Murderers Row 5 win ESEA Open
Season 26 of ESEA Open finally came to a close last night with Murderers Row 5 taking on Miami Flamingos in a best-of-three to decide the champions of the league.
Kicking things off on Cache, Miami Flamingos had a rocky start, only able to accrue six rounds on their T-side. Things didn't get much better for the Flamingos as MR5 was relentless in their offense. With little resistance given from the CT's, MR5 took all but two rounds of the second half and winning the map 16-8.
Completely unphased, the Miami Flamingos made a dominant showing from start to finish on Mirage. MR5 had no answer or execute that could crack the defense of the Flamingos CT-side. With both Gabriel "1962" Sinopoli and Roberto "RVS10" Themtham dropping 20 bombs in the first half alone, it wasn't a surprise the half ended 14-1. After such a crushing first half and the Flamingos still riding their momentum, MR5 couldn't find a way out of the deficit and fell 16-4.
Heading into map three with a tied series it was anyone's game. The first half began with MR5 on the offense, with four rounds coming down to 1v1 and 1v2 situations, all of which MR5 won, the 9-6 halftime score could have easily been shifted in Flamingos favor. Fighting back the best they could, it was tit-for-tat the entirety of the second half. Unfortunately for the Miami Flamingos they began to fall apart in the last few rounds of the series and Murderers Row 5 sealed their victory and the title of ESEA Open Season 26 champions.
The prize breakdown for the Open Division can be found below:
1.  Murderers Row 5 |
$2,250 |
2.  Miami Flamingos |
$1,500 |
| 3. FreezerHeads |
$1,125 |
| 4. Better Offline |
$1,125 |
| 5. BLACK GOAT |
$375 |
6.  Tempo Storm SE |
$375 |
| 7. ESEA Clout Tokens |
$375 |
| 8. Quickhands |
$375 |
With this victory, Murderers Row 5 look forward to the announcement of which league they will be advancing to in Season 27. This season also marks a rare achievement for Nick "GabZ" Norman, as he has competed in 25 of 26 seasons in ESEA.
