Article written by: Mike "nartouthere"
With the third round of Advanced playoffs starting tonight, Nartouthere goes into detail about what happened in round two. MDL Relegation tournaments were clinched, upsets were had, and great Counter Strike shined through it all. Check it all out in Counter Nature's Advanced Playoffs: Round 2 article.
#1 Kinship 0-2 #9 Thunder Logic
Map 1: Overpass (Thunder Logic’s pick) 11-16 Thunder Logic
Map 2: Nuke (Kinship’s pick) 11-16 Thunder Logic
Map 3: Mirage (decider)
When these two teams met in the regular season, Kinship won 16-10 on Nuke. Thunder Logic came into this series looking to avenge the loss. This series’ map pool was pretty good for both of the competing teams. On Overpass, TL took the first half 10-5 on their T-Side. TL never looked back and closed the map out 16-11. Inseaniac played very well, logging 28 frags and 107 ADR.
Onto the second map, Nuke, where 4 players from TL had 20+ frags each contributing towards the 16-11 win. I want to shout-out Brian2K here, who had 22 K and 97 ADR in the second map. In Round 1 of playoffs, it was Sharkie coming up big for TL. If TL are able to have performances from these two players, then they are going to give RBG a run for their money because like I said before, they have Inseaniac and PureR who can put up big numbers. It’s a good sign for TL moving on. TL secured their spot in MDL Relegation and will be looking to make their return to the Mountain Dew League.
As for Kinship, Wolffe and CLASIA are playing well in these playoffs. The concern here is kobruh. They need more production out of him. In the regular season, he led Advanced in ADR (96). But in playoffs, he has dropped down to 73 ADR. Could it be that Wolffe joining the team caused a decrease in his production? It’s like when Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh joined up on the Miami Heat. All 3 of the players were their previous teams’ carry. But when they formed, Lebron was the main star and had most of the touches. Bosh and Wade’s performances dipped. Or is it that kobruh isn’t playing up to his level? If Kinship wants to make a run for MDL Relegation, they’ll need more out of him. With this loss, Kinship drops down to the lower brackets, where they will play Savage. It will be the first time both teams are playing against each other. Savage comes into the match-up knocking out FrontGG 2-0. Turismo continued his hot-streak with 42 K (+11) and 94 ADR. If Savage wants to upset Kinship, they will need their other players to step up.
#2 RBG Esports 2-1 #7 Team Hyperrr
Map 1: Inferno (Team Hyperrr’s pick) 19-22 Team Hyperrr
Map 2: Overpass (RBG Esports’ pick) 16-5 RBG
Map 3: Nuke (decider) 16-6 RBG
Coming into this game, RBG Esports were just happy to be able to pass the first round and not get upset like they did last season versus SKDC. Team Hyperrr beat RBG Esports in the regular season 16-13 on Nuke. A lot of people wrote them off and thought it was a fluke of a win. However, they had everyone on edge after winning their map pick Inferno 22-19 and going up 1-0. This game had so many big 1v3 clutches from Team Hyperrr. They showed a dominant T-Side with sensu leading the way with 24 K 107 ADR, ending the first half 11-4. Team Hyperrr took the lead to 15-12, however, RBG clawed their way back and brought it into overtime. RBG had an 18-17 lead and were on map point with a 5v3 advantage and weren’t able to close it out. Team Hyperrr took that momentum into the second overtime winning 22-19. sensu finished the game with 38 K 99 ADR 11 FK 3 FD. hext (RBG) had a great game too, exercising 37 K and 92 ADR.
I was able to catch some of the first map and saw Team Hyperrr had a huge lead. People were messaging me on Steam friends saying RBG is choking and they are about to get upset. That was the storyline going into the second map. RBG proved the doubters wrong and stomped Team Hyperrr 16-5 on their map pick of Overpass. RBG continued their stomping on the decider map of Nuke 16-6. gmanchew led the way with 23 K and 117 ADR. Overall, it was a good showing in maps 2 and 3 from RBG and they secured MDL Relegation. For Team Hyperrr, they shouldn’t be down that they lost to RBG and take away the fact that they can put up a fight with the best team in Advanced. They take this confidence and bring it into the lower bracket where they can be a force to be reckoned with. They will be matched up against 26 Rising, who they beat in the regular season 16-9 on Train. Since then, Team Hyperrr has improved a lot--so expect to see a different match-up this time.
#4 Third Impact 2-0 #5 Big Chillin
Map 1: Overpass (Big Chillin’s pick) 16-13 TI
Map 2: Nuke (Third Impact’s pick) 22-19 TI
Map 3: Mirage (decider)
This was Third Impact’s second test against a top Advanced team since week 3, when they lost to Supernova (cxzi, stamina, Wolffe, CLASIA, aris). They haven’t played any of the other top teams during the regular season. This game was a true test to see if they could compete. On Overpass, TI took the first half 9-6 while on CT-Side. They won pistol, converted the anti-eco, won the first buy round, and the following anti-eco, which put them up 13-6. BC strung 4 rounds together to put the score at 10-13. Then, TI closed the game 16-13 with a big round from JoJo.
The second map was Nuke (selected by TI). It’s a good choice from them because BC doesn’t play the map. In the past two seasons of Advanced, they do not have any officials on it. Last season, it was their permaban. BC vetoed Vertigo first. It was a map they did have in their pool last season. As for TI, they don’t play Vertigo with this new lineup. They have had no officials on it this season. I would have took the risk if I was BC and veto’d Nuke. The second map was closer, seeing how BC never played it. The puginess from BC and individual performance from squidah (43 frags) were enough to carry BC into double overtime after being down 8-14 on T-Side. However, that was not enough to get them to map 3. insne popped off on both maps, finishing 55 K (+11) 95 ADR. He had one of the best performances of his career so far. In the regular season, statistically, he was TI’s worst fragger. Also, JoJo had a great game and showed that he is one of the best AWPers in Advanced. TI secure a spot in MDL Relegation, while BC will have to play ImPerium Esports in the lower bracket. They played each other in the regular season with BC coming back and winning 16-14 after being down 10-14 on T Side Train.
#6 Lethal Divide 2-0 #14 Supernova
Map 1: Overpass (Supernova’s pick) 16-5 Lethal Divide
Map 2: Vertigo (Lethal Divide’s pick) 16-8 Lethal Divide
Map 3: Mirage (decider)
LD and SN sent both ImPerium Esports and Imperium Gaming down to the lower brackets in the first-round of playoffs. It was koalanoob who single handedly carried SN to get here. He had his best performance ever. Both teams met in the last week of the regular season where SN came out on top 16-14 on Dust2. SN needed this win to get into playoffs. Prior to that win, they were on a 4 game losing streak. SN picked Overpass, a map they played 9 times this season including playoffs. They are very familiar with the map. LD has only played it twice. ImPerium Esports picked it against them in the first round of playoffs and lost 12-16. SN looked flat on Overpass, a map that is their bread and butter. They lost the first half 5-10 on T-Side and did not win any rounds in the second half. koalanoob’s magic seen against Imperium gaming was not seen in this match-up. He finished the first map bottom fragging with 8 K and 48 ADR. That’s not what you want to see from your best player.
Onto LD’s map pick Vertigo: SN has never played this map. As expected, they got demolished 16-8. Dare and KEL led the way with 25 K, 110 ADR and 20 K, 96 ADR respectively. LD won 2-0 and secured their place in MDL Relegation. SN drop to the lower bracket and will have to play Addice Inc. who has been struggling recently but did beat SN in the regular season 16-11 on Inferno.