While Dignitas was known to be a strong team at least after making it to the semifinals in Katowice, Epsilon eSports, along with their latest addition shox, had a brilliant tournament so far, sending NiP to the second spot in group A in the first little upset.

Dust2: A classic to begin with

Dignitas had the better start, taking the pistol round on the CT side. However, another CZ75 eco round made the pistol winner struggle. Epsilon was able to make the absolute best out of this investment, and took the eco round as well as the follow-up, which saw device decimating the French lines before going down. Dignitas managed to strike Epsilon round after round, taking down multiple players in almost every one, even when losing. Coming back in the fifth round, Dignitas was able to bring the Frenchmen down and take the anti-eco to bring the game to 3-3. FeTiSh and Xyp9x made a five-man push end only a few feet from the entrance of A Long to take over the lead and force an eco off Epsilon, which they took as well. Epsilon was able to come back right away, taking the A spot and scoring one more round only to fall to the Danes in the next round. This fourth round for Epsilon was the last for quite some time as Dignitas extended the lead to a solid 9-4 before Epsilon got close to taking another T round. However, device and Xyp9x didn’t let another round slip, securing a 11-4 halftime lead for the Danes.

Epsilon did their best to gain the upper hand right away with a very offensive CT opening, but left a gap for Dignitas to push through and get the bomb planted. Sf was able to win a 1on1 against device by defuse, staying alive and giving his team the chance to start the comeback from here. However, only two rounds went to the French before Dignitas came back to bring the scoreline to 12-6. Two rounds went to Epsilon, coming back a little before Dignitas once again found a way through their defense to win their 13th round followed by another one. One more round went to Epsilon before Dignitas secured the 15th as well as six match points for themselves. The first of those match points was used right away to take the first map 16-9.

Inferno: Did the Danish rush continue?

A phenomenal pistol round saw GMX clutch a 1on2 but left him with a second less to defuse the bomb. Dignitas took the round and had the advantage at the start of their T side, building up a 3-0 lead. The first equipped round for Epsilon saw Dignitas rise once again to pick up two more rounds before the French joined the fight equipped once again. Once again Epsilon was able to take down the full Danish team, only to miss the defuse once again. The 0-6 scoreline for the French playing as T did hint at a quick 2-0 victory for Dignitas as the harder site saw the Danes dominate the game so far. Eight rounds went to FeTiSh and his team before Epsilon was able to retake the B spot to score the first round. This didn’t stop Dignitas a bit, however, as they picked up round after round, outplaying Epsilon even when slightly outnumbered in certain situations. This resulted in a 14-1 lead for Dignitas at halftime.

A wonder was needed to bring Epsilon back into the game, and the pistol round worked out just like that. Only GMX was brought down, with Epsilon taking the B spot and winning the opening of the second half. Despite losing some players per round, Epsilon was able to not only pick up multiple rounds in a row but also break Dignitas’s economy. However, after six rounds in a row to the French, Dignitas took the 15th round to have eight match and game points in their hand. One more round went to Epsilon before FeTiSh stepped up to take out two players in a row with a saved AWP, making this eco round very expensive to begin with. However, the rest of the team pushed on from here, finishing the map and match 16-8 and advancing to the semifinals to face Fnatic in tomorrow’s Scandinavian showdown.

After some impressive matches, Epsilon is out of the tournament. Going home as one of the top eight teams is a most likely guaranteed invite to the next major tournament, but shox and his team won’t be happy with the way they said goodbye to gamescom - the 14-1 in the first half of Inferno especially is something that the French will need to recover from.

All CS:GO wrap-ups so far:

• Fnatic vs. Natus Vincere: the clash of generations
• Two big teams fall once more in the groups C and D of ESL One Cologne
• French Friday for ESL One Cologne's groups A and B
• Did groups C and D go according to plan at ESL One Cologne?
• The first surprises in groups A and B of ESL One Cologne
• More CS:GO on ESLGaming.com

Find all the results as well as coverage pieces and more on the ESL One homepage. What do you expect from the Scandinavian showdown? Let us know in the comments below!