MDL Recap Week 8 - New England Whalers topple oNe in fight for first
The second to last week of the ESEA MDL Season 35 regular season has concluded, with New England Whalers, oNe, and Secret Club clinching their spots in playoffs.
Outside of the trio, the remainder of the division has much to fight for as a number of teams vie to clinch a playoffs spot or avoid relegation.
Starting with the division’s number one team, New England Whalers finally overtook their Brazilian rivals, oNe, to take first place as they bested the team 16-12 on Mirage at the start of the week. Outside of that, the team picked up three more wins over the likes of ImPerium, Kinship, and Vireo.pro, with the latter squad giving them the most trouble in a close 19-17 win on Nuke.
Speaking of oNe, outside of their loss to New England Whalers, they had a mixed week against the league's opposition, winning matches against Kinship and Eclipse, while taking a 16-8 loss to Secret Club. With only one match left this season, they will need to win against ex-Recon 5 and see New England Whalers lose both remaining matches this week in order to claim the number one seed heading into playoffs.
As for the teams in fourth and fifth place, Mythic and Depth, all they will need to do to make playoffs is win one of their remaining matches this week.
Looking towards the bottom of the division, Kinship's situation has become more dire as they will need to win both matches this week and hope Vireo.pro and Incognito somehow lose all their remaining matches if they hope to avoid relegation. Third Impact on the other hand have the potential of shooting up the standings with their jam-packed schedule this week, with the team potentially, albeit unlikely, able to clinch a spot in playoffs if they can win all five matches this week.
In the final week of the regular season, some of the notable matchups are:
| Matchup | Date | Time |
 Third Impact vs.  Russian Canadians |
Oct. 27th | 8:30PM EDT |
| Mythic vs. ex-Polar Ace |
Oct. 27th | 9:00PM EDT |
| ex-Polar Ace vs. Third Impact |
Oct. 28th | 7:15PM EDT |
| Mythic vs. RBG |
Oct. 28th | 7:15PM EDT |
| Secret Club vs. Russian Canadians |
Oct. 28th | 8:30PM EDT |
| Depth vs. ex-Recon 5 |
Oct. 28th | 8:30PM EDT |
| Third Impact vs. RBG |
Oct. 28th | 8:30PM EDT |
| ex-Polar Ace vs. NE Whalers |
Oct. 28th | 9:00PM EDT |
| Russian Candians vs. Vireo.pro |
Oct. 28th | 9:45PM EDT |
| NE Whalers vs. Rugratz |
Oct. 29th | 7:15PM EDT |
| Mythic vs. Russian Canadians |
Oct. 29th | 8:30PM EDT |
ex-Recon 5 vs.  oNe |
Oct. 29th | 8:30PM EDT |
| Vireo.pro vs. RBG |
Oct. 29th | 9:45PM EDT |
| ex-Polar Ace vs. Secret Club |
Oct. 29th | 9:45PM EDT |
With only one week left in the regular season, the standings for MDL are as follows:
| Team | Matches | Wins | Losses | RD | Points |
| New England Whalers |
14 | 14 | 0 | +104 | 42 |
| oNe |
15 | 13 | 2 | +104 | 39 |
| Secret Club |
13 | 10 | 3 | +54 | 30 |
| Mythic |
13 | 9 | 4 | +24 | 27 |
| Depth |
14 | 9 | 5 | +14 | 27 |
| RBG |
13 | 7 | 6 | +10 | 21 |
| Russian Canadians |
10 | 6 | 4 | +29 | 18 |
| Rugratz |
13 | 6 | 7 | -19 | 18 |
| Rebirth |
11 | 6 | 5 | +17 | 18 |
| ex-Polar Ace |
12 | 5 | 7 | -5 | 15 |
| Eclipse |
14 | 5 | 9 | -28 | 15 |
| Vireo.pro |
13 | 4 | 9 | -11 | 12 |
| Incognito |
12 | 4 | 8 | -23 | 12 |
| Third Impact |
11 | 3 | 8 | -46 | 9 |
| ex-Recon 5 |
11 | 3 | 9 | -67 | 9 |
| ImPerium |
12 | 2 | 10 | -86 | 6 |
| Kinship |
14 | 2 | 12 | -71 | 6 |
