FPL Friends claim final ESEA Cash Cup of the year
With 38 teams signed up to participate in the last ESEA Cash Cup of 2023, there would be no shortage of competition as most people would be home for the holidays. This allowed the inception of some mix teams, like FPL Friends, who would win the event, and RUNnGUN, who would reach the semifinals.
Other squads would also participate, such as Nouns, Unjustified, Badass, and Wildcard, but nothing beats the power of friendship, as Nouns reached the grand final but could not take home the $3,000 from FPL Friends.
Who are the FACEIT Pro League Friends? None other than Joshua "steel" Nissan, Silas "silas" Marrufo, Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue, Marco "Pol0" Hernandez, and Anthony "CLASIA" Kearney, all of whom are currently without a team. This only heightens their deed, as the mix team beat another mix to start their run, an ESEA Advanced team CCG, ECL-bound Wildcard, and Canadian mix RUNnGUN to reach the grand final.
There they met with Nouns, who had a similar path, facing an ESEA Intermediate team, then Mythic, an Advanced side, and Unjustified. The final series of the event was very exciting as each team won its pick 13-3, FPL Friends won Ancient and Nouns won Vertigo. In the very last map, Nuke, FPL Friends started on the backfoot with a 5-7 CT-side, but managed to grab the 13-11 win on the T-side, showing a lot of offensive prowess even as a mix squad.
PwnAlone, CLASIA, and silas, respectively, were the team's best performers throughout the event, with silas being the MVP of the grand final.
FPL FriendsNouns| FPL Friends |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Silas 'silas' Marrufo |
46 - 39 | +7 | 89.8 | 76.8% | 1.27 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
42 - 41 | +1 | 74.6 | 75.0% | 1.14 |
 Joshua 'steel' Nissan |
38 - 44 | -6 | 77.1 | 71.4% | 1.00 |
| Marco 'Pol0' Hernandez |
40 - 42 | -2 | 75.9 | 69.6% | 1.00 |
| Anthony 'CLASIA' Kearney |
31 - 39 | -8 | 61.5 | 73.2% | 0.95 |
| Nouns |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David 'cynic' Polster |
43 - 44 | -1 | 95.3 | 75.0% | 1.21 |
| Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' Jones |
45 - 37 | +8 | 88.3 | 73.2% | 1.20 |
 Edgar 'MarKE' Maldonado |
42 - 41 | +1 | 81.1 | 69.6% | 1.19 |
| Brendan 'Bwills' Williams |
41 - 36 | +5 | 68.6 | 80.4% | 1.08 |
| Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
27 - 40 | -13 | 52.7 | 69.6% | 0.82 |
