ESEA MDL quarterfinals complete; Gale Force and FRENCH CANADIANS upset
Major upsets abounded during the first round of matches of the ESEA MDL Season 26 playoffs. Match summaries can be found below:
GX vs Gale Force (2-1)
While the talent may be evenly matched between these two teams, it would be expected that the highest seeded team would make quick work of the lowest, however, this was not the case.
From the get-go of the first map, GX were on a heater, taking all but one round of the first nine as they started on the Terrorist side of Mirage. The MDL leaders of Gale Force finally bounced back in round ten with five of their own before the half came to a close. Securing the second pistol round as well, GX took control of the latter half of the game until the Argentinians finally broke hrough their defenses, claiming four rounds. However, it was not enough for them to overcome the round deficit, and GX won out 16-10.
The tables started to turn going into Cache, GX's map pick. While the North American team was able to consistently destabilize the T-side economy of Gale Force in the first half, they could never seem to string any rounds together, gathering just three rounds before half-time. Not easily shaken, GX took the first three rounds of their T-side, but the deficit of rounds was too steep to recover from, and Gale Force took their first map of the series 16-7.
Inferno was a game of alternating momentum for the two teams. It began with a T-side pistol win by Gale Force, only to be translated into an anti-eco that netted GX the following four rounds. Both teams traded two rounds each before the half ended 8-7 for the Argentinian squad. With a firm grip on the wheel, GX drove the tempo of the latter half, bringing the game to 14-8 in their favor before their opponents responded. Gale Force all but tied it up until GX closed out the map 16-13, taking the series 2-1.
Gale ForceGX| Gale Force |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tomás 'tomi' Guardia |
57 - 54 | +3 | 79.9 | 71.8% | 1.10 |
| Matias 'tutehen' Canale |
48 - 58 | -10 | 74.3 | 69.2% | 1.01 |
| Jonathan 'JonY BoY' Muñoz |
53 - 54 | -1 | 74.8 | 66.7% | 1.01 |
| Guillermo 'guishorro' Areco |
58 - 64 | -6 | 79.7 | 67.9% | 0.98 |
 Edgar 'MarKE' Maldonado |
52 - 59 | -7 | 72.9 | 62.8% | 0.94 |
| GX |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Shawn 'witmer' Taylor |
80 - 53 | +27 | 105.0 | 70.5% | 1.49 |
| Michael 'dapr' Gulino |
61 - 51 | +10 | 85.6 | 75.6% | 1.26 |
| Matt 'Pollo' Wilson |
58 - 58 | +0 | 71.8 | 73.1% | 1.02 |
| Braxton 'swag' Pierce |
49 - 51 | -2 | 70.4 | 73.1% | 1.00 |
 Keven 'AZK' Lariviere |
41 - 55 | -14 | 69.2 | 75.6% | 0.95 |
Rise Nation vs Mythic (2-0)
Mythic quickly bounced back after losing the first pistol round of the series on their T-side of Inferno, taking the anti-eco and the following round. From there on out it was a scrappy affair, trading rounds back-and-forth until the 9-6 half finished in favor of Mythic. Rise Nation's offensive side was nothing to scoff at though, as except for two rounds, Mythic was unable to stop the relentless aggression of Rise as they took the map 16-11.
Going into Cobblestone, Rise was practically criminal as they ripped through the modest defensive tactics that Mythic brought to the table. The first half ended in a short and sweet 12-3 in favor of Rise. An anti-eco in the second round of their T-side almost brought Mythic back in the game, but the deficit was too much to manage as they fell 16-6 and were eliminated.
Rise NationMythic| Rise Nation |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaleb 'moose' Jayne |
40 - 26 | +14 | 85.7 | 81.6% | 1.38 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
43 - 34 | +9 | 91.2 | 73.5% | 1.29 |
| Andy 'vSa' Xu |
37 - 30 | +7 | 73.3 | 73.5% | 1.12 |
| Will 'dazzLe' Loafman |
34 - 39 | -5 | 91.6 | 67.3% | 1.12 |
| Brandon 'Ace' Winn |
24 - 29 | -5 | 56.3 | 75.5% | 0.98 |
| Mythic |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric 'adreN' Hoag |
36 - 31 | +5 | 87.2 | 83.7% | 1.17 |
| Adam 'Polen' Polen |
34 - 38 | -4 | 81.5 | 65.3% | 1.01 |
| Todd 'anger' Williams |
30 - 32 | -2 | 69.1 | 73.5% | 0.98 |
| Erik 'fl0m' Flom |
30 - 41 | -11 | 65.2 | 73.5% | 0.96 |
| Alexander 'LeX' Deily |
28 - 36 | -8 | 66.4 | 69.4% | 0.81 |
SoaR Gaming vs Beacon (2-0)
The only time it appeared Beacon were in even this match was during the first half of their map pick, Cache. Despite a scrappy start of round trades to start things off, Beacon kept things pretty even come half-time with a reasonable 7-8 scoreline for them. That's where daylight died, and darkness descended upon the teams fate as SoaR didn't drop a single round during their Terrorist offense and closed it out 16-7.
Running away with the first seven rounds of Inferno, SoaR's reign was only momentarily stopped in a three round stint by Beacon before they closed out the half 12-3. Taking the first and last four rounds of the map in succession brought a quick end to this two map series, 16-3 for SoaR Gaming.
SoaRBeacon| SoaR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
33 - 26 | +7 | 89.5 | 81.0% | 1.36 |
| Jack 'xCeeD' Holiman |
33 - 24 | +9 | 86.3 | 83.3% | 1.35 |
| Matthew 'mCe' Elmore |
33 - 27 | +6 | 75.3 | 81.0% | 1.29 |
| Logan 'Voltage' Long |
30 - 21 | +9 | 76.7 | 81.0% | 1.24 |
| Ryan 'Snakes' Amann |
31 - 26 | +5 | 72.0 | 73.8% | 1.21 |
| Beacon |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle 'C0NVICT' Battell |
35 - 33 | +2 | 97.7 | 76.2% | 1.22 |
| Marian 'tyfoon' Lesnic |
26 - 32 | -6 | 72.6 | 69.0% | 0.95 |
| Thomas 'tconnors' Connors |
25 - 29 | -4 | 58.0 | 71.4% | 0.88 |
| Ryan 'ryann' Welsh |
21 - 34 | -13 | 50.5 | 64.3% | 0.69 |
| Ryan 'GRAMPZ' Baber |
17 - 32 | -15 | 59.8 | 61.9% | 0.66 |
Ghost Academy vs FRENCH CANADIANS (2-1)
The second upset in the day began with both Ghost Academy and FRENCH CANADIANS winning their map picks, with a close decider on Mirage. Let's take a look at how it played out.
The Americans of Ghost Academy started their map pick off right, by only dropping three rounds total in the first half of Cache thanks to a solid CT-defense. Narrowly winning the first two rounds of the second half gave some hope to a dire situation for FRENCH CANADIANS but was snuffed out shortly after by the adversaries, ending in a 16-6 finish for the US team.
Nuke, an often unfavored map to end up on in any series was the pick of FRENCH CANADIANS. After losing the anti-eco on their CT-side their momentum was fragmented. Both teams continued to trade rounds in groups of three until the half ended 8-7 for the Canadians. The reasoning behind their map pick came to light as they dominated on their T-side offense, winning all but one round to close out the map and tie the series 16-8.
The final map, Mirage was just about as close as they come for a decider. Ghost Academy started things with three defusals before the first gun round. After disrupting the CT economy with two rounds of their own, FRENCH CANADIANS continued to struggle against the defense of their enemies. They were eventually able to string four rounds together before the half ended 9-6 for the Canadian team. Switching to the CT-side, Ghost Academy practically mimicked the success of their opponents by winning strings of 4 rounds at a time until they won out 16-13, and eliminate FRENCH CANADIANS 2-1.
Ghost AcademyFRENCH CANADIANS| Ghost Academy |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan 'MAKKA' Drouillard |
60 - 42 | +18 | 80.6 | 78.7% | 1.21 |
| Jarod 'Douglas' Onorato |
56 - 48 | +8 | 85.0 | 70.7% | 1.18 |
| Jason 'neptune' Tran |
57 - 61 | -4 | 83.8 | 70.7% | 1.12 |
| Andrew 'ShoT_UP' Orlowski |
51 - 51 | +0 | 76.6 | 74.7% | 1.09 |
| Chad 'Oderus' Miller |
52 - 55 | -3 | 65.3 | 68.0% | 0.99 |
| FRENCH CANADIANS |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony 'gMd' Guimond |
65 - 52 | +13 | 82.2 | 69.3% | 1.16 |
| Yassine 'Subroza' Taoufik |
62 - 59 | +3 | 86.7 | 69.3% | 1.14 |
| Loic 'effys' Sauvageau |
50 - 54 | -4 | 71.7 | 69.3% | 1.00 |
| Keven 'PLAYER1' Champagne |
43 - 58 | -15 | 73.8 | 73.3% | 0.95 |
 Mert 'REOVA' Bayrak |
36 - 55 | -19 | 56.4 | 74.7% | 0.83 |
With these wins, all four teams have earned berths at the upcoming ESEA Season 26 Global Challenge LAN, which is due to take place in early December. They also of course keep their hopes alive for either an automatic promotion to ESL Pro League Season 7, or a chance to play a relegation match against either Rogue or Immortals.
The semi-finals for MDL playoffs will be played later today, where GX will meet Rise Nation and SoaR Gaming will challenge Ghost Academy for a spot in the grand finals of the North American league.
