Favorites prevail in first set of ECL playoff matches
ESL Challenger League S42 playoffs commenced last night with each of the four upper-bracket series ending in standard 2-0 fashion. With the first wave of battle complete, games become more intense as elimination becomes a reality.
MIBR vs 
Iron Blood 2-0
MIBR sought to continue their undefeated run in ECL against an Iron Blood lineup that snuck into playoffs with a 4-3 regular season record. Things were barely competitive on Iron Blood's pick of Vertigo, with the score ending 16-7 in favor of MIBR. The only time the score seemed close was in the beginning, with Iron Blood starting up 4-3 on T-side. After that, MIBR took full control of the game, only allowing four more rounds across the rest of the map. The 10-5 lead for MIBR quickly turned into the 16-7 win, taking us to their pick of Nuke where things became much more competitive.
It looked to be more of the same to start, with MIBR kicking the map off up 3-0, but Iron Blood wasn't going out without a fight. Eight straight rounds made the map competitive at 8-3, with the half ultimately landing in favor of Iron Blood, 10-5. MIBR flipped the switch after halftime, firing on all cylinders on the CT-side to bring the map to overtime off the back of five straight rounds. Overtime was all MIBR, as they took all three rounds on defense, needing just two attempts to secure the map 19-16 and the series 2-0.
ATK vs Brazen 2-0
The ATK and Brazen contest was relatively one-sided throughout, with ATK hitting multiple-round win streaks in both first halves to assume a comfortable lead and never look back. After starting 0-3 on Brazen's pick of Inferno, ATK clapped back with win streaks of seven and four rounds to assume a dominant 11-4 first-half lead on their CT-side. Brazen held strong on the defense, winning more rounds than ATK, but the damage was done in the first half, allowing ATK to claim the first map 16-11. With Inferno over, it was on to ATK's Mirage pick.
It was more of the same on Mirage, with ATK losing the first three rounds before win streaks of three, three, and four took them all the way to a 10-5 halftime lead following the strong offensive showing. Four straight CT rounds in the early stages of the second half brought Brazen out of reach for a comeback, with ATK closing the map out 16-10.
EG Black vs Vendetta 2-0
The series kicked off on EG Black's Overpass, with the two remaining competitive through the entire first map. A tight 8-7 lead for EG was washed away by Vendetta after four straight to start the second half T-side. Down 8-11, EG Black answered back with four of their own to assume the 12-11 lead. Vendetta snatched one back to keep things razor thin at 12-12, but EG pulled away at the end, winning four of the five final rounds to take their map 16-13. Following the tight first map, the two teams were on to Mirage.
The second map had the makings of a blowout after EG Black's 7-1 start, but Vendetta rallied back with six of seven rounds to make it a competitive 8-7 in favor of EG Black. When the halftime switch came, EG Black left Vendetta in the smoke. An 8-1 T-side stomping took EG Black over the finish line with ease, 16-8.
Nouns vs oNe 2-0
The first map of the series was barely competitive, as Nouns immediately took off with their map pick of Inferno. The initial 1-1 split soon turned to a 9-2 beatdown in favor of Nouns, eventually ending the half up 10-5 after their effective T-side. Once Nouns hit defense, there was nothing oNe could do. Six straight round wins on Nouns' CT-side with only one bomb plant meant a quick 16-5 stomp on Inferno. After the beatdown, it was on to oNe's pick, Mirage.
oNe continued to struggle in the first half of Mirage, as the Nouns' defense was too much for the squad to handle beyond a couple of wins here and there. After another strong CT showing for Nouns, they were entering the second half up 10-5 poised to close the series. Winning pistol plus the two rounds after put Nouns in a great position to close the map out, and despite a valiant effort from oNe, they did in fact get it done over their Brazilian opposition, 16-13.
Upper Bracket
Lower Bracket
Brazen vs oNe Iron Blood vs Vendetta
The next set of ECL playoff action kicks off at 08:00PM, with two teams set to be eliminated in the lower bracket.
