SKDC and Big Chillin secure berths in ESEA Premier Season 37
The bulk of ESEA Premier Season 36 Relegation has played out, seeing SKDC earn a return to the top division, while Big Chillin have made it in after finishing their Season 36 Advanced campaign in third place.
On the other side of the coin, HeadShotKings and Recon 5 Black, who both placed 4-6th in Advanced, have seen their Premier hopes dashed (at least for next season) after two losses apiece.
Big Chillin had the easiest go of it in the first round of the upper bracket, sweeping PDHM on Overpass and Inferno. Blake "Elk" Swinson and Michael "Munk" Klotz were the twin engines that helped put Big Chillin over the line, while Brandon "Sharkie" Ly starred for PDHM in the losing effort.
PDHMBig Chillin| PDHM |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brandon 'Sharkie' Ly |
51 - 37 | +14 | 92.3 | 82.8% | 1.35 |
| Malick 'dangle' Abid |
44 - 45 | -1 | 80.3 | 60.3% | 1.11 |
| Alexander 'knightmare' Sozzi |
37 - 42 | -5 | 73.5 | 62.1% | 0.98 |
| Josh 'Spoice' Betters |
37 - 42 | -5 | 76.6 | 75.9% | 0.98 |
| Brian 'Brian2K' Ladron De Guevara |
31 - 41 | -10 | 60.9 | 69.0% | 0.90 |
| Big Chillin |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blake 'Elk' Swinson |
45 - 38 | +7 | 77.8 | 72.4% | 1.18 |
| Michael 'Munk' Klotz |
47 - 37 | +10 | 80.0 | 70.7% | 1.17 |
| Brendan 'Melloh' Mello |
40 - 37 | +3 | 75.1 | 74.1% | 1.07 |
| Devin 'Xzen' Barber |
40 - 45 | -5 | 77.5 | 63.8% | 0.97 |
| Matt 'dvl' Buechel |
35 - 44 | -9 | 66.0 | 67.2% | 0.85 |
The other three series in the round went the distance, most notably seeing Veloz upset Premier side ImPerium 2-1, despite a heroic performance from Reese "Wilky" Wilkerson. Things looked well in hand for Wilky and co. at the outset, as they ran wild over Veloz to notch a 16-4 victory on Overpass. But with their backs against the wall, the Advanced side were able to force triple overtime to win their map pick of Mirage.
Rudy "PALADIN" Rokin and Veloz kept the momentum going on the decider of Inferno, where they were able to convert a slim 8-7 lead at the half into a 16-10 map victory to secure the series.
ImPeriumVeloz| ImPerium |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reece 'Wilky' Wilkerson |
84 - 63 | +21 | 94.9 | 80.4% | 1.32 |
| Richie 'sherps' Sherpa |
72 - 67 | +5 | 85.5 | 68.5% | 1.15 |
| Devin 'AtomiK' Ferrell |
56 - 64 | -8 | 70.4 | 71.7% | 1.01 |
| James 'EllisoN' Ellison |
66 - 70 | -4 | 68.3 | 73.9% | 0.99 |
| Soham 'valens' Chowdhury |
53 - 67 | -14 | 72.0 | 68.5% | 0.93 |
| Veloz |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rudy 'PALADIN' Rokin |
72 - 59 | +13 | 78.5 | 78.3% | 1.22 |
| Brian 'chew' Mao |
70 - 71 | -1 | 88.8 | 75.0% | 1.13 |
| Scott 'Scottiyio' Baker |
70 - 67 | +3 | 77.3 | 76.1% | 1.11 |
| Darius 'PNDLM' Bandali |
65 - 66 | -1 | 79.1 | 69.6% | 1.06 |
| Paul 'aris' Wilson |
52 - 68 | -16 | 63.7 | 70.7% | 0.89 |
Levitate and SKDC, on the other hand, were able to weather out their Advanced opposition after being pushed to decider maps. While Christopher "Swahn" Swahn and Levitate dropped their pick of Dust2 to Recon 5 Black, they took care of business on Inferno and Overpass, only surrendering single-digit rounds on the latter two maps.
LevitateRecon 5 Black| Levitate |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher 'Swahn' Swahn |
60 - 44 | +16 | 80.2 | 75.3% | 1.28 |
| David 'Delta9' Shafer |
57 - 50 | +7 | 88.5 | 75.3% | 1.25 |
| Nicholas 'hate' Young |
59 - 54 | +5 | 88.0 | 75.3% | 1.23 |
| Sam 'Noxio' Goodwin |
49 - 45 | +4 | 83.4 | 72.6% | 1.17 |
| Andrew 'Ghostii' Kehler |
45 - 47 | -2 | 57.8 | 69.9% | 0.91 |
| Recon 5 Black |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chad 'Kleine' Germain |
59 - 56 | +3 | 89.6 | 78.1% | 1.21 |
| Garret 'garret' Henry |
50 - 52 | -2 | 74.7 | 78.1% | 1.06 |
| Mark 'Input' Kistler |
48 - 51 | -3 | 68.1 | 58.9% | 0.92 |
| Kyle 'Just2EZ' Tan |
43 - 56 | -13 | 67.6 | 65.8% | 0.87 |
| Jeremy 'taiwi' Wang |
40 - 55 | -15 | 59.4 | 57.5% | 0.85 |
The story was similar for SKDC, who started the series off on the backfoot after HeadShotKings took the win on their pick of Overpass. From there, however, Eric "Ryze" Brown and Derek "desi" Branchen took over, powering SKDC to 16-10 and 16-7 wins on Train and Inferno, respectively.
SKDCHeadShotKings| SKDC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric 'Ryze' Brown |
63 - 40 | +23 | 88.6 | 77.8% | 1.38 |
| Derek 'desi' Branchen |
58 - 39 | +19 | 75.5 | 70.8% | 1.20 |
| Kory 'SEMPHIS' Friesen |
53 - 53 | +0 | 88.0 | 76.4% | 1.13 |
| Dylan 'Hiki' O'Kane |
51 - 55 | -4 | 81.4 | 73.6% | 1.08 |
| John 'yohan' Lee |
44 - 49 | -5 | 67.4 | 76.4% | 1.02 |
| HeadShotKings |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brennan 'Lemonz' Lentz |
48 - 48 | +0 | 87.9 | 75.0% | 1.10 |
| Max 'Makzwell' Sparrey |
57 - 53 | +4 | 74.8 | 73.6% | 1.09 |
| Talen 'Talen' M. |
52 - 52 | +0 | 69.7 | 73.6% | 1.03 |
| Dalton 'doltn' Ehlers |
45 - 57 | -12 | 70.9 | 59.7% | 0.88 |
| Matthew 'scar' Bruni |
34 - 60 | -26 | 56.9 | 69.4% | 0.78 |
Ryze's and SKDC's form continued into their series against Veloz with a Premier spot on the line. After narrowly ending the first half Vertigo trailing 8-7, they turned on the jets to secure the map 16-12. Things proceeded even more smoothly on Inferno, where SKDC only trailed for a single round before coasting to a 16-9 victory in the second half.
VelozSKDC| Veloz |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudy 'PALADIN' Rokin |
33 - 35 | -2 | 67.7 | 64.2% | 0.99 |
| Paul 'aris' Wilson |
33 - 41 | -8 | 72.7 | 73.6% | 0.94 |
| Brian 'chew' Mao |
29 - 39 | -10 | 67.7 | 69.8% | 0.91 |
| Darius 'PNDLM' Bandali |
35 - 44 | -9 | 76.6 | 69.8% | 0.90 |
| Scott 'Scottiyio' Baker |
34 - 40 | -6 | 69.2 | 64.2% | 0.88 |
| SKDC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric 'Ryze' Brown |
45 - 26 | +19 | 76.5 | 81.1% | 1.33 |
| Kory 'SEMPHIS' Friesen |
41 - 31 | +10 | 83.6 | 81.1% | 1.25 |
| John 'yohan' Lee |
44 - 35 | +9 | 78.0 | 69.8% | 1.19 |
| Derek 'desi' Branchen |
37 - 35 | +2 | 84.9 | 79.2% | 1.18 |
| Dylan 'Hiki' O'Kane |
32 - 37 | -5 | 80.9 | 71.7% | 1.06 |
In the other upper bracket semi-final, Levitate were able to fend off Big Chillin in overtime on Train to start out the series. From there, however, the current Premier sides fortunes changed, as they were not able to come back from a 10-5 first half deficit on Overpass, and then were outclassed on on Dust2. The latter map featured another strong performance from Elk, along with two seven-round streaks for Big Chillin.
LevitateBig Chillin| Levitate |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher 'Swahn' Swahn |
71 - 57 | +14 | 79.3 | 72.9% | 1.15 |
| David 'Delta9' Shafer |
72 - 71 | +1 | 83.0 | 66.7% | 1.06 |
| Nicholas 'hate' Young |
56 - 71 | -15 | 69.8 | 62.5% | 0.89 |
| Sam 'Noxio' Goodwin |
56 - 65 | -9 | 60.9 | 66.7% | 0.86 |
| Andrew 'Ghostii' Kehler |
47 - 69 | -22 | 60.0 | 66.7% | 0.81 |
| Big Chillin |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blake 'Elk' Swinson |
75 - 66 | +9 | 88.0 | 72.9% | 1.23 |
| Devin 'Xzen' Barber |
67 - 66 | +1 | 83.4 | 69.8% | 1.12 |
| Matt 'dvl' Buechel |
61 - 61 | +0 | 75.4 | 67.7% | 1.07 |
| Michael 'Munk' Klotz |
62 - 52 | +10 | 62.5 | 74.0% | 1.06 |
| Brendan 'Melloh' Mello |
67 - 57 | +10 | 69.6 | 70.8% | 1.03 |
With their Relegation lives on the line, PDHM and ImPerium both were able to notch relatively comprehensive victories over Recon 5 Black and HeadShotKings. Josh "Spoice" Betters led the way for PDHM, while Wilky continued to star for ImPerium, with some help from Richie "sherps" Sherpa.
Recon 5 BlackPDHM| Recon 5 Black |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chad 'Kleine' Germain |
10 - 6 | +4 | 37.7 | 89.3% | 1.17 |
| Garret 'garret' Henry |
39 - 40 | -1 | 85.2 | 71.4% | 1.09 |
| Jeremy 'taiwi' Wang |
35 - 38 | -3 | 75.7 | 65.3% | 1.00 |
| Kyle 'Just2EZ' Tan |
25 - 36 | -11 | 67.2 | 59.2% | 0.84 |
| Mark 'Input' Kistler |
23 - 36 | -13 | 54.7 | 59.2% | 0.74 |
 Raian 'g0d' Morimoto |
13 - 35 | -22 | 34.9 | 59.2% | 0.53 |
| PDHM |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'Spoice' Betters |
47 - 22 | +25 | 91.2 | 81.6% | 1.52 |
| Malick 'dangle' Abid |
40 - 30 | +10 | 82.2 | 77.6% | 1.31 |
| Brandon 'Sharkie' Ly |
39 - 32 | +7 | 85.3 | 81.6% | 1.29 |
| Alexander 'knightmare' Sozzi |
35 - 33 | +2 | 83.7 | 79.6% | 1.19 |
| Brian 'Brian2K' Ladron De Guevara |
27 - 28 | -1 | 61.3 | 73.5% | 1.02 |
ImPeriumHeadShotKings| ImPerium |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reece 'Wilky' Wilkerson |
45 - 34 | +11 | 83.6 | 83.3% | 1.30 |
| Richie 'sherps' Sherpa |
47 - 39 | +8 | 89.3 | 70.4% | 1.20 |
| Devin 'AtomiK' Ferrell |
38 - 37 | +1 | 72.5 | 74.1% | 1.07 |
| James 'EllisoN' Ellison |
34 - 30 | +4 | 68.0 | 74.1% | 1.06 |
| Soham 'valens' Chowdhury |
30 - 31 | -1 | 69.1 | 74.1% | 1.04 |
| HeadShotKings |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalton 'doltn' Ehlers |
36 - 39 | -3 | 81.3 | 66.7% | 1.09 |
| Brennan 'Lemonz' Lentz |
36 - 36 | +0 | 78.2 | 72.2% | 1.06 |
| Matthew 'scar' Bruni |
37 - 44 | -7 | 83.3 | 77.8% | 1.04 |
| Max 'Makzwell' Sparrey |
36 - 34 | +2 | 57.6 | 70.4% | 0.96 |
| Talen 'Talen' M. |
25 - 41 | -16 | 61.1 | 61.1% | 0.68 |
The final matches of ESEA Premier Season 36 Relegation will see Veloz take on PDHM tonight at 9:30 EDT, and ImPerium face off against Levitate. The matchups guarantee that ESEA Premier Season 37 will see two new teams participate, with only two surviving the Relegation gauntlet.
