Rise and GSG9 secure MDL Relegation spots with wins over SKDC and ex-Thunder Logic
The ESEA Advanced Season 35 playoffs continued last night, seeing GSG9, ex-Thunder Logic, Rise, and SKDC all fighting for their tournament lives in the lower bracket.
GSG9 were the first to claim victory, notching a 2-0 series win over ex-Thunder Logic. The series started off tight on Dust2, with GSG9 ending the first half with three rounds in a row to secure a narrow 8-7 lead. Richie "sherps" Sherpa and co. then added six more rounds to open up their T-side and never looked back on the way to a 16-10 win.
ex-Thunder Logic recovered nicely on Overpass, securing an 11-4 lead at the half on the back of a staunch defense. GSG9 were not to be deterred, however, and returned the favor to send the map to overtime. The teams required two overtimes to break their stalemate, but it was eventually GSG9 who completed the comeback to take the series.
GSG9ex-Thunder Logic| GSG9 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Richie 'sherps' Sherpa |
66 - 40 | +26 | 98.1 | 73.5% | 1.48 |
| Jake 'Decko' Muse |
51 - 45 | +6 | 74.5 | 70.6% | 1.10 |
| Devin 'Xzen' Barber |
48 - 47 | +1 | 84.1 | 69.1% | 1.09 |
| Ryan 'ROBBY1' Robshaw |
48 - 52 | -4 | 72.4 | 67.6% | 0.97 |
| Johnny 'JDubs' Wu |
36 - 47 | -11 | 62.4 | 73.5% | 0.92 |
| ex-Thunder Logic |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael 'Turismo' Haas |
59 - 50 | +9 | 83.4 | 70.6% | 1.20 |
| Brandon 'Sharkie' Ly |
53 - 50 | +3 | 86.5 | 66.2% | 1.15 |
 Paolo 'pao' Lope |
43 - 48 | -5 | 76.0 | 73.5% | 0.99 |
| Brian 'Brian2K' Ladron De Guevara |
44 - 53 | -9 | 70.6 | 64.7% | 0.93 |
| Brandon 'YuZ' Cyr |
32 - 49 | -17 | 59.0 | 69.1% | 0.82 |
The series between SKDC and Rise was also hotly contested, seeing both teams reach double-digit rounds on all three maps.
Starting off on Nuke, Rise were just barely able to contain SKDC's attack, going into the half with a slim 8-7 lead. SKDC looked poised to take control as they won their CT pistol via defuse, but Rise immediately countered to reset them. Following this, SKDC were unable to string multiple rounds together, ultimately falling 16-12. Canadians Kory "SEMPHIS" Friesen and Filip "Feedalee" Mitevski led the way for their respective sides, with 1.21 and 1.35 ratings, respectively.
As Overpass got underway, this time it was Rise who were only able to win isolated rounds, seeing SKDC jump out to an 11-4 lead. Rise gave Kyle "OCEAN" O'Brien and friends a scare in the second half, using a five round streak to bring them within striking distance at 12-10, but the more experienced side of SKDC was eventually able to close out the map 16-11. Feedalee once again topped the scoreboard for Rise in the loss, followed by all five members of SKDC.
Unlike the first two maps of the series, the decider of Train was a tale of streaks. Rise's defense looked impenetrable to kick things off, as they opened the map 7-0, but SKDC were seemingly given new life after a technical pause, roaring back to take eight offensive rounds in a row to end the half with a slight edge. Rise got back to their winning ways on their own T-side, taking six in a row to reclaim the lead at 13-8. From here, three isolated rounds were enough to claim the map and series.
SKDCRise| SKDC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan 'Hiki' O'Kane |
60 - 52 | +8 | 73.8 | 78.3% | 1.15 |
| David 'sensu' Oliver |
49 - 54 | -5 | 78.2 | 75.9% | 1.04 |
| Kory 'SEMPHIS' Friesen |
61 - 53 | +8 | 67.8 | 72.3% | 1.03 |
| Derek 'desi' Branchen |
51 - 58 | -7 | 73.3 | 68.7% | 1.02 |
| Kyle 'OCEAN' O'Brien |
45 - 61 | -16 | 58.9 | 59.0% | 0.81 |
| Rise |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Filip 'Feedalee' Mitevski |
68 - 49 | +19 | 83.0 | 81.9% | 1.30 |
| Aidan 'Aidan' Higgason |
56 - 50 | +6 | 73.2 | 73.5% | 1.11 |
| Ken 'krotomo' Otomo |
55 - 60 | -5 | 76.3 | 75.9% | 1.07 |
| Cody 'Domorin' Lutzel |
49 - 49 | +0 | 65.8 | 72.3% | 1.01 |
| Kevin 'consti' Yi |
49 - 59 | -10 | 68.9 | 77.1% | 1.01 |
With the results, the next matches of the ESEA Advanced Season 35 playoffs are as follows:
| Upper bracket | ||||
 Yeah |
vs. | GGPR |
11/23 @ 9 PM EST | |
| Lower bracket | ||||
| GSG9 |
vs. | Rise |
TBD | |
Notably, both GSG9 and Rise have guaranteed themselves spots in MDL Season 35 Relegation with their wins — though both sides undoubtedly hope to claim the top spot in Advanced and secure automatic promotion to the upper league.
As for SKDC and ex-Thunder Logic, there still remains a chance that ESEA will not extend a Relegation invite to a team, in which case the two teams would face off for the final spot in the promotion tournament.
