Old Guys Club and The Fundamentals drop to MDL Relegation lower bracket; BBC go limp
The first round of the ESEA MDL Relegation tournament has concluded, and the results have guaranteed at least two teams from Advanced will secure a promotion to MDL for Season 31.
The first game to complete was between BBC and Variance, with the teams choosing to play on Train, Nuke and potentially Mirage. The first map saw Variance take the lead on the CT-side, and not lose it afterwards. After a 9-6 first half, Variance opened their T-half with six rounds in a row to take map point, before BBC briefly delayed their 16-9 win.
Nuke required a comeback for Variance, after BBC mounted a strong CT-side by taking the pistol round before going in 9-6 ahead at the break. The second half started with BBC taking the pistol round, before Variance reset their opponents and followed through with ten rounds in a row to win 16-10. Ezekiel "KmZ" Hughes was Variance's highest performer in the series, finishing the match with a 1.34 rating.
BBCVariance| BBC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Marshall 'Minus' Sedowicz |
44 - 41 | +3 | 85.3 | 68.6% | 1.09 |
 Derrick 'LILMAN' Boyne |
40 - 42 | -2 | 78.8 | 72.5% | 1.03 |
| David 'Toy' Han |
33 - 39 | -6 | 75.2 | 70.6% | 0.99 |
| 'burrite' |
28 - 40 | -12 | 70.2 | 64.7% | 0.88 |
| Kyuhyun 'blade' William Uhm |
30 - 41 | -11 | 69.9 | 58.8% | 0.84 |
| Variance |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ezekiel 'KmZ' Hughes |
49 - 31 | +18 | 87.6 | 68.6% | 1.34 |
| Justin 'FaNg' Coakley |
48 - 39 | +9 | 92.9 | 76.5% | 1.31 |
| George 'Powerzz' Yaede |
41 - 35 | +6 | 86.0 | 74.5% | 1.24 |
| Stoyno 'neska' Atanasov |
38 - 34 | +4 | 80.3 | 68.6% | 1.12 |
| Bilal 'SPAMMER' Ali |
27 - 37 | -10 | 65.7 | 60.8% | 0.88 |
Next up was the match between MDL team The Fundamentals and BLITZKRIEG, on Cache, Inferno and potentially Overpass. Cache started with The Fundamentals getting the basics down, taking the opening four rounds in a breeze. This didn't last long, howevever, as once BLITZKRIEG got on to the board they truly lived up to their name. Having taken ten rounds in a row to go 10-5 up at the break, the second half was a slightly closer affair. While the start of the half belonged to anyone, as soon as BLITZKRIEG picked up map point it wasn't long until they secured a 16-12 win.
Inferno started similarly, except for The Fundamentals resetting BLITZKRIEG's pistol round to take the lead. Once again, BLITZKRIEG came out with a lightning performance by taking nine rounds in a row helping them to an 11-4 lead on their CT-side. The second half was a closer affair, with neither side really being able to take a strong foothold. Through this ping-pong situation, BLITZKRIEG eventually secured enough rounds to take the win at 16-11. Kevin "poised" Ngo was his team's strongest performer, taking a 1.34 rating after 95.9 ADR.
The FundamentalsBLITZKRIEG| The Fundamentals |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron 'Skelly' Thomson |
42 - 36 | +6 | 81.0 | 72.7% | 1.14 |
| Nolan 'Temperature' Pepper |
42 - 42 | +0 | 87.9 | 72.7% | 1.12 |
| Ramal 'Rampage' Silva |
36 - 41 | -5 | 71.6 | 74.5% | 1.03 |
| Michael 'orbit' Faulkner |
32 - 41 | -9 | 67.7 | 69.1% | 0.95 |
| Jake 'Decko' Muse |
32 - 41 | -9 | 64.3 | 65.5% | 0.87 |
| BLITZKRIEG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin 'poised' Ngo |
50 - 36 | +14 | 95.9 | 80.0% | 1.34 |
| Nick 'alter' Jackson |
47 - 42 | +5 | 96.7 | 76.4% | 1.30 |
| Alex 'aproto' Protopapas |
39 - 34 | +5 | 73.5 | 74.5% | 1.10 |
| Ian 'tex' Botsch |
36 - 38 | -2 | 71.9 | 72.7% | 1.03 |
| Andrew 'ShoT_UP' Orlowski |
28 - 34 | -6 | 61.0 | 67.3% | 0.91 |
Thunder Logic and The Quest's match finished next, on Dust2, Mirage and Inferno. Dust2 began as it finished, with Thunder Logic being dominant. Having secured the first six rounds, they fell apart towards the middle with The Quest picking up a number of rounds. This still meant Thunder Logic were ahead at the break, with a 10-5 score. The second half began with The Quest picking up four rounds, before Thunder Logic finished with the final six rounds of the half for a 16-9 win.
Mirage followed, and once again Thunder Logic proved to be a strong team, effectively brushing The Quest aside by the half-time break to take a 12-3 lead. The second half proved their opponents weren't down just yet, as they pushed forward with five of the opening six rounds, but it wouldn't be too long before Thunder Logic closed the game 16-8. Jason "jmoh" Mohandessi was his team's strongest performer, finishing the series with a 1.31 rating.
Thunder LogicThe Quest| Thunder Logic |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason 'jmoh' Mohandessi |
38 - 27 | +11 | 82.3 | 81.6% | 1.31 |
 Amgalan 'genghsta' Nemekhbayar |
41 - 31 | +10 | 85.1 | 75.5% | 1.28 |
| Adam 'Ange' Milian |
39 - 29 | +10 | 87.2 | 81.6% | 1.23 |
| Chris 'Slash' Petersen |
32 - 27 | +5 | 77.7 | 71.4% | 1.12 |
| Rahul 'curry' Nemani |
32 - 27 | +5 | 62.4 | 77.6% | 1.09 |
| The Quest |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan 'Voltage' Long |
39 - 32 | +7 | 82.2 | 67.3% | 1.12 |
| Jack 'xCeeD' Holiman |
32 - 33 | -1 | 69.5 | 67.3% | 0.99 |
| Trevor 'FrostayK' Bandle |
24 - 37 | -13 | 55.7 | 65.3% | 0.76 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
24 - 40 | -16 | 64.1 | 61.2% | 0.73 |
| Matthew 'mCe' Elmore |
22 - 40 | -18 | 63.6 | 55.1% | 0.72 |
The final series of the opening round was between slashLEVEL and MDL's Old Guys Club on Train, Inferno and, potentially, Nuke. slashLEVEL opened Train with the pistol and anti-eco round on Train before OGC picked up one round of their own. But from there the Advanced side were on a roll, limiting Sean "seang@res" Gares' team to just one round at a time as they went 11-4 ahead. The second half started strong for OGC, taking four on the bounce, but it was over before they knew it when slashLEVEL used their T-side to take the final five rounds for a 16-8 win.
Inferno was next, and Old Guys Club opened the map in a form as if they were set to even the series, taking five of the first six rounds on their T-side. This didn't last long, however, as slashLEVEL picked up eight CT-side rounds to go 9-6 ahead. The second half began with OGC taking the pistol and first anti-eco round, but their opponents came out with the next seven rounds to close the series with a 16-8 win. Marc-Andre "NiSMO" Tayar proved pivotal for slashLEVEL, taking a 1.61 rating with 106.9 in ADR over the series.
slashLEVELOld Guys Club| slashLEVEL |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc-Andre 'NiSMO' Tayar |
50 - 29 | +21 | 106.9 | 87.5% | 1.61 |
| Joshua 'KiiroKami' Kim |
45 - 26 | +19 | 102.3 | 79.2% | 1.55 |
| David 'cynic' Polster |
40 - 25 | +15 | 78.6 | 83.3% | 1.28 |
| Kaitlin 'Keiti' Boop |
25 - 32 | -7 | 53.2 | 66.7% | 0.84 |
| Caleb 'jchancE' Davis |
19 - 30 | -11 | 54.7 | 72.9% | 0.81 |
| Old Guys Club |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kory 'SEMPHIS' Friesen |
42 - 41 | +1 | 97.3 | 62.5% | 1.22 |
| Mohamad 'mOE' Assad |
37 - 33 | +4 | 72.6 | 62.5% | 1.03 |
| Matt 'Pollo' Wilson |
25 - 34 | -9 | 58.2 | 64.6% | 0.83 |
| Sean 'seang@res' Gares |
18 - 36 | -18 | 47.9 | 60.4% | 0.68 |
| Samuel 'SileNt' Portillo |
20 - 38 | -18 | 54.6 | 60.4% | 0.64 |
After BBC's loss to Variance, they followed this by forfeiting the remainder of the tournament. This means their opponents, The Fundamentals, are straight through to the second round of the lower bracket. Not long after Dust2.us learned of the forfeit, Marshall "Minus" Sedowicz took to Twitter to announce that he was searching for a team for the upcoming season. When contacted by Dust2.us, Minus confirmed that the team was dead, but refused to provide any additional details.
The remaining upcoming matches, with times in EDT, are as follows, and will take place tonight:
| Upper Bracket | ||
| BLITZKRIEG |
vs. Variance |
9:30 PM |
| Thunder Logic |
vs. slashLEVEL |
9:30 PM |
| Lower Bracket | ||
| The Quest |
vs. Old Guys Club |
9:30 PM |
