BlackOut outsmart Test Takers to advance to EPICENTER 2018 closed qualifier
BlackOut have become the second team to advance to the EPICENTER Moscow 2018 closed qualifier with their 2-1 win over Test Takers, joining FURIA on the team list for the $300,000 event qualifier.
The day began with two semifinal bouts, seeing BlackOut taking on Gorilla Gang while Test Takers went up against AZIO for a spot in the grand finals.
Sebastian "seb" Bucki and Chad "Oderus" Miller helped BlackOut pick up a 2-0 victory over Gorilla Gang on Nuke (16-11) and Overpass (16-11). BlackOut's pick of Nuke was up first in the series, with seb and co. starting on the T side.
A pistol round victory allowed BlackOut to take the lead on their T side, but a third round eco victory for Gorilla Gang flipped the tables and allowed for the CT side to go on an eight-round streak to put themselves at an 8-2 scoreline. BlackOut evened the score as best as they could by snatching the remaining five rounds of the half for themselves to bring the map to an 8-7 half.
It was on their CT side that BlackOut took firm control as the second pistol round went their way. Another third round loss could have spelled trouble for the CT side, but an immediate reset allowed them to pull ahead to a 15-9 lead. Gorilla Gang struggled to keep the map going, managing two rounds, but BlackOut quickly put an end to their hopes as the first map went their way 16-11.
Overpass began in similar fashion as this time the eight-round starting streak went to BlackOut, granting them an 8-0 lead on the CT side. Gorilla Gang finally cracked through the BlackOut defense on round nine, fighting back to grant BlackOut only two more rounds in the half to give themselves a fighting chance going on their own CT side with a 5-10 scoreline.
Once again BlackOut dashed the hopes of Gorilla Gang as the fourth pistol round of the series went their way, allowing them up to a 13-5 scoreline. Although Gorilla Gang managed six more rounds, their fate was sealed as BlackOut came out on top to claim a spot in the grand finals with another 16-11 win.
BlackOutGorilla Gang| BlackOut |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sebastian 'seb' Bucki |
47 - 33 | +14 | 93.6 | 81.5% | 1.40 |
 Connor 'CONNOR93' Glover |
39 - 30 | +9 | 83.0 | 72.2% | 1.18 |
| Collin 'wrath' McSweegan |
40 - 40 | +0 | 86.9 | 75.9% | 1.17 |
| Chad 'Oderus' Miller |
37 - 36 | +1 | 73.2 | 72.2% | 1.10 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
37 - 33 | +4 | 64.7 | 64.8% | 1.05 |
| Gorilla Gang |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron 'cam' Kern |
41 - 38 | +3 | 77.3 | 74.1% | 1.06 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
34 - 43 | -9 | 77.5 | 68.5% | 0.94 |
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
30 - 39 | -9 | 68.5 | 66.7% | 0.93 |
| Ryan 'ryann' Welsh |
30 - 39 | -9 | 65.4 | 75.9% | 0.93 |
| Anthony 'vanity' Malaspina |
36 - 41 | -5 | 66.5 | 57.4% | 0.88 |
It was the story of the second halves in Test Takers' matchup against AZIO. Inferno (16-9) and Overpass were the grounds for battle, with Sam "s0m" Oh's side coming out on top 2-0.
A back-and-forth battle on Inferno saw Test Takers end the first half with the higher score, going up 8-7 as they swapped over to their CT side. The tense battle of the first half quickly gave way to a dominant CT side performance for the crew, allowing them to close out Inferno after conceding only a single round for a 16-8 victory.
Overpass was a much closer affair overall, seeing Test Takers work their way up to a 5-0 lead off the back of a pistol round win before AZIO replied back with a nine-round streak of their own. s0m and co. managed to snag the final round of the half, leaving them with a three round deficit going into the second half.
AZIO seemed set to take the series to a third map as they took their T side pistol round, but an immediate reply from Test Takers allowed for the team to battle back and narrowly manage six straight rounds for a 12-10 lead. AZIO fought back with a trio of rounds of their own, but Test Takers put a halt to the comeback by closing out the map by securing the four rounds they needed for a 16-13 win.
AZIOTest Takers| AZIO |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan 'Snakes' Amann |
40 - 40 | +0 | 84.3 | 67.9% | 1.11 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
35 - 38 | -3 | 71.7 | 69.8% | 0.91 |
| Trevor 'FrostayK' Bandle |
33 - 36 | -3 | 62.5 | 67.9% | 0.89 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
27 - 37 | -10 | 66.2 | 73.6% | 0.87 |
| Joshua 'Hunter' Madore |
30 - 42 | -12 | 69.7 | 66.0% | 0.87 |
| Test Takers |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan 'RIKO' Sabin-Arnce |
43 - 30 | +13 | 81.4 | 75.5% | 1.32 |
| Sam 's0m' Oh |
40 - 35 | +5 | 87.9 | 75.5% | 1.24 |
| Victor 'food' Wong |
35 - 30 | +5 | 70.5 | 79.2% | 1.18 |
| Tyson 'TenZ' Ngo |
37 - 32 | +5 | 73.6 | 77.4% | 1.07 |
| David 'Toy' Han |
38 - 38 | +0 | 76.4 | 67.9% | 1.06 |
The grand final saw BlackOut up against Test Takers on Inferno (16-11), Mirage (10-16), and Overpass (16-9), with BlackOut coming out on top 2-1 to claim their spot in the closed qualifier.
The first halves of Inferno and Mirage saw the two teams take 9-6 leads on their own map picks, but dominant second halves saw the series split 1-1 after BlackOut put up a 10-2 CT side to take Inferno and Test Takers shut out BlackOut 10-1 on their CT side of Mirage.
Another pistol round victory on Overpass granted BlackOut a chance to pull ahead on their T side, but Test Takers replied back with a force-buy to snag a trio of rounds for a 3-1 lead. From here BlackOut's offense didn't relent as eight of the ensuing nine rounds went their way, with Test Takers snagging the two final rounds of the half for another 9-6 scoreline.
This time BlackOut were not to be stopped as yet another pistol round win pulled them ahead 12-6. Although Test Takers tried to even the score with three rounds of their own, BlackOut were able to put a swift end to the series as the final four rounds went their way for a 16-9 finish.
BlackOutTest Takers| BlackOut |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collin 'wrath' McSweegan |
65 - 57 | +8 | 85.8 | 71.8% | 1.18 |
| Sebastian 'seb' Bucki |
53 - 54 | -1 | 92.1 | 75.6% | 1.14 |
| Connor 'CONNOR93' Glover |
50 - 56 | -6 | 68.6 | 69.2% | 1.03 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
54 - 55 | -1 | 73.2 | 67.9% | 1.01 |
| Chad 'Oderus' Miller |
49 - 48 | +1 | 61.1 | 71.8% | 0.99 |
| Test Takers |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyson 'TenZ' Ngo |
60 - 56 | +4 | 90.1 | 73.1% | 1.20 |
| Victor 'food' Wong |
57 - 53 | +4 | 73.9 | 75.6% | 1.16 |
| Sam 's0m' Oh |
60 - 52 | +8 | 80.2 | 66.7% | 1.13 |
| David 'Toy' Han |
53 - 55 | -2 | 80.9 | 73.1% | 1.06 |
| Dylan 'RIKO' Sabin-Arnce |
40 - 56 | -16 | 57.3 | 65.4% | 0.76 |
With this win, BlackOut have joined FURIA as one of the eight teams in the EPICENTER Moscow 2018 closed qualifier. Two more teams will have the chance to qualify through upcoming open qualifiers, while an additional four teams will receive invites directly to the closed qualifier.
The current team list for the EPICENTER Moscow 2018 closed qualifier is:
| BlackOut |
 FURIA |
 Qualifier #3 |
Qualifier #4 |
| Invite |
Invite |
| Invite |
Invite |
Signups for the remaining two open qualifiers are still open on FACEIT's website, and can be found below:
- Qualifier #3 - August 29th
- Qualifier #4 - September 2nd
