High Coast win ESEA Spring Cash Cup 2 over ChocoCheck
High Coast were able to take full advantage of the absence of the usual Cash Cup playoff suspects and won ESEA's Spring Cash Cup 2 with a 2-1 victory over ChocoCheck in the grand final. Their first Cash Cup victory comes after three second and third place finishes in ESEA's cup series since the team began flying their Swedish organization's banner.
In what was the most consequential upset of the event, ChocoCheck scraped out a thirty-round victory over Bad News Bears. Zack "XotiC" Elshani had 30 kills and was the only player on his team with a positive KD as ChocoCheck managed to squeeze by the defending Cash Cup champions. Michael "Swisher" Schmid led the way with 27 frags for Bad News Bears in the loss.
Bad News BearsChocoCheck| Bad News Bears |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
27 - 20 | +7 | 94.3 | 76.7% | 1.40 |
 Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
24 - 19 | +5 | 86.1 | 70.0% | 1.25 |
| Nick 'alter' Jackson |
24 - 22 | +2 | 92.6 | 63.3% | 1.17 |
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
18 - 18 | +0 | 70.2 | 76.7% | 1.09 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
15 - 20 | -5 | 62.2 | 70.0% | 0.82 |
| ChocoCheck |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zack 'XotiC' Elshani |
30 - 20 | +10 | 104.3 | 63.3% | 1.46 |
| Danny 'cxzi' Strzelczyk |
19 - 22 | -3 | 73.1 | 66.7% | 1.00 |
| Sebastian 'retchy' Tropiano |
23 - 24 | -1 | 85.3 | 63.3% | 1.00 |
| Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' Jones |
15 - 21 | -6 | 49.6 | 53.3% | 0.79 |
| Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
12 - 21 | -9 | 46.0 | 60.0% | 0.72 |
In the other quarterfinal High Coast started with a strong 9-6 half on their T-side of Nuke and allowed Secret Club just one bomb plant and one second half round to advance to the second day of Cash Cup play. Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue led his side and the server in general with 23 kills, while Collin "wrath" McSweegan and Richie "sherps" Sherpa each finished with 16 eliminations for Secret Club.
Secret ClubHigh Coast| Secret Club |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collin 'wrath' McSweegan |
16 - 17 | -1 | 77.0 | 78.3% | 1.17 |
| Richie 'sherps' Sherpa |
16 - 19 | -3 | 71.7 | 73.9% | 0.97 |
| Victor 'v1c' T. |
14 - 18 | -4 | 76.9 | 69.6% | 0.97 |
| Adam 'WolfY' Andersson |
14 - 16 | -2 | 67.3 | 69.6% | 0.91 |
| Keller 'SLIGHT' Nilan |
13 - 15 | -2 | 57.3 | 69.6% | 0.80 |
| High Coast |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
22 - 15 | +7 | 86.4 | 82.6% | 1.39 |
 Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
17 - 10 | +7 | 78.2 | 65.2% | 1.35 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
23 - 20 | +3 | 102.8 | 73.9% | 1.27 |
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
16 - 15 | +1 | 83.8 | 65.2% | 1.12 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
7 - 13 | -6 | 36.7 | 60.9% | 0.61 |
The full bracket for the first day of Cash Cup play can be found here.
OCG utilized Brett "brett" Rhein as a stand-in for David "J0LZ" Jolin in their first series of the evening against ChocoCheck and certainly seemed off balance as a result. ChocoCheck cruised to a 13-2 lead on their T-side of Dust2 and then kept OCG completely off the board in the second half to take a 1-0 series lead. Christopher "cJ" Jones led ChocoCheck with 25 eliminations, while Cedric "Melio" Perrault had the most kills on OCG with 12.
OCG mustered a better result on their T-side of Mirage and trailed by just one round at the half. But once again, ChocoCheck slammed the door on the Canadian side in the second half and allowed them just three rounds en route to a series sweep and grand final berth. Carson "nosraC" O'Reilly led ChocoCheck with 28 kills, while the best perfomer on OCG was their stand-in, brett, who finished with 23 frags.
OCGChocoCheck| OCG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brett 'brett' Rhein |
32 - 35 | -3 | 85.7 | 59.1% | 1.03 |
| Cedric 'Melio' Perrault |
34 - 37 | -3 | 79.2 | 65.9% | 0.92 |
| Alex 'vek' Voynov |
24 - 39 | -15 | 62.7 | 61.4% | 0.72 |
| Michael 'miLLe' St-Pierre |
21 - 41 | -20 | 66.1 | 61.4% | 0.65 |
| Brandon 'YuZ' Cyr |
20 - 36 | -16 | 49.4 | 45.5% | 0.54 |
| ChocoCheck |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' Jones |
43 - 21 | +22 | 96.3 | 95.5% | 1.65 |
| Zack 'XotiC' Elshani |
36 - 25 | +11 | 93.2 | 93.2% | 1.48 |
| Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
38 - 27 | +11 | 95.9 | 72.7% | 1.43 |
| Sebastian 'retchy' Tropiano |
40 - 28 | +12 | 91.3 | 65.9% | 1.36 |
| Danny 'cxzi' Strzelczyk |
31 - 30 | +1 | 71.8 | 72.7% | 1.09 |
The other invited side fared no better in the second semifinal as High Coast jumped out to an early 11-4 lead over GGPR, featuring Jesse "Jmp" Peraino in place of Jeorge "jeorgesnorts" Endicott, and never looked back on their way to the grand final. PwnAlone led the way with 25 eliminations as he and his crew held GGPR to just two second-half rounds to seize the 1-0 series lead. Jake "eXotic" Vaupell topped the GGPR side of the scoreboard with 18 frags, but was all alone at the top as none of his teammates managed more than eleven kills.
High Coast jumped out to a similar first-half lead on their CT-side of Dust2 and doubled up GGPR. The Premier side that fell short of playoffs put up a much bigger fight in the second half and evened the score at 10-10, but then High Coast won six of the final seven rounds to complete their sweep and send GGPR to the third-place match. Ian "motm" Hardy was indeed the man of the match with 32 kills, while Sean "Inseaniac" Morrison lagged more than a bit behind as GGPR's kill leader with 21 frags.
GGPRHigh Coast| GGPR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase 'lowrider' Releford |
29 - 41 | -12 | 73.8 | 73.5% | 0.93 |
| Jake 'eXotic' Vaupell |
34 - 40 | -6 | 73.8 | 63.3% | 0.89 |
| Sean 'Inseaniac' Morrison |
28 - 38 | -10 | 65.9 | 49.0% | 0.85 |
| Jesse 'Jmp' Peraino |
27 - 36 | -9 | 61.8 | 69.4% | 0.81 |
 Omar '3ARK00Z' Elyyan |
22 - 43 | -21 | 61.9 | 49.0% | 0.63 |
| High Coast |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
49 - 26 | +23 | 92.7 | 81.6% | 1.51 |
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
40 - 28 | +12 | 93.8 | 79.6% | 1.45 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
48 - 36 | +12 | 105.8 | 77.6% | 1.42 |
| Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
41 - 22 | +19 | 69.9 | 79.6% | 1.24 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
20 - 28 | -8 | 57.2 | 75.5% | 0.96 |
Even with a prize on the line and J0LZ back in the lineup OCG fell flat against GGPR. Chase "lowrider" Releford's side made OCG look like they were the side that narrowly missed the playoffs after they allowed them just five rounds total in a dominant 2-0 sweep. Omar "3ARK00Z" Elyyan led GGPR with 38 kills in the series, while Melio led OCG with 24 eliminations in the loss.
OCGGGPR| OCG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cedric 'Melio' Perrault |
24 - 31 | -7 | 64.8 | 56.8% | 0.75 |
| Michael 'miLLe' St-Pierre |
18 - 34 | -16 | 55.4 | 43.2% | 0.58 |
| Brandon 'YuZ' Cyr |
15 - 32 | -17 | 56.7 | 54.1% | 0.57 |
| Alex 'vek' Voynov |
11 - 33 | -22 | 52.6 | 48.6% | 0.43 |
| David 'J0LZ' Jolin |
13 - 35 | -22 | 47.4 | 45.9% | 0.38 |
| GGPR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omar '3ARK00Z' Elyyan |
38 - 16 | +22 | 116.1 | 86.5% | 1.82 |
| Sean 'Inseaniac' Morrison |
36 - 16 | +20 | 100.3 | 91.9% | 1.73 |
| Jake 'eXotic' Vaupell |
33 - 17 | +16 | 92.1 | 89.2% | 1.56 |
| Jesse 'Jmp' Peraino |
32 - 16 | +16 | 74.1 | 73.0% | 1.33 |
| Chase 'lowrider' Releford |
26 - 17 | +9 | 74.1 | 89.2% | 1.28 |
Both grand final sides made emphatic runs through their fellow Premier teams to guarantee a cash prize, but the lion's share of that prize pool was still up for grabs. High Coast grabbed a quick 1-0 series lead after pairing an 11-4 first half with a flawless second half on Vertigo. Brandon "bew" Roberts finished with 25 kills, while Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk managed just fifteen to lead ChocoCheck.
ChocoCheck were far from done however, cxzi and friends fought tooth and nail to steal High Coast's map pick and extend the series following a thirty-round victory on Overpass. bew and cxzi led their respective teams once again, this time with 29 and 25 kills, respectively.
But when High Coast won in this series, it wasn't close. They took a 12-3 lead on T-side of Dust2 and allowed ChocoCheck to fight off just one match point en route to the Cash Cup title. cxzi led the runners-up for the third straight map, this time with 15 kills, while motm led all players with 24 frags.
ChocoCheckHigh Coast| ChocoCheck |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danny 'cxzi' Strzelczyk |
59 - 52 | +7 | 88.9 | 70.0% | 1.16 |
| Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' Jones |
49 - 53 | -4 | 76.3 | 68.6% | 0.99 |
| Zack 'XotiC' Elshani |
46 - 52 | -6 | 73.0 | 68.6% | 0.94 |
| Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
37 - 52 | -15 | 59.9 | 68.6% | 0.78 |
| Sebastian 'retchy' Tropiano |
33 - 60 | -27 | 56.1 | 55.7% | 0.63 |
| High Coast |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
66 - 39 | +27 | 95.2 | 75.7% | 1.44 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
59 - 44 | +15 | 82.7 | 78.6% | 1.31 |
| Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
54 - 44 | +10 | 78.8 | 72.9% | 1.22 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
47 - 49 | -2 | 77.6 | 80.0% | 1.07 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
43 - 49 | -6 | 75.6 | 72.9% | 1.04 |
The final standings for ESEA Spring Cash Cup 2 are:
1. - High Coast (PwnAlone, ben1337, bew, RCF, motm, Coach: Muenster) - $9,000
2. - ChocoCheck (retchy, nosraC, XotiC, cxzi, cJ) - $4,000
3. - GGPR (lowrider, eXotic, 3ARK00Z, Inseaniac, Jmp, Coach: ninja) - $2,000
4. - OCG (J0LZ, Melio, miLLe, vek, YuZ, brett)
5-6. - Bad News Bears (Swisher, ptr, Jonji, alter, Spongey, Coach: madcow)
5-6. - Secret Club (WolfY, wrath, v1c, SLIGHT, sherps)
ESEA Spring Cash Cup 3 is scheduled for this coming weekend, April 3-4th.
