Round 1 of MDL Season 28 Relegation matches completed
Following the abrupt and controversial reseeding of the MDL Relegation bracket, the qualifier kicked off, with 7 teams moving on to the second round along with MWNL, who were given a BYE.
The bracket kicked off with Whatever It Takes (Advanced #5-8) taking on Vikings (MDL #20). The MDL team started the series with a dominant performance on Cache, taking the first nine rounds before WIT took five rounds, with Vikings taking the last round to end the first half with a 10-5 lead. Six more rounds in the second half gave Vikings a lead in the series, taking the first map 16-5.
The tables turned drastically on Dust2, with an incredible performance from Andrew "BooMie" Knight allowing WIT to easily take the first half with a 13-2 lead. While Vikings were able to pad out their score with three rounds, WIT quickly shut down Vikings in three swift rounds of their own to claim the second map 16-5, tying the series 1-1.
Inferno followed suit, with Carter "Wreakveus" Owens taking the lead this time. While WIT were unable to replicate the dominance of Dust2, the team still took a hefty lead in the first half with a 11-4 scoreline. However, WIT easily took five straight rounds in the second half with no contest, giving them the series 2-1 and knocking Vikings down into the lower bracket.
Whatever It TakesVikings| Whatever It Takes |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andrew 'BooMie' Knight |
54 - 36 | +18 | 85.4 | 77.4% | 1.32 |
| Carter 'Wreakveus' Owens |
56 - 42 | +14 | 89.9 | 72.6% | 1.19 |
| Shervin 'sherv' Akhavan |
48 - 41 | +7 | 84.2 | 80.6% | 1.19 |
| Jasper 'sfX' Ko |
39 - 45 | -6 | 78.0 | 74.2% | 1.01 |
| Josh 'iRONMAN' Monroe |
41 - 39 | +2 | 78.7 | 69.4% | 1.00 |
| Vikings |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bruno 'WiGGY' Rabani |
47 - 44 | +3 | 86.2 | 69.4% | 1.14 |
| Musa 'fisher' Mammadov |
46 - 45 | +1 | 79.1 | 67.7% | 1.09 |
| Julian 'hybr1d' Rivera |
42 - 53 | -11 | 75.4 | 72.6% | 0.97 |
| Joseph 'Muenster' Lima |
36 - 49 | -13 | 56.9 | 67.7% | 0.89 |
| Chase 'Charybdis' Waiyanet |
32 - 47 | -15 | 57.3 | 62.9% | 0.78 |
Next up in the bracket was oNe (Advanced #1) taking on The Fundamentals (Advanced #3-4), a team they had originally played against in the Advanced playoffs bracket. While the North American squad initially remained competitive with the Brazillian team in the first half, oNe built upon their 10-5 lead in the second half, taking six more rounds to take the first map 16-6.
oNe's strength was more prominent on Overpass, with Nicolas "NikoM" Miozzi decimating The Fundamentals, taking the series 2-0 for his team with a 16-3 victory on Overpass.
TeamOneThe Fundamentals| TeamOne |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nicolas 'NikoM' Miozzi |
39 - 20 | +19 | 103.9 | 80.5% | 1.60 |
 Victor 'iDk' Torraca |
39 - 23 | +16 | 96.7 | 78.0% | 1.57 |
| Pedro 'Maluk3' Campos |
39 - 26 | +13 | 95.0 | 75.6% | 1.41 |
| Alencar 'trk' Rossato |
35 - 25 | +10 | 100.8 | 78.0% | 1.40 |
| Jean-Michel 'mch' D'Oliveira |
22 - 18 | +4 | 53.8 | 68.3% | 1.04 |
| The Fundamentals |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan 'ROBBY1' Robshaw |
24 - 35 | -11 | 61.3 | 65.9% | 0.79 |
| Nolan 'Temperature' Pepper |
28 - 37 | -9 | 63.3 | 58.5% | 0.77 |
| Steven 'swT' Tolbert |
23 - 32 | -9 | 59.9 | 53.7% | 0.76 |
| Jake 'Decko' Muse |
17 - 37 | -20 | 68.5 | 53.7% | 0.60 |
| Cameron 'Skelly' Thomson |
19 - 34 | -15 | 58.5 | 56.1% | 0.57 |
After narrowly dodging a matchup with oNe, Big Frames (Advanced #2) were instead given a matchup against ETEREAL (Advanced #3-4), who they had also beaten before in the Advanced playoffs. On Overpass, both teams were neck-and-neck, with Big Frames taking a small lead 8-7 in the first half. In the second half, Andy "devastation" Parr devastated ETHEREAL, with Big Frames taking the first map 16-8.
Big Frames' great performance continued into the first half of Dust2, as the team took the first half by storm with an 11-4 scoreline at halftime. ETHEREAL didn't let up in the second round though, taking six rounds to just barely put them at double digits. Big Frames closed the window of opportunity for ETHEREAL however, taking the last two rounds to take the map 16-10 and the series 2-0.
ETHEREALBig Frames| ETHEREAL |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan 'rongcho' Jo |
39 - 37 | +2 | 97.0 | 72.0% | 1.23 |
| Dennison 'fdeN' Fong |
33 - 35 | -2 | 66.4 | 70.0% | 0.92 |
| Alec 'Acrim' Holland |
30 - 39 | -9 | 64.6 | 64.0% | 0.90 |
| Jin 'Jindoke' Park |
24 - 38 | -14 | 63.6 | 52.0% | 0.69 |
| Marc 'nutters' Nutter |
18 - 39 | -21 | 46.8 | 62.0% | 0.66 |
| Big Frames |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy 'devastation' Parr |
49 - 24 | +25 | 110.6 | 86.0% | 1.68 |
| Ryan 'Church' Church |
40 - 27 | +13 | 85.5 | 80.0% | 1.38 |
| Yan 'PRDTR' Davtian |
33 - 23 | +10 | 70.4 | 84.0% | 1.22 |
| Jimmy 'Nurfed' McFadden |
37 - 32 | +5 | 66.8 | 66.0% | 1.08 |
| Liam 'Welshy' Newhouse |
28 - 40 | -12 | 63.5 | 70.0% | 0.82 |
Formerly of the Prospects name, Infamous (MDL #22) took on Geostorm (Advanced #5-8). The MDL team started off Overpass with a good first half, although began to slip to Geostorm in the latter part of the half. Infamous nonetheless retained their lead 9-6 at halftime, but quickly lost it as Geostorm took the second half by storm. Down 10-13, Infamous began to claw back the scoreline, eventually forcing the map into overtime. In overtime, Infamous ultimately claimed victory, taking the map 19-17.
Similarly to Overpass, Inferno started off great for Infamous, despite losing the first four rounds. Up 9-6, Infamous' lead once again was lost to Geostorm, who once again brought the score to 13-10. Infamous ultimately wrapped up the series with six straight rounds, closing the map 16-13 and taking the series 2-0.
InfamousGeostorm| Infamous |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nassir 'rugrat' Francique |
53 - 43 | +10 | 79.8 | 72.3% | 1.23 |
| Mike 'real_bM' Desanto |
53 - 48 | +5 | 94.4 | 75.4% | 1.19 |
| Brendan 'Bwills' Williams |
49 - 37 | +12 | 75.5 | 75.4% | 1.18 |
| Josh 'JoshRT' Lee |
41 - 40 | +1 | 70.6 | 72.3% | 1.08 |
| Blake 'Strings' Stringer |
38 - 53 | -15 | 70.6 | 70.8% | 0.95 |
| Geostorm |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole 'ColeUP' Werry |
52 - 44 | +8 | 79.7 | 70.8% | 1.13 |
| Daniel 'picky' Milazzo |
47 - 48 | -1 | 79.8 | 72.3% | 1.10 |
| Damian 'EMIYA' Boulware |
43 - 48 | -5 | 70.3 | 67.7% | 0.97 |
| Chris 'draWsouL' Drossel |
44 - 49 | -5 | 75.0 | 66.2% | 0.96 |
| Jack 'JackZ' Zaruba |
32 - 46 | -14 | 58.1 | 58.5% | 0.74 |
Moving away from North America, the Colombian Vault (Advanced #5-8) were handily taken down by the Mexican Forty Six and 2 (MDL #19) in a clean 2-0 series. Adrian "Gonnak" Arguello and David "spaydeR" Esquerra dominated Vault on Train and Cache, with 46&2 taking both maps 16-5 and 16-6 respectively.
Forty Six and 2Vault| Forty Six and 2 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 David 'spaydeR' Esquerra |
42 - 20 | +22 | 97.1 | 81.4% | 1.67 |
| Adrian 'Gonnak' Arguello |
45 - 25 | +20 | 111.7 | 81.4% | 1.67 |
| Koby 'kobruh' Higgs |
36 - 25 | +11 | 92.9 | 79.1% | 1.38 |
| Francisco 'k1Nky' Alvarez |
32 - 29 | +3 | 85.7 | 79.1% | 1.23 |
| William 'stayfrosty' Sweetman |
32 - 23 | +9 | 64.2 | 74.4% | 1.13 |
| Vault |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Javier 'cruzN' Cruz |
30 - 37 | -7 | 78.8 | 55.8% | 0.86 |
 Santiago 'Daveeys' Galvis |
30 - 37 | -7 | 70.4 | 51.2% | 0.82 |
| Andres 'spamzzy' Correa |
21 - 39 | -18 | 75.1 | 55.8% | 0.72 |
| Jesus 'sam_A' Taboada |
19 - 38 | -19 | 49.8 | 55.8% | 0.65 |
| Juanes 'sickLy' Valencia |
22 - 36 | -14 | 59.7 | 53.5% | 0.61 |
ex-Atmosphere (MDL #18) kicked off their series against Glockoma (Advanced #9) with a strong first map, taking Mirage practically uncontested 16-2.
Glockoma finally found their groove on Train, taking the first eight rounds off ex-Atmosphere, before losing the last few rounds of the half but still maintaining a 9-6 lead. ex-Atmosphere continued to build up their score, overtaking Glockoma 11-10 before losing it once again. Narrowly avoiding overtime, Glockoma took Train 16-13, bringing the series to a third map.
ex-Atmosphere overcame Glockoma on Overpass, with Brandon "BOOBIE" Roberts winning his team a 9-6 first half followed by a 7-5 second half, which ultimately gave ex-Atmosphere the final map to wrap up the series 2-1 and knock down Glockoma.
Glockomaex-Atmosphere| Glockoma |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle 'C0NVICT' Battell |
47 - 55 | -8 | 69.5 | 70.3% | 0.98 |
| Justin 'Tee' Boylan |
52 - 57 | -5 | 78.9 | 68.9% | 0.96 |
| Elvis 'tomford' Cavalic |
49 - 61 | -12 | 70.2 | 66.2% | 0.90 |
| Jake 'Dolzy' Amendola |
48 - 59 | -11 | 72.5 | 70.3% | 0.90 |
| Joel 'jcrueL' Cruel |
46 - 57 | -11 | 69.9 | 58.1% | 0.90 |
| ex-Atmosphere |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
77 - 46 | +31 | 104.9 | 79.7% | 1.56 |
| Dion 'Bl4ckiice' Mckenzie |
58 - 51 | +7 | 90.4 | 78.4% | 1.25 |
| Alfonso 'krZ' Fiorani |
55 - 45 | +10 | 77.9 | 71.6% | 1.15 |
| Devin 'oniichan' Fung |
48 - 49 | -1 | 81.7 | 77.0% | 1.14 |
| Randy 'Smiley' Sandoval |
51 - 51 | +0 | 65.9 | 78.4% | 1.07 |
The final match in the first round was Hysteria (Advanced #5-8) taking on subtLe (MDL #23), who just barely avoided a demotion to Advanced due to Levitate disbanding. Sam "DaZeD" Marine's team narrowly avoided Advanced again on Inferno, nearly losing to Hysteria on the first map. Despite being down by one round at halftime, subtLe were able to stretch the game to the full thirty rounds, taking the first map 16-14.
On Mirage, subtLe showed the strength, overwhelming Hysteria and going 11-4 in the first half of the second map. Eric "HIA" Boggs and his team didn't give in however, as Hysteria pulled through, taking 12 rounds in the second half to just barely take the series to its decider map with a 16-14 win on Mirage.
Hysteria were unable to pull off the same stunt on Train, as subtLe took a sliver of a lead in the first half 8-7. With a strong second half, subtLe took the last map 16-8, giving them the series 2-1 and moving them into the upper bracket.
HysteriasubtLe| Hysteria |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Malick 'dangle' Abid |
60 - 62 | -2 | 77.9 | 69.0% | 1.06 |
| Eric 'HIA' Boggs |
55 - 67 | -12 | 78.7 | 67.9% | 1.00 |
| Austin 'RenZ' Dickman |
58 - 65 | -7 | 75.9 | 65.5% | 0.97 |
| Jeremy 'Mundle' King |
54 - 64 | -10 | 72.5 | 61.9% | 0.92 |
| Nolan 'bite' Hunstad |
51 - 61 | -10 | 60.9 | 69.0% | 0.86 |
| subtLe |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew 'no_one' Congdon |
69 - 57 | +12 | 100.7 | 77.4% | 1.35 |
| Sam 'DaZeD' Marine |
72 - 47 | +25 | 82.3 | 81.0% | 1.34 |
| Ellis 'els' Clay |
68 - 61 | +7 | 83.9 | 78.6% | 1.17 |
| Kyle 'OCEAN' O'Brien |
53 - 53 | +0 | 70.3 | 76.2% | 1.09 |
| Jaryd 'summit' Lazar |
57 - 60 | -3 | 74.5 | 70.2% | 1.04 |
The second round of matches in MDL Season 28 Relegation will kick off later tonight. The schedule and matchups can be seen below.
| Upper Bracket | |
| 9:00 PM | MWNL vs. Big Frames |
| 9:30 PM | Infamous vs. Whatever It Takes |
| 9:30 PM | Forty Six and 2 vs. subtLe |
| 9:30 PM | oNe vs. ex-Atmosphere |
| Lower Bracket | |
| 9:30 PM | Geostorm vs. Vikings |
| 9:30 PM | Vault vs. Hysteria |
| 9:30 PM | The Fundamentals vs. Glockoma |
