ESEA Advanced S42 champions crowned
The kings of S42 ADV have been crowned as Magic School Bus thwarted a surging Villainous and their heroic lower-bracket run with a 3-1 series win in the grand finals, earning them a direct invite to the next season of ESL Challenger League.
MSB started the BO5 series up 1-0 thanks to them entering the match from the upper half of the bracket. Villainous sought to make it a competitive series, beginning with an impressive offensive performance on their pick of Vertigo. Starting the map 6-1, it was clear Villainous was here to compete. Three separate win streaks gave Villainous a dominant 10-2 lead, but MSB pulled out the final three rounds to give themselves some room in the second half with a 10-5 scoreline. They were able to make it competitive in fact, winning the first five rounds to start the half. After splitting the next two rounds to make it 11-11, Villainous stonewalled MSB on CT-side to run away with Vertigo 16-11. The impressive performance set the series even at 1-1 as the two teams moved on to Dust2.
Villainous took it to MSB on their map pick, winning three of the first four rounds to start the map on CT-side. After the 1-3 deficit, MSB tore up the Villainous defense with three separate three-round win streaks to run away with the first half 10-5. Once the two teams switched, it was Magic School Bus that easily closed out the map. After winning the first two rounds to start the second half, they were able to bleed out their opposition on the CT-side to win their map pick 16-8. After the strong response on Dust2, the two teams were on to Inferno.
When the two began on Inferno, it was Magic School Bus all the way. With MSB having hit second gear, it took no time for them to run away with the series map. After losing the pistol, they successfully piled on multiple round wins in a row multiple times, to win the first half 10-5, thanks to their sound CT-side. Once they switched, it was game over for Villainous. Magic School Bus' T-side onslaught was far too much for their opponents, and they closed out the series with ease off of six straight rounds to win the map 16-5 and the grand final 3-1.
Magic School BusVillainous| Magic School Bus |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andrew 'VulcaN' Dominguez |
61 - 44 | +17 | 93.8 | 70.8% | 1.31 |
 Thomas 'FAME' Barbeau |
63 - 48 | +15 | 89.2 | 77.8% | 1.28 |
| Chris 'Slash' Petersen |
43 - 37 | +6 | 67.8 | 80.6% | 1.12 |
| Kevin 'cypress' Quib |
47 - 46 | +1 | 69.8 | 72.2% | 1.09 |
| Robby 'Swqft' Harrison |
42 - 42 | +0 | 61.7 | 70.8% | 0.99 |
| Villainous |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cory 'shutout' Frymark |
53 - 52 | +1 | 88.6 | 69.4% | 1.08 |
| Matthew 'tatm' Munro |
44 - 48 | -4 | 63.8 | 65.3% | 1.00 |
 Alvin 'Alvin' Bui |
42 - 47 | -5 | 62.6 | 68.1% | 0.93 |
| Kevin 'omniscient' Ma |
42 - 57 | -15 | 60.1 | 65.3% | 0.88 |
| Jake 'zebra' Davis |
36 - 53 | -17 | 60.4 | 62.5% | 0.80 |
Although it was a well-rounded team effort, the duo of Andrew "VulcaN" Dominguez and Thomas "FAME" Barbeau was particularly impactful in this series. Both of them ended the three-map affair with over 60 frags, K/D differences of +15 or better, and 1.25+ ratings. As mentioned, the first-place showing for Magic School Bus earns them a direct invite to ESL Challenger League S43.
As for Villainous, they'll join three other ADV teams and four ECL S42 teams at ECL S42 Relegation, where four of the competing teams will also go to ECL S43. All but one of the four relegation teams have been determined, with Eros and X13 coming to blows on Tuesday to determine this.
The final playoff standings for S42 ADV are:
1. Magic School Bus - $7,000 and ECL S43
2. Villainous - $4,300 and ECL S42 Relegation
3. Red Wolves - $3,000 and ECL S42 Relegation
4. Snakes Den - $2,000 and ECL S42 Relegation
5. Eros/X13 winner - $1,250 and ECL S42 Relegation
6. Eros/X13 loser - $1,250
7-8. 
Infinity
7-8. Earlybirds
9-12. LAG
9-12. REIGN
9-12. Take Flyte
9-12. New Threat
