Riot Squad secure MDL LAN Finals berth over INTZ while Ben's Anime Team fall to Triumph
The first two days of MDL Season 32 playoffs have concluded, with Riot Squad, INTZ, Triumph, and Rugratz securing spots at the MDL Season 32 Global Challenge.
Friday night started off with a one-sided series as INTZ took down MAC-51 without much trouble, only allowing the squad fifteen rounds over two maps.
INTZMAC-51| INTZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ricardo 'boltz' Prass |
40 - 27 | +13 | 92.1 | 74.5% | 1.35 |
| Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes |
34 - 30 | +4 | 82.8 | 80.9% | 1.26 |
| Alexandre 'xand' Zizi |
34 - 24 | +10 | 79.4 | 74.5% | 1.24 |
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
37 - 25 | +12 | 72.7 | 78.7% | 1.22 |
| Bruno 'shz' Martinelli |
32 - 26 | +6 | 70.4 | 66.0% | 1.09 |
| MAC-51 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rahul 'curry' Nemani |
32 - 38 | -6 | 73.3 | 61.7% | 0.97 |
| Robert 'robby' Brown |
31 - 31 | +0 | 70.9 | 66.0% | 0.95 |
| Chris 'riku' Piasecki |
28 - 38 | -10 | 67.1 | 57.4% | 0.79 |
| Brenden 'stellar' McGrath |
16 - 32 | -16 | 56.3 | 66.0% | 0.76 |
| Brady 'thief' Dever |
25 - 39 | -14 | 52.0 | 53.2% | 0.62 |
The second series on Friday ended up going the distance, with Rugratz and Riot Squad trading blows on Nuke, Train, and Overpass. Nuke saw Riot Squad narrowly squeak by after a massive comeback, before Rugratz tied things up with a strong performance on Train. With the series tied up, Overpass ended up being the closest map of the series, where after identical halves, Riot Squad managed to secure a 19-16 overtime victory.
Riot SquadRugratz| Riot Squad |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
70 - 55 | +15 | 79.0 | 71.4% | 1.18 |
 Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
72 - 71 | +1 | 84.8 | 71.4% | 1.16 |
| Mitch 'mitch' Semago |
65 - 64 | +1 | 73.1 | 69.2% | 1.03 |
| Pujan 'FNS' Mehta |
57 - 72 | -15 | 72.6 | 67.0% | 0.95 |
| Austin 'crashies' Roberts |
54 - 68 | -14 | 72.0 | 70.3% | 0.89 |
| Rugratz |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler 'tweiss' Weiss |
70 - 61 | +9 | 81.1 | 75.8% | 1.11 |
| Alexander 'zanz' Diaz |
70 - 68 | +2 | 79.9 | 63.7% | 1.09 |
| Daniel 'roca' Gustaferri |
61 - 65 | -4 | 80.4 | 75.8% | 1.08 |
| Erik 'penny' Penny |
67 - 63 | +4 | 75.8 | 64.8% | 1.06 |
| Joshua 'Hunter' Madore |
60 - 61 | -1 | 70.6 | 69.2% | 1.01 |
Continuing on, Ascent managed to put up a stronger than expected fight against Ben's Anime Team as they started the series off with a 16-10 win on Mirage. Ascent continued to test Ben's Anime Team as they almost found the 2-0 series win on Nuke before Ben's Anime Team rallied to secure their map pick 16-14. With the series tied up, Ascent were once again denied the win as after another incredibly close map, Ben's Anime Team squeaked by with a 16-14 scoreline.
AscentBen's Anime Team| Ascent |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
64 - 59 | +5 | 88.8 | 74.4% | 1.16 |
| Marc-Andre 'NiSMO' Tayar |
65 - 59 | +6 | 81.0 | 69.8% | 1.15 |
| Lucas 'Fiziq' Blow |
53 - 54 | -1 | 63.7 | 62.8% | 1.04 |
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
64 - 61 | +3 | 70.6 | 62.8% | 1.03 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
50 - 60 | -10 | 66.9 | 69.8% | 0.91 |
| Ben's Anime Team |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gage 'Infinite' Green |
65 - 59 | +6 | 83.8 | 69.8% | 1.15 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
66 - 60 | +6 | 79.3 | 70.9% | 1.11 |
| Joshua 'steel' Nissan |
59 - 62 | -3 | 82.6 | 70.9% | 1.07 |
 Maxim 'wippie' Shepelev |
52 - 51 | +1 | 59.9 | 70.9% | 0.94 |
| Cameron 'cam' Kern |
51 - 64 | -13 | 66.6 | 65.1% | 0.90 |
Firday night's matches were rounded off with a close series between the recently signed Triumph and oNe. Starting on Nuke, after oNe battered Triumph to secure a 12-3 CT-side, Triumph bounced back, closing the gap to just three rounds, however the Brazilians found their composure and claimed the map 16-12.
On Inferno, Triumph managed to take the map 16-11, with Jack "xCeeD" Holiman and co. managed to stay in the lead for the entire map.
On the final map, oNe looked like they were going to take the map without Triumph getting to double digits, however Triumph rallied to force overtime after winning the last six rounds in a row on their CT-side. Unfortunately for Triumph, their comeback ultimately fell short, as in overtime oNe secured the map and by extension the series with a 19-17 scoreline.
TriumphTeamOne| Triumph |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan 'Voltage' Long |
66 - 49 | +17 | 74.1 | 72.5% | 1.15 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
68 - 64 | +4 | 75.9 | 64.8% | 1.13 |
| Jack 'xCeeD' Holiman |
59 - 62 | -3 | 67.2 | 68.1% | 1.00 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
50 - 51 | -1 | 62.3 | 69.2% | 0.97 |
| Ryan 'Snakes' Amann |
41 - 58 | -17 | 60.9 | 62.6% | 0.79 |
| TeamOne |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruno 'b4rtiN' Câmara |
73 - 50 | +23 | 83.9 | 81.3% | 1.38 |
| Bruno 'BIT' Fukuda Lima |
68 - 58 | +10 | 82.3 | 64.8% | 1.15 |
| Pedro 'Maluk3' Campos |
50 - 54 | -4 | 60.1 | 68.1% | 0.91 |
| Alencar 'trk' Rossato |
52 - 64 | -12 | 68.8 | 59.3% | 0.90 |
| Victor 'bld' Rocha |
41 - 59 | -18 | 49.6 | 63.7% | 0.73 |
Moving onto Saturday night's matches, Triumph started off the lower bracket by ending MAC-51's playoff aspirations with two quick wins on Mirage and Inferno. Although MAC-51 made a good showing of themselves on their opening Mirage T-side, they were quickly overrun after the half.
After Mirage, Inferno ended up being even more decisive as Triumph claimed a 10-5 T-side before formulating a perfect CT-side to claim a 16-5 victory.
MAC-51Triumph| MAC-51 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brady 'thief' Dever |
29 - 32 | -3 | 73.7 | 71.1% | 0.99 |
| Brenden 'stellar' McGrath |
29 - 32 | -3 | 72.4 | 68.9% | 0.93 |
| Robert 'robby' Brown |
22 - 33 | -11 | 53.3 | 64.4% | 0.79 |
| Chris 'riku' Piasecki |
23 - 35 | -12 | 58.4 | 66.7% | 0.77 |
| Rahul 'curry' Nemani |
20 - 35 | -15 | 56.8 | 66.7% | 0.72 |
| Triumph |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan 'Voltage' Long |
42 - 19 | +23 | 83.4 | 82.2% | 1.50 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
38 - 32 | +6 | 93.5 | 75.6% | 1.33 |
| Ryan 'Snakes' Amann |
33 - 22 | +11 | 77.0 | 80.0% | 1.29 |
| Jack 'xCeeD' Holiman |
28 - 26 | +2 | 80.2 | 75.6% | 1.19 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
26 - 24 | +2 | 68.8 | 73.3% | 1.10 |
Continuing on, Ben's Anime Team were handed a surprising defeat by Riot Squad, with the veteran-packed roster taking down Josh "steel" Nissan and co. on Dust2 and Inferno. On Dust2, Riot Squad picked apart Ben's Anime Team's CT-side to claim a 10-5 lead at the half before mounting a perfect CT-side to claim the map 16-5.
After a one-sided first map, Riot Squad continued to show their domination in this matchup as they battered Ben's Anime Team to claim an even more decisive 16-4 win on Inferno.
Riot SquadBen's Anime Team| Riot Squad |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitch 'mitch' Semago |
42 - 17 | +25 | 89.2 | 78.0% | 1.57 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
31 - 27 | +4 | 104.6 | 85.4% | 1.46 |
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
35 - 16 | +19 | 85.2 | 80.5% | 1.46 |
| Austin 'crashies' Roberts |
35 - 20 | +15 | 86.9 | 82.9% | 1.42 |
| Pujan 'FNS' Mehta |
31 - 20 | +11 | 78.2 | 85.4% | 1.28 |
| Ben's Anime Team |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maxim 'wippie' Shepelev |
24 - 32 | -8 | 56.0 | 70.7% | 0.83 |
| Gage 'Infinite' Green |
22 - 37 | -15 | 64.5 | 53.7% | 0.71 |
| Joshua 'steel' Nissan |
18 - 34 | -16 | 56.8 | 51.2% | 0.63 |
| Cameron 'cam' Kern |
20 - 36 | -16 | 53.4 | 46.3% | 0.59 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
16 - 36 | -20 | 48.3 | 36.6% | 0.49 |
Up next, Rugratz bested Ascent in an extended series to determine which squad would exit playoffs and join MAC-51 in the 7th-8th place spot.
Ascent started the series off by bursting onto Mirage as they put up a strong performance to win the half 10-5. Following this, Rugratz attempted to get back into the map however Ascent's lead allowed them to stay comfortably ahead and claim the map 16-12.
On Nuke, the two squads played a very close opening half, with Rugratz claiming the 8-7 lead. After switching sides, Rugratz further solidified their lead as they shut down Ascent's T-side, only allowing the team one more round before claiming the map 16-8.
After their strong performance on Nuke, Rugratz sent Ascent packing as they pulled off a near perfect performance on Overpass, claiming a 16-2 win to await the loser of INTZ and oNe in the lower bracket.
RugratzAscent| Rugratz |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erik 'penny' Penny |
63 - 40 | +23 | 91.0 | 80.0% | 1.45 |
| Daniel 'roca' Gustaferri |
52 - 39 | +13 | 77.3 | 77.1% | 1.24 |
| Tyler 'tweiss' Weiss |
49 - 37 | +12 | 78.3 | 74.3% | 1.17 |
| Joshua 'Hunter' Madore |
46 - 39 | +7 | 71.9 | 77.1% | 1.10 |
| Alexander 'zanz' Diaz |
54 - 54 | +0 | 82.0 | 67.1% | 1.07 |
| Ascent |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc-Andre 'NiSMO' Tayar |
46 - 52 | -6 | 75.7 | 71.4% | 1.06 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
49 - 53 | -4 | 70.4 | 65.7% | 0.97 |
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
45 - 49 | -4 | 68.5 | 55.7% | 0.92 |
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
34 - 56 | -22 | 66.1 | 60.0% | 0.76 |
| Lucas 'Fiziq' Blow |
35 - 54 | -19 | 51.2 | 70.0% | 0.73 |
The next series saw an all-Brazilian bout in the upper bracket, with INTZ facing off against oNe to see which team would meet Riot Squad in the upper bracket finals.
Beginning on Nuke, after an indecisive first half, INTZ mobilized to overpower oNe's defenses, denying them more than a handful of rounds to take the map 16-12.
Moving onto INTZ's map pick of Overpass, oNe proved that they are more than capable of playing their rival's map pick as they dominated on their CT-side to win the first half 10-5. After switching sides, oNe quickly managed to tie up the series as they kept the heat up to take the map 16-9.
With the series tied up, oNe continued their advance on Mirage as they won six out of the first ten rounds on their CT-side before claiming a 9-6 half. However, their lead was short-lived as things began to unravel, with INTZ quickly taking the lead after winning the first four rounds in a row on their CT-side. After this, the two squads continued to trade rounds, however in the last rounds of the half Bruno "shz" Martinelli and co. rallied to find four rounds in a row and secure the map 16-13.
INTZTeamOne| INTZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes |
68 - 48 | +20 | 77.8 | 78.0% | 1.21 |
| Ricardo 'boltz' Prass |
64 - 51 | +13 | 82.6 | 76.8% | 1.21 |
| Alexandre 'xand' Zizi |
48 - 57 | -9 | 67.7 | 68.3% | 0.93 |
| Bruno 'shz' Martinelli |
49 - 61 | -12 | 71.0 | 64.6% | 0.92 |
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
42 - 55 | -13 | 57.6 | 69.5% | 0.87 |
| TeamOne |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruno 'BIT' Fukuda Lima |
59 - 49 | +10 | 82.6 | 74.4% | 1.22 |
| Victor 'bld' Rocha |
56 - 58 | -2 | 75.4 | 70.7% | 1.04 |
| Pedro 'Maluk3' Campos |
55 - 58 | -3 | 72.9 | 70.7% | 1.04 |
| Alencar 'trk' Rossato |
52 - 57 | -5 | 70.6 | 72.0% | 1.00 |
| Bruno 'b4rtiN' Câmara |
50 - 49 | +1 | 62.2 | 73.2% | 0.96 |
After a long day of play, INTZ and Riot Squad finally faced off in the upper bracket finals to determine which team would win and advance to the all-important MDL LAN Finals for a spot in EPL.
INTZ began Inferno winning the first four rounds in a row after winning their CT-side pistol. Riot Squad were quick to stop INTZ's lead from snowballing out of control as Jonathan "Jonji" Carey led the way for his team to win the next six rounds in a row. Afterward, INTZ managed to win one more round in the half before Riot Squad claimed the next four to secure a dominant 10-5 half. After switching sides, INTZ won the second pistol round before an anti-eco win from Riot Squad allowed the North American team to run away with the map, quickly securing it 16-7.
As the series transitioned onto the second map, Mirage, Riot Squad continued to dominate, claiming ten out of the first twelve rounds to build up towards another strong 10-5 half. Following their domination in the first half, Riot Squad carried their strength onto their T-side as they won the second pistol and the next two to climb up to thirteen rounds. With INTZ on the ropes, they nearly tied things up by winning the next seven rounds, however a vintage performance from Peter "ptr" Gurney helped push Riot Squad over the edge to take Mirage 16-12.
Riot SquadINTZ| Riot Squad |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
43 - 33 | +10 | 86.8 | 74.5% | 1.30 |
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
35 - 28 | +7 | 75.1 | 70.6% | 1.13 |
| Austin 'crashies' Roberts |
37 - 30 | +7 | 74.0 | 68.6% | 1.13 |
| Mitch 'mitch' Semago |
29 - 29 | +0 | 66.8 | 78.4% | 1.10 |
| Pujan 'FNS' Mehta |
38 - 36 | +2 | 76.6 | 72.5% | 1.02 |
| INTZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
35 - 31 | +4 | 72.5 | 66.7% | 1.09 |
| Ricardo 'boltz' Prass |
39 - 36 | +3 | 80.6 | 68.6% | 1.05 |
| Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes |
28 - 38 | -10 | 69.3 | 74.5% | 0.91 |
| Bruno 'shz' Martinelli |
28 - 37 | -9 | 67.8 | 62.7% | 0.86 |
| Alexandre 'xand' Zizi |
26 - 40 | -14 | 58.8 | 54.9% | 0.69 |
In the second lower bracket round two match, Rugratz managed to claim an upset victory against oNe after a close series on Nuke, Overpass, and Mirage.
Starting on Nuke, Rugratz started off strong on their T-side, winning the half 10-5 as oNe were unable to string enough rounds together to get a proper economy going. Following this oNe finally arrived on the server however even as they continued to gain rounds Rugratz were able to outpace them, managing to narrowly take the map 16-14 and avoid overtime.
After a tough loss on Nuke, oNe looked more in their element on Overpass as they started the half off 10-1. Rugratz managed to avoid a complete blowout as they found the last four rounds, although oNe still led 10-5. After they transitioned onto their CT-side, a pistol round loss saw oNe concede a number of rounds however once their economy finally stabilized they managed to take down Rugratz 16-11 to force a third map.
On Mirage, Rugratz were ready to end the series against oNe as they put up a strong T-side to claim a massive 11-4 lead heading into the second half. With their tournament life on the line, oNe managed to start their T-side off by winning seven out of the first nine rounds to close the gap to 11-13. However after Rugratz found their 15th round, oNe fumbled and allowed the American team to win round 30 and secure Mirage 16-14, clinching a spot in the Global Challenge.
RugratzTeamOne| Rugratz |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel 'roca' Gustaferri |
63 - 56 | +7 | 79.6 | 80.5% | 1.15 |
| Tyler 'tweiss' Weiss |
63 - 65 | -2 | 79.0 | 70.1% | 1.04 |
| Alexander 'zanz' Diaz |
59 - 61 | -2 | 80.3 | 65.5% | 1.03 |
| Joshua 'Hunter' Madore |
53 - 55 | -2 | 59.7 | 64.4% | 0.98 |
| Erik 'penny' Penny |
57 - 69 | -12 | 72.2 | 71.3% | 0.95 |
| TeamOne |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alencar 'trk' Rossato |
70 - 55 | +15 | 86.8 | 80.5% | 1.32 |
| Bruno 'b4rtiN' Câmara |
76 - 57 | +19 | 81.7 | 78.2% | 1.27 |
| Victor 'bld' Rocha |
68 - 63 | +5 | 86.3 | 71.3% | 1.19 |
| Bruno 'BIT' Fukuda Lima |
49 - 61 | -12 | 73.0 | 70.1% | 1.01 |
| Pedro 'Maluk3' Campos |
43 - 59 | -16 | 56.8 | 66.7% | 0.85 |
The final series of day two went the distance as Triumph overcame Ben's Anime team after playing 100 rounds over the course of three close maps on Overpass, Nuke, and Mirage. Starting on Overpass, Triumph crushed Ben's Anime Team's CT-side claiming a 12-3 half without much trouble. However, Ben's Anime Team managed to return the favor, putting up a repeat performance to put the map into overtime. In Overtime, Ben's Anime Team were not able to match Triumph as they mounted a perfect CT-side before claiming the map 19-15.
On Nuke, Triumph continued to pressure Ben's Anime Team as they mounted a strong defense, winning their CT-side 10-5, and positioning themselves to take the series 2-0. Unfortunately for Triumph, Ben's Anime Team once again put up a near repeat of Triumph's effort, claiming a 16-14 win after claiming the last two rounds in a row.
After two extremely close maps, Mirage proved to be no exception with Ben's Anime Team starting things off by claiming an 11-4 half on their T-side. Not to be upstaged, Triumph answered back with an 11-4 Terrorist half of their own to take Mirage the distance. In Overtime, Ben's Anime Team managed to claim two rounds however Triumph narrowly crept ahead to take the map 19-17 and the secure the hard-fought series.
Ben's Anime TeamTriumph| Ben's Anime Team |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gage 'Infinite' Green |
73 - 68 | +5 | 83.8 | 66.0% | 1.12 |
| Joshua 'steel' Nissan |
71 - 71 | +0 | 81.2 | 65.0% | 1.09 |
| Maxim 'wippie' Shepelev |
67 - 66 | +1 | 70.1 | 76.0% | 1.03 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
65 - 66 | -1 | 69.9 | 72.0% | 1.02 |
| Cameron 'cam' Kern |
56 - 72 | -16 | 61.2 | 72.0% | 0.81 |
| Triumph |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan 'Voltage' Long |
75 - 61 | +14 | 78.9 | 70.0% | 1.20 |
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
71 - 70 | +1 | 76.4 | 72.0% | 1.08 |
| Ryan 'Snakes' Amann |
70 - 68 | +2 | 79.8 | 68.0% | 1.07 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
64 - 62 | +2 | 67.6 | 73.0% | 1.06 |
| Jack 'xCeeD' Holiman |
61 - 73 | -12 | 69.8 | 67.0% | 0.92 |
The current team list for the Season 32 Global Challenge that is set to begin on December 14th in Dallas looks as follows:
 EU MDL #1 |
EU MDL #2 |
| EU MDL #2 |
 ORDER |
| INTZ |
Riot Squad |
| Rugratz |
Triumph |
The final matches of ESEA MDL Season 32 are set to be played out tomorrow and will determine the final team that will proceed to the MDL LAN Finals, where they will fight against Riot Squad for a spot in EPL Season 11.
