March 27, 2021 12:07PM

Written by theroadtodrwaldo

Extra Salt and ChocoCheck advance to VENN Invitational playoffs

Group A has finished with Extra Salt and ChocoCheck (ex-Rebirth) advancing to Sunday's VENN Invitational playoff round. Group B will feature paiN, Triumph, RBG, and Recon 5 competing to determine who will join them in the playoff bracket.

https://twitter.com/VENNesports/status/1375639945780453377

Also read: VENN Invitational invites announced

Extra Salt got off to a strong start on Nuke and secured a 12-3 lead on CT-side. They extended the lead to 15-3, but Levitate fended off three match points before eventually falling to Johnny "JT" Theodosiou and his troops. Josh "oSee" Ohm topped the lobby with 22 kills while Nicholas "hate" Young notched 17 eliminations as Levitate crashed back to earth.

VENN Invitational Spring 2021 - BLAST Premier Qualifier

Nuke

Extra Salt

16 - 6

Levitate

All maps

Extra Salt	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Josh 'oSee' Ohm	22 - 11	+11	93.3	72.7%	1.52
Justin 'FaNg' Coakley	19 - 12	+7	99.5	72.7%	1.47
Edgar 'MarKE' Maldonado	15 - 9	+6	70.7	95.5%	1.38
Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek	17 - 12	+5	82.9	77.3%	1.24
Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou	15 - 11	+4	73.2	77.3%	1.14

Levitate	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Nicholas 'hate' Young	17 - 17	+0	67.8	63.6%	0.93
Andrew 'Ghostii' Kehler	10 - 18	-8	65.0	54.5%	0.83
Christopher 'Swahn' Swahn	10 - 17	-7	58.2	54.5%	0.63
Sam 'Noxio' Goodwin	9 - 18	-9	64.6	54.5%	0.60
David 'Delta9' Shafer	9 - 18	-9	44.1	36.4%	0.51

Maps

oSee22 kills

Most kills

oSee1.52 rating

Best rating

MarKE2.10 rating

Best t-side

oSee1.83 rating

Best ct-side

Nuke Rounds

The other opening match was considerably closer, but Ian "motm" Hardy outshone the rest of the server. The High Coast trialist finished Dust2 with 34 kills as High Coast rallied from an 11-13 deficit to win five straight and earn a spot in the Group A winner's match. Zack "XotiC" Elshani led ChocoCheck with 26 kills in the loss.

VENN Invitational Spring 2021 - BLAST Premier Qualifier

High Coast

16 - 13

ChocoCheck

All maps

High Coast	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Ian 'motm' Hardy	34 - 19	+15	121.5	89.7%	1.82
Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo	25 - 11	+14	81.9	82.8%	1.46
Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue	18 - 22	-4	65.5	58.6%	0.88
Brandon 'bew' Roberts	16 - 21	-5	78.5	65.5%	0.86
Ben 'ben1337' Smith	12 - 20	-8	46.9	48.3%	0.61

ChocoCheck	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Zack 'XotiC' Elshani	26 - 18	+8	89.5	72.4%	1.28
Danny 'cxzi' Strzelczyk	23 - 22	+1	85.8	62.1%	1.18
Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' Jones	16 - 23	-7	74.4	58.6%	0.83
Sebastian 'retchy' Tropiano	15 - 22	-7	55.0	58.6%	0.75
Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly	12 - 20	-8	47.0	55.2%	0.67

Maps

motm34 kills

Most kills

motm1.82 rating

Best rating

motm2.24 rating

Best t-side

RCF1.60 rating

Best ct-side

Dust2 Rounds

ChocoCheck kicked things up a notch once they were backed into a corner. Levitate jumped out to a 9-6 halftime lead on Mirage, but ChocoCheck doubled down on defense and allowed Levitate just two rounds on their T-side. XotiC led the way again with 26 kills, while Christopher "Swahn" Swahn's 25 eliminations weren't enough to prolong Levitate's life in the event.

VENN Invitational Spring 2021 - BLAST Premier Qualifier

Mrg

Levitate

11 - 16

ChocoCheck

All maps

Levitate	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Christopher 'Swahn' Swahn	25 - 19	+6	88.8	77.8%	1.28
Nicholas 'hate' Young	21 - 18	+3	86.8	70.4%	1.10
Andrew 'Ghostii' Kehler	18 - 19	-1	66.2	51.9%	0.83
David 'Delta9' Shafer	12 - 21	-9	68.9	55.6%	0.76
Sam 'Noxio' Goodwin	12 - 21	-9	48.1	63.0%	0.66

ChocoCheck	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Zack 'XotiC' Elshani	26 - 13	+13	103.9	70.4%	1.66
Danny 'cxzi' Strzelczyk	22 - 19	+3	85.8	77.8%	1.36
Sebastian 'retchy' Tropiano	18 - 20	-2	66.5	63.0%	0.92
Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly	17 - 16	+1	59.5	66.7%	0.91
Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' Jones	15 - 20	-5	62.6	66.7%	0.86

Maps

XotiC26 kills

Most kills

XotiC1.66 rating

Best rating

cxzi1.29 rating

Best t-side

XotiC2.43 rating

Best ct-side

Mirage Rounds

Also read: Rebirth fend off semifinal scare; win third VENN Invitational qualifier

With a playoff spot for the taking Extra Salt made it very clear that they had no intention of giving High Coast a chance on Nuke. They jumped out to a 12-3 lead on their CT-side and quickly proceeded to the top spot in the group, led by Justin "FaNg" Coakley's 23 kills. Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue and Rodrigo "RCF" Figueiredo each had 13 eliminations for High Coast in the loss as they dropped to face ChocoCheck for the runner-up spot.

VENN Invitational Spring 2021 - BLAST Premier Qualifier

Nuke

Extra Salt

16 - 5

High Coast

All maps

Extra Salt	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Josh 'oSee' Ohm	22 - 12	+10	109.0	81.0%	1.70
Justin 'FaNg' Coakley	23 - 9	+14	90.9	90.5%	1.64
Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek	18 - 11	+7	94.3	85.7%	1.55
Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou	15 - 10	+5	73.6	81.0%	1.26
Edgar 'MarKE' Maldonado	6 - 13	-7	44.5	71.4%	0.81

High Coast	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Ben 'ben1337' Smith	11 - 16	-5	74.8	76.2%	0.92
Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo	13 - 15	-2	70.1	52.4%	0.90
Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue	13 - 17	-4	71.5	61.9%	0.90
Brandon 'bew' Roberts	11 - 18	-7	56.5	71.4%	0.71
Ian 'motm' Hardy	6 - 18	-12	48.4	52.4%	0.48

Maps

FaNg23 kills

Most kills

oSee1.70 rating

Best rating

ben13371.84 rating

Best t-side

oSee2.20 rating

Best ct-side

Nuke Rounds

The final match of Group A between High Coast and ChocoCheck featured the same map and the same scoreline but the opposite result. This time it was Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk who was a cut above the rest with 27 frags as ChocoCheck won seven of the last eight rounds to deny High Coast a playoff berth. motm and RCF finished with 22 kills apiece in the loss for High Coast.

VENN Invitational Spring 2021 - BLAST Premier Qualifier

High Coast

13 - 16

ChocoCheck

All maps

High Coast	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo	22 - 18	+4	77.7	89.7%	1.27
Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue	20 - 18	+2	81.7	65.5%	1.14
Ian 'motm' Hardy	22 - 20	+2	69.3	72.4%	1.05
Ben 'ben1337' Smith	15 - 19	-4	79.1	65.5%	0.99
Brandon 'bew' Roberts	16 - 21	-5	70.3	75.9%	0.93

ChocoCheck	K - D	+/-	ADR	KAST	Rating 2.0
Danny 'cxzi' Strzelczyk	27 - 18	+9	91.4	65.5%	1.25
Christopher 'cJ dA K1nG' Jones	18 - 17	+1	85.2	86.2%	1.24
Zack 'XotiC' Elshani	21 - 19	+2	69.6	69.0%	1.06
Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly	16 - 19	-3	59.9	62.1%	0.86
Sebastian 'retchy' Tropiano	14 - 22	-8	49.2	65.5%	0.72

Maps

cxzi27 kills

Most kills

RCF1.27 rating

Best rating

cJ dA K1nG1.30 rating

Best t-side

cxzi1.58 rating

Best ct-side

Dust2 Rounds

With Group B still to play, here's who awaits them in the playoff bracket:

Extra Salt	vs.	Group B 2nd Place
Chococheck	vs.	Group B 1st Place

Group B begins today at 3PM EST with paiN pitted against Recon 5.

Also read: Levitate upset Secret Club to top second VENN Invitational qualifier