NRG, Rogue, eUnited, Luminosity advance to Upper Round 2 in NA Minor Closed Qualifier
The first four series of the Americas Minor NA Closed Qualifier have finished, with four invited Pro League teams all going 2-0 and proceeding to Round 2 high matches.
In the first match, fan-favorite NRG went up against Freedom 35. The latter team, being an MDL team of relatively famous puggers, have seen success in the current season of ESEA. And the same was true for the team at first against NRG, as the freedom fighters gained the lead at first, taking the first seven rounds and going up 8-1, thanks to fragging from Tyson "TenZ" Ngo. However, after the ninth round, NRG finally found their flow and crumbled any hope Freedom 35 had left, taking nine swift rounds in a row and sweeping up Inferno 16-11.
In the second map, NRG continued to dominate, despite the minor hiccup at the start of the first map. NRG's players excelled and toppled any resistance from Freedom 35, with Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov and Jacob "FugLy" Medina having a massive impact on the pro team's victory. The sponsored North Americans (plus Bulgarian) took the second map 16-2 and wrapped up the series 2-0.
NRGFreedom 35| NRG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ethan 'Ethan' Arnold |
40 - 27 | +13 | 95.1 | 82.2% | 1.48 |
| Jacob 'FugLy' Medina |
40 - 25 | +15 | 97.2 | 86.7% | 1.43 |
 Damian 'daps' Steele |
39 - 28 | +11 | 90.4 | 75.6% | 1.42 |
 Tsvetelin 'CeRq' Dimitrov |
37 - 20 | +17 | 68.8 | 82.2% | 1.41 |
| Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte |
32 - 23 | +9 | 85.1 | 80.0% | 1.35 |
| Freedom 35 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor 'food' Wong |
29 - 36 | -7 | 76.4 | 57.8% | 0.87 |
| Tyson 'TenZ' Ngo |
27 - 36 | -9 | 65.1 | 51.1% | 0.75 |
| Sam '4sh0t' Mariano |
23 - 37 | -14 | 62.1 | 55.6% | 0.75 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
25 - 41 | -16 | 69.9 | 66.7% | 0.71 |
| David 'Toy' Han |
19 - 38 | -19 | 50.1 | 55.6% | 0.53 |
The Entourage were a special team in the closed qualifier, as they were "invited" due to Fam143 being disqualified from the event. Nonetheless, their luck for getting into the qualifier did not help them against Rogue, as Rogue's strength was too much for the MDL team to handle. On Cache, Hunter "SicK" Mims lead the pro league team to a strong finish, amassing 25 kills, 14 of which were headshots, in just one map alone, taking the first map 16-6.
On Nuke, Casper "cadiaN" Møller's Danish prowess led Rogue to a 16-4 scoreline, despite the rocky start in the first half, earning a 1.98 rating in the map. With the series finalized 2-0, Rogue continued on to the second round 1-0 in the qualifier.
RogueThe Entourage| Rogue |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Casper 'cadiaN' Møller |
47 - 20 | +27 | 103.6 | 81.0% | 1.77 |
 Ricardo 'Rickeh' Mulholland |
38 - 13 | +25 | 87.6 | 92.9% | 1.62 |
| Daniel 'vice' Kim |
36 - 19 | +17 | 92.3 | 85.7% | 1.47 |
| Hunter 'SicK' Mims |
37 - 19 | +18 | 86.7 | 90.5% | 1.44 |
| Spencer 'Hiko' Martin |
24 - 19 | +5 | 71.9 | 81.0% | 1.13 |
| The Entourage |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin 'crashies' Roberts |
20 - 37 | -17 | 61.8 | 54.8% | 0.69 |
| Dylan 'RIKO' Sabin-Arnce |
20 - 38 | -18 | 49.2 | 50.0% | 0.59 |
| Ian 'tex' Botsch |
17 - 36 | -19 | 55.7 | 47.6% | 0.53 |
| Alex 'aproto' Protopapas |
18 - 36 | -18 | 49.2 | 47.6% | 0.50 |
 David 'Xp3' Garrido |
15 - 35 | -20 | 35.0 | 38.1% | 0.44 |
eUnited are one of the newest teams to enter the Pro League, being promoted to the top division after winning the MDL Season 27 NA Finals. Up against Armada, who have been doing relatively well in ESEA Advanced, eUnited were confident up against the lower team. The first map of Mirage played as eUnited probably would've expected, with the new pro league team taking the first map 16-3, with strong frags from Will "dazzLe" Loafmanhelping ensure the victory.
On Inferno, eUnited began to slip and Armada slowly gained traction in the first half, with a miracle run from Addison "zecK" Gorzeck helping lead the charge forward. At the end of the first half, Armada were up by one against eUnited 8-7. eUnited, along with Kaleb "moose" Jayne, let the Advanced team cherish their upper hand for only so long, as the united team took back the lead and sealed the game at a 16-9 scoreline, taking the series 2-0 and denying any attempt at an upset.
eUnitedArmada| eUnited |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaleb 'moose' Jayne |
42 - 18 | +24 | 93.5 | 88.6% | 1.60 |
| Will 'dazzLe' Loafman |
41 - 24 | +17 | 101.3 | 72.7% | 1.49 |
| Brandon 'Ace' Winn |
39 - 24 | +15 | 88.8 | 75.0% | 1.38 |
| Skyler 'Relyks' Weaver |
33 - 22 | +11 | 85.0 | 79.5% | 1.31 |
| Michael 'dapr' Gulino |
29 - 23 | +6 | 69.4 | 77.3% | 1.12 |
| Armada |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Addison 'zecK' Gorzeck |
27 - 37 | -10 | 79.8 | 59.1% | 0.90 |
| Ben 'ky0' Edwards |
23 - 35 | -12 | 49.5 | 52.3% | 0.69 |
| Garrett 'Bunny' Molle |
26 - 36 | -10 | 50.3 | 56.8% | 0.69 |
| John 'Jm0' Williams |
18 - 37 | -19 | 58.7 | 47.7% | 0.58 |
| Tucker 'Tucker' Watson |
17 - 39 | -22 | 56.8 | 54.5% | 0.58 |
The last and slightly delayed game of the first four matches was Luminosity against The Pioneers. Luminosity had recently signed the Teles brothers from Some Kind of organization and the new pickups worked in the Brazillian's favor. On the first map, Luminosity were neck-and-neck with The Pioneers, with both teams trading streaks of rounds in the first half. At the end of the first half, the North Americans had the lead up by one at 8-7, thanks to high fragging numbers from Collin "wrath" McSweegan. In the second half, the brothers of Lucas "LUCAS1" Teles and Henrique "HEN1" Teles turned the tide in their favor, with Luminosity gaining back the lead and taking Train 16-10.
On Overpass, the struggle for survival for the North Americans continued, with Luminosity slowly gaining the lead at the end of the second half 8-7 with strong headshots from Lucas "steel" Lopes. In the second half, The Pioneers kept their form better than in the first map, but Chad "Oderus" Miller's performance was not enough to save the North Americans. The Brazillians brushed past The Pioneers 16-13 and take the series for themselves 2-0.
LuminosityThe Pioneers| Luminosity |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Henrique 'HEN1' Teles |
49 - 30 | +19 | 91.3 | 80.0% | 1.41 |
| Lucas 'steel' Lopes |
45 - 37 | +8 | 77.4 | 85.5% | 1.23 |
| Gabriel 'NEKIZ' Schenato |
41 - 33 | +8 | 78.5 | 74.5% | 1.19 |
| Lucas 'LUCAS1' Teles |
40 - 36 | +4 | 82.4 | 70.9% | 1.18 |
| Gustavo 'yel' Knittel |
38 - 34 | +4 | 79.5 | 69.1% | 1.15 |
| The Pioneers |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chad 'Oderus' Miller |
38 - 42 | -4 | 70.2 | 56.4% | 0.96 |
| Collin 'wrath' McSweegan |
38 - 42 | -4 | 76.3 | 63.6% | 0.92 |
| Sebastian 'seb' Bucki |
35 - 41 | -6 | 64.4 | 61.8% | 0.89 |
| Connor 'CONNOR93' Glover |
32 - 44 | -12 | 64.4 | 60.0% | 0.79 |
| Michael 'MAiNLiNE' Jaber |
27 - 45 | -18 | 63.3 | 60.0% | 0.70 |
While this is the end of the first four series of matches, the next four series of matches will continue on tonight at 9:20 EDT to decide who will continue on to the high and low matches. The subsequent seeded high and low matches of Round 2 will kick off later tomorrow evening.
