Magic School Bus parks in first ADV grand final spot
Magic School Bus earned the first slot in the S42 ADV grand finals after a 2-1 victory over Red Wolves on Wednesday, solidifying their impressive upper bracket run. The series was tightly contested through the first two until MSB hit the second gear in the Mirage decider.
MSB got things going right away after losing the first two rounds in their pick of Dust2. After splitting the first four rounds, MSB tore through the Red Wolves' defense, winning seven of the final eleven rounds on the T-side to take a comfortable 9-6 lead entering halftime.
Same as the first half, the Red Wolves started strong with three rounds unanswered and ultimately five of six to start their T-side. MSB had enough of the comeback, winning six of seven on CT-side to win their map pick 16-12. After a mostly close first showdown, it was on to Ancient.
MSB sent the Red Wolves reeling on their map pick of Ancient, starting off 6-3 after losing pistol. After nine rounds, Ancient was looking exactly like Dust2. With the map looking bleak, the Wolves came alive, winning six rounds off five straight to bring the half back in their favor, 8-7.
After the half switch, the two teams went back and forth for nine rounds before the Wolves broke the chain with five straight to close out their pick on defense, 16-13. At 1-1, Mirage was the deciding map.
Once the two teams touched down on Mirage, it was all MSB. Before the Red Wolves earned a single round, MSB had already secured the half with eight T-side rounds. The Wolves managed to sneak in four rounds at the end, but not until their opponents comfortably secured the half on offense. The duo of Chris “Slash” Petersen and Andrew “VulcaN” Dominguez both went wild on offense, ending the half just below a 1.60 rating at 1.56 and 1.59, respectively.
The second half was more competitive, with the Wolves winning six rounds after losing the opening three. Unfortunately, it was far too gone for the Wolves as MSB eventually would close out the map 16-10 and the series 2-1.
Magic School BusRed Wolves| Magic School Bus |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andrew 'VulcaN' Dominguez |
67 - 52 | +15 | 89.9 | 73.5% | 1.32 |
 Thomas 'FAME' Barbeau |
65 - 60 | +5 | 89.1 | 69.9% | 1.15 |
| Chris 'Slash' Petersen |
60 - 51 | +9 | 82.8 | 77.1% | 1.12 |
| Kevin 'cypress' Quib |
56 - 50 | +6 | 65.9 | 73.5% | 1.06 |
| Robby 'Swqft' Harrison |
51 - 51 | +0 | 70.3 | 71.1% | 1.02 |
| Red Wolves |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kameron 'K4mr0' Bouma |
69 - 53 | +16 | 78.7 | 71.1% | 1.14 |
| Sam 'sam' Donaldson |
56 - 62 | -6 | 88.4 | 65.1% | 1.07 |
| Xavier 'Locke' Barth |
54 - 58 | -4 | 71.7 | 59.0% | 0.92 |
| John 'Fatality' Owens |
46 - 58 | -12 | 65.1 | 62.7% | 0.85 |
| Kevin 'Shawta' Le |
34 - 59 | -25 | 53.9 | 67.5% | 0.77 |
| Connor 'TiCx' Hartman |
4 - 12 | -8 | 19.6 | 78.6% | 0.73 |
After poaching the Wolves, MSB have earned the first grand final spot, where they will face the winner of Red Wolves and Villainous in a BO5 for an invite to ESL Challenger League S43. The consolidation final between Red Wolves and Villainous is set to begin later tonight at 09:00PM, with the grand final taking place this Sunday at 09:30PM. Lastly, Eros and X13 compete on Tuesday the 11th at 09:00PM in the 5th place decider match for the last ECL relegation seat.
