Yeah, GSG9, GGPR, SKDC advance to S35 Advanced upper bracket semi-finals
The first two rounds of the ESEA Advanced Season 35 playoffs upper bracket has concluded, seeing Yeah, GGPR, GSG9, and SKDC advance into the upper bracket semi-finals. Meanwhile, in the lower bracket Able are the highest seeded team to be eliminated from playoffs, being eliminated in the first round.
Starting off with the favorites to win the division, Yeah blew through their opening match against Lux, claiming a 16-2 on Inferno before closing out Dust2 16-6. In the following match Yeah continued to dominate, taking down Counter Nature 16-6 and 16-7 on Vertigo and Dust2, respectively.
Elsewhere in the upper bracket, GSG9 claimed a hard fought victory over Brigada with a 16-14 on Nuke and a 16-13 on Dust2 to meet Vaniity in round two. After a one-sided 16-6 win on Mirage, GSG9 played another close map, narrowly winning Overpass 22-18 to setup a confrontation with Yeah.
Of the four teams to find themselves in the semi-finals, GGPR had the most taxing run of the quartet, as after only conceding eleven rounds to UYU, they were pushed to three maps against Revenant. Starting the series on Nuke, Chase "lowrider" Releford and co. were immediately placed on the backfoot after conceding the map 16-12. Moving onto their map pick of Dust2, GGPR regained control of the series, winning the map 16-11 to force the series onto Mirage. After a close series, Mirage was surprisingly a complete blowout as Jake "eXotic" Vaupell helped power GGPR to a 16-1 victory.
The fourth team to make their way into the upper bracket semi-finals was Kyle "OCEAN" O'Brien's veteran SKDC lineup. In their first series, Derek "desi" Branchen helped his team blaze through Able, besting the seventh seeded team 16-9 on Train before winning the series outright with a 16-8 on Overpass. Their next series against ex-Thunder Logic was finished in two maps as SKDC won Inferno 16-13 before besting Michael "Turismo" Haas' squad 16-9 on Train.
Moving into the lower bracket, Morning Light managed to stay alive with a 2-0 win over Lux, while fifth seed Heart n Soul claimed a surprisingly close 2-1 victory against CIS squad Brigada to continue their playoffs run. Next up, Veloz took down UYU 2-0 thanks to strong performances from Scott "Scottiyio" Baker and PNDLM.
The final match of lower bracket round one was the most interesting as it saw number two seed Rise face off against number seven seed Able to see who would be exiting the tournament early. Able began the series in the lead with a 16-12 win on Nuke, before Rise pulled off a narrow 16-14 win on Vertigo to keep their playoff dreams alive. Moving onto Overpass, Ken "krotomo" Otomo powered his team to a 10-5 T-side before Rise won the map 16-6, only conceding a single round in the second half.
The upper bracket semi-finals will look as follows:
| Matchup | Date | Time |
 Yeah vs.  GSG9 |
Nov. 17th | 9:00PM EST |
| SKDC vs. GGPR |
Nov. 16th | 9:30PM EST |
Meanwhile, lower bracket round two will look as follows:
| Matchup | Date | Time |
| ex-Thunder Logic vs. Morning Light |
Nov. 12th | 9:00PM EST |
| Revenant vs. Heat n Soul |
Nov. 12th | 9:30PM EST |
| Vaniity vs. Veloz |
Nov. 12th | 9:30PM EST |
| Counter Nature vs. Rise |
Nov. 12th | 9:30PM EST |
The full bracket can be found here.
