Rank S Recap - mitch and seb to battle for final Combine spot
Another week of Rank S and Rank G has come to an end, with this one supposed to be seeing the final Rank S Combine spots claimed. However as in previous weeks, a tie at the top has prevented there from being a neat conclusion.
The top ten for the past week of Rank S is as follows:
Rank | Name | $ Prize |
1. | Mitch "mitch" Semago | $716.66 |
1. | Sebastian "seb" Bucki | $716.66 |
1. | Michael "dapr" Gulino | $716.66 |
4. | Shawn "witmer" Taylor | $450 |
5. | David "Sneaky" Polster | $200 |
5. | Jason "jasonR" Ruchelski | $200 |
7. | Maxim "wippie" Shepelev | |
8. | Derrick "LILMAN" Boyne | |
8. | Jeff "RZU" Ngo | |
8. | Chris "Slash" Petersen |
Many familiar faces from previous weeks are present in the top ten, but the most important are the trio of players tied for first — Mitch "mitch" Semago, Sebastian "seb" Bucki, and Michael "dapr" Gulino. Unfortunately for dapr, he is underage, and therefore ineligible to attend the Rank S Combine, leaving the tie between mitch and seb.
In previous weeks, the tie between the two players would be settled by whomever placed higher the next week. However, Dust2.us have been informed by ESEA that due to this being the last week of competition and the Rank S Combine fast approaching, this approach will not be employed this time around. It is likely that the two will face-off in a 1v1 BO3 instead.
The top ten earners for Rank S 2019 so far are unchanged, and as follows:
Rank | Change | Name | Total $ |
1. | - | Jeff "RZU" Ngo | $6,904.16 |
2. | - | Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk | $6,802.50 |
3. | - | Derek "desi" Branchen | $5,433.33 |
4. | - | Derrick "LILMAN" Boyne | $5,365.41 |
5. | - | Chris "Slash" Petersen | $4,193.73 |
6. | - | Peter "ptr" Gurney | $3,884.52 |
7. | - | Alex "aproto" Protopapas | $3,737.50 |
8. | - | Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik | $2,945.83 |
9. | - | Andy "vSa" Xu | $2,777.38 |
10. | - | Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue | $2,607.50 |
Over in Rank G, Yannick "KOLER" Blanchette was able to fend off Bryce "PureR" Lovell and CLG Red member Benita "bENITA" Novshadian to hold onto the win, earning himself a spot at the Rank S Combine.
The standings for the week were:
Rank | Name | $ Prize |
1. | Yannick "KOLER" Blanchette | $1,000 |
2. | Bryce "PureR" Lovell | $500 |
3. | Benita "bENITA" Novshadian | $275 |
4. | Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk | $250 |
5. | Malick "dangle" Abid | $225 |
6. | Alfonso "krZ" Fiorani | $200 |
7. | Rahul "curry" Nemani | $175 |
8. | Mike "real_bM" Desanto | $150 |
9. | Brandon "Sharkie" L. | $125 |
10. | Nijaz "Dota-t-k-o" Kostic | $100 |
Also placing in the money was Mike "real_bM" Desanto, who just recently stepped down from MDL side Infamous (now Royal).
That means that the current participant list for the Rank S Combine is as follows:
Rank S | Rank G |
North America | |
Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue | Brandon "BOOBIE" Roberts |
Derek "desi" Branchen | Joshua "KiiroKami" Kim |
David "Toy" Han | Caleb "opportunity" Davis |
Austin "crashies" Roberts | Jonathan "djay" Dallal |
Mitch "mitch" Semago / Sebastian "seb" Bucki |
Yannick "KOLER" Blanchette |
Europe | |
Dmitriy "Dima" Bandurka | Konstantin "sleepy" Vassilev |
Paweł "reatz" Jańczak | Andrius "TORAS" Balciunas |
François "AmaNEk" Delaunay | Aron "xajdish" Fredriksson |
With the participant list for the Combine mostly set, all that remains to be seen is which of mitch or seb will claim the final Rank S spot for North America, which surprise replacements there will be, and who the four invited captains will be. The Rank S Combine will take place from April 13th-14th in Las Vegas, Nevada.