FURIA, iNTACT, blitz, and more to ESEA Advanced quarterfinals
The round of 16 of the ESEA Season 29 Advanced playoffs have completed, with eight teams moving on to the quarterfinals. The four teams to move on to the semifinals will also be granted a spot in MDL relegation set take place in early December.
The first match of the playoffs was between blitz and Vikings. The former MDL side got the head start on Inferno, leading 9-6 at the half. However, Maxim "wippie" Shepelev led a superb comeback for blitz, allowing them to steal the map 16-14. The Vikings couldn't recover on the second map, and with Alexander "retrQ" Kadan putting on a huge performance, blitz took Train 16-10 and the series 2-0.
blitzVikings| blitz |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Maxim 'wippie' Shepelev |
58 - 35 | +23 | 107.2 | 76.8% | 1.53 |
 Alexander 'retrQ' Kadan |
53 - 34 | +19 | 99.5 | 85.7% | 1.52 |
| Jacob 'L0NER' Webster |
41 - 33 | +8 | 74.6 | 82.1% | 1.21 |
| Nathan 'leaf' Orf |
31 - 34 | -3 | 58.8 | 76.8% | 1.04 |
| Alexander 'zanz' Diaz |
29 - 32 | -3 | 58.1 | 76.8% | 0.99 |
| Vikings |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony 'dawn' Hagopian |
44 - 37 | +7 | 68.1 | 64.3% | 1.03 |
 Bruno 'WiGGY' Rabani |
32 - 41 | -9 | 67.8 | 60.7% | 0.95 |
| Julian 'hybr1d' Rivera |
32 - 45 | -13 | 68.1 | 64.3% | 0.86 |
| John 'Jm0' Williams |
29 - 43 | -14 | 67.9 | 55.4% | 0.81 |
| Joseph 'Muenster' Lima |
28 - 46 | -18 | 55.6 | 58.9% | 0.67 |
Reign vs Thunder Logic was the first series to go to three maps, featuring many lesser known players in their RO16 battle. Reign got a large lead on their CT half of Mirage, but couldn't get a good T side going themselves. Ramal "Rampage" Silva picked up an impressive 34 kills to help Thunder Logic to take the first map 16-13.
On Train, it was the Thunder Logic side to take the first half lead, but after switching sides ended up having an even poorer T side than Reign did on Mirage. Ezekiel "KmZ" Hughes paved the way for Reign on Train, with 96 ADR over the 26 rounds. The final map Overpass ended up being a nail biter, with Thunder Logic barely edging out the first half 8-7. Despite the efforts of both Rampage and Justin "Panderz" Kim, Reign were able to grind out a 16-14 victory on Overpass, taking the series 2-1.
ReignThunder Logic| Reign |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ezekiel 'KmZ' Hughes |
71 - 57 | +14 | 79.6 | 62.4% | 1.20 |
| Quintin 'dolphy' Madsen |
57 - 56 | +1 | 72.4 | 74.1% | 1.07 |
| George 'Powerzz' Yaede |
52 - 61 | -9 | 69.2 | 69.4% | 0.95 |
| Rahmin 'ShoukR' Shoukoohi |
50 - 63 | -13 | 61.0 | 61.2% | 0.84 |
| Bilal 'SPAMMER' Ali |
43 - 64 | -21 | 64.6 | 65.9% | 0.78 |
| Thunder Logic |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramal 'Rampage' Silva |
92 - 59 | +33 | 110.7 | 76.5% | 1.57 |
| Justin 'Panderz' Kim |
66 - 54 | +12 | 84.3 | 72.9% | 1.22 |
| Cameron 'Skelly' Thomson |
53 - 48 | +5 | 68.4 | 81.2% | 1.08 |
| Adam 'Ange' Milian |
49 - 57 | -8 | 62.9 | 62.4% | 0.89 |
| Chris 'Slash' Petersen |
39 - 55 | -16 | 57.8 | 71.8% | 0.83 |
The third match between iNTACT and Clarity was much more one-sided than the previous two, finishing in two quick maps. On Mirage, Clarity only managed to win four rounds, three of which were the first three of the map. Christopher "Swahn" Swahn was the key player for iNTACT this map, securing a 2.11 rating.
Clarity put up a slightly better fight on Overpass, winning a streak of five rounds late into the first half. Alan "Shakezullah" Hardeman was too much for them however, and his 91% KAST led iNTACT to another easy victory, this time 16-7.
ClarityiNTACT| Clarity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kellen 'Rascal' Cole |
22 - 38 | -16 | 64.7 | 60.5% | 0.73 |
| Muhtadi 'b0ssy' Irq |
25 - 38 | -13 | 67.0 | 53.5% | 0.71 |
| Denis 'denya' Kosogov |
22 - 36 | -14 | 57.6 | 55.8% | 0.70 |
| Ryan 'foGO' Erickson |
17 - 38 | -21 | 49.3 | 44.2% | 0.54 |
| Zach 'zach' Guccione |
18 - 39 | -21 | 51.2 | 41.9% | 0.47 |
| iNTACT |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan 'Shakezullah' Hardeman |
35 - 16 | +19 | 87.2 | 90.7% | 1.60 |
| Christopher 'Swahn' Swahn |
41 - 21 | +20 | 93.3 | 83.7% | 1.59 |
| Michael 'Turismo' Haas |
44 - 25 | +19 | 104.8 | 81.4% | 1.57 |
| William 'will' Cheng |
40 - 23 | +17 | 92.5 | 88.4% | 1.45 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
29 - 19 | +10 | 70.9 | 79.1% | 1.26 |
Guerrilla Tactics vs Masked's match featured the first overtime map of the playoffs, but still ended up as a 2-0 win for Masked in the end. From the get-go, Nuke was extremely close between the two sides, with an 8-7 first half score for Guerrilla Tactics. Masked managed to bring it to overtime, and with Joshua "Hunter" Madore at the top of the scoreboard, they managed to edge out the win 22-19.
The close loss seemed to destroy the confidence of the GT side, as they completely crumbled on Inferno. Mike "Swisher" Schmid put up 107 over the 16-3 win, helping Masked to a 2-0 series victory.
Guerrilla TacticsMasked| Guerrilla Tactics |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleksandar 'ALEKSANDAR' Hinojosa |
55 - 46 | +9 | 92.8 | 70.0% | 1.25 |
| Robert 'burd' Burdette |
42 - 43 | -1 | 86.7 | 80.0% | 1.15 |
| Gene 'ayjin' Krivachek |
46 - 51 | -5 | 82.6 | 68.3% | 0.94 |
| Zander 'FIEND' Bates |
36 - 39 | -3 | 57.0 | 63.3% | 0.88 |
| Jazzy 'Ematics' Kruczynski |
27 - 46 | -19 | 49.0 | 61.7% | 0.67 |
| Masked |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joshua 'Hunter' Madore |
54 - 36 | +18 | 91.3 | 78.3% | 1.52 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
50 - 36 | +14 | 91.3 | 80.0% | 1.35 |
| David 'Delta9' Shafer |
50 - 43 | +7 | 77.9 | 75.0% | 1.15 |
| Dion 'Bl4ckiice' Mckenzie |
43 - 41 | +2 | 82.3 | 75.0% | 1.13 |
| Egzon 'x0ni' Gashi |
28 - 51 | -23 | 56.8 | 66.7% | 0.77 |
The next playoff match was another close affair between Las Vegas MiniGunners and The Fundamentals. The first map Overpass, appeared to begin in favor of The Fundamentals, who acquired a 6-2 lead, but by the end of the half could only edge the lead with an 8-7. Despite the strong performances by Ethan "ReckMONSTER" Serrano and Stephen "SGM" Mechan, The Fundamentals kept control on their T side and closed out the map 16-13.
Dust 2 was very similar to the previous map, with the first half ending 8-7, this time for the MiniGunners. The Fundamentals took the lead early in the second half, but Christopher "Spriggals" Spriggs powered a big comeback to help LVMG take map two 16-12.
Despite their valiant efforts in the first two maps, the Las Vegas MiniGunners were unable to put up much of a fight on Cache. Toryon "KLUMZ" Kelley put up 26 kills over the map, helping The Fundamentals to ease into a 16-8 map score and a 2-1 series score.
Las Vegas MiniGunnersThe Fundamentals| Las Vegas MiniGunners |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethan 'reck' Serrano |
59 - 60 | -1 | 88.8 | 65.4% | 1.14 |
| Stephen 'SGM' Mechan |
61 - 51 | +10 | 71.9 | 71.6% | 1.06 |
| Christopher 'Spriggals' Spriggs |
54 - 59 | -5 | 72.5 | 69.1% | 0.99 |
| Bishop 'BishUP' Dawson |
44 - 64 | -20 | 66.2 | 60.5% | 0.82 |
| Thomas 'ExToSee' Johnson |
44 - 62 | -18 | 56.9 | 59.3% | 0.73 |
| The Fundamentals |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toryon 'KLUMZ' Kelley |
74 - 55 | +19 | 100.5 | 75.3% | 1.36 |
| Nolan 'Temperature' Pepper |
66 - 50 | +16 | 88.0 | 72.8% | 1.20 |
| Jake 'theTRUTH' Hass |
56 - 54 | +2 | 77.3 | 69.1% | 1.11 |
| Jake 'Decko' Muse |
51 - 52 | -1 | 69.4 | 72.8% | 1.02 |
| Ryan 'ROBBY1' Robshaw |
49 - 51 | -2 | 59.9 | 70.4% | 0.96 |
Robert Morris University and 4US featured yet another overtime game, this time with the series going to all three maps. 4US actually got a huge 11-4 lead on the first map Dust 2. However, RMU was able to make the full comeback to overtime, and with the firepower of Hunter "koga" Allen were able to steal the map win as well 19-17.
4US didn't let their choke get in the way of the next map, as it was a smashing victory on Overpass. Troy "ara" Pollock put up 1.92 rating in the clean 16-3 win and helped to tie up the series 1-1. The decider went to Nuke and Robert Morris kicked it off with a strong CT half. koga once again was the man of the map, and powered RMU to a 16-6 victory, taking the series 2-1 and moving on.
RMU4US| RMU |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter 'koga' Allen |
74 - 51 | +23 | 100.8 | 72.7% | 1.37 |
| Liam 'Welshy' Newhouse |
62 - 50 | +12 | 83.3 | 79.2% | 1.21 |
| Andrew 'Draggio' Aggio |
56 - 48 | +8 | 78.7 | 76.6% | 1.12 |
| Andy 'Andersin' Collins |
42 - 54 | -12 | 62.7 | 61.0% | 0.85 |
| Riley 'Reality' Fusch |
33 - 54 | -21 | 56.7 | 74.0% | 0.84 |
| 4US |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troy 'ara' Pollock |
65 - 50 | +15 | 83.5 | 75.3% | 1.24 |
| Garrett 'Bunny' Molle |
57 - 50 | +7 | 75.0 | 74.0% | 1.17 |
| Oliver 'figment' Thompson |
60 - 56 | +4 | 85.7 | 75.3% | 1.16 |
| Reagan 'Reagan' Love |
40 - 56 | -16 | 64.3 | 66.2% | 0.89 |
| Tucker 'Tucker' Watson |
35 - 55 | -20 | 58.1 | 74.0% | 0.85 |
Match seven was another one sided series, with Final Feature taking the win over Hentai Hooligans. Mirage was straight forward, with a 12-3 half in favor of Final Feature. Daniel "picky" Milazzo picked up an ADR of 104 on the way to a 16-8 victory. Jonah "Jonahp" Pulice stepped up on the second map, taking 24 frags in FF's 16-5 Overpass win.
Hentai HooligansFinal Feature| Hentai Hooligans |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordon 'jitter' Ruggiero |
35 - 36 | -1 | 77.0 | 66.7% | 1.01 |
| Brady 'thief' Dever |
27 - 39 | -12 | 76.5 | 66.7% | 0.85 |
| Chris 'riku' Piasecki |
30 - 40 | -10 | 68.7 | 64.4% | 0.84 |
| Jeremy 'Mundle' King |
28 - 35 | -7 | 67.8 | 62.2% | 0.81 |
| Carlos 'maazy' Bandle |
25 - 36 | -11 | 60.2 | 64.4% | 0.75 |
| Final Feature |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah 'JonahP' Pulice |
47 - 32 | +15 | 91.7 | 88.9% | 1.51 |
| Daniel 'picky' Milazzo |
42 - 27 | +15 | 93.3 | 82.2% | 1.46 |
| Damian 'EMIYA' Boulware |
35 - 25 | +10 | 80.4 | 84.4% | 1.38 |
| Colton 'BASE' Musella |
34 - 30 | +4 | 86.1 | 71.1% | 1.21 |
| William 'shonk' Kittrell |
28 - 31 | -3 | 78.7 | 80.0% | 1.05 |
The final round of 16 game was between FURIA and LiviD, finishing with a comfortable win for the Brazilians. FURIA kicked off Cache with an 11-4 half lead, and with Yuri "yuurih" Santos at the helm, they quickly closed it out 16-6.
LiviD put up more of a fight on Nuke, with the Canadians fighting back in the first half for a 7-8 score. They couldn't break the defense of Andrei "arT" Piovezan and co. in the end however, falling 12-16.
FURIALiViD| FURIA |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Yuri 'yuurih' Santos |
49 - 29 | +20 | 102.9 | 80.0% | 1.54 |
| Andrei 'arT' Piovezan |
46 - 31 | +15 | 97.0 | 78.0% | 1.42 |
| Vinicius 'VINI' Figueiredo |
42 - 25 | +17 | 84.2 | 74.0% | 1.30 |
| Rinaldo 'ableJ' Moda Junior |
35 - 31 | +4 | 70.7 | 78.0% | 1.16 |
| Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato |
24 - 27 | -3 | 61.1 | 74.0% | 0.99 |
| LiViD |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danny 'huynh' Huynh |
37 - 36 | +1 | 79.0 | 66.0% | 1.03 |
| Anthony 'gMd' Guimond |
34 - 39 | -5 | 68.8 | 58.0% | 0.85 |
| Yannick 'KOLER' Blanchette |
27 - 38 | -11 | 62.9 | 54.0% | 0.82 |
| Michael 'miLLe' St-Pierre |
25 - 42 | -17 | 65.4 | 58.0% | 0.77 |
| Michael 'MkaeL' De Luca |
19 - 41 | -22 | 46.1 | 56.0% | 0.54 |
The quarterfinals are set to take place tonight, with FURIA taking on Masked, Robert Morris University facing Final Feature, blitz playing The Fundamentals, and Reign taking on iNTACT. The winners of tonight's games will secure places in MDL relegation and will have a chance to play in MDL Season 30.
