MIBR trounce paiN; Carpe Diem and Strife stay alive
Three more series came to a close in the ECL playoffs last night, seeing MIBR come out on top in their match against fellow Brazilians paiN, securing the team their place in the grand final. Meanwhile, Carpe Diem and Strife both took care of their opponents, ATK and Gaimin Gladiators respectively, with ease.
In the upper bracket, MIBR got off to a phenomenal start in their match on paiN's pick of Vertigo. paiN got off on the right foot with the first pistol round under their belt, but MIBR quickly rallied back and stamped out paiN for the rest of the half, posting a stellar 13-2 lead at the half. By the time the second half rolled around, there was simply nothing paiN could do as MIBR collected the next three rounds to steal away their pick in a dominant 16-2 fashion.
Although one may have expected paiN to be thoroughly demoralized from that trouncing on Vertigo, the squad managed to compose themselves on MIBR's selection of Overpass. paiN snatched the first pistol round and the subsequent round, and although MIBR answered back with three rounds of their own, paiN did a solid job throughout the half keeping MIBR honest, eventually winning out the half 8-7. A second pistol round win made it seem like paiN would be able to get ahead of their opponents, but MIBR regained their form from the prior map, setting paiN aside for most of the rest of the half to secure the map 16-12, knocking paiN down to the lower bracket.
paiNMIBR| paiN |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Wesley 'hardzao' Lopes |
32 - 31 | +1 | 72.5 | 63.0% | 1.04 |
| Gabriel 'nython' Lino |
28 - 36 | -8 | 70.6 | 58.7% | 0.86 |
| Rodrigo 'biguzera' Bittencourt |
26 - 38 | -12 | 62.7 | 60.9% | 0.76 |
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
19 - 36 | -17 | 54.2 | 63.0% | 0.72 |
| Vinicios 'PKL' Coelho |
10 - 36 | -26 | 42.0 | 45.7% | 0.41 |
| MIBR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes |
44 - 26 | +18 | 102.0 | 76.1% | 1.52 |
| Jhonatan 'JOTA' Willian |
42 - 22 | +20 | 89.3 | 80.4% | 1.42 |
| Raphael 'exit' Lacerda |
34 - 20 | +14 | 82.7 | 78.3% | 1.26 |
| Adriano 'WOOD7' Cerato |
30 - 23 | +7 | 73.7 | 78.3% | 1.13 |
| Matheus 'Tuurtle' Anhaia |
26 - 25 | +1 | 63.8 | 71.7% | 0.98 |
Heading down to the lower bracket, the first of two matches there saw Carpe Diem duke it out against ATK for their tournament lives. Carpe Diem started slow on their pick of Inferno, with ATK accruing a 5-1 lead early in the half. Those five rounds would be all the international squad would get, however, as strong showings from Anthony "CLASIA" Kearney and Connor "chop" Sullivan powered Carpe Diem through the rest of the half, with the team finishing the half firmly in the lead 10-5. This momentum carried over into the second half, seeing Carpe Diem quickly close out their pick 16-6.
Carpe Diem continued their phenomenal performance on ATK's choice of Overpass, suffocating ATK with a 13-2 lead on their CT-side, fueled by CLASIA, chop, and Jadan "HexT" Postma. A second pistol round win for Carpe Diem made it seem like the game was done and dusted, but ATK put together seven rounds straight to keep themselves alive. Unfortunately for ATK, Carpe Diem's lead was simply too much to overcome, as the North Americans went on to find the last two rounds they needed, closing out the map 16-9, and the series 2-0.
Carpe DiemATK| Carpe Diem |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Anthony 'CLASIA' Kearney |
53 - 29 | +24 | 102.8 | 78.7% | 1.64 |
| Connor 'chop' Sullivan |
38 - 23 | +15 | 88.4 | 78.7% | 1.39 |
 Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
38 - 25 | +13 | 86.2 | 78.7% | 1.36 |
| Jerric 'wiz' Jiang |
23 - 24 | -1 | 53.7 | 72.3% | 0.98 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
24 - 28 | -4 | 63.6 | 70.2% | 0.94 |
| ATK |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jonathan 'b0denmaster' Bodenmalm |
31 - 33 | -2 | 72.2 | 57.4% | 0.98 |
 Rhys 'Fadey' Armstrong |
29 - 37 | -8 | 71.5 | 53.2% | 0.83 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
26 - 34 | -8 | 63.2 | 68.1% | 0.82 |
| Gareth 'MisteM' Ries |
26 - 36 | -10 | 65.6 | 66.0% | 0.81 |
 Erik 'truth' Hansen Dyrnes |
16 - 36 | -20 | 43.5 | 53.2% | 0.53 |
The other lower bracket match featured Strife and Gaimin Gladiators, kicking off on Strife's pick of Overpass. Strife managed a good start on Overpass, putting up a 5-1 lead before the Gladiators put together six rounds of their own to snatch the lead away. Strife recovered at the tail-end of the half, edging out Gaimin Gladiators to take the lead 8-7. Gaimin Gladiators ultimately came out on top early in the second half, winning four of the first six rounds, but that lead was not to last as Strife dominated the latter portion of the half, securing their pick 16-12.
By and large, Gaimin Gladiators found themselves in the driver's seat during the first half of their pick of Dust2, but Strife had just enough rounds in them to prevent them from running away with the game. In the end, the Gladiators finished the half with the lead, albeit narrowly, with a score of 8-7. The second half saw the tables turned, with Strife large and in charge throughout the half. The Gladiators managed to break up Strife's streaks periodically, but a stellar performance from Matthew "D4rtyMontana" Paplawskas prevented them from putting together streaks of their own. This led to Strife stealing away Gaimin Gladiators pick, with another 16-12 scoreline to take the series 2-0.
StrifeGaimin Gladiators| Strife |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew 'd4rty' Paplawskas |
46 - 32 | +14 | 81.7 | 69.6% | 1.27 |
| Keller 'SLIGHT' Nilan |
42 - 34 | +8 | 79.7 | 71.4% | 1.17 |
| Bobby 'stamina' Eitrem |
43 - 38 | +5 | 81.6 | 69.6% | 1.15 |
| Paul 'aris' Wilson |
33 - 36 | -3 | 65.5 | 73.2% | 1.00 |
| David 'J0LZ' Jolin |
34 - 34 | +0 | 71.8 | 66.1% | 0.98 |
| Gaimin Gladiators |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David 'cynic' Polster |
41 - 41 | +0 | 83.7 | 71.4% | 1.08 |
| Jeorge 'Jeorge' Endicott |
37 - 39 | -2 | 78.0 | 71.4% | 1.02 |
| Zack 'XotiC' Elshani |
33 - 38 | -5 | 58.9 | 60.7% | 0.92 |
| Dominick 'JazzPimp' Dimpfel |
34 - 40 | -6 | 70.1 | 60.7% | 0.84 |
| Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
29 - 40 | -11 | 57.6 | 64.3% | 0.83 |
Only four teams now remain in the ECL playoffs. The last two American representatives in the playoffs, Carpe Diem and Strife, will be duking it out today at 08:00PM to claim a spot against paiN in the lower bracket final. The winner of that game will face MIBR in the grand final, slated to be played on April 3rd at 08:00PM, where the winner will be securing a spot at the EPL Season 16 Conference.
