Singularity and Riot Squad charge ahead in WINNERS League playoffs; eUnited handed Mythical upset
The entirety of the WINNERS League Season 3 playoffs round of sixteen has concluded, with most of the league's favorite teams advancing into the quarterfinals, which kicked off earlier tonight.
Before playoffs even began, Station7 were granted a massive boon as the team were invited to playoffs despite forfeiting the regular season. The team's good luck kept rolling when Cloud9 pulled out of playoff contention to sort out their visa situations for DreamHack Open Leipzig and IEM Katowice.
Continuing on into the first match of playoffs, Swole Patrol surprisingly struggled as they faced off against recent MDL promotees ex-iNTACT. With Matthew "WARDELL" Yu and Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik as stand-ins, Swole Patrol were unable to close out a 9-6 lead on Inferno as they were overwhelmed in the second half, seeing ex-iNTACT securing a 16-12 win on their map pick.
Moving onto Dust2, Swole Patrol were dominated on their CT-side, allowing ex-iNTACT to end the half up 10-5. After switching sides, Swole Patrol finally found their footing, battering iNTACT to secure a narrow 16-13 scoreline to move onto Mirage.
With the series tied up, ex-iNTACT once again managed to put Swole Patrol through their paces, forcing the map into overtime. There, Swole Patrol finally managed to put ex-iNTACT behind them and secure the series, winning Mirage 19-16.
Swole Patrolex-iNTACT| Swole Patrol |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Matthew 'WARDELL' Yu |
86 - 52 | +34 | 88.8 | 78.3% | 1.41 |
| Yassine 'Subroza' Taoufik |
82 - 59 | +23 | 91.9 | 73.9% | 1.34 |
 Jason 'neptune' Tran |
65 - 62 | +3 | 78.2 | 71.7% | 1.10 |
| Braxton 'swag' Pierce |
59 - 57 | +2 | 72.1 | 73.9% | 1.05 |
| Jake 'kaboose' McDonald |
54 - 63 | -9 | 69.1 | 70.7% | 0.98 |
| ex-iNTACT |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riley 'Reality' Fusch |
64 - 63 | +1 | 77.9 | 65.2% | 1.06 |
| Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
64 - 78 | -14 | 82.5 | 65.2% | 1.05 |
| Caleb 'jchancE' Davis |
65 - 73 | -8 | 71.1 | 57.6% | 0.89 |
| Austin 'AAustiN' Urb |
51 - 66 | -15 | 65.9 | 63.0% | 0.87 |
| Alexander 'retrQ' Kadan |
47 - 66 | -19 | 59.3 | 60.9% | 0.77 |
The next three playoff series were far more straightforward, with a Singularity mix featuring Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan and Kaleb "moose" Jayne finding a quick 2-0 win over the recently reunited Rap Gang on Train and Inferno.
SingularityRap Gang| Singularity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shahzeb 'ShahZaM' Khan |
48 - 27 | +21 | 95.6 | 76.5% | 1.50 |
| Michael 'dapr' Gulino |
39 - 33 | +6 | 96.0 | 80.4% | 1.36 |
| Kaleb 'moose' Jayne |
41 - 27 | +14 | 85.3 | 76.5% | 1.31 |
| Skyler 'Relyks' Weaver |
34 - 33 | +1 | 68.4 | 74.5% | 1.01 |
| Hunter 'SicK' Mims |
30 - 30 | +0 | 66.0 | 74.5% | 0.98 |
| Rap Gang |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erick 'Xeppaa' Bach |
40 - 38 | +2 | 88.9 | 62.7% | 1.07 |
| Brendan 'Bwills' Williams |
36 - 37 | -1 | 81.8 | 60.8% | 1.02 |
| Jeff 'RZU' Ngo |
31 - 40 | -9 | 63.4 | 52.9% | 0.74 |
| Justin 'FaNg' Coakley |
22 - 40 | -18 | 59.5 | 62.7% | 0.74 |
| Josh 'shinobi' Abastado |
21 - 38 | -17 | 42.9 | 60.8% | 0.66 |
Chaos also secured a 2-0 win over New England Whalers, although the latter team had a decent showing, securing double digits on Inferno and Dust2.
ChaosNew England Whalers| Chaos |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Owen 'smooya' Butterfield |
44 - 31 | +13 | 79.3 | 70.9% | 1.26 |
 Maxim 'wippie' Shepelev |
44 - 30 | +14 | 86.7 | 72.7% | 1.25 |
| Joshua 'steel' Nissan |
39 - 37 | +2 | 81.5 | 76.4% | 1.13 |
| Cameron 'cam' Kern |
35 - 29 | +6 | 62.2 | 78.2% | 1.13 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
30 - 36 | -6 | 63.0 | 67.3% | 0.94 |
| New England Whalers |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc-Andre 'NiSMO' Tayar |
39 - 38 | +1 | 81.9 | 72.7% | 1.07 |
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
37 - 39 | -2 | 66.5 | 65.5% | 1.02 |
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
38 - 39 | -1 | 63.9 | 67.3% | 0.96 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
30 - 34 | -4 | 59.9 | 69.1% | 0.89 |
| Lucas 'Fiziq' Blow |
19 - 42 | -23 | 63.7 | 52.7% | 0.68 |
Triumph took down Advanced team 7Sins without much trouble, only letting 7Sins get to double digits on Overpass.
Triumph7Sins| Triumph |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael 'Grim' Wince |
52 - 34 | +18 | 100.8 | 73.6% | 1.44 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
46 - 34 | +12 | 96.3 | 71.7% | 1.34 |
| Logan 'Voltage' Long |
39 - 29 | +10 | 70.9 | 86.8% | 1.24 |
| Ryan 'Snakes' Amann |
39 - 30 | +9 | 72.4 | 73.6% | 1.15 |
| Jack 'xCeeD' Holiman |
28 - 28 | +0 | 67.0 | 75.5% | 1.08 |
| 7Sins |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake 'eptima' Allen |
37 - 39 | -2 | 82.0 | 60.4% | 1.10 |
| Hunter 'florgy' Coulson |
39 - 41 | -2 | 71.2 | 56.6% | 0.93 |
| Eric 'Kwong' Kwong |
26 - 42 | -16 | 59.7 | 60.4% | 0.74 |
| Simon 'Jxwk' Valentin |
26 - 40 | -14 | 52.5 | 50.9% | 0.68 |
| Ernie 'amen' Yokley |
26 - 43 | -17 | 55.6 | 50.9% | 0.65 |
INTZ battered Divine in the most one-sided series of the night, although it is worth mentioning Malick "dangle" Abid was standing in for Rahul "curry" Nemani.
DivineINTZ| Divine |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brenden 'stellar' McGrath |
23 - 38 | -15 | 67.8 | 58.5% | 0.70 |
| Chris 'riku' Piasecki |
20 - 36 | -16 | 68.9 | 51.2% | 0.68 |
| Robert 'robby' Brown |
20 - 30 | -10 | 60.7 | 43.9% | 0.66 |
| Malick 'dangle' Abid |
22 - 36 | -14 | 58.0 | 48.8% | 0.64 |
| Brady 'thief' Dever |
17 - 37 | -20 | 43.5 | 48.8% | 0.49 |
| INTZ |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Marcelo 'chelo' Cespedes |
49 - 18 | +31 | 121.6 | 95.1% | 1.86 |
| Alexandre 'xand' Zizi |
35 - 21 | +14 | 90.3 | 70.7% | 1.43 |
| Ricardo 'boltz' Prass |
33 - 20 | +13 | 88.2 | 78.0% | 1.35 |
| Bruno 'shz' Martinelli |
29 - 21 | +8 | 74.4 | 82.9% | 1.26 |
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
31 - 23 | +8 | 74.4 | 73.2% | 1.21 |
The next series ended up being a massive upset, with a Mythic mixteam managing to take down eUnited over the course of a three-map series on Mirage, Inferno, and Dust2.
Sfter eUnited started their Mirage T-side up 7-1, the EPL team stumbled as Mythic rallied, winning the next seven rounds to narrowly take the half 8-7. After switching sides, Mythic pushed their advantage, climbing up to a 13-7 lead thanks to a strong performance from Erik "fl0m" Flom. The next five rounds went the way of eUnited as stand-in Gage "Infinite" Green led a rally of his own, however Mythic found map point immediately afterwards. eUnited looked destined to force overtime as they won the next two rounds, however Mythic managed to claim eUnited's map pick 16-14 in the final round.
eUnited got revenge on Mythic's map pick of Inferno as they destroyed the stream team, taking the map 16-4, with Edgar "MarKE" Maldonado finishing with a 2.28 rating.
eUnitedMythic| eUnited |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gage 'Infinite' Green |
60 - 46 | +14 | 82.5 | 78.5% | 1.29 |
 Edgar 'MarKE' Maldonado |
68 - 56 | +12 | 97.2 | 74.7% | 1.28 |
| Ryan 'freakazoid' Abadir |
57 - 52 | +5 | 81.3 | 75.9% | 1.13 |
| Austin 'Cooper' Abadir |
59 - 50 | +9 | 77.4 | 65.8% | 1.13 |
| Victor 'food' Wong |
49 - 47 | +2 | 63.4 | 74.7% | 1.05 |
| Mythic |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erik 'fl0m' Flom |
55 - 54 | +1 | 79.0 | 69.6% | 1.12 |
| Kaitlin 'Keiti' Boop |
61 - 63 | -2 | 80.1 | 63.3% | 1.04 |
| Donovan 'zNf' Froid |
50 - 54 | -4 | 73.0 | 65.8% | 0.98 |
| Adam 'Polen' Polen |
46 - 61 | -15 | 63.8 | 69.6% | 0.82 |
| Corbin 'C0M' Lee |
39 - 62 | -23 | 58.5 | 60.8% | 0.75 |
With the series tied up, Mythic repeated their Mirage heroics by disrupting eUnited's 7-1 lead before winning the half 8-7. After switching sides, Mythic completely overpowered eUnited, never allowing the team to retake the lead as they outpaced them to a 16-13 upset win, securing the series and advancing into the quarterfinals.
The final series of the round of sixteen ended up being a far more one-sided affair than expected as Riot Squad crushed Rugratz with two quick wins on Nuke and Dust2.
RugratzRiot Squad| Rugratz |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nathan 'leaf' Orf |
46 - 39 | +7 | 95.6 | 70.6% | 1.18 |
| Erik 'penny' Penny |
36 - 40 | -4 | 76.2 | 70.6% | 1.00 |
| Joshua 'Hunter' Madore |
24 - 35 | -11 | 59.0 | 68.6% | 0.85 |
| Marian 'tyfoon' Lesnic |
24 - 40 | -16 | 57.2 | 58.8% | 0.69 |
| Alexander 'zanz' Diaz |
27 - 40 | -13 | 54.2 | 47.1% | 0.69 |
| Riot Squad |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
55 - 23 | +32 | 94.5 | 88.2% | 1.71 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
35 - 40 | -5 | 95.5 | 72.5% | 1.16 |
| Austin 'crashies' Roberts |
35 - 31 | +4 | 70.2 | 72.5% | 1.12 |
| Mitch 'mitch' Semago |
33 - 29 | +4 | 74.8 | 74.5% | 1.11 |
| Pujan 'FNS' Mehta |
36 - 34 | +2 | 68.3 | 66.7% | 1.04 |
The quarterfinals have already gotten underway tonight, with the matchups looking as follows:
| Matchup | Date | Time |
| Mythic vs. Riot Squad |
Jan. 16th | 7 PM EST |
| Station7 vs. Swole Patrol |
Jan. 16th | 10PM EST |
| Triumph vs. INTZ |
Jan. 18th | 6PM EST |
| Singularity vs. Chaos |
Jan. 20th | 10PM EST |
