Swole Patrol stun NRG, to EPICENTER 2018 Wild Card
After making their way through the bracket yesterday, the only thing between Swole Patrol and qualifying for the EPICENTER 2018 Wild Card was NRG. Despite being a highly-anticipated team set to compete in Pro League later this year, NRG were slightly hobbled due to Damian "daps" Steele currently analyzing for the FACEIT Major in London and with Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert standing in for the American team.
The grand finals kicked off on Inferno where, despite Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov's uncharacteristic performance, NRG handily overcame the MDL team, taking the first map 16-5.
Cache started out in a similar fashion, with NRG dominating Swole Patrol 8-1. On the 10th round, Swole Patrol composed themselves and initiated a comeback, taking the last six rounds of the half to close the gap to just one round at 8-7, still in NRG's favor. NRG's lead didn't last for long however, as Swole Patrol continued to march forward, only conceding one round in the second half before Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro closed the map 16-9, tying the series.
The two teams fought fiercely on Train, with NRG taking a slight lead in the first half 8-7. NRG and Swole Patrol traded leads in the second half, with NRG taking match point 15-10. Swole Patrol powered through five straight rounds, ultimately pushing the game into overtime. Despite strong performances from both CeRq and Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte, Swole Patrol pulled through again in overtime, taking Train 19-17 and closing the series 2-1.
NRGSwole Patrol| NRG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte |
67 - 52 | +15 | 78.1 | 75.6% | 1.18 |
 Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov |
61 - 53 | +8 | 71.3 | 72.0% | 1.13 |
| Ethan 'Ethan' Arnold |
59 - 58 | +1 | 88.7 | 65.9% | 1.10 |
| Jacob 'FugLy' Medina |
49 - 55 | -6 | 62.5 | 72.0% | 0.96 |
| Jordan 'n0thing' Gilbert |
43 - 61 | -18 | 65.2 | 62.2% | 0.83 |
| Swole Patrol |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan 'Zellsis' Montemurro |
63 - 52 | +11 | 91.0 | 76.8% | 1.23 |
| Austin 'Cooper' Abadir |
64 - 51 | +13 | 73.0 | 74.4% | 1.13 |
 Edgar 'MarKE' Maldonado |
61 - 58 | +3 | 72.4 | 73.2% | 1.09 |
| Braxton 'swag' Pierce |
47 - 56 | -9 | 69.5 | 63.4% | 0.89 |
| Ryan 'freakazoid' Abadir |
44 - 62 | -18 | 67.0 | 68.3% | 0.86 |
Now qualified for the EPICENTER 2018 Wild Card, Swole Patrol join ENCE and Virtus.pro in the qualifier event. The team list for the wild card is as such:
 Virtus.pro |
 ENCE |
 Asia Qualifier |
| Swole Patrol |
Broken inline Qualifier |
The highest-ranked team in the team pool for the Wild Card is currently ENCE, who sit at #18 currently in the HLTV world rankings and will automatically proceed to the main event.. Swole Patrol are currently ranked #39 and will likely have to play in the qualifier bracket in Moscow.
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