Party Astronauts win ESEA x Fragadelphia Winter Cash Cup 2
Party Astronauts have reigned supreme in the ESEA x Fragadelphia Winter Cash Cup 2, taking home $4,000 for their troubles after a 2-0 victory over RBG in the grand final.
The first semifinal of the day pitted RBG up against ONET4P. In what would prove to be a nightmare series for the new look ONET4P, Tianyi "Fr3nk1e" He's men only managed to muster five rounds across the two-map series. Beginning on Mirage, a stubborn RBG defense allowed the CT-side to get off to a strong start, securing eight rounds to ONET4P's one thanks to a strong individual performance by Jordan "jitter" Ruggiero. After a short-lived three round reply by ONET4P, RBG were able to close out the first half 11-4 to head into the second half with a comfortable lead. At the switch, RBG continued on with their dominant form, swiftly taking five consecutive rounds off of their opponents to thrash ONET4P 16-4 on the first map.
Over on RBG’s pick of Vertigo, things only went from bad to worse for ONET4P as Jadan "HexT" Postma spearheaded an initial nine-round win-streak for RBG on their T-side. In what would ultimately be a temporary interruption to RBG's domination, ONET4P did manage to secure one round midway through the half, however, RBG swept their opponent's glimmer of hope aside to blitz their way to a 14-1 lead. Full of confidence, RBG soon secured the second pistol-round of the map and converted the following round to trounce their foes and guarantee a grand final showing, taking Vertigo 16-1 in a truly one-sided spectacle.
RBGONET4P| RBG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jordon 'jitter' Ruggiero |
44 - 19 | +25 | 122.3 | 86.5% | 1.93 |
 Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
39 - 21 | +18 | 102.8 | 94.6% | 1.72 |
| Jerric 'wiz' Jiang |
28 - 8 | +20 | 80.0 | 86.5% | 1.53 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
28 - 25 | +3 | 87.7 | 78.4% | 1.22 |
| Connor 'chop' Sullivan |
26 - 15 | +11 | 59.7 | 78.4% | 1.22 |
| ONET4P |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walker 'walker' Harris |
21 - 28 | -7 | 67.4 | 59.5% | 0.81 |
| Kevin 'consti' Yi |
24 - 33 | -9 | 68.0 | 54.1% | 0.73 |
| Marco 'Pol0' Hernandez |
18 - 36 | -18 | 52.4 | 48.6% | 0.53 |
| Blake 'Elk' Swinson |
14 - 35 | -21 | 63.2 | 51.4% | 0.53 |
 Tianyi 'Fr3nk1e' He |
11 - 33 | -22 | 40.9 | 45.9% | 0.40 |
The second semifinal of the event saw Party Astronauts take on Strife. Despite initially heading to Strife's pick of Mirage, it would be Ben "ben1337" Smith's crew who started the map in control, overcoming a Strife pistol-round victory to string together six CT-side rounds. Strife soon answered back with two rounds of their own before the map descended into gridlock, with neither team able to win more than two concurrent rounds which ultimately saw the half end at 10-5 in favor of the Astronauts.
Although Party Astronauts managed to snag the pistol-round and subsequent two rounds, Strife were determined to keep the map competitive, managing to sweep aside their foes for much of the second half, adding nine rounds to their name. Alas, the five round deficit at the end of the first half proved too much for Strife to overcome as Party Astronauts managed to steal the final two rounds of the map to clinch Mirage 16-14.
The two teams then went to the Astronauts' pick of Overpass where David "cynic" Polster and company quickly got off to a good start, accruing a five-round lead before Strife could even respond. After a brief sparring match between the two teams in which Strife added three rounds to their tally, Party Astronauts soon continued on with their momentum, brushing Strife aside as they ended their T-side half with a comfortable 11-4 lead. With the threat of being knocked out breathing down their necks, Strife did compose themselves at the start of the second half, building a five-round streak but this would end up being in vain as the Astronauts soon responded in kind, ending the map and series with five quick rounds of their own, seeing Overpass conclude with a 16-9 scoreline.
Party AstronautsStrife| Party Astronauts |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David 'cynic' Polster |
44 - 28 | +16 | 85.0 | 76.4% | 1.32 |
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
47 - 36 | +11 | 94.2 | 74.5% | 1.31 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
38 - 34 | +4 | 69.7 | 70.9% | 1.08 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
38 - 38 | +0 | 74.5 | 72.7% | 1.05 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
36 - 40 | -4 | 73.1 | 58.2% | 0.95 |
| Strife |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keller 'SLIGHT' Nilan |
41 - 39 | +2 | 79.4 | 63.6% | 1.08 |
| David 'J0LZ' Jolin |
42 - 40 | +2 | 80.8 | 50.9% | 1.02 |
| Bobby 'stamina' Eitrem |
34 - 39 | -5 | 74.8 | 63.6% | 0.94 |
| Brett 'brett' Rhein |
34 - 42 | -8 | 76.1 | 69.1% | 0.90 |
| Dylan 'SATURN' Finch |
25 - 43 | -18 | 49.2 | 56.4% | 0.62 |
The grand final soon began, with Party Astronauts heading to RBG's pick of Inferno which would descend into a map-long slugfest. The two teams started the map continually trading blows with neither team able to build any form of momentum. Although RBG were barely ahead for much of their T-side, Jonathan "Jonji" Carey and his squad managed to squeak four rounds past RBG in the latter stages of the half to narrowly lead 8-7 by the time the two sides swapped.
The second half of the map was noticeably less scrappy, but still the two sides were unable to break free from each other. A Party Astronauts pistol-round was answered by an RBG eco-round victory, seeing the latter side capitalize by adding an additional two rounds to their tally. With both RBG and Party Astronauts unable to run away with the game, the map entered the final leg with RBG a mere two rounds away from match-point. Party Astronauts then stepped up massively, breaking free from RBG's clutches to bag five of the final six rounds of the map and steal map one with a near-inseparable 16-14 scoreline.
The first half of Nuke would once again end up being another grueling affair. The Astronauts began the map with a T-side pistol-round before adding two more rounds on top of that, but in a repeat of Inferno, the teams continued to trade rounds back-and-forth until ben1337's men broke away with the final three rounds of the half to secure the half 10-5. At the swap, Party Astronauts soon found their form and swept away their competition after snatching the pistol-round and converting the round after. A short-lived victory in the third round of the second half would be RBG's final-say in the matter, as the Astronauts quickly put the series to bed by taking the final four rounds of the half to secure Nuke 16-6 and be crowned victors of the event, not dropping a single map as they did so.
Party AstronautsRBG| Party Astronauts |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David 'cynic' Polster |
48 - 25 | +23 | 86.4 | 76.9% | 1.36 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
38 - 29 | +9 | 74.8 | 67.3% | 1.18 |
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
34 - 26 | +8 | 72.1 | 73.1% | 1.17 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
28 - 34 | -6 | 70.7 | 63.5% | 0.99 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
28 - 30 | -2 | 56.6 | 76.9% | 0.95 |
| RBG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordon 'jitter' Ruggiero |
30 - 37 | -7 | 74.6 | 75.0% | 0.99 |
| Jerric 'wiz' Jiang |
30 - 28 | +2 | 61.9 | 59.6% | 0.96 |
| Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
33 - 39 | -6 | 68.6 | 61.5% | 0.93 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
23 - 34 | -11 | 55.1 | 59.6% | 0.73 |
| Connor 'chop' Sullivan |
28 - 38 | -10 | 47.9 | 55.8% | 0.69 |
The final standings for the ESEA x Fragadelphia Winter Cash Cup 2 are:
1. Party Astronauts - $4,000 and 800 FRAG Points
2. RBG - $2,000 and 400 FRAG Points
3-4. Strife - 200 FRAG Points
3-4. ONET4P - 200 FRAG Points
5-8. Big Chillin - 100 FRAG Points
5-8. 
cs - 100 FRAG Points
5-8. InControl - 100 FRAG Points
5-8. umomd - 100 FRAG Points
The next ESEA x Fragadelphia Cash Cup is scheduled for January 29th, interested teams can register here.
