ATK set up revenge match against paiN in ECL playoffs
The second to last day of ESL Challenger League Season 41 has come to a close, with Evil Geniuses getting taken out of the playoffs by Gaimin Gladiators before the Gladiators themselves were set aside by ATK. These results sets up a rematch for ATK and paiN in the grand final, a tough game for ATK, who will not only have to deal with paiN's map advantage in the BO5 final, but also with the fact that they previously lost this very matchup earlier in the playoffs.
The day began with a lower-bracket brawl between Evil Geniuses' ECL squad, formerly Carpe Diem, and Gaimin Gladiators, starting on the latter squad's choice of Mirage. Evil Geniuses started nicely by securing the first three rounds of their CT-side, but they were unable to compete with the Gladiators for much of the rest of the half, as Gaimin Gladiators secured a 9-6 lead.
A pistol-round win for the Gladiators propelled them even further, as they won five of the first six-round to post a strong 14-7 lead. Evil Geniuses managed to string a few more rounds together to attempt a comeback, but Gaimin Gladiators closed out their pick 16-10 shortly after.
Evil Geniuses hoped to bounce back on their pick of Inferno, and the beginning made it seem like they would do just that, locking down eight of the first ten rounds. The Gladiators managed to stop the bleeding later in the half, securing the last five rounds to whittle Evil Geniuses' lead to 8-7. Evil Geniuses snatched the pistol, making it seem like they'd return to their winning ways now on the defense. This would not be the case however, as Gaimin Gladiators posted a phenomenal offense, stamping Evil Geniuses out for much of the rest of the half to close out the series with a 16-11 victory on Inferno.
Gaimin GladiatorsEG Black| Gaimin Gladiators |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
48 - 36 | +12 | 93.0 | 71.7% | 1.30 |
| Jeorge 'Jeorge' Endicott |
38 - 29 | +9 | 81.7 | 69.8% | 1.22 |
| Brendan 'Bwills' Williams |
39 - 32 | +7 | 73.3 | 81.1% | 1.16 |
| Dominick 'JazzPimp' Dimpfel |
38 - 32 | +6 | 70.5 | 83.0% | 1.15 |
| David 'cynic' Polster |
32 - 41 | -9 | 87.3 | 67.9% | 0.99 |
| EG Black |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerric 'wiz' Jiang |
43 - 35 | +8 | 80.9 | 71.7% | 1.16 |
| Anthony 'CLASIA' Kearney |
38 - 39 | -1 | 82.1 | 64.2% | 1.01 |
 Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
30 - 39 | -9 | 53.0 | 58.5% | 0.84 |
| Connor 'chop' Sullivan |
30 - 41 | -11 | 75.6 | 66.0% | 0.83 |
| Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
26 - 47 | -21 | 66.5 | 66.0% | 0.82 |
After their win over Evil Geniuses, Gaimin Gladiators were soon thrust into the lower-bracket final against ATK, the squad who narrowly knocked them down to the lower bracket in the first place. This rematch kicked off on the Gladiator's pick of Inferno, where the squad was unable to recreate their success on this map which they displayed against Evil Geniuses. ATK put up a resounding defense, stamping out Gaimin Gladiators to secure a 13-2 half. Even with a pistol round win to start the second half, there was nothing the Gladiators could do to stop ATK from finishing the map 16-3.
Gaimin Gladiators fared far better on their opponent's pick of Overpass, but in the end, it still was not enough. The Gladiators put up a solid defense, and while ATK managed to snatch rounds periodically, the international squad was unable to put together long streaks of rounds, allowing Gaimin Gladiators to take a respectable 9-6 lead at the half.
The Gladiators locked down the second pistol round of the game, giving them a chance to further extend their lead and potentially take the series to a third map. Instead, ATK composed themselves, shutting down Gaimin Gladiator's offense for much of the second half to secure their map pick 16-13, moving the team on to the grand finals.
ATKGaimin Gladiators| ATK |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jonathan 'b0denmaster' Bodenmalm |
45 - 30 | +15 | 94.8 | 81.2% | 1.44 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
43 - 25 | +18 | 89.0 | 85.4% | 1.44 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
42 - 30 | +12 | 82.8 | 79.2% | 1.29 |
 Rhys 'Fadey' Armstrong |
38 - 33 | +5 | 94.5 | 70.8% | 1.23 |
| Gareth 'MisteM' Ries |
26 - 28 | -2 | 59.9 | 75.0% | 0.95 |
| Gaimin Gladiators |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
33 - 40 | -7 | 86.7 | 68.8% | 1.05 |
| Dominick 'JazzPimp' Dimpfel |
31 - 41 | -10 | 72.9 | 66.7% | 0.92 |
| Jeorge 'Jeorge' Endicott |
30 - 38 | -8 | 65.2 | 68.8% | 0.90 |
| Brendan 'Bwills' Williams |
31 - 37 | -6 | 68.7 | 60.4% | 0.90 |
| David 'cynic' Polster |
21 - 40 | -19 | 55.8 | 56.2% | 0.59 |
The playoffs of ECL Season 41 will conclude later today when paiN and ATK tussle in a BO5 final at 08:00PM over the highly coveted spot in the ESL Pro League Season 17 Conference.
