Verum complete lower bracket run with victory over Triton; secure spot in ESEA Premier Season 38
Verum have completed a magical lower bracket run in ESEA Advanced Season 37 playoffs, most recently having defeated X13 and Triton to be crowned as champions, and head to ESEA Premier Season 38.
Verum jumped out to a 10-5 halftime lead in the consolidation final on Vertigo, largely because of the heavy lifting done by Darius "PNDLM" B. The Canadian's 17 frags in the opening half alone were more than three players on X13 would manage over the course of the entire map. He eventually finished with a server-high 31 kills to secure Verum a 1-0 series lead. John "jtmythic" Timmermann led X13 with 23 kills total in the loss.
Verum opened X13's map pick of Ancient with an even more dominant showing in the first half and went into the side switch with a 13-2 advantage. X13 did put up a bit of a fight on their CT-side however, where they won six of the first seven rounds. But once Verum reached series point X13 only managed to keep them at bay for an additional two rounds before they clinched the map, series, and a date in the grand finals with Triton.
Michael "Millz" Millsaps led all players with 25 frags on Ancient, while Adam "freshie" Paterson topped his side's half of the scoreboard with 20 kills for X13 in the loss.
The grand final commenced with Triton at a one-map advantage due to coming in from the upper bracket. Things started off on the wrong foot for them, however, as they had to utilize Noah "flixxy" French for the opening round in place of Kyle "Just2EZ" Tan "due to time constraints" (likely related to his setup for the match). The situation did not improve, as Brian "chew" Mao and Verum stormed out to a 12-3 lead that was easily converted to a 16-6 win to even the series.
With the two teams now on equal footing, Just2EZ, now firmly entrenched atop his dishwasher, helped Triton regain their composure, leading the team to an 11-4 lead on the CT-side of Vertigo. Three rounds to open the second half put them even more firmly in the lead at 14-4, and they would eventually close out the map 16-7.
The third map of the series, Mirage, saw Triton win the opening two rounds before Verum equalized. The remainder of the half, however, would see the two teams notch three and eight more rounds, respectively, ending with Verum holding a 10-5 lead. Scott "Scottiyio" Baker really came online in the second half, putting up a 1.90 rating en route to a 16-10 map victory and knotting the series at 2-2.
Inferno was the battleground for the final map of the series, and the two teams played it as close as could be. Both teams notched 9-6 halves on the defensive side, sending the map to overtime to decide a champion. Triton would survive one overtime half on equal footing, but Verum ultimately secured the map 22-19 to earn themselves a spot in ESEA Premier Season 38.
While Junjie "Gank88" Lin achieved the highest rating on the map at 1.20, Verum had a much more even contribution, with all players posting ratings above 1.00.
The top eight teams of ESEA Advanced Season 37 are:
1. Verum (chew, Scottiyio, Millz, AJaxz, PNDLM) - $7,000 + ESEA Premier Season 38
2. Triton (Just2EZ, Fr3nk1e, Gank88, Subarashii, Cyrix) - $4,000 + ESEA Premier Season 37 Relegation
3. X13 (AtomiK, freshie, D4rtyMontana, Feral, jtmythic) - $3,000 + ESEA Premier Season 37 Relegation
4. Villainous (Cryptic, ayy, Umar, Jason, ram) - $2,000 + ESEA Premier Season 37 Relegation
5. Cold Ass Riding (Drew, landmaz, Pol0, Jermaine, sava9e) $1,250 + ESEA Premier Season 37 Relegation
6. Upswing (MoMo, clear, Alvin, yimitri, noiya) $1,250
7-8. Pryde (Drewtheshrew, hydrik, JAM, sam, EllisoN) $750
7-8. Kinship (vein, halo, Creed, Poison, JDubs) $750
The full bracket is available here.
Season 37 continues for Triton, X13, Villainous, and Cold Ass Riding tonight, as they take four sides looking to retain their spots in ESEA Premier for next season.
The opening round of ESEA Premier Season 37 Relegation will feature the following matchups:
Mythic | vs. | Cold Ass Riding |
CRONEM | vs. | Triton |
Big Chillin | vs. | X13 |
CENSRD | vs. | Villainous |