Mousesports eliminated in last place at the Kiev Major

Only 15 teams remain at the Kiev Major.

Mousesports became the first team to leave the major earlier today. They were defeated by Chinese favorites Invictus Gaming in the first round of the tournament’s playoff stage. While the result isn’t all too unexpected, as the Greek squad has struggled to achieve any noteworthy results since placing second at the previous Valve Major in Boston on Dec. 10, their drop-off in performance is still dramatic.

Mousesports’ form was, however, better than it had been in the group stage, where the players were only able to win one series in total. Mousesports actually defeated Invictus Gaming in the second game of the series, sending the match to a third, decisive game.

The Chinese squad’s midlaner Ou “OP” Peng got off to a strong start in the midlane, earning him a lot of levels and gold as Medusa. All of mousesports’ outer towers fell in quick succession, as Invictus gathered their hard carry more and more gold— effectively setting things up for a favorable late-game.

Related: The Kiev Major’s group stage is already off to a crazy start.

Mousesports knew they had to fight back somehow, and during one of Invictus Gaming’s attacks on their base, Madara attempted to split-push, while his teammates fended off the attack. Unfortunately for mousesports, the pace of Invictus Gaming saw them ultimately trade an entire set of barracks, with only a tier three tower for mousesports. Things got more and more desperate for mousesports— but none of the carries on the squad could face up against Op’s Medusa, who shredded through mousesports in almost every teamfight.

After 45 minutes, Invictus Gaming secured their spot in the second round of the playoffs— meaning mousesports, despite their valiant efforts, were eliminated in last place.