Wildcard secure 2nd NA Pro League invite after knock-down, drag-out affair
It has been a long time coming for Peter "stanislaw" Jarguz as he finally makes it back to ESL Pro League after spending the last year fighting through he ESEA league structure to deliver a team worthy of the competition. Having left Evil Geniuses back in 2021, the IGL bounced around for a few years before settling back into Forsaken last July. From there he joined Wildcard and now is returning to ESL Pro League for the first time since 2021.
Wildcard needed to play Nouns for the final North American invite to ESL Pro League Season 20 with both squads desperately looking to make it to the big stage. Nouns were caught in an unfortunate situation where they had to forfeit their spot in the Thunderpick World Championship Closed Qualifier #2 due to a timing clash that should have been caught beforehand.
The series started out on Nouns' pick of Ancient, where both sides were very equally matched. Nouns took an early lead following a pistol round win, but it was Wildcard that was able to mount a comeback on their CT-side to secure a 7-5 advantage headed into the half. The North America roster used their momentum to take the advantage at 11-7, but Nouns came roaring back on their CT-side as they eeked out a 13-11 win to take the series lead.
Vertigo was an incredibly close affair, however Wildcard would rue their lost advantage in regulation. After securing an 8-4 T-side lead in the first half, they would jump to a 12-5 lead and look like they would easily close out the match. However Nouns never said die as they mounted an incredibly seven round comeback at the brink to send the match to overtime. With two full overtimes needed, it was Wildcard that prevailed 19-16 to even the series up.
Once again, Nuke was an incredibly lengthy series as Wildcard dominated out of the gate once more to take a 9-3 lead this time. Just like the game before, Nouns mounted a ridiculous comeback to take the lead 12-11 right before the end of regulation. Wouldn't you believe it, Wildcard won the final round of relegation to send the series to overtime.
Nouns didn't repeat their mistakes to start the overtime as they secure the first three rounds to put themselves on match point. However, Wildcard replied with their CT-side round wins of their own to head to a second overtime where they eventually closed out the series to secure the lower-bracket and earn an invite to ESL Pro League Season 20.
WildcardNouns| Wildcard |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Josh 'JBa' Barutt |
88 - 63 | +25 | 92.4 | 76.6% | 1.31 |
 Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguz |
59 - 60 | -1 | 71.3 | 73.4% | 1.03 |
 Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek |
58 - 65 | -7 | 74.2 | 72.3% | 1.02 |
| Keller 'SLIGHT' Nilan |
54 - 60 | -6 | 63.8 | 60.6% | 0.93 |
| Adam 'Grizz' Golden |
63 - 70 | -7 | 69.5 | 60.6% | 0.93 |
| Nouns |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' Jones |
77 - 63 | +14 | 82.9 | 75.5% | 1.18 |
| Paytyn 'junior' Johnson |
62 - 61 | +1 | 74.1 | 68.1% | 1.12 |
| Jeorge 'Jeorge' Endicott |
67 - 71 | -4 | 77.6 | 75.5% | 1.08 |
| Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
62 - 61 | +1 | 72.0 | 72.3% | 1.07 |
| William 'RUSH' Wierzba |
46 - 70 | -24 | 53.3 | 68.1% | 0.77 |
Wildcard now play M80 later tonight for the Grand Final of ESL Challenger League Season 47 to see who will be crowned champion of North America.
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