Oceanus and Peeker's Advantage claim final ECS Season 8 Pinnacle Cup spots
Oceanus and Peeker's Advantage have secured the final two spots in the ECS Season 8 Pinnacle Cup after besting a mixture of MDL, Advanced, and Main opposition.
Oceanus and LiViD were the first squads to go head to head, with the French-Canadian rivalry getting off to a surprising start as Oceanus dominated LiViD on Nuke, overrunning them to secure a 13-2 T-side before closing out the map 16-2.
Following this, Oceanus carried the momentum onto Mirage as they claimed a 10-5 T-side before winning the map 16-8.
OCGLiViD| OCG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cedric 'Melio' Perrault |
52 - 20 | +32 | 115.1 | 85.7% | 1.92 |
| Michael 'miLLe' St-Pierre |
35 - 20 | +15 | 89.5 | 85.7% | 1.56 |
| David 'J0LZ' Jolin |
36 - 32 | +4 | 92.6 | 76.2% | 1.32 |
| Gabriel 'TENSKEE' Rodrigue |
27 - 23 | +4 | 73.1 | 88.1% | 1.21 |
| Yannick 'KOLER' Blanchette |
23 - 28 | -5 | 59.9 | 73.8% | 0.96 |
| LiViD |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathieu 'INCRED' Bergeron |
29 - 35 | -6 | 74.5 | 73.8% | 0.97 |
| Michael 'MkaeL' De Luca |
32 - 35 | -3 | 80.4 | 73.8% | 0.94 |
| Danny 'huynh' Huynh |
21 - 34 | -13 | 64.8 | 64.3% | 0.76 |
| Anthony 'gMd' Guimond |
20 - 33 | -13 | 51.3 | 61.9% | 0.63 |
| Loic 'effys' Sauvageau |
20 - 36 | -16 | 60.1 | 59.5% | 0.61 |
The second series of the day saw the recently signed iNTACT take on Prospects. Starting on Inferno, Prospects won the first four rounds in a row before iNTACT managed three of the next four rounds. Prospects answered back with two rounds of their own before iNTACT pulled ahead to win the last five rounds in a row to secure an 8-7 lead at the half. Moving onto their CT-side iNTACT claimed the opening pistol round before Prospects pulled ahead to claim find double digits. Their lead would not last long however as Alexander "retrQ" Kadan and co. pulled ahead, winning the next six rounds in a row to find match point, before claiming Inferno 16-13.
Moving onto Nuke, Prospects fared slightly better as after losing the opening pistol round they claimed the next five rounds in a row, before managing to outpace iNTACT to claim a 9-6 lead. Their chances of forcing were quickly dashed as the Prospects mix-team looked lost on their T-side as iNTACT rallied, only allowing Prospects two rounds before winning Nuke 16-11.
iNTACTProspects| iNTACT |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
48 - 34 | +14 | 93.3 | 76.8% | 1.32 |
| Caleb 'jchancE' Davis |
47 - 36 | +11 | 81.2 | 76.8% | 1.29 |
| Alexander 'retrQ' Kadan |
42 - 40 | +2 | 83.3 | 78.6% | 1.22 |
| Riley 'Reality' Fusch |
34 - 36 | -2 | 71.9 | 71.4% | 0.99 |
| Austin 'AAustiN' Urb |
33 - 33 | +0 | 59.9 | 78.6% | 0.98 |
| Prospects |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike 'real_bM' Desanto |
45 - 42 | +3 | 90.5 | 73.2% | 1.15 |
| Dylan 'RIKO' Sabin-Arnce |
36 - 41 | -5 | 75.7 | 80.4% | 1.14 |
| Josh 'JoshRT' Lee |
39 - 42 | -3 | 74.4 | 62.5% | 0.91 |
| Marshall 'Minus' Sedowicz |
34 - 43 | -9 | 63.6 | 64.3% | 0.83 |
| Adam 'Polen' Polen |
25 - 37 | -12 | 54.0 | 60.7% | 0.79 |
The next series saw Main AWP face off against Main squad Space Shuttle Peekers on Inferno, Dust2, and Mirage. Starting on Inferno it looked like Main AWP were set to make quick work of Space Shuttle Peekers as they claimed an 11-4 CT-side before closing out the map 16-4 with a perfect T-side.
However, Space Shuttle Peekers were not ready to bow out of the qualifier quietly as once they moved onto Dust2 they struck back, winning their T-side 10-5 before claiming the map 16-9.
With the series tied up, the two squads played an incredibly close first half, with Space Shuttle Peekers ending the half down by a single round. Main AWP likely thought they were out of danger as they won their T-side pistol however Space Shuttle Peekers demonstrated a strong CT-side as they found seven out of the next eight rounds to go up 14-10. Following this, Main AWP found two more rounds before Space Shuttle Peekers completed the upset, claiming Mirage 16-12. During the series, 21-year old Italian Andy "Mitsuki" Valiente led his team with 63 kills and a 1.21 rating.
Space Shuttle Peekersimperial| Space Shuttle Peekers |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andy 'Mitsuki' Valiente |
63 - 60 | +3 | 95.4 | 63.0% | 1.21 |
| Ian 'Potatowolf' Ramsier |
50 - 48 | +2 | 76.0 | 72.6% | 1.10 |
 Ashley 'ashB' Arora |
56 - 52 | +4 | 77.4 | 68.5% | 1.09 |
 Nikita 'Advice' Ignatiev |
45 - 53 | -8 | 69.4 | 63.0% | 0.95 |
| Kobi 'Kobi' Flint |
33 - 48 | -15 | 54.5 | 68.5% | 0.85 |
| imperial |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex 'vek' Voynov |
62 - 55 | +7 | 88.8 | 74.0% | 1.23 |
| Alex 'Obs1dian' Conrad |
60 - 46 | +14 | 86.0 | 68.5% | 1.17 |
| Stephen 'Huston' Huston |
57 - 48 | +9 | 88.1 | 68.5% | 1.15 |
| Ethan 'reck' Serrano |
45 - 56 | -11 | 72.8 | 67.1% | 0.95 |
| Paul 'saiyo' Saiyo |
37 - 43 | -6 | 59.7 | 71.2% | 0.87 |
The last quarterfinals series ended up also being an incredibly close game as Peeker's Advantage squared off against Party Astronauts. Beginning on Inferno, Peeker's Advantage won the opening pistol round and the following two before Party Astronauts picked up steam, winning eight out of the next nine to guarantee a round advantage going into second half. Before the half was over, Peeker's Advantage managed to avoid a complete rout as they won the remaining three rounds to decrease the round deficit to a single round.
Moving into the second half, the two squads continued to play a close game however Party Astronauts rallied to secure the last four rounds of the half, taking Inferno 16-14.
On Peeker's Advantage's map pick of Mirage, the series continued to be neck and neck as after Peeker's Advantage got off to a strong start, Party Astronauts managed to leap ahead in the last rounds of the half, ending it up 8-7. Moving onto their CT-side, Peeker's Advantage demonstrated their strength on the map as they claimed the first six rounds in a row to climb up to thirteen rounds.
With their back against the wall, Brenden "stellar' McGrath and company were not ready to throw in the towel as they staved off Peeker's Advantage's advance, winning six out of the next seven rounds to tie the map at 14-14. With Party Astronauts gaining on them, it was now Peeker's Advantage's turn to fight back as they won the last two rounds to take Mirage 16-14.
With both teams having played the previous two series incredibly close, it looked like Dust2 was going to be the same as Party Astronauts ended the half up once again 8-7. Unfortunately for them they seemingly ran out of steam in the second half as Peeker's Advantage overpowered Party Astronauts, putting up a nearly perfect T-side to finally close out the series with a 16-9 win on Dust2.
Peeker's AdvantageParty Astronauts| Peeker's Advantage |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chad 'Oderus' Miller |
68 - 55 | +13 | 78.0 | 74.1% | 1.22 |
| Stephen 'reltuC' Cutler |
60 - 54 | +6 | 74.4 | 76.5% | 1.19 |
| Taylor 'Drone' Johnson |
58 - 51 | +7 | 75.8 | 68.2% | 1.11 |
| Jason 'neptune' Tran |
56 - 60 | -4 | 75.2 | 72.9% | 1.05 |
| Noah 'ULTRA' Giesbrecht |
54 - 55 | -1 | 68.8 | 77.6% | 1.03 |
| Party Astronauts |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
66 - 50 | +16 | 87.4 | 72.9% | 1.33 |
| Robert 'robby' Brown |
73 - 58 | +15 | 83.4 | 74.1% | 1.17 |
| Brenden 'stellar' McGrath |
54 - 63 | -9 | 64.6 | 74.1% | 0.94 |
| Abdo 'c4Lypso' Agha |
38 - 63 | -25 | 58.9 | 68.2% | 0.80 |
| Malick 'dangle' Abid |
42 - 62 | -20 | 56.9 | 62.4% | 0.78 |
After two very close series to round out the quarterfinals, the semifinals ended up being far more straightforward as Oceanus made quick work of iNTACT. Starting on Mirage, the French-Canadians claimed a 10-5 T-side before winning six out of the seven rounds on their CT-side to close out Mirage 16-7.
Oceanus carried their momentum onto Train as they again claimed another 10-5 half before putting in a strong T-side to rapidly take the map 16-7.
OCGiNTACT| OCG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yannick 'KOLER' Blanchette |
38 - 20 | +18 | 97.5 | 88.9% | 1.60 |
| Gabriel 'TENSKEE' Rodrigue |
44 - 27 | +17 | 93.0 | 88.9% | 1.53 |
| Cedric 'Melio' Perrault |
38 - 25 | +13 | 96.4 | 77.8% | 1.41 |
| Michael 'miLLe' St-Pierre |
35 - 18 | +17 | 73.5 | 77.8% | 1.41 |
| David 'J0LZ' Jolin |
33 - 20 | +13 | 77.7 | 75.6% | 1.29 |
| iNTACT |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin 'AAustiN' Urb |
26 - 34 | -8 | 65.6 | 51.1% | 0.79 |
| Alexander 'retrQ' Kadan |
22 - 38 | -16 | 52.3 | 51.1% | 0.61 |
| Caleb 'jchancE' Davis |
21 - 40 | -19 | 59.8 | 51.1% | 0.58 |
| Riley 'Reality' Fusch |
18 - 37 | -19 | 57.8 | 51.1% | 0.57 |
| Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
22 - 39 | -17 | 58.0 | 51.1% | 0.57 |
The second semifinal series was equally as decisive as Peeker's Advantage made quick work of Space Shuttle Peekers. On Train, they dominated, winning their T-side 11-4, before putting up a perfect CT-side to win Train 16-4. Following this, the far more experienced Peeker's Advantage squad continued to outplay Space Shuttle Peekers on Inferno as they once again put up an 11-4 half. Moving onto their T-side, Peeker's Advantage hit a minor speedbump as Space Shuttle Peekers won the pistol round and the following two rounds however Peeker's Advantage cleaned up, winning the next five rounds to take the map 16-7.
Space Shuttle PeekersPeeker's Advantage| Space Shuttle Peekers |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy 'Mitsuki' Valiente |
25 - 39 | -14 | 74.0 | 55.8% | 0.82 |
| Ashley 'ashB' Arora |
27 - 38 | -11 | 67.8 | 58.1% | 0.77 |
| Kobi 'Kobi' Flint |
18 - 34 | -16 | 56.1 | 46.5% | 0.59 |
| Ian 'Potatowolf' Ramsier |
20 - 38 | -18 | 54.0 | 39.5% | 0.55 |
| Nikita 'Advice' Ignatiev |
14 - 38 | -24 | 37.3 | 46.5% | 0.37 |
| Peeker's Advantage |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noah 'ULTRA' Giesbrecht |
46 - 17 | +29 | 106.2 | 81.4% | 1.74 |
| Taylor 'Drone' Johnson |
45 - 25 | +20 | 107.7 | 81.4% | 1.69 |
| Chad 'Oderus' Miller |
40 - 20 | +20 | 82.3 | 81.4% | 1.45 |
| Jason 'neptune' Tran |
33 - 24 | +9 | 84.4 | 79.1% | 1.29 |
| Stephen 'reltuC' Cutler |
23 - 18 | +5 | 62.1 | 83.7% | 1.19 |
With the fourth qualifier wrapped up, the list of teams qualified for the ECS Season 8 Pinnacle Cup looks as follows:
| Lazarus |
The Quest |
| RBG |
Rugratz |
 ATK |
Rap Gang |
| Oceanus |
Peeker's Advantage |
With all four open qualifers concluded, the Pinnacle Cup is set to begin on September 10th, with the invites to be announced sometime before that.
As always, the dates and signup links for every qualifier can be found on the Dust2.us Calendar.
