Lazarus and New Identity advance in WINNERS League playoffs
This week the final matchup of WINNERS League Season 2 playoffs round of sixteen concluded, with Lazarus picking up a quick win over Lowkey. Additionally, the round of eight edges closer to completion with New Identity picking up a 2-0 win over INTZ.
Last Saturday, Lazarus finally completed their round of sixteen matchup against Lowkey, with the EPL side picking up a quick 2-0 over the Advanced team on Nuke and Mirage. Jordan Montemurro and co. started Nuke off by claiming eight out of the first eleven rounds before Lowkey answered back with three more of their own. Before the half was over, Lazarus managed to extend their lead as they found round fifteen to claim a 9-6 half.
After switching sides, Lazarus claimed the first four rounds of the half to claim a 13-6 lead. After this, Lowkey managed to mount a minor resurgence as they claimed six out of the next seven rounds to nearly tie Nuke up 12-14. However, Lazarus edged out Lowkey ending the map with a 16-13 scoreline.
Moving onto Mirage, Lowkey started out with a strong CT-side performance that saw the underdog team maintain their lead throughout the half, going on to claiming the first half with a slight 8-7 lead. Their chances of forcing a third map were dashed though as Lazarus mounted an impenetrable CT-side defense that saw the EPL team claim nine rounds in a row to swiftly close out Mirage 16-8. Lazarus will be facing off against Riot Squad in the near future to determine who will meet ATK in the semi-finals.
LazarusLowkey| Lazarus |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jordan 'Zellsis' Montemurro |
55 - 36 | +19 | 99.4 | 77.4% | 1.50 |
| Gage 'Infinite' Green |
41 - 31 | +10 | 77.8 | 71.7% | 1.24 |
| Jaccob 'yay' Whiteaker |
39 - 28 | +11 | 70.9 | 71.7% | 1.24 |
| Braxton 'swag' Pierce |
33 - 32 | +1 | 73.1 | 73.6% | 1.10 |
 Yassine 'Subroza' Taoufik |
37 - 35 | +2 | 78.3 | 81.1% | 1.09 |
| Lowkey |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damian 'EMIYA' Boulware |
45 - 38 | +7 | 96.6 | 69.8% | 1.16 |
| Alex 'vek' Voynov |
39 - 45 | -6 | 80.6 | 60.4% | 0.98 |
| Alex 'Obs1dian' Conrad |
28 - 40 | -12 | 68.8 | 56.6% | 0.82 |
| Paytyn 'junior' Johnson |
30 - 40 | -10 | 65.5 | 66.0% | 0.80 |
| Lucas 'Fiziq' Blow |
20 - 42 | -22 | 38.0 | 56.6% | 0.54 |
The other series that played out this week saw New Identity pull off the upset 2-0 victory against INTZ after picking up close map wins on Overpass and Mirage. Starting off on Overpass, New Identity hit the ground running as they claimed the opening pistol round and the following eco before INTZ answered back with five rounds of their own. New Identity claimed two more rounds in a row before the two teams split the next six, with INTZ managing to edge out a slight 8-7 lead.
On their T-side, INTZ further entrenched their lead as they claimed the first three rounds of the second half before New Identity managed to claim five rounds of their own to take a 13-11 lead. Immediately afterwards, INTZ once again tied Overpass up with two more rounds before New Identity claimed map point 15-13. INTZ managed to force overtime following a clutch from Gustavo "yeL" Knittel in round 29. In Overtime, New Identity started off in the lead by claiming the first two on their T-side and would capitalize on this to close out Overpass 19-17.
On Mirage, INTZ once again managed to close out the first half with a thin 8-7 lead after claiming the first five rounds in a row. After switching sides though, INTZ were completely overwhelmed by New Identity's T-side as INTZ were only able to string together five rounds before New Identity managed to pull off the upset with a 16-13 finish.
INTZNew Identity| INTZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Lucas 'destiny' Bullo |
50 - 49 | +1 | 78.5 | 78.5% | 1.11 |
| Vito 'kNgV-' Giuseppe |
48 - 47 | +1 | 78.6 | 64.6% | 1.04 |
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
46 - 48 | -2 | 75.2 | 63.1% | 0.99 |
| Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes |
36 - 47 | -11 | 59.9 | 66.2% | 0.86 |
| Alexandre 'xand' Zizi |
34 - 51 | -17 | 70.8 | 53.8% | 0.75 |
| New Identity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collin 'wrath' McSweegan |
78 - 35 | +43 | 103.5 | 87.7% | 1.73 |
| Skyler 'Relyks' Weaver |
44 - 44 | +0 | 75.8 | 69.2% | 1.09 |
| Will 'dazzLe' Loafman |
43 - 46 | -3 | 82.8 | 72.3% | 1.09 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
38 - 45 | -7 | 76.2 | 70.8% | 0.99 |
| Sebastian 'seb' Bucki |
39 - 44 | -5 | 63.2 | 70.8% | 0.93 |
Currently no matches are scheduled but next week Lazarus will be taking on Riot Squad while New Identity will be facing off Singularity. The complete bracket for the playoffs can be found on the HLTV event page.
