Ange's Big Toe, BlackOut, oNe, and Vision advance to IEM Chicago closed qualifier
The IEM Chicago open qualifier has come to a close, seeing oNe, BlackOut, Vision, and Ange's Big Toe through to the closed qualifier.
The two easiest matches of the night saw Vision pick up a forfeit win against Velocity, who seemingly had players missing from the server and were forced to forfeit the first map before eventually conceding the series. Similarly, oNe dismantled Grizzlys on Inferno and Cache with 16-3 and 16-2 victories to advance to the closed qualifier.
BlackOut fought off RESOLUTE in the only three-map affair of the night, going down 9-16 on RESOLUTE's pick of Overpass before reverse sweeping the series with wins on Mirage and Inferno.
Overpass saw BlackOut manage only 6 rounds on their CT side after putting up an inital 3-0 lead off the back of their pistol round victory. A second half pistol round victory offered BlackOut the chance to even the score, but a force-buy from RESOLUTE allowed Dylan "RIKO" Sabin-Arnce and co. to push their way to 14 rounds. BlackOut managed two final rounds, but RESOLUTE brought the map to a swift close for a 16-9 victory.
BlackOut immediately replied back on Mirage as they mustered 13 rounds on their T side, leaving little room for RESOLUTE to operate with an early economic reset. RESOLUTE managed one final round in the first half, but the dominant scoreline left little hope for a redemption run.
A second half pistol round victory allowed RESOLUTE to push their way back up the board, and a reset on the sixth round may have given the team a chance if BlackOut wasn't sitting on the brink of match point at 14-6. RESOLUTE managed an additional trio of rounds before BlackOut ended their hopes with the final two rounds to even the series at 1-1.
Inferno was a far closer bout between the two teams as they traded rounds back-and-forth throughout the half, resulting in a narrow 8-7 lead for RESOLUTE as the team switched to the CT side. RESOLUTE seemed set for a swift finish as a four round run off the back of a second half pistol victory allowed them to reset BlackOut on the sixth round, giving them a 13-8 lead with BlackOut's economy in turmoil.
Sebastian "seb" Bucki stepped up to put BlackOut back in control, helping to spur the comeback effort and allowing the team to garner eight rounds in a row to snatch the victory from RESOLUTE's hands with a 16-13 victory.
BlackOutRESOLUTE| BlackOut |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sebastian 'seb' Bucki |
61 - 54 | +7 | 83.7 | 73.4% | 1.18 |
| Collin 'wrath' McSweegan |
60 - 56 | +4 | 80.8 | 64.6% | 1.11 |
 Connor 'CONNOR93' Glover |
56 - 55 | +1 | 74.6 | 78.5% | 1.08 |
| Chad 'Oderus' Miller |
51 - 52 | -1 | 62.7 | 64.6% | 0.96 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
44 - 59 | -15 | 70.9 | 68.4% | 0.90 |
| RESOLUTE |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff 'RZU' Ngo |
67 - 54 | +13 | 89.2 | 69.6% | 1.25 |
| Dylan 'RIKO' Sabin-Arnce |
54 - 50 | +4 | 77.4 | 68.4% | 1.07 |
| Tyson 'TenZ' Ngo |
52 - 55 | -3 | 70.5 | 73.4% | 1.03 |
| Victor 'food' Wong |
52 - 53 | -1 | 72.9 | 67.1% | 1.01 |
| David 'Toy' Han |
51 - 61 | -10 | 70.4 | 65.8% | 0.92 |
In the most surprising series of the night, Ange's Big Toe were able to upset iNTACT 2-0 on Mirage and Overpass to claim their own spot in the closed qualifier. iNTACT most recently won Season 28 of Main, dropping only 1 map en route to the championship to finish the season with a 22-0 record.
Mirage saw Ange's Big Toe fall to iNTACT in the opening pistol round, only to fight back with a force-buy in the ensuing round to even the score. Two additonal rounds went the way of Ange's crew before iNTACT snagged another round for themselves, but Ange's Big Toe were able reset the ESEA Main champions to push their way up to an 8-2 lead.
iNTACT took another round as they looked to fight back, but once again found themselves reset by Ange and co. to throw their chances of a comeback into jeopardy. Despite the reset, Christopher "Swahn" Swahn and co. still managed the final three rounds of the half to give themselves a chance, going into the second half at a 6-9 deficit.
Their hopes were shattered as Ange's Big Toe pushed their way to a 14-6 lead off the back of a CT side pistol round victory, and iNTACT were only able to find four final rounds before Ange's side closed out their map pick 16-9.
A trio of rounds were traded back to begin Overpass, but Ange's Big Toe gained the advantage as they secured four of the following five rounds to take the lead 7-4. Ali "optimus" Mashhour's side retaliated with four rounds of their own to narrowly take the lead back 8-7 going into the second half.
Once again the second half saw iNTACT's hopes dashed as Ange's Big Toe took the second pistol round for themselves, working their way to a 10-8 lead before iNTACT were able to reply. Another economic reset against the Main squad by Ange's Big Toe pushed Ange and co. up to a 14-9 lead, but iNTACT fought back with their own trio of rounds.
Ange's Big Toe claimed match point for themselves, but iNTACT mustered one final effort as two more rounds allowed them a chance for overtime. Once again their hopes were dashed as Ange's Big Toe took the 30th round to 2-0 the series and secure their own closed qualifier slot.
Ange's Big ToeiNTACT| Ange's Big Toe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam 'Ange' Milian |
50 - 32 | +18 | 87.9 | 75.0% | 1.32 |
| Brandon 'fluxvx' Banda |
47 - 39 | +8 | 83.6 | 69.6% | 1.30 |
| Chris 'Slash' Petersen |
42 - 33 | +9 | 88.9 | 80.4% | 1.21 |
| 'senx' |
38 - 38 | +0 | 76.7 | 66.1% | 1.00 |
| Amine 'dopamine' Hamzic |
29 - 43 | -14 | 57.2 | 62.5% | 0.73 |
| iNTACT |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ali 'optimus' Mashhour |
43 - 38 | +5 | 86.1 | 73.2% | 1.21 |
| Christopher 'Swahn' Swahn |
38 - 43 | -5 | 81.5 | 73.2% | 1.07 |
| Alan 'Shakezullah' Hardeman |
34 - 36 | -2 | 70.7 | 69.6% | 1.02 |
| Michael 'Turismo' Haas |
41 - 46 | -5 | 76.8 | 60.7% | 0.99 |
| Sam 'Noxio' Goodwin |
29 - 43 | -14 | 57.1 | 66.1% | 0.80 |
The current team list for the IEM Chicago closed qualifier is as follows:
| Ange's Big Toe |
BlackOut |
 oNe |
Vision |
 Invite |
Invite |
| Invite |
Invite |
The IEM Chicago closed qualifier is set to run from August 23rd-25th, featuring a double-elimination best-of-three bracket for the eight participating teams. Four invited teams are set to be revealed in the near future to finalize the team list for the $250,000 event qualifier.
