The first round of the group stage matches have been played at the ESEA Global Challenge LAN in Poland, Katowice.

The action started off with a matchup between the American team Echo Fox and the Australians of Chiefs, who were known as ASDF until recently. What seemed as the most one-sided matchup of the first day turned out to be a tight affair, with neither team getting more than a three round lead throughout the match.

The map veto came down to Nuke, on which Chiefs' AWPer Alistair "⁠aliStair⁠" Johnston proved to be a thorn in the side of the Foxes. With the help of his consistent fragging and a high tempo T side the Australians were holding on in the match until Echo Fox kicked into a higher gear and closed out the map 16-13.

Echo Fox	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Shahzeb 'ShahZaM' KhanShahZaM	22 - 17	+5	93.0	1.24
Ryan 'freakazoid' Abadirfreakazoid	26 - 20	+6	87.0	1.16
Daniel 'roca' Gustaferriroca	19 - 18	+1	68.6	0.97
Sean 'seang@res' Garesseang@res	15 - 20	-5	66.6	0.80
Ronnie 'ryx' Bylickiryx	13 - 21	-8	56.7	0.72

Chiefs	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Alistair 'aliStair' JohnstonaliStair	30 - 17	+13	94.8	1.60
Tyler 'tucks' Reillytucks	21 - 18	+3	83.3	1.09
Michael 'Lightstep' HallLightstep	14 - 20	-6	66.7	0.88
Liam 'malta' Schembrimalta	15 - 20	-5	67.6	0.82
Joshua 'INS' PotterINS	16 - 21	-5	62.6	0.79

The second match saw the German side of ALTERNATE aTTaX take on the Finnish hope ENCE. It was never going to be easy for ENCE though, with the retired player-turned-caster Joona "⁠natu⁠" Leppänen replacing the recently departed star Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli.

In the end, it was Miikka "⁠suNny⁠" Kemppi who shined for them on Dust2, but he alone wasn't enough to stop the team effort of the German side. The match featured a few turnarounds and went the whole distance, with Kevin "⁠keev⁠" Bartholomäus's side managing to grab a narrow 16-14 win in the end.

ENCE	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Miikka 'suNny' KemppisuNny	31 - 23	+8	112.4	1.47
Niko 'naSu' KovanennaSu	17 - 21	-4	61.7	1.03
Juho 'juho' Lampinenjuho	20 - 23	-3	75.3	1.00
Mikko 'xartE' VälimaaxartE	14 - 19	-5	55.5	0.82
Joona 'natu' Leppänennatu	14 - 23	-9	56.8	0.77

ALTERNATE aTTaX	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Christian 'crisby' Schmittcrisby	25 - 19	+6	94.0	1.31
Kevin 'keev' Bartholomäuskeev	25 - 20	+5	89.4	1.26
Florian 'syrsoN' RischesyrsoN	19 - 15	+4	52.5	1.09
Oliver 'kzy' Heckkzy	20 - 20	0	82.6	1.08
Tizian 'tiziaN' FeldbuschtiziaN	19 - 22	-3	65.3	0.98

The following matchup featured MK taking on the unknown quantity of g3x on Cache. Lucas "⁠steel⁠" Lopes, who played in KaBuM when they first made a name for themselves internationally, proved pivotal in another Brazilian success - carrying his team to the victory with a 1.46 rating and +10 K-D difference.

steel helped his team upset MK in Poland 

The match itself was a hard-fought battle, with both teams unwilling to let the other side build a bank and continuous force buying - something the Bulgarian team is known for. In the end, the force buys proved to be the demise of Nikolay "⁠nkl⁠" Krastev and co., with g3x winning a few crucial anti-force rounds and closing out the match 16-12.

MK	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Kamen 'bubble' Kostadinovbubble	21 - 21	0	82.3	1.21
Viktor 'v1c7oR' Dyankovv1c7oR	20 - 20	0	92.0	1.09
Emiliyan 'spyleadeR' DimitrovspyleadeR	20 - 21	-1	74.6	1.06
Nikolay 'nkl' Krastevnkl	22 - 21	+1	78.6	1.06
Simeon 'dream3r' Ganevdream3r	13 - 19	-6	65.8	0.81

g3x	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Lucas 'steel' Lopessteel	29 - 19	+10	99.6	1.38
Rafael 'pava' Pavanellipava	20 - 22	-2	94.7	1.07
Jean-Michel 'mch' D'Oliveiramch	19 - 18	+1	73.7	1.06
Vito 'kNgV-' GiuseppekNgV-	18 - 21	-3	76.6	1.04
Caike 'caike' Costacaike	16 - 16	0	51.8	1.01

The last match of the first round saw two lower tier teams, Pnda and Crowns, debut at an international LAN. The Swedes, who qualified as Kalashnikov 47, had a great start - but Derrick "⁠LILMAN⁠" Boyne's team recovered after a first half timeout to end the half 7-deb8.

Coming into the second half it was Crowns who took complete control. They won the pistol round as Terrorist and cruised to a 16-8 win while dropping only one round in the second half.

Pnda	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Derrick 'LILMAN' BoyneLILMAN	18 - 18	0	90.5	1.14
David 'Toy' HanToy	17 - 16	+1	69.8	1.04
Kyuhyun 'blade' William Uhmblade	11 - 21	-10	64.8	0.76
Anthony 'mummAy' DiPaolomummAy	13 - 19	-6	50.1	0.68
Noah 'haptiiC' ChoihaptiiC	7 - 19	-12	46.9	0.45

Crowns	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Aron 'xajdish' Fredrikssonxajdish	30 - 12	+18	126.8	2.02
Mattias 'benny' Rosbackbenny	19 - 13	+6	75.3	1.31
Eddie 'zape' Härdemanzape	16 - 14	+2	70.5	1.20
Fredrik 'Krewmer' SvenssonKrewmer	15 - 13	+2	62.9	1.02
David 'Jayzwalkingz' KempnerJayzwalkingz	13 - 15	-2	66.6	0.94

Stay tuned for more updates from the ESEA Global Challenge LAN and check out the first photos from Katowice in our opening matches gallery.