Party Astronauts win Mythic Winter Cup 2022
Party Astronauts have reigned supreme in the Mythic Winter Cup 2022 to take home the lion's share of the $5,000 prizepool after defeating Villainous in the grand final.
Ben "ben1337" Smith and company entered their semifinal matchup versus ATK hot off two convincing victories in Group A. Kicking off the series on Inferno, it would ultimately be the South African-American roster who originally started off strong, posting six rounds to the Astronauts' three midway through the half. The balance of power soon shifted from there, and on the back of a strong CT-side performance by Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue, Party Astronauts managed to lead 9-6 by the time the two sides swapped. Much like the first half, ATK managed to snag a spree of rounds at the start of play, leading 11-10 before the orgless roster had chance to find their footing. Looking to continue their unbeaten streak, the Astronauts soon picked up the pace, snatching six of the final seven rounds to steal map one 16-12 before the two teams headed to Overpass.
The second map of the series started off comfortably for Party Astronauts with the squad managing to build seven rounds on their offensive side. Gareth "MisteM" Ries' men quickly rallied, clinching five of the remaining six rounds of the half to keep the game competitive as the two teams were separated by one, lone round at the side swap. A stalwart defensive effort by the Astronauts characterized the second half as the side added eight rounds to their tally in convincing fashion to take the map 16-11 and secure a grand final showing.
Party AstronautsATK| Party Astronauts |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
55 - 33 | +22 | 91.2 | 81.8% | 1.44 |
 Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
40 - 33 | +7 | 81.1 | 78.2% | 1.28 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
41 - 35 | +6 | 81.1 | 72.7% | 1.20 |
| David 'cynic' Polster |
40 - 33 | +7 | 83.5 | 70.9% | 1.19 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
22 - 35 | -13 | 54.0 | 65.5% | 0.77 |
| ATK |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rhys 'Fadey' Armstrong |
52 - 42 | +10 | 93.1 | 65.5% | 1.23 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
37 - 33 | +4 | 72.9 | 74.5% | 1.04 |
| Gareth 'MisteM' Ries |
36 - 40 | -4 | 75.7 | 58.2% | 0.95 |
| James 'JAM' H. |
22 - 40 | -18 | 47.2 | 65.5% | 0.73 |
 Daniel 'sprayxd' Kogan |
22 - 43 | -21 | 53.8 | 60.0% | 0.65 |
The other side of the bracket saw two open qualifier teams battling it out, with Erik "fl0m" Flom's Paying Myself roster squaring up against Israel "LEARSI" Vargas' Villainous squad. Getting things underway on Mirage, Paying Myself instantly looked out of their depth as their defensive efforts were continually negated, conceding ten rounds by halftime. Things then went from bad to worse for the mix-team, as Villainous managed to look in control for much of their CT-side, only conceding two rounds at the hands of Paying Myself before adding the remaining six rounds they needed to comfortably take Mirage with a 16-7 scoreline.
Looking to close the series in a one-sided fashion, Villainous started Vertigo very much in the driver's seat, as the roster brushed off Paying Myself's pistol and anti-eco round wins to go on a six-round spree to start off the map. Determined to not let the map slip away like Mirage, Paying Myself answered back valiantly as they stole six of the final seven rounds of the half to narrowly lead by the time the two teams swapped. Unfortunately for fl0m's men, this is where the competitiveness ended with Fern "intra" Hak spearheading Villainous to victory with a 1.70 T-side rating, as the squad won nine rounds to Paying Myself's four to set up a grand final matchup versus Party Astronauts.
Paying MyselfVillainous| Paying Myself |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric 'ERIC' W. |
37 - 39 | -2 | 85.5 | 68.6% | 1.08 |
| Austin 'Cooper' Abadir |
31 - 33 | -2 | 66.3 | 74.5% | 0.96 |
| Erik 'fl0m' Flom |
38 - 40 | -2 | 77.3 | 64.7% | 0.95 |
| Alexander 'LeX' Deily |
26 - 39 | -13 | 63.3 | 64.7% | 0.79 |
| Nicholas 'hate' Young |
29 - 37 | -8 | 54.6 | 68.6% | 0.76 |
| Villainous |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian 'REAL' Humphries |
48 - 32 | +16 | 102.1 | 84.3% | 1.54 |
| Fern 'intra' Hak |
36 - 33 | +3 | 73.0 | 66.7% | 1.12 |
| Jason 'jason' Garcia |
38 - 33 | +5 | 80.5 | 68.6% | 1.11 |
| Diego 'sacrifice' Camacho |
34 - 29 | +5 | 74.0 | 76.5% | 1.10 |
 Israel 'LEARSI' Vargas |
31 - 34 | -3 | 68.4 | 72.5% | 1.05 |
Building on their dominant form in the tournament thus far, Party Astronauts entered the final firing on all cylinders, overcoming an initial five-round deficit at the start of Mirage to go on a tear for the remainder of the half, leading 10-5 at the switch. Adding to their CT-side domination, Party Astronauts' offense started with the squad taking the first four rounds of the half before Villainous finally interrupted the onslaught with two short-lived rounds of their own. A brief skirmish soon ensued, but the Astronauts' overpowering lead was too much to handle as ben1337 and co. quickly started the grand final victorious with a 16-8 trouncing on Mirage.
Things soon got even more dire for LEARSI's squad, as the Astronauts ran up an impressive 14-1 T-side to lead at the break. As a last beacon of hope, Villainous were able to respond to Party Astronauts' second half pistol-round victory by posting three consecutive rounds of their own. This would prove to be too little, too late as the Astronauts soon claimed the final round they needed to claim their third Mythic Cup trophy, all without dropping a single map.
Party AstronautsVillainous| Party Astronauts |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
38 - 23 | +15 | 83.8 | 79.5% | 1.41 |
| David 'cynic' Polster |
39 - 27 | +12 | 98.9 | 81.8% | 1.41 |
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
36 - 27 | +9 | 81.5 | 77.3% | 1.30 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
40 - 30 | +10 | 91.2 | 75.0% | 1.28 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
30 - 33 | -3 | 80.3 | 70.5% | 1.00 |
| Villainous |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian 'REAL' Humphries |
32 - 33 | -1 | 74.9 | 68.2% | 0.97 |
| Jason 'jason' Garcia |
30 - 36 | -6 | 78.8 | 52.3% | 0.89 |
| Diego 'sacrifice' Camacho |
25 - 35 | -10 | 64.7 | 63.6% | 0.78 |
| Fern 'intra' Hak |
27 - 38 | -11 | 69.1 | 63.6% | 0.78 |
| Israel 'LEARSI' Vargas |
24 - 41 | -17 | 67.2 | 61.4% | 0.74 |
The final standings for the tournament were as follows:
1. Party Astronauts (ben1337, PwnAlone, cynic, djay, Jonji) - $4,000
2. Villainous (REAL, Jason, LEARSI, intra, sacrifice) - $1,000
3-4. ATK (Fadey, MisteM, motm, JAM, sprayxd)
3-4. Paying Myself (fl0m, Cooper, LeX, hate, ERIC)
5-6. Eros (shutout, freshie, BeaKie, omniscent, JTMythic)
5-6. RBG (Walco, HexT, jitter, wiz, chop)
7-8. ChocoCheck (nosraC, XotiC, tropiiical, jeorgesnorts, mbn)
7-8. X13 (Makzwell, Lemonz, scar, halo, KayJay)
