Rise Nation beat GX to keep Pro League hopes alive
The first knockout game of the relegation tournament saw the two MDL contenders, Rise Nation and GX, face off against each other. With the losing side heading back into the next MDL season, it was an all to play for game as the two sides were set to face off on Inferno, Mirage and Cobblestone.
Inferno started off with GX taking the pistol round and following it up with the next anti-eco, before losing the third round to Rise's eco. The Canadian side then looked to take the advantage in the half, as Brandon "Ace" Winn brought his side ahead with a 4k. With Rise only dropping a couple of rounds, they were looking to secure the first half at 8-4 up.
However their opponents weren't to allow the game to run away from them, in what was essentially a preview of things to come. Keven "AZK" Lariviere kicked off the run with a swift 4k , from which his team bounced back to essentially even the game out at the half, narrowly behind at 7-8.
The second half started as the first ended, with GX looking strong. They CT side saw them claim the pistol round and follow it up with the anti-ecos as well as the first buy round. Thanks to a misplayed forcebuy from Rise, GX could easily extend their new found lead to 12-8. The two sides traded individual rounds, but it was Rise set to be back on the front foot.
With Rise taking an eco round win, they started a run that saw them within a single round of their opponents. Although GX took another round back to get onto their 14th, Rise instantly answered back thanks to a bomb plant. With the Canadians then taking match point, the server unfortunately crashed in round 30 but with Rise having the superior economy they prevented overtime with a 16-14 win.
Mirage was up next, and it was Rise Nation starting the game off with the pistol round, following it up with the next four rounds on their T-side. With Rise looking strong and likely to keep going, GX immediately answer back with three rounds of their own With Rise not letting the game get away from them just yet, they saw themselves with a strong 7-3 lead.
GX weren't looking to have their ESL Pro League hopes dashed just yet, as they performed a strong set of rounds, kicked off by Braxton "swag" Pierce taking four kills with an AWP. Although Rise took another round to keep their advantage, it was GX who saw the game go even as they saw a slight deficit with an 7-8 half.
The second half was looking to be a repeat of the first. Rise secured the pistol round and following anti-ecos, but it was GX to secure the first buy round to keep the match close. But any indication of another full match was to be dashed quickly as Rise took the final five rounds without reply. Will "dazzLe" Loafman and Kaleb "moose" Jayne combined throughout the final rounds to see their team go through to the Lower Bracket final with a 16-10 win.
Rise NationGX| Rise Nation |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Will 'dazzLe' Loafman |
47 - 43 | +4 | 96.7 | 78.6% | 1.30 |
| Brandon 'Ace' Winn |
41 - 37 | +4 | 86.8 | 71.4% | 1.20 |
 Kaleb 'moose' Jayne |
48 - 37 | +11 | 81.6 | 71.4% | 1.20 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
33 - 39 | -6 | 73.2 | 73.2% | 1.03 |
| Andy 'vSa' Xu |
34 - 38 | -4 | 63.6 | 71.4% | 0.92 |
| GX |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braxton 'swag' Pierce |
45 - 33 | +12 | 82.9 | 73.2% | 1.19 |
| Matt 'Pollo' Wilson |
43 - 41 | +2 | 88.1 | 64.3% | 1.10 |
| Keven 'AZK' Lariviere |
38 - 39 | -1 | 74.2 | 73.2% | 0.99 |
| Michael 'dapr' Gulino |
35 - 41 | -6 | 70.8 | 67.9% | 0.93 |
| Shawn 'witmer' Taylor |
32 - 51 | -19 | 64.7 | 66.1% | 0.85 |
Next up will be Ghost and Rogue facing off for the first ESL Pro League spot of the relegation tournament. The losing side will then face off against Rise Nation to determine the final place in the next ESL Pro League season.
