fragging for masamune win ESEA Main Season 31; sixteen teams qualify for Advanced
Season 31 of ESEA Main has come to an end with fragging for masamune defeating V8 in the grand finals two nights ago, capping their 6-0 run through playoffs with a narrow 2-1 victory in their final matchup.
fragging for masamune entered the 64-team playoffs as the third seed, having finished their regular season with a 13-3 overall record. The top two sides, BZG and Hell yeah, were both eliminated relatively early on, with Hell yeah being sent packing by RAIJIN in the round of 32 while BZ managed a top sixteen placement before they were eliminated by Riot Squad Academy.
fragging for masamune had little difficulty working their way through the bracket, dropping just a single map on their road to the semifinals. There, they dropped the opening map of Mirage against Snow's Racers 5-16 before reverse-sweeping the series in dominant fashion.
Their grand final opponents, V8, were not so swift in their bracket run, with all but their opening matchup going to a third map. The team's most notable win came in the quarterfinals, where they notched a 2-1 win over New England Whalers before repeating the scoreline against Lux in the semifinals.
The grand final matchup began on fragging for masamune's pick of Nuke, with the team starting the map down 1-5. A 1vs3 by "depressed" allowed for fragging for masamune to get back on the board, giving up just one additional round in the half for a 9-6 scoreline. V8 attempted to fight back in the second half, notching seven rounds before fragging for masamune narrowly edged out a 16-13 victory.
The second map, Mirage, saw an even closer affair, with the two teams ending the first half neck-and-neck at 8-7. fragging for masamune fought their way up to fourteen rounds early on in the second half, but the two teams continued to battle back-and-forth to push the map to overtime. Despite a 3-0 half for V8, the team were unable to close out the map until a second overtime ensued. The two teams traded 1vs2 victories in the second overtime, but it was V8 who edged out their pick 22-20.
The series decider of Overpass saw a stark departure from the first two maps in the opening half as fragging for masamune took eight uncontested rounds on the defense. V8 managed to fight back for five of their own, but a 10-5 lead at halftime put fragging for masamune in a solid position to close out the series. A quick push up to fourteen rounds following the side swap put fragging for masamune inches away from a victory, with V8 managing to push up to twelve rounds of their own before the series was closed out 16-12.
fragging for masamune have topped the league season, and have earned a spot in Advanced Season 32. The remaining teams in the top sixteen have also earned spots in Advanced, with the standings looking as follows:
1. fragging for masamune (depressed, Clear, Alvin, Snohhy, Hate) - $3,150
2. V8 (rin, Adviko, retro, btr, -VulcaN-) - $2,100
3-4. Lux (ohkee, harden, knightmare, phean, folgster) - $1,350
3-4. Snow's Racers (leaf, snow, mickey, maazy, bronson) - $1,350
5-8. Riot Squad Academy (aware, halo, nagaMONSTER, sid, seziwana) - $450
5-8. New England Whalers (pavel, hellzaoo, saffee, Torres, yepz) - $450
5-8. voLante (hdz, N3XT, JOOF, LIN, MASOR) - $450
5-8. RAIJIN (PHANTOONS, GNiK, GraveCapybara, Input-, TheBagGetter) - $450
9-16. BZG (Thomp, Plushi, CLASIA, gamerbroz, Rough)
9-16. Advantage (Thanos, mock, hellasketchy, Conan-Kun, cyborg)
9-16. Conqueror (calamity, c-dubs, Silenx, sacred, yahoo)
9-16. Bloodline (insne, SiM, paplote, armen, Arias)
9-16. Panera Bread (Iconic41, suffix, Lysander, 1homer, insanity)
9-16. Minimum Effort (GRAG, Antwon, Sensor, RGAR, Toad)
9-16. BibleBlack (Bukashaw, kXn, oniichan, SCOTT_STERLING, Avo)
9-16. BUDSQUAD (SAUCY, Nut^, f0WL_, teeh, AwoL^)
The remaining ESEA leagues for Season 31 have also concluded. Teams now await the start of Season 32 at the end of August, with a handful of qualifiers and events taking place over the next month. Links and dates for the tournaments can be found on the Dust2.us Calendar.