ATK falls and MIBR rises; ECL S44 picks up steam
After a slow week where only two games were played, ESL Challenger League S44's third week had plenty of Counter-Strike to be played. In total, 15 maps were played across six different series.
This last week featured MIBR's debut in the 44th season, as well as Strife's, Vendetta's, and Detonate's. The Brazilians were the most successful team out of the bunch.
Week three of ECL started with MIBR taking on Vendetta and Detonate facing ATK. Both series went to three maps and featured one overtime throughout.
The Brazilians were able to steal Vendetta's pick of Inferno with an amazing 8-0 T-side in the second half, but couldn't close the series on their own Nuke, after a flawless overtime from the NA side. The Vertigo decider was one-sided as MIBR didn't give their opponents any chance and won the series 2-1.
The match between Detonate and ATK also started with ATK stealing the Inferno pick from the opposition but in a very close 16-14 affair. Detonate was able to pull it back on ATK's Mirage in strong fashion, with a 16-4 score. The decider was Anubis, which went to overtime after both teams only managed to win six rounds on the CT-side. The map ended with Detonate on top 19-16.
On the second day of play, MIBR and ATK would be on the server again. MIBR faced Nouns, and ATK was looking to bounce back against the newly-promoted Limitless.
MIBR made quick work of Nouns, with a clean sweep on Ancient and Vertigo. 16-8 and 16-9 were the results on the respective map. Felipe "insani" Yuji, a product of the Brazilian team's academy, ended the series with 57 victims across both maps.
ATK and Limitless had an awkward series. Both teams absolutely won their own picks, with 16-1 for Limitless on Overpass, and 16-4 for ATK on Anubis, with both CT-sides being immaculate. On the Ancient decider, Limitless came out on top with a 16-13 result after a 10-5 half on the T-side.
To close out the week, MIBR played once again, this time against Strife, and Vendetta also played for the second time that week, but it was against Noxious.
The series between the two North American teams ended 2-0 for Vendetta, with both maps ending with a 16-13 result. Mirage, picked by Noxious, and Overpass, picked by Vendetta, ended with the CT-side team winning all halves. It was a matter of who would win more rounds on the defensive side, and it was Vendetta who did that.
Strife and MIBR also didn't spend too much time on the server. The first map, Anubis picked by Strife, ended 16-6 for the Brazilian side, and MIBR's Nuke finished with a 16-8 score for the picking team. insani finished on the top of the fragging list, once again.
For the fourth week of ECL S44 NA, it is scheduled that Davenport will finally debut, alongside EG Black and paiN, leaving only Villainous, Disconnected, and LOS + oNe without any game played. The first match of the week is Davenport against MIBR, today at 05:00PM.
