New Identity and Party Astronauts clinch spots in Americas Minor Closed Qualifier
The second Americas Minor qualifier has concluded, with New Identity and Party Astronauts earning spots in the Closed Qualifier.
The round of sixteen started off with Lowkey making quick work of Johnny "Marved" Nguyen's Glizzy Gang, winning 16-2 on Nuke. Matches continued to conclude in rapid succession as Party Astronauts bested Thunder Logic 16-1, and New Identity took down LiviD 16-6.
The next match to conclude saw Kyle "OCEAN" O'Brien's absolute mad lads fall to Good Game PR, with the Advanced team taking Overpass 16-13. Afterwards, ex-Zone beat out No Cap in a 16-10 victory on Inferno.
The final three matchups of the round of sixteen were incredibly close as New England Whalers clinched a 16-14 victory over Bust Down, The Quest claimed a 19-16 overtime victory against ETHEREAL, and Bad News Bears won in double overtime against shoot back 22-19 on Mirage.
Moving into the quarterfinals, the pace of the games picked up once more starting with New Identity dominating Lowkey 16-3 on Overpass.
New IdentityLowkey| New Identity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Sebastian 'seb' Bucki |
21 - 7 | +14 | 116.4 | 94.7% | 1.79 |
| Collin 'wrath' McSweegan |
20 - 7 | +13 | 87.9 | 84.2% | 1.61 |
| Will 'dazzLe' Loafman |
19 - 11 | +8 | 119.4 | 84.2% | 1.57 |
 Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
16 - 7 | +9 | 81.9 | 94.7% | 1.45 |
| Skyler 'Relyks' Weaver |
14 - 10 | +4 | 73.1 | 73.7% | 1.14 |
| Lowkey |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damian 'EMIYA' Boulware |
13 - 17 | -4 | 88.1 | 63.2% | 0.99 |
| Paytyn 'junior' Johnson |
14 - 17 | -3 | 72.1 | 52.6% | 0.86 |
| Alex 'vek' Voynov |
8 - 18 | -10 | 60.2 | 52.6% | 0.62 |
| Lucas 'Fiziq' Blow |
3 - 19 | -16 | 26.8 | 47.4% | 0.29 |
| Alex 'Obs1dian' Conrad |
4 - 19 | -15 | 31.5 | 31.6% | 0.18 |
Afterwards, Party Astronauts absolutely crushed New England Whalers, ending the Brazilian team's qualifier run with a 16-1 scoreline on Train.
Party AstronautsNew England Whalers| Party Astronauts |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
20 - 5 | +15 | 100.6 | 88.2% | 1.88 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
18 - 6 | +12 | 110.2 | 94.1% | 1.88 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
17 - 8 | +9 | 119.2 | 82.4% | 1.75 |
| Robert 'robby' Brown |
17 - 8 | +9 | 101.8 | 94.1% | 1.60 |
| Brenden 'stellar' McGrath |
10 - 4 | +6 | 51.3 | 88.2% | 1.08 |
| New England Whalers |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Felipe 'pavel' Costa |
11 - 16 | -5 | 68.0 | 52.9% | 0.84 |
| Leonardo 'Torres' Souza |
9 - 16 | -7 | 56.6 | 52.9% | 0.55 |
| Rafael 'saffee' Costa |
6 - 17 | -11 | 49.1 | 41.2% | 0.40 |
| Heloy 'hellzaoo' Nelson |
5 - 17 | -12 | 50.9 | 52.9% | 0.39 |
| 'Luke1' |
0 - 16 | -16 | 18.4 | 17.6% | 0.10 |
The next matchup in the quarterfinals saw ex-Zone's run come to an end following an overtime loss to Bad News Bears. During the map, Jaccob "yay" Whiteaker and Peter "ptr" Purney led their team with 1.19 and 1.18 ratings, respectively.
RugratzBad News Bears| Rugratz |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander 'zanz' Diaz |
26 - 25 | +1 | 77.3 | 80.6% | 1.22 |
| Joshua 'Hunter' Madore |
23 - 20 | +3 | 77.8 | 61.1% | 1.09 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
23 - 23 | +0 | 69.9 | 80.6% | 1.03 |
| Noah 'ULTRA' Giesbrecht |
22 - 21 | +1 | 58.6 | 72.2% | 0.96 |
| Hunter 'koga' Allen |
23 - 24 | -1 | 68.1 | 69.4% | 0.92 |
| Bad News Bears |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaccob 'yay' Whiteaker |
26 - 24 | +2 | 82.3 | 69.4% | 1.19 |
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
22 - 19 | +3 | 73.0 | 75.0% | 1.18 |
| Austin 'crashies' Roberts |
26 - 24 | +2 | 73.3 | 69.4% | 1.04 |
| Mitch 'mitch' Semago |
19 - 25 | -6 | 63.0 | 61.1% | 0.91 |
| Josh 'shinobi' Abastado |
19 - 25 | -6 | 54.9 | 63.9% | 0.76 |
In the final matchup of the quarterfinals, Good Game PR faced off against The Quest. After initially losing their T-side 4-11, Good Game PR mounted a massive comeback to force the game into overtime. However, they ran out of steam in overtime with The Quest taking the series with a 19-16 scoreline.
GGPRThe Quest| GGPR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter 'Asuna' Mazuryk |
30 - 31 | -1 | 100.7 | 60.0% | 1.17 |
| Jack 'micro' Ryan |
28 - 28 | +0 | 85.7 | 71.4% | 1.17 |
| Chase 'lowrider' Releford |
21 - 23 | -2 | 64.9 | 68.6% | 0.96 |
| Riley 'Reality' Fusch |
21 - 25 | -4 | 65.4 | 60.0% | 0.78 |
| Michael 'niche' Marvin |
13 - 27 | -14 | 40.7 | 48.6% | 0.52 |
| The Quest |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan 'Snakes' Amann |
29 - 21 | +8 | 86.9 | 71.4% | 1.27 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
25 - 20 | +5 | 85.0 | 71.4% | 1.24 |
| Logan 'Voltage' Long |
29 - 22 | +7 | 83.3 | 77.1% | 1.20 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
29 - 26 | +3 | 85.2 | 74.3% | 1.19 |
| Jack 'xCeeD' Holiman |
22 - 24 | -2 | 68.2 | 62.9% | 0.97 |
The first semifinal to conclude saw New Identity face off against Bad News Bears on Overpass and Inferno. On Overpass, New Identity started the series in the lead after closing out their T-side 10-5. Switching sides Bad News Bears clinched the opening pistol and the following two rounds to close the distance with an 8-10 scoreline. However, Bad News Bears was never able to take the lead as New Identity claimed six out the next nine rounds to close out map one 16-11.
Moving onto Inferno, New Identity claimed their T-side pistol again and were able to build on the momentum to close out the half slightly ahead 9-6. On their CT-side New Identity would win their third pistol round of the series, though Bad News Bears converted the following round. After this, the new teams would continue to trade with the score eventually ticking up to 14-8. Bad News Bears would attempt to stave off defeat by winning the next five rounds in a row, however New Identity would find the two rounds they needed to close out Inferno 16-14, booking their ticket to the Closed Qualifier.
New IdentityBad News Bears| New Identity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Will 'dazzLe' Loafman |
47 - 40 | +7 | 96.1 | 80.4% | 1.38 |
| Skyler 'Relyks' Weaver |
45 - 29 | +16 | 74.1 | 76.8% | 1.28 |
| Collin 'wrath' McSweegan |
41 - 32 | +9 | 80.4 | 80.4% | 1.19 |
| Sebastian 'seb' Bucki |
34 - 29 | +5 | 71.0 | 80.4% | 1.16 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
26 - 36 | -10 | 64.2 | 69.6% | 1.00 |
| Bad News Bears |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'shinobi' Abastado |
37 - 40 | -3 | 79.6 | 62.5% | 1.01 |
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
37 - 37 | +0 | 65.4 | 67.9% | 0.93 |
| Mitch 'mitch' Semago |
29 - 36 | -7 | 68.3 | 64.3% | 0.89 |
| Jaccob 'yay' Whiteaker |
28 - 40 | -12 | 65.9 | 62.5% | 0.82 |
| Austin 'crashies' Roberts |
35 - 42 | -7 | 60.3 | 57.1% | 0.81 |
The final match of the second qualifier saw Party Astronauts take on The Quest. With the action starting on Overpass, Party Astronauts began the series in the lead after closing out the first half 9-6. Switching sides, The Quest would regain control of their map pick by winning the pistol and the claiming six out the next seven rounds to take the lead 13-10. In the end though, Party Astronauts would claim map one returning the favor by claiming an equal number of rounds to close it out 16-14.
On Mirage, The Quest made up for losing their map pick by dominating on New Identity's pick. They won their CT half handedly 12-3, and then quickly closed the map 16-6 in their favor.
With the series tied, Nuke proved a good bookend to the series after the map went the distance. Starting off on the T-side, Party Astroanuts ended the half with a small 9-6 lead. Once the two teams switched sides, they continued to trade with Party Astronauts eventually taking a small lead, before The Quest were able to close the distance. On the 30th round, with an improvised buy and some individual heroics from Ian "motm" hardy and Brendan "stellar" McGrath, Party Astronauts took Nuke 16-14.
Party AstronautsThe Quest| Party Astronauts |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
68 - 53 | +15 | 85.9 | 72.0% | 1.26 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
54 - 50 | +4 | 75.1 | 75.6% | 1.13 |
| Brenden 'stellar' McGrath |
58 - 54 | +4 | 75.7 | 72.0% | 1.06 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
45 - 58 | -13 | 66.3 | 67.1% | 0.92 |
| Robert 'robby' Brown |
44 - 57 | -13 | 59.7 | 65.9% | 0.85 |
| The Quest |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack 'xCeeD' Holiman |
65 - 57 | +8 | 87.3 | 70.7% | 1.17 |
| Ryan 'Snakes' Amann |
53 - 52 | +1 | 69.9 | 76.8% | 1.10 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
62 - 53 | +9 | 76.2 | 68.3% | 1.07 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
48 - 57 | -9 | 75.4 | 72.0% | 1.04 |
| Logan 'Voltage' Long |
44 - 50 | -6 | 62.0 | 75.6% | 0.96 |
With the first two open qualifiers finished, only four spots remain open for teams looking to book a ticket to the StarLadder Berlin Major. As always, check out our updated Dust2.us Calendar to keep up to date and register for the upcoming open qualifiers.
