NRG, Swole Patrol to StarSeries qualifier semifinals over Bravado, Ghost
In the first map of the playoffs, NRG took on Bravado on Inferno, one of NRG's best maps. The first half of the map didn't seem to indicate that however, as Bravado was able to remain modestly competitive against the Pro League team. Strong numbers from Johnny "JT" Theodosiou and Aran "Sonic" Groesbeek kept Bravado in the game, ending the first half 9-6.
In the second half, after a pistol win from Bravado, Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov finally released his potential, dominating the South Africans on the CT side. NRG took six straight rounds off Bravado, securing match point. Bravado were able to pull out one last round before NRG closed the map 16-8.
On Nuke, a similar story played out as Bravado managed to briefly take control of the game away from NRG on the T-side, taking five consecutive rounds in the first half, along with one more round, to end the first half at 9-6 once again.
In the second half, Bravado continued to remain competitive, taking advantage of the CT-side. After tying up the game 11-11, NRG swung back with four more rounds, taking the game into match point. Unwilling to go out 2-0, Bravado tried their hardest to push the map into overtime, reaching 15-14. In the final round, with only four CZ-75's and one MAC10, NRG took the last round they needed to end the map 16-14, preventing overtime and closing the series 2-0.
NRGBravado| NRG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte |
50 - 33 | +17 | 91.0 | 79.6% | 1.38 |
 Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov |
43 - 33 | +10 | 86.5 | 75.9% | 1.33 |
| Jacob 'FugLy' Medina |
44 - 29 | +15 | 82.5 | 83.3% | 1.30 |
| Ethan 'Ethan' Arnold |
37 - 34 | +3 | 77.4 | 70.4% | 1.14 |
 Damian 'daps' Steele |
21 - 38 | -17 | 56.8 | 70.4% | 0.74 |
| Bravado |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek |
40 - 38 | +2 | 79.6 | 74.1% | 1.12 |
| Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
39 - 38 | +1 | 71.1 | 63.0% | 0.97 |
| Dimitri 'Detrony' Hadjipaschali |
31 - 39 | -8 | 67.9 | 63.0% | 0.93 |
| Rhys 'Fadey' Armstrong |
31 - 44 | -13 | 63.6 | 63.0% | 0.83 |
| Ruan 'ELUSIVE' van Wyk |
25 - 37 | -12 | 53.5 | 66.7% | 0.78 |
Ghost were heavy favorites to win over Swole Patrol, with the team looking to be one of the strongest in North America after qualifying for DreamHack Masters Stockholm. And with Swole Patrol fielding Ryan "Snakes" Amann as a stand-in for the qualifier, Ghost eyed an easy series and a ticket to the semi-finals. Ghost dominated Swole Patrol in the first half of Train, with Matthew "Wardell" Bowman's AWPing leading his team to a strong 11-4 half.
Conversely, Swole Patrol was not one to go down without a fight, as Swole Patrol kicked off the second half with seven straight rounds, tying up the map 11-11. Hoping to not lose their lead, Ghost retaliated by taking three rounds, nearly putting them at match point 14-11. Ryan "freakazoid" Abadir, not wanting to give Ghost match point or the map win after coming all this way in the comeback, led his team through the last five rounds of the game to give Swole Patrol the first map 16-14.
On Overpass, Swole Patrol continued to contest Ghost on the CT side, taking six rounds off Ghost in the latter part of the first half. On Ghost, strong performance from Kenneth "koosta" Suen kept his team in the lead, with the first half ending 9-6 in favor of Ghost.
Ghost were more shaky in the second half, as Swole Patrol were able to take some rounds for themselves, putting up a 10-12 scoreline. Not wanting Swole Patrol to repeat their comeback on the last map, Ghost quickly closed out the map in four straight rounds, ending the map 16-10 and tying up the series 1-1.
Despite Ghost's strong performances in the previous maps in the series, Swole Patrol finally found their groove on Mirage. Led once again by freakazoid, Swole Patrol ended the first half of Mirage 12-3, giving them a large advantage going into the second half.
To come back after a 3-12 half would require a huge effort, but Ghost attempted to kick it off with a win in the second pistol round. Swole Patrol immediately retaliated, flexing their muscles for four more rounds to close out the map 16-5 and win the series 2-1.
GhostSwole Patrol| Ghost |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yassine 'Subroza' Taoufik |
55 - 53 | +2 | 78.4 | 71.4% | 1.12 |
| Matthew 'WARDELL' Yu |
51 - 54 | -3 | 68.4 | 62.3% | 1.00 |
| Kenneth 'koosta' Suen |
51 - 58 | -7 | 76.9 | 66.2% | 0.95 |
| Matt 'Pollo' Wilson |
38 - 53 | -15 | 61.7 | 67.5% | 0.84 |
| Joshua 'steel' Nissan |
40 - 54 | -14 | 65.1 | 61.0% | 0.82 |
| Swole Patrol |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan 'freakazoid' Abadir |
70 - 49 | +21 | 99.8 | 72.7% | 1.39 |
| Austin 'Cooper' Abadir |
54 - 42 | +12 | 70.0 | 71.4% | 1.15 |
| Samuel 'SileNt' Portillo |
55 - 50 | +5 | 79.6 | 68.8% | 1.11 |
| Jordan 'Zellsis' Montemurro |
51 - 52 | -1 | 73.6 | 67.5% | 1.00 |
| Ryan 'Snakes' Amann |
41 - 43 | -2 | 59.3 | 74.0% | 0.94 |
NRG and Swole Patrol will now proceed to the StarSeries qualifier semifinals, where both will meet for a spot in the grand finals of the qualifier. The other two quarterfinal matches are set to play out today and tomorrow, with eUnited taking on oNe today at 7PM EDT.
