Extra Salt beat Party Astronauts to secure ESEA Fall Cash Cup 3
Extra Salt came out on top in the third Cash Cup of the fall with Aran "Sonic" Groesbeek stepping in for Edgar "MarKE" Maldonado for their semifinal and final games.
The first semifinal game was a close one, with Party Astronauts taking on oNe in what would go on to be a lengthy three-map affair. oNe would get off to a strong start on their pick of Mirage but took a while to close it out as the Astronauts made it to eleven rounds before oNe managed to end it.
Nuke looked like it would be a much closer map following the first half, but a strong performance from Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue spearheaded the victory for Party Astronauts. In the third map of Inferno, David "Cynic" Polster took up the mantle of leading the charge for the Astronauts, and while oNe made a valiant effort, Party Astronauts were able to finish them off to secure the series and a spot in the grand final.
Party AstronautsTeamOne| Party Astronauts |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
63 - 51 | +12 | 80.3 | 74.7% | 1.21 |
| Gage 'Infinite' Green |
63 - 56 | +7 | 81.9 | 74.7% | 1.18 |
| David 'cynic' Polster |
62 - 53 | +9 | 78.3 | 73.5% | 1.10 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
50 - 58 | -8 | 74.5 | 65.1% | 1.04 |
 Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
51 - 56 | -5 | 69.7 | 75.9% | 1.01 |
| TeamOne |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa |
66 - 62 | +4 | 82.2 | 67.5% | 1.08 |
 Enzo 'xns' Henrique |
57 - 58 | -1 | 74.3 | 67.5% | 1.05 |
| Matheus 'pesadelo' Panisset |
55 - 57 | -2 | 69.5 | 72.3% | 1.02 |
| Pedro 'Maluk3' Campos |
49 - 54 | -5 | 72.8 | 67.5% | 0.94 |
| Matheus 'prt' Scuvero |
47 - 58 | -11 | 65.4 | 65.1% | 0.86 |
On the opposite side of the bracket, Extra Salt took on RBG for the other spot in the grand final. Strong performances from Sonic and Justin "FaNg" Coakley on the Terrorist and Counter-Terrorist sides of Nuke respectively resulted in a straightforward victory on the first map for Extra Salt. Overpass went the way of RBG despite a heroic showing from Johnny "JT" Theodosiou, taking the series to a third map.
For much of the third map, Extra Salt was in control thanks to a dominant Counter-Terrorist side. It began to slip away from them after the half, but with a resurgence of form from Josh "oSee" Ohm, Extra Salt finished off RBG to secure their revenge match against Party Astronauts.
Extra SaltRBG| Extra Salt |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
62 - 54 | +8 | 88.9 | 78.3% | 1.28 |
| Justin 'FaNg' Coakley |
66 - 51 | +15 | 77.0 | 69.9% | 1.19 |
| Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek |
58 - 55 | +3 | 75.9 | 69.9% | 1.08 |
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
51 - 49 | +2 | 63.4 | 69.9% | 1.04 |
| Ricky 'floppy' Kemery |
52 - 50 | +2 | 72.9 | 72.3% | 1.03 |
| RBG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerric 'wiz' Jiang |
55 - 51 | +4 | 70.8 | 66.3% | 1.04 |
| Jordon 'jitter' Ruggiero |
54 - 60 | -6 | 74.8 | 62.7% | 0.98 |
| Connor 'chop' Sullivan |
50 - 57 | -7 | 69.4 | 69.9% | 0.94 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
55 - 59 | -4 | 71.6 | 63.9% | 0.92 |
| Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
44 - 64 | -20 | 65.1 | 62.7% | 0.85 |
The third-place decider match between RBG and oNe was pretty straightforward in that both teams came out on top in their map picks in fairly dominant fashions. Enzo "xns" Henrique made oNe's choice of Dust 2 a simple matter, and a joint effort from Jadan "HexT" Postma and Jordon "jitter" Ruggiero made Overpass a similarly easy affair for RBG.
The final map was where the real magic happened in this series, with two close halves resulting in a double-overtime where Pedro "Maluk3" Campos shined to push oNe on top, assuring them the third-place prize of $2,000.
TeamOneRBG| TeamOne |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedro 'Maluk3' Campos |
72 - 60 | +12 | 77.9 | 65.5% | 1.15 |
| Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa |
68 - 64 | +4 | 86.1 | 66.7% | 1.12 |
| Enzo 'xns' Henrique |
58 - 61 | -3 | 84.9 | 70.1% | 1.11 |
| Matheus 'pesadelo' Panisset |
59 - 56 | +3 | 73.9 | 74.7% | 1.03 |
| Matheus 'prt' Scuvero |
50 - 57 | -7 | 65.0 | 71.3% | 0.94 |
| RBG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
67 - 63 | +4 | 93.0 | 71.3% | 1.22 |
| Jordon 'jitter' Ruggiero |
68 - 61 | +7 | 89.4 | 71.3% | 1.20 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
60 - 58 | +2 | 62.9 | 72.4% | 0.99 |
| Jerric 'wiz' Jiang |
52 - 63 | -11 | 70.2 | 71.3% | 0.95 |
| Connor 'chop' Sullivan |
51 - 63 | -12 | 62.5 | 67.8% | 0.86 |
The final was about more than just the grand prize, with Extra Salt looking for revenge following a close defeat to Party Astronauts in the finals of ESEA Premier Season 38. Extra Salt got off to a flying start on their pick of Overpass, garnering twelve rounds in the first half alone thanks to a strong performance from Ricky "floppy" Kemery, and they were able to close it out not long after.
The second map, Inferno, was far more even all around. Each side managed to secure an 8-7 half for themselves, plunging the game into overtime. After plenty of back and forth rounds, Party Astronauts were finally able to string together enough rounds in double overtime to pocket the map for themselves, bringing the series to a third and final map.
Unfortunately for Party Astronauts, oSee was set on the third map not being as close as the second, putting up a decisive 1.83 rating on Nuke to round off the series, securing Extra Salt both the grand prize of $9,000 and the satisfaction of revenge.
Party AstronautsExtra Salt| Party Astronauts |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan 'djay' Dallal |
58 - 67 | -9 | 74.1 | 73.3% | 0.98 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
56 - 70 | -14 | 72.9 | 62.2% | 0.92 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
55 - 61 | -6 | 65.3 | 62.2% | 0.92 |
| Gage 'Infinite' Green |
53 - 65 | -12 | 66.1 | 56.7% | 0.84 |
| David 'cynic' Polster |
49 - 64 | -15 | 62.1 | 57.8% | 0.78 |
| Extra Salt |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
70 - 51 | +19 | 73.9 | 76.7% | 1.22 |
| Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek |
64 - 56 | +8 | 86.3 | 72.2% | 1.21 |
| Ricky 'floppy' Kemery |
67 - 60 | +7 | 82.0 | 74.4% | 1.19 |
| Justin 'FaNg' Coakley |
65 - 50 | +15 | 72.4 | 70.0% | 1.10 |
| Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
59 - 55 | +4 | 76.0 | 77.8% | 1.09 |
The final standings of ESEA Fall Cash Cup 3 are:
1. 
Extra Salt (MarkE, JT, floppy, oSee, FaNg, Sonic) - $9,000
2. Party Astronauts (djay, ben1337, Infinite, PwnAlone, cynic) - $4,000
3. oNe (Maluk3, prt, malbsMd, pesadelo, xns) - $2,000
4. RBG (Walco, wiz, jitter, HexT, chop)
5-6. ChocoCheck (cJ, RIKO, XotiC, nosraC, CLASIA)
5-6. Triumph (RZU, Bwills, cxzi, viz, jeorgesnorts)
7-10. ATK (Fadey, motm, MisteM, mango, cyrix)
7-10. Detonate (Swahn, Delta9, Ghostii, silas, Sutter)
7-10. Third Impact (Danejoris, JoJo, hate, Wolffe, insane)
7-10. Northern Forces (Wilky, EllisoN, D4rtyMontana, JAM, sam)
Dates for ESEA Fall Cash Cup 4 are yet to be announced as of the publication of this article.
