PreGame Masters Day 1: Gorilla Gang and Bravado fall short
The first round of matches for the PreGame Masters #1 have been played out, with Torqued, F1-racecar-PEEK, Armada, and False Gods advancing deeper in the bracket.
It comes as no surprise that Torqued made quick work of recently promoted Glockoma, who now sit in ESEA's Advanced Division, in just two maps. The North American mix led by Joshua "steel" Nissan has shown in recent weeks that they are a formidable opponent to any who cross their paths, with recent qualifier victories netting them spots at DreamHack Tours in France, as well as a place at ESL One Belo Horizonte later this year in Brazil.
On the plus side for Glockoma, they did cleanly take out Fam143, themselves recently promoted to ESEA MDL.
GlockomaTorqued| Glockoma |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ryan 'shanks' Ngo |
37 - 40 | -3 | 84.5 | 58.7% | 1.01 |
 Justin 'Tee' Boylan |
27 - 36 | -9 | 72.2 | 78.3% | 0.95 |
| Elvis 'yeast' Cavalic |
24 - 37 | -13 | 68.9 | 58.7% | 0.75 |
| Joel 'jcrueL' Cruel |
22 - 37 | -15 | 60.2 | 58.7% | 0.75 |
| 'wrecked_unit' |
20 - 39 | -19 | 43.8 | 54.3% | 0.54 |
| Torqued |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braxton 'swag' Pierce |
47 - 26 | +21 | 108.7 | 80.4% | 1.56 |
| Kenneth 'koosta' Suen |
42 - 18 | +24 | 84.8 | 76.1% | 1.49 |
| Keven 'AZK' Lariviere |
37 - 27 | +10 | 89.7 | 91.3% | 1.31 |
| Joshua 'steel' Nissan |
33 - 28 | +5 | 80.0 | 84.8% | 1.18 |
| Matt 'Pollo' Wilson |
29 - 31 | -2 | 70.4 | 80.4% | 1.02 |
MDL veterans F1-racecar-PEEK similarly eliminated the South Africans of Bravado in a brief two maps. Bravado recently claimed the title of ESEA Main Champions, leading to their promotion to MDL, though their performance in recent weeks leaves to question if they're ready for the higher-caliber teams they are set to contend with next season. This decisive loss adds to the speculation.
BravadoF1-racecar-PEEK| Bravado |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dimitri 'Detrony' Hadjipaschali |
35 - 34 | +1 | 85.7 | 66.7% | 1.15 |
| Aran 'Sonic' Groesbeek |
35 - 37 | -2 | 78.8 | 75.0% | 1.03 |
| Rhys 'Fadey' Armstrong |
30 - 34 | -4 | 75.7 | 68.8% | 1.02 |
| Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
30 - 32 | -2 | 64.6 | 75.0% | 0.97 |
| Ruan 'ELUSIVE' van Wyk |
30 - 35 | -5 | 64.1 | 66.7% | 0.94 |
| F1-racecar-PEEK |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danny 'huynh' Huynh |
40 - 28 | +12 | 79.0 | 70.8% | 1.25 |
| Daniel 'tropiiical' Elshani |
35 - 32 | +3 | 82.3 | 72.9% | 1.19 |
| Jake 'kaboose' McDonald |
40 - 37 | +3 | 92.8 | 72.9% | 1.18 |
| Alex 'lanhero' Suarez |
30 - 30 | +0 | 68.8 | 70.8% | 1.06 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
27 - 33 | -6 | 60.8 | 68.8% | 0.85 |
The combined powers of ex-Etherian and ex-Atmosphere players that now champion the banner for Armada were the final team of the day to take down their opposition in a stylish 2-0 fashion. The Main contenders of Vikings put up a formidable effort, however, as they nearly took the series to a map three, after a narrow 14-16 loss on Inferno.
ArmadaVikings| Armada |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gage 'Infinite' Green |
53 - 29 | +24 | 100.5 | 77.2% | 1.53 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
52 - 35 | +17 | 84.0 | 75.4% | 1.31 |
| Joshua 'Hunter' Madore |
38 - 39 | -1 | 78.9 | 68.4% | 1.08 |
| Jack 'xCeeD' Holiman |
41 - 37 | +4 | 71.4 | 66.7% | 1.04 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
28 - 40 | -12 | 63.6 | 75.4% | 0.93 |
| Vikings |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruno 'WiGGY' Rabani |
41 - 39 | +2 | 84.6 | 70.2% | 1.16 |
| Harim 'terrorize' Ismaeil |
49 - 39 | +10 | 84.0 | 70.2% | 1.15 |
| Corbin 'C0M' Lee |
28 - 42 | -14 | 60.0 | 66.7% | 0.84 |
| Julian 'hybr1d' Rivera |
32 - 44 | -12 | 60.4 | 63.2% | 0.81 |
| Damian 'EMIYA' Boulware |
30 - 48 | -18 | 61.6 | 63.2% | 0.76 |
The final quarterfinal of the day between Gorilla Gang and the pug of False Gods, led by Alfonso "krZ" Fiorani (ex-Atmosphere), was the only one to go the three map distance. While the first two maps of Train and Mirage were narrow victories for either side, False Gods stunned the MDL squad of Anthony "vanity" Malaspina and co. in map three, with a soul-crushing 16-4 scoreline.
Gorilla GangFalse Gods| Gorilla Gang |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony 'vanity' Malaspina |
62 - 56 | +6 | 92.0 | 72.7% | 1.20 |
| Josh 'oSee' Ohm |
53 - 55 | -2 | 65.9 | 68.8% | 1.00 |
| Cameron 'cam' Kern |
48 - 57 | -9 | 78.3 | 71.4% | 0.98 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
48 - 60 | -12 | 70.1 | 71.4% | 0.93 |
| Alex 'aproto' Protopapas |
41 - 57 | -16 | 54.1 | 59.7% | 0.75 |
| False Gods |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio 'AB' Benzan |
76 - 51 | +25 | 88.1 | 76.6% | 1.33 |
| Jake 'theTRUTH' Hass |
60 - 49 | +11 | 89.9 | 74.0% | 1.26 |
| Alex 'vek' Voynov |
51 - 53 | -2 | 76.3 | 77.9% | 1.15 |
| Jakub 'kuba' Matyskiewicz |
53 - 48 | +5 | 74.3 | 70.1% | 1.07 |
| Alfonso 'krZ' Fiorani |
32 - 28 | +4 | 66.8 | 72.9% | 1.04 |
| Loic 'effys' Sauvageau |
13 - 23 | -10 | 57.0 | 62.1% | 0.69 |
The semifinal matches later today will see Torqued vs. F1-racecar-PEEK and Armada vs. False Gods beginning at 7:00 PM EDT. The matches will be streamed live at https://www.twitch.tv/pregamegg and www.twitch.tv/crackshottv.
The final will follow, where the two teams who have made it through will battle for the first place prize of $1,500.
