Infinity avoid elimination in ESEA ADV playoffs
ESEA Advanced playoffs continued last night, with two lower-bracket matches taking place. With Eros and Infinity finding success in last night's games, we are now down to ten teams in the race to ESL Challenger League.
Both series started at the same time, but it was Eros that saw victory first with a 2-0 over New Threat. Eros was able to make quick work of New Threat on their pick of Vertigo, only allowing two rounds on their CT side. With a comfortable 13-2 lead, the two teams juggled rounds before Eros saw victory with a 16-6 scoreline. Darius “PNDLM” Bandali was otherwordly on Vertigo, closing the map with a 25-9 K/D and 117 ADR. After sending their opposition reeling, Eros was primed to close the series on their pick, Nuke.
Eros got back to business quickly on their map pick, kicking the map off 2-0 after winning the first pistol round. New Threat found their footing this time around to avoid a blowout, winning eight of the final thirteen rounds to make the first half competitive at 8-7 in their favor. Things became even more favorable for New Threat after a five-round streak to start the second half. Up 14-7 on their T-side, they looked ready to take it to a third.
However, Eros had other plans. Off the back of six straight on CT-side, Eros successfully completed the comeback in the 30th round to win 16-14, ending the series 2-0. Following this result, Eros survive to fight again inside the lower bracket, while New Threat exit the playoffs in 9th-12th place.
ErosNew Threat| Eros |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Darius 'PNDLM' Bandali |
43 - 29 | +14 | 88.5 | 69.2% | 1.34 |
 Scott 'Scottiyio' Baker |
44 - 30 | +14 | 81.2 | 73.1% | 1.26 |
| Michael 'Millz' Millsaps |
35 - 28 | +7 | 83.4 | 71.2% | 1.19 |
| Rudy 'PALADIN' Rokin |
40 - 32 | +8 | 79.8 | 73.1% | 1.11 |
 Nelvin 'nooz' Gonzalez |
31 - 36 | -5 | 69.4 | 80.8% | 1.03 |
| New Threat |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Illya 'supa' Filanchuk |
38 - 40 | -2 | 80.7 | 63.5% | 1.04 |
| Maxwell 'xam' Power |
37 - 37 | +0 | 74.0 | 55.8% | 0.97 |
| Nick 'nicx' Lee |
27 - 38 | -11 | 67.2 | 69.2% | 0.90 |
| Viacheslav 'Saviour' Mashchenko |
30 - 36 | -6 | 60.2 | 69.2% | 0.83 |
| Josh 'GRAVES' Waddington |
23 - 42 | -19 | 56.2 | 57.7% | 0.64 |
The second series of the night was rather competitive between Infinity and Take Flyte, with the two teams hitting round 30 in two of the three maps played. The matchup started on Take Flyte’s pick of Nuke, with Infinity taking a commanding 7-0 lead to start the map. Take Flyte managed to muster two rounds on the offense, but otherwise, Infinity’s defense was in full control in the first half. The dominant effort for the South Americans resulted in a 13-2 half on their opponent's map pick, and despite a second wind from Take Flyte in the second half, Infinity closed Nuke out 16-10.
Infinity’s Inferno pick was all a well-rounded battle for both teams, as the two squads had nearly identical T-halves, winning eight rounds off the back of seven straight. When overtime came around, it was Take Flyte that stood tall after going 3-0 to start the affair. After the 19-16 response, the two teams were going to Dust2.
Dust2 was a war of attrition, as the two teams remained neck and neck following a tight overtime battle on map two. Both teams exchanged streaks to start the map, with Infinity edging out their opposition thanks to three-straight at the end of the first half. Following the 9-6 half, they ripped off three more to pit them at 12-6 and in position to close the series. Take Flyte responded with six rounds of their own, setting us up for a closely contested decider at 12-12. With six rounds to spare, it was Infinity who edged out their opponents, winning four of six on their T-side to close the series 2-1 to send Take Flyte packing.
InfinityTake Flyte| Infinity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Renato 'pacmanN' Morales |
72 - 60 | +12 | 95.7 | 73.6% | 1.26 |
 Andres 'spamzzy' Correa |
62 - 60 | +2 | 74.1 | 74.7% | 1.09 |
| Joel 'TORITO' Rios Manrique |
65 - 65 | +0 | 69.4 | 70.3% | 1.05 |
 Francisco 'k1Nky' Alvarez |
56 - 62 | -6 | 76.7 | 71.4% | 1.02 |
| Bryan 'Marro' Valles Valenzuela |
56 - 53 | +3 | 65.3 | 71.4% | 0.97 |
| Take Flyte |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Umar 'Umar' Qaiser |
74 - 60 | +14 | 73.7 | 69.2% | 1.18 |
| Matthew 'farg' Timmons |
61 - 63 | -2 | 79.6 | 78.0% | 1.15 |
| Adam 'Grizz' Golden |
63 - 59 | +4 | 70.0 | 69.2% | 1.03 |
| Mohamed 'Penguin' Algadir |
48 - 66 | -18 | 68.2 | 71.4% | 0.95 |
| Alexander 'zanz' Diaz |
53 - 68 | -15 | 67.9 | 62.6% | 0.83 |
Following the elimination of New Threat and Take Flyte, ten teams remain in the rat race for ECL glory. Eros will continue their lower bracket travels against the winner of REIGN and Earlybirds. As for Infinity, they’ll also continue their journey in the lower bracket against the winner of Villainous and LAG.
