Wildcard cruise into playoffs over NA rival
Wildcard has now secured its spot in the playoffs after defeating M80 in a come-from-behind 2-1 victory this afternoon. The international lineup was clinical in taking down their regional rivals after losing their own map pick 13-7 to kick things off.
Tim "susp" Ångström was a force to be reckoned with throughout the series. The Swedish youngster has been a revelation and proved he is certainly capable of carrying his new squad to victories in critical moments.
Dust2 was a crushing blow for Wildcard as the international lineup failed to find its footing despite winning both pistols. The squad was leading on their CT-side 3-0 after the opening round win, but M80 took matters into their own hands and secured nine rounds in a row to take a dominant lead heading into the second half.
Wildcard looked like they could tie things up when they took that second-half pistol, but it wasn't enough, as once again, M80 fought back to take control of the map. The American squad stole Wildcard's map pick 13-7 and headed into their own pick of Anubis, looking to close out the series.
M80 finally won a pistol round to kick off their pick of Anubis, but Wildcard would eventually take the first considerable lead in the half. Despite M80 attempting to mount a small comeback, Wildcard came away with a strong 7-5 first-half lead.
The international roster would then prove to be a much more difficult opponent than expected when they produced a stalwart CT-side to hold back M80 on their own map pick and come away with a 13-8 victory.
The deciding map of Vertigo was even more troublesome for M80 as Wildcard proved they could not be steamrolled on their CT-side. Everytime that M80 felt like they finally broke through the defense, Wildcard were there to bounce back as they claimed eight rounds to establish a solid lead. The second half was a bit more contentious, but Wildcard proved against the odds that they were the better side as they prevailed 13-8 to avenge their earlier loss and make it to the playoffs.
M80Wildcard| M80 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Fritz 'slaxz-' Dietrich |
43 - 39 | +4 | 70.9 | 82.3% | 1.14 |
 Ethan 'reck' Serrano |
42 - 44 | -2 | 79.8 | 67.7% | 1.02 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
41 - 45 | -4 | 75.2 | 74.2% | 1.01 |
| Mason 'Lake' Sanderson |
35 - 42 | -7 | 73.9 | 74.2% | 0.99 |
| Elias 's1n' Stein |
38 - 42 | -4 | 62.6 | 69.4% | 0.84 |
| Wildcard |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tim 'susp' Ångström |
54 - 38 | +16 | 86.6 | 72.6% | 1.25 |
 Sebastian 'fr3nd' Kuśmierz |
43 - 39 | +4 | 70.0 | 74.2% | 1.11 |
 Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguz |
40 - 43 | -3 | 74.9 | 72.6% | 1.08 |
 Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek |
41 - 42 | -1 | 73.2 | 66.1% | 0.96 |
| Josh 'JBa' Barutt |
33 - 37 | -4 | 61.3 | 69.4% | 0.90 |
