Vision win Cougar CS:GO Open over x1 Academy
The final day of the Cougar CS:GO Open at GEXCon in the D.C. Area has wrapped up, with Vision taking home the $7,000 grand prize over x1 Academy.
On their way to the grand final, Vision first encountered AZIO, who was highly anticipated to also be in the grand finals. The series kicked off on Cache, with Vision immediately taking the lead in the first half. Led by a strong performance from Jake "kaboose" McDonald, Vision were up 10-5 at halftime. Joshua "Hunter" Madore and his team attempted to come back in the second half, but were shut down by Vision, who closed out the map 16-9.
The next map was Nuke, a particularly strong map for Vision. Nonetheless, AZIO remained extremely competitive, with Vision just barely gaining a narrow lead in the first half 8-7. Vision built off their lead in the second half, bringing the score up to 13-8 before AZIO strung together six straight rounds to usurp the lead 14-13. Vision ultimately closed out the map with three rounds of their own, avoiding overtime 16-14 and taking the series 2-0.
VisionAZIO| Vision |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ricky 'floppy' Kemery |
47 - 41 | +6 | 90.8 | 78.2% | 1.31 |
| Jake 'kaboose' McDonald |
45 - 40 | +5 | 92.8 | 80.0% | 1.30 |
| Alex 'aproto' Protopapas |
46 - 35 | +11 | 85.3 | 74.5% | 1.25 |
 Andy 'vSa' Xu |
39 - 34 | +5 | 75.1 | 74.5% | 1.13 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
34 - 30 | +4 | 67.9 | 78.2% | 1.08 |
| AZIO |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joshua 'Hunter' Madore |
42 - 41 | +1 | 77.8 | 63.6% | 1.08 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
43 - 40 | +3 | 76.5 | 65.5% | 1.04 |
| Trevor 'FrostayK' Bandle |
34 - 45 | -11 | 67.8 | 69.1% | 0.86 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
28 - 46 | -18 | 67.8 | 63.6% | 0.84 |
| Ryan 'Snakes' Amann |
33 - 40 | -7 | 67.3 | 61.8% | 0.83 |
The other semifinal of the event consisted of War Fleet taking on x1 Academy, with both teams being mix teams made for the event. Initially on Mirage, War Fleet appeared to be the dominant team, taking the upper hand 8-2 at first. x1 Academy retaliated, taking the last five rounds to close the gap to 8-7. x1 Academy maintained their momentum going into the second half, just barely reaching match point 14-10 before War Fleet pulled out six miracle rounds to sweep the map in their favor 16-14.
Despite losing the first map, x1 Academy were dominant on Overpass, taking a strong lead on the T-side 11-4. x1 Academy's strong performance continued into the second half, where they went undefeated for five more rounds to tie the series 1-1 with a 16-4 win.
x1 Academy's dominance appeared to continue initially in the first half, where they went 11-4 once again. However, War Fleet pushed back, taking rounds on the T-side to eventually tie the game 13-13. x1 Academy took back two rounds, putting them at match point 15-13, but War Fleet attempted to push it into overtime with one more round win. x1 Academy denied their last effort, taking the last round to close the map 16-14 and the series 2-1, moving them to the grand finals.
War Fleetx1 Academy| War Fleet |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert 'kilroy' Dahut |
61 - 58 | +3 | 79.0 | 67.5% | 1.09 |
| Jack 'yelrad' Darley |
61 - 58 | +3 | 79.1 | 63.7% | 1.04 |
| Chris 'Duck' Dutoit |
48 - 58 | -10 | 70.8 | 68.8% | 0.94 |
| Alec 'dragooon' Droegemeier |
44 - 59 | -15 | 63.5 | 58.8% | 0.83 |
| Hunter 'Hollywood' Neal |
35 - 62 | -27 | 60.6 | 66.2% | 0.80 |
| x1 Academy |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob 'L0NER' Webster |
71 - 43 | +28 | 85.3 | 78.8% | 1.39 |
| Nolan 'Temperature' Pepper |
61 - 48 | +13 | 92.6 | 72.5% | 1.31 |
| Bryce 'PureR' Lovell |
70 - 52 | +18 | 85.2 | 72.5% | 1.26 |
| John 'Arbiter' Burt |
52 - 55 | -3 | 71.2 | 65.0% | 0.99 |
| Jasper 'sfX' Ko |
40 - 52 | -12 | 63.6 | 72.5% | 0.94 |
Both teams finally reached the grand finals, with Vision taking on x1 Academy. Being a fully-fledged team and boasting a previous LAN victory, Vision appeared to have an upper hand in the matchup. Such did not seem to be the case at first, as x1 Academy took the lead in the first half of Train 8-7. Vision quickly took back the lead, crushing x1 Academy and closing the map in their favor 16-8.
Vision remained adamant on Mirage, taking the first nine rounds without contest before x1 Academy could win a round for themselves. x1 Academy were only able to take two rounds in the first half, with Vision up 13-2. After three swift rounds, Vision closed out the map 16-2, giving them the grand finals 2-0 and winning the Cougar CS:GO Open.
Visionx1 Academy| Vision |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricky 'floppy' Kemery |
53 - 25 | +28 | 121.9 | 90.5% | 1.95 |
| Alex 'aproto' Protopapas |
41 - 27 | +14 | 108.0 | 85.7% | 1.55 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
33 - 20 | +13 | 78.0 | 71.4% | 1.30 |
| Andy 'vSa' Xu |
28 - 16 | +12 | 70.1 | 81.0% | 1.24 |
| Jake 'kaboose' McDonald |
33 - 28 | +5 | 84.3 | 76.2% | 1.19 |
| x1 Academy |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryce 'PureR' Lovell |
29 - 35 | -6 | 71.9 | 61.9% | 0.93 |
| Nolan 'Temperature' Pepper |
29 - 38 | -9 | 74.4 | 69.0% | 0.83 |
| Jacob 'L0NER' Webster |
23 - 36 | -13 | 66.1 | 52.4% | 0.81 |
| John 'Arbiter' Burt |
19 - 41 | -22 | 54.8 | 54.8% | 0.58 |
| Jasper 'sfX' Ko |
16 - 38 | -22 | 52.6 | 47.6% | 0.51 |
The final standings for the top 4 at the Cougar CS:GO Open are:
1st. Vision - $7,000 + Entry and Travel Support for NSG Eastern Championship Finals
2nd. x1 Academy - $2,000
3rd-4th. AZIO - $500
3rd-4th. War Fleet - $500
With their victory, Vision have taken their second LAN event and are now qualified for the NSG Eastern Conference Championship, which will play out sometime later this year.
