Cyber.bet Summer Cup Twist of Fate as SMASH Replacements Claim Win
Published: Jun 29, 2020 - Last Updated: Jun 30, 2020
Last week, the latest CS:GO Cyberbet Summer Cup ended, and fate had a large hand in deciding the outcome. That is because the eventual winners, FATE Esports were only invited to the tournament at the last-minute following SMASH’s withdrawal from the event.
After a poor showing at the previous Cyberbet Cup, we originally predicted that SMASH would want to bounce back in this latest Summer Cup event, but in the end, they did not participate, with FATE Esports being invited to replace the team in the tournament. It would ultimately prove to be a shrewd move by tournament organisers.
Who are Fate Esports?
The Jordanian-based team is now comprised of a squad entirely made up of Bulgarian-based players, with American coach Terric “Bibby” Ingram taking on the role of coach. The Cyber.bet Summer Cup win is their biggest and richest win to date, with their $6,000 winner’s cheque more than the $5,000 prize they won for landing the Relog Esports Season 1 back in December 2019.
The team came into the event in good form having won the Phoenix League Season 1 just the week before but as SMASH’s replacements, few expected the team to be quite as competitive against some of the invited teams in the CyberBet Summer Cup.
Tournament Overview
Starting in Group B, Fate didn’t get off to the best of starts, losing their opening match 2-0 to Ambush, which put them one loss away from going out of the tournament. However, in their Elimination Match, they defeated Budapest 5 2-0 and in the Decider Match, gained revenge for their defeat in the opening match, beating Ambush 2-1 to qualify second in the Group behind Iluminar Gaming.
In Group A, SKADE were the top team winning both their games, with HellRaisers earning second spot ahead of Unicorns of Love and Apeks, who had been tipped to be one of the star teams of the tournament.
The Playoffs began with a shock as the much-fancied SKADE hit the skids as FATE Esports landed their third win in a row with a 2-1 win to move into the Upper Bracket Final. There they would face HellRaisers, who defeated Illuminar Gaming 2-0. HellRaisers were the favorites in this final game and duly proved it, emerging with a 2-1 win to clinch a place in the final and the crucial one leg lead in the final.
However, FATE Esports weren’t finished, in the Lower Bracket Final, they beat Illuminar Gaming 2-0 to move into the Grand Final, once again with revenge on their mind, this time against HellRaisers.
Incredible Fightback
Starting the final 1-0 down as the lower seed, FATE Esports then went 2-0 down when HellRaisers won the first map and it appeared the match would be over quickly with HR’s top map pick. Vertigo up next. However, FATE Esports clinched an overtime win to make it 2-1 and then leveled matters by taking the next map.
By this time HellRaisers were in disarray and on the final map, FATE Esports sealed a come from behind win to clinch the top prize 3-2.
Following the incredible fightback FATE Esports Tweeted
“We take the WIN and are your @cyberbet_CUP Champions!”
It proved to be a stunning and unexpected end to another excellent CyberBet CS:GO tournament.
Image Credits: Twitter @FATEesports
Since: August 10, 2015
