Extra Salt come out on top against Party Astronauts to win ESEA Fall Cash Cup 4
Extra Salt continues their impressive run of form since the addition of Ricky "floppy" Kemery, securing their second Cash Cup victory in a row, both times at the expense of Party Astronauts.
The first semifinal of the event saw Extra Salt face off against the invited side of Verum. On Extra Salt's pick of Nuke, quick work was made of Verum, as Extra Salt would secure a 10-5 lead on the Terrorist side before swiftly finishing off the map with six rounds in a row to bring it to the second map.
Verum's pick of Inferno was certainly closer than Nuke, but Extra Salt was in the driver's seat for much of it. Extra Salt got off to a flying start on the Counter-Terrorist side, with an 8-2 scoreline, before Verum managed to whittle that lead down to a 9-6 half. Extra Salt secured the second pistol round and the subsequent anti-eco, but Verum would come out on top of the first gun round of the second half. Despite that, Extra Salt would go on to stamp out Verum for much of the rest of the half, with Verum only managing two more rounds before the series closed out 16-9 for Extra Salt.
VerumExtra Salt| Verum |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nelvin 'nooz' Gonzalez |
35 - 34 | +1 | 70.3 | 71.7% | 0.97 |
 Darius 'PNDLM' Bandali |
21 - 42 | -21 | 67.0 | 56.5% | 0.68 |
 Scott 'Scottiyio' Baker |
23 - 42 | -19 | 61.5 | 63.0% | 0.65 |
| Michael 'Millz' Millsaps |
21 - 33 | -12 | 47.6 | 50.0% | 0.63 |
| Brian 'chew' Mao |
20 - 39 | -19 | 64.3 | 52.2% | 0.62 |
| Extra Salt |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
37 - 26 | +11 | 91.2 | 91.3% | 1.52 |
| Justin 'FaNg' Coakley |
42 - 21 | +21 | 92.1 | 87.0% | 1.52 |
| Ricky 'floppy' Kemery |
39 - 21 | +18 | 84.9 | 87.0% | 1.46 |
 Edgar 'MarKE' Maldonado |
34 - 25 | +9 | 86.2 | 78.3% | 1.32 |
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
37 - 29 | +8 | 74.2 | 78.3% | 1.23 |
The other semifinal of the event would saw Party Astronauts square up against invited squad ATK. The first half of Party Astronauts' pick, Nuke, was full of constant back and forth rounds, ultimately leading to an 8-7 half in favor of Party Astronauts on their Terrorist side. Although Party Astronauts won both the second pistol and anti-eco, two lost gun rounds in a row made it seem as if this half would be equally as competitive as the first. This was not to be the case for much longer, however, as Party Astronauts would go on a run of six rounds straight to close out their pick 16-9.
Party Astronauts got off to a flying start on ATK's pick of Inferno, securing seven of the first eight rounds of their Counter-Terrorist half thanks to a strong performance from Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue. It would all come crashing down though, as ATK fought back to win six of the remaining seven rounds of the half, tightening the scoreline to 8-7 in the Astronauts' favor. With impeccable showings from Gage "Infinite" Green and David "cynic" Polster for the Astronauts' in the second half, there was little that ATK could do to stay competitive in the game. Party Astronauts would only allow ATK to win two rounds of the second half, finishing the map off with another 16-9 scoreline, locking in their grand final spot.
ATKParty Astronauts| ATK |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
37 - 40 | -3 | 87.7 | 68.0% | 1.01 |
| Rhys 'Fadey' Armstrong |
27 - 40 | -13 | 67.4 | 64.0% | 0.82 |
| McKinley 'Cyrix' Hollison |
23 - 41 | -18 | 60.4 | 64.0% | 0.74 |
| Wiljahne 'wilj' Smith |
24 - 38 | -14 | 53.9 | 64.0% | 0.68 |
| Gareth 'MisteM' Ries |
20 - 39 | -19 | 47.6 | 56.0% | 0.62 |
| Party Astronauts |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gage 'Infinite' Green |
50 - 23 | +27 | 96.6 | 90.0% | 1.69 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
45 - 20 | +25 | 90.8 | 82.0% | 1.50 |
| David 'cynic' Polster |
44 - 27 | +17 | 95.4 | 90.0% | 1.48 |
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
37 - 28 | +9 | 78.3 | 80.0% | 1.27 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
21 - 35 | -14 | 55.5 | 70.0% | 0.83 |
The third-place decider match, which saw both invited teams Verum and ATK up against each other, was by far the most competitive of the event, which each map going to at least thirty rounds. Verum's pick of Nuke started off with quite a few back and forth rounds until it seemed like Verum was starting to take control with a 7-4 lead. This would not last very long, as ATK would snag the last four rounds of the half, edging out an 8-7 lead going into their Terrorist side. A similar situation would play out in the second half, as Verum would be in control for much of it, securing a 15-11 scoreline, but would have trouble closing it out, only managing to do it in the final round of regulation, securing them their map pick with a 16-14 scoreline.
ATK's pick of Inferno did not start off nearly as close as Nuke, with the South-African squad dominating Verum to post an 11-4 lead on the Counter-Terrorist side of their pick. ATK would be plagued with the same inability to close out the game that Verum suffered from in the previous map, as Verum would go on a run of five rounds straight before ATK could even answer back. Eventually Verum reached map point, 15-14, after a daunting comeback, but were unable to finish off ATK, bringing the map into overtime. ATK overcame their demons in overtime, and off the back of a 1v2 clutch by Gareth "MisteM" Ries, they were finally able to win out their map pick, bringing the series to a third map.
Vertigo would be the last map for the series, and the first half was particularly competitive, with frequent trading of rounds, ultimately giving Verum an edge of 9-6 going into their Counter-Terrorist side. Strong performances from MisteM and McKinley "Cyrix" Hollison on ATK's Terrorist side would put them in control of much of the second half, although once match point was secured at 15-11 they began to have trouble closing it out. Verum would take it all the way to the thirtieth round but were unable to bring the map into overtime, with ATK closing it out 16-14, securing themselves third place after a marathon of a series.
VerumATK| Verum |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darius 'PNDLM' Bandali |
84 - 73 | +11 | 101.6 | 70.5% | 1.26 |
| Marshall 'Minus' Sedowicz |
82 - 63 | +19 | 91.2 | 74.7% | 1.25 |
| Scott 'Scottiyio' Baker |
59 - 64 | -5 | 69.2 | 76.8% | 1.03 |
| Michael 'Millz' Millsaps |
63 - 59 | +4 | 68.9 | 70.5% | 1.02 |
| Nelvin 'nooz' Gonzalez |
54 - 58 | -4 | 60.6 | 65.3% | 0.93 |
| ATK |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
69 - 70 | -1 | 80.2 | 71.6% | 1.09 |
| Gareth 'MisteM' Ries |
66 - 76 | -10 | 82.3 | 67.4% | 1.05 |
| Wiljahne 'wilj' Smith |
62 - 65 | -3 | 68.5 | 71.6% | 1.00 |
| McKinley 'Cyrix' Hollison |
62 - 68 | -6 | 68.5 | 64.2% | 1.00 |
| Rhys 'Fadey' Armstrong |
57 - 66 | -9 | 67.1 | 61.1% | 0.85 |
The grand final of this Cash Cup would see Party Astronauts and Extra Salt face off once again, with Party Astronauts looking for revenge following their defeat during the final of the ESEA Fall Cash Cup 3. Party Astronauts' pick of Mirage could only be described as a clash of titans, as Josh "oSee" Ohm and PwnAlone put up astounding numbers for their teams on this map, managing 1.54 and 1.66 ratings respectively, an especially impressive feat considering no other player on the server managed a rating greater than 1.00 other than Justin "FaNg" Coakley with a 1.04 rating. As such, it was all on these two to bring it over the line for their teams, and ultimately PwnAlone's side came out on top, securing the first map of the series for the Astronauts 16-13.
Extra Salt's pick of Overpass made it clear that this game would not be as top-heavy as the last. Extra Salt ran away with much of the first half thanks to strong showings from floppy and Edgar "MarKE" Maldonado. Party Astronauts were not swayed, however, as they fought back resiliently to keep the scores close, eventually bringing it to a 13-13 scoreline. Unfortunately for the Astronauts, this is where they started to run out of steam, as Extra Salt would go on to take the next three rounds after a labored second half, taking the series to the decider map of Nuke.
Extra Salt got off to another strong start on the decider, putting ten rounds on the board on their Counter-Terrorist side, with the trio of oSee, MarKE, and Johnny "JT" Theodosiou putting up impressive numbers to put them firmly in the lead. A pistol win off the back of a 1v2 clutch from JT bolstered Extra Salt's numbers even further. Extra Salt marched on to take the map with a dominant Terrorist side, with Party Astronauts only managing one round before Extra Salt closed it out 16-6, earning themselves the first place prize of $9,000 and 4000 Fragadelphia Points.
Extra SaltParty Astronauts| Extra Salt |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
77 - 48 | +29 | 95.4 | 78.8% | 1.46 |
| Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
67 - 48 | +19 | 86.3 | 72.5% | 1.27 |
| Edgar 'MarKE' Maldonado |
60 - 45 | +15 | 78.2 | 76.2% | 1.21 |
| Ricky 'floppy' Kemery |
56 - 51 | +5 | 80.0 | 71.2% | 1.11 |
| Justin 'FaNg' Coakley |
45 - 54 | -9 | 61.7 | 71.2% | 0.94 |
| Party Astronauts |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
62 - 55 | +7 | 75.5 | 60.0% | 1.12 |
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
54 - 62 | -8 | 74.9 | 76.2% | 1.02 |
| Gage 'Infinite' Green |
52 - 60 | -8 | 65.2 | 61.3% | 0.88 |
| David 'cynic' Polster |
38 - 66 | -28 | 68.4 | 61.3% | 0.75 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
40 - 62 | -22 | 59.5 | 56.2% | 0.71 |
The final standings of ESEA Fall Cash Cup 4 are:
1. 
Extra Salt - $9,000 & 4000 Fragadelphia Points
2. Party Astronauts - $4,000 & 2000 Fragadelphia Points
3. ATK - $2,000 & 1000 Fragadelphia Points
4. Verum - 1000 Fragadelphia Points
5-6. RBG - 500 Fragadelphia Points
5-6. 
MIBR - 500 Fragadelphia Points
7-10. ChocoCheck - 500 Fragadelphia Points
7-10. Bad News Bears - 500 Fragadelphia Points
7-10. oNe - 500 Fragadelphia Points
7-10. Detonate - 500 Fragadelphia Points
11-18. Halal Gang - 250 Fragadelphia Points
11-18. Strife - 250 Fragadelphia Points
11-18. From the Grave - 250 Fragadelphia Points
11-18. Big Chillin - 250 Fragadelphia Points
11-18. X13 - 250 Fragadelphia Points
11-18. InControl - 250 Fragadelphia Points
11-18. Triumph - 250 Fragadelphia Points
11-18. Eros - 250 Fragadelphia Points
The ESEA Cash Cup series will continue this weekend with ESEA Fall Cash Cup 5. Teams can sign up for the event here.
