 60	-11	-	0.82
Kristoffer 'gravityy' Søholmgravityy	37 - 64	-27	-	0.62

Imaginary Gaming have now made their way to the grand final of ESL Major Series Winter where they will face the better team from the second semi-final between NiP and former eXtensive squad, now named PRIME.

3DMAX will still have a chance to claim some money too, as the 3rd placed team will also be rewarded, with the prize distribution looking like this:

Prize distribution for ESL Major Series Winter 2012

1. 2,500€
2. 1,500€
3. 1,000€

Next up in EMS:

Sunday, January 13, 2013 at 21:00 : NiP vs. PRIME

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