FlyQuest beat BIG to claim ESL Challenger Atlanta trophy
FlyQuest ended its almost flawless ESL Challenger Atlanta run with a 2-1 victory over BIG in the grand final of the event, winning $50,000 and clinching a spot in ESL Pro League Season 21.
Wildcard, the only North American representation in the playoffs, fell to FlyQuest in the semifinals, managing to win just one map in a somewhat balanced series that featured a 13-3 decider map.
While Wildcard reached the playoffs, they had to fight for it, having lost to M80 in their opening group stage match but bouncing back with a 2-0 win over ODDIK. M80 couldn't clinch a playoff spot against BIG, and had to play Wildcard again, losing the series and the playoff spot this time.
Over in Group A, FlyQuest easily claimed a semifinals berth with wins over BetBoom and SAW, who beat Rooster comfortably and met each other in a crucial win or go home group stage series. SAW advanced with a 2-1 win after a tight series.
The semifinals saw Wildcard go down swinging, as the North American squad put up a fight against FlyQuest but couldn't close the series on the third map. SAW met BIG and, although the Portuguese won map one, they couldn't replicate that same result during the series, as the Germans turned things around to reach the grand final.
To conclude ESL Challenger Atlanta, FlyQuest defeated BIG in yet another tight series, as both teams showed up. The Aussies struck first with a 13-10 Ancient win, but BIG replied with a 16-14 Vertigo. On Dust2, FlyQuest managed to win the event after a 13-9 victory.
FlyQuestBIG| FlyQuest |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Alistair 'aliStair' Johnston |
59 - 48 | +11 | 84.2 | 66.7% | 1.21 |
| Christopher 'dexter' Nong |
59 - 50 | +9 | 85.8 | 70.7% | 1.17 |
| Jay 'Liazz' Tregillgas |
46 - 47 | -1 | 78.1 | 77.3% | 1.10 |
| Declan 'Vexite' Portelli |
51 - 52 | -1 | 68.7 | 78.7% | 1.00 |
| Joshua 'INS' Potter |
41 - 50 | -9 | 63.2 | 65.3% | 0.87 |
| BIG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Karim 'Krimbo' Moussa |
80 - 46 | +34 | 99.4 | 81.3% | 1.55 |
| Jon 'JDC' de Castro |
47 - 52 | -5 | 72.4 | 66.7% | 1.00 |
 Rigon 'rigoN' Gashi |
44 - 58 | -14 | 76.9 | 62.7% | 0.91 |
| Florian 'syrsoN' Rische |
39 - 47 | -8 | 55.0 | 64.0% | 0.87 |
| Johannes 'tabseN' Wodarz |
36 - 55 | -19 | 72.1 | 76.0% | 0.85 |
Counter-Strike doesn't stop, though, with IEM Rio starting today. Liquid and Complexity will face off in one of the opening Bo1 series.
