Day 3 of Fragadelphia comes to a close

01:00AM With Day 3 wrapped up, the playoff bracket is now set

After the third day of exciting Counter-Strike from Fragadelphia 16, eight teams have moved on to the playoffs while eight others have packed their bags after being eliminated from the event. The remaining eight squads will duke it out starting tomorrow for their chance to win the lion's share of the $60,000 prize pool.

Team oNe made a statement in Group A, looking red hot as they swept through the group without dropping a single map. Along the way, the Brazillian side took down ATK and InControl, both with relative ease, claiming the first playoffs spot of the day. ATK trounced Stealth in the elimination match in order to set up a decider game versus InControl, which the international squad won with little trouble, securing their playoff spot. Dust2.us had the chance to talk with several players in this group, including Ian "motm" Hardy and Pedro "Maluk3" Campos and Matheus "pesadelo" Panisset.

• Team oNe 2-0 ATK

• InControl 2-0 Stealth

• Team oNe 2-0 InControl

• ATK 2-0 Stealth

• ATK 2-0 InControl

Apeks Rebels were the team to watch in Group B, and although they ended up topping out their group a close winners' match against Carpe Diem showed that there are some weaknesses to the Norweigian squad. Big Chillin kept their tournament run alive by taking down Tribute to Tribute in the elimination match. Carpe Diem dominated on the first map of the decider series against Big Chillin but choked an 11-4 lead in the second map, which saw the match go to a third map. Carpe Diem regained their composure in the last map, cruising to the playoffs with a 16-5 win. Dust2.us caught Jadan "HexT" Postma to ask about Carpe Diem's close loss to Apeks Rebels, which can be viewed here.

• Apeks Rebels 2-0 Big Chillin

• Carpe Diem 2-0 Tribute to Tribute

• Apeks Rebels 2-1 Carpe Diem

• Big Chillin 2-0 Tribute to Tribute

• Carpe Diem 2-1 Big Chillin

Strife put up a dominant showing in Group C, ravaging Apeks Legends in their opening match and then moving past Touch Point in the winners' match to snag their playoff spot. At the bottom of the group, Fourth Quarter narrowly edged out Apeks Legends to keep themselves afloat, setting up a rematch in the decider series against Touch Point. Touch Point handled Fourth Quarter with similar ease to their opening match, securing their quarterfinal spot.

• Strife 2-0 Apeks Legends

• Touch Point 2-0 Fourth Quarter

• Strife 2-0 Touch Point

• Fourth Quarter 2-0 Apeks Legends

• Touch Point 2-0 Fourth Quarter

Group D was the arena of Gaimin Gladiators, who had no trouble in their opener against Omega and in the winners' match versus Bad News Bears. Bad News Bears only made it to the winners' match after a harrowing opening series against Prison Break, which the Bears only won after 101 rounds across three maps. Omega's fortunes didn't get any better in the elimination match, as they got demolished by Prison Break, only managing three rounds across the two maps played. Bad News Bears conquered their demons in the decider match, snagging Prison Break's map pick of Mirage in double overtime before finishing them off on Nuke to move on to playoffs.

• Gaimin Gladiators 2-0 Omega

• Bad News Bears 2-1 New Threat

• Gaimin Gladiators 2-0 Bad News Bears

• New Threat 2-0 Omega

• Bad News Bears 2-0 New Threat

With the second group stage now complete, the playoff bracket is now set. The quarterfinals will see the following matchups:

The first two of these matches, Team oNe vs Bad News Bears and Strife vs Carpe Diem, will kick off at 10:30AM, with the other two quarterfinals scheduled for 02:00PM.

08:40PM Carpe Diem secure final quarterfinal spot over Big Chillin

Carpe Diem recovered smoothly from Overpass, where the squad blew an 11-4 lead to Big Chillin, to claim the decider map of Vertigo with a dominant 16-5 scoreline. This win sees the playoff bracket finalized, with Carpe Diem matching up against Strife in the quarterfinals.

Carpe Diem 16-5 Big Chillin (Vertigo)

08:30PM Touch Point book tickets to the quarterfinals

Touch Point cleaned up Fourth Quarter on Overpass with a 16-13 scoreline, closing out the map and crushing Fourth Quarter's comeback with an eco round win. Touch Point are now set to face Apeks Rebels in their quarterfinal matchup.

Touch Point 16-13 Fourth Quarter (Overpass)

08:05PM Big Chillin mount huge comeback to tie up series; Bad News Bears reach playoffs

Big Chillin recovered from a 4-11 deficit on Overpass versus Carpe Diem on Overpass to lock down the map 16-14. Devin "Xzen" Barber's phenomenal 1.60 rating on Overpass played a large part in helping his team push the series to the decider map of Vertigo. Meanwhile, Bad News Bears took down Prison Break 16-7 on Nuke to set up a quarterfinal game against Team oNe.

Big Chillin 16-14 Carpe Diem (Overpass)
Bad News Bears 16-7 Prison Break (Nuke)

07:10PM Decider matches heat up as first maps roll in

The first maps of the last series of the day are coming to a close, with a wide range of results across the three games. Carpe Diem recovered nicely from their Apeks Rebels loss by trouncing Big Chillin 16-5 on Mirage. In the Group C decider match, Touch Point beat back Fourth Quarter 16-8 on Ancient to kick off that series. Bad News Bears snagged their first map after an overtime scare against Prison Break 22-20 on Mirage.

Carpe Diem 16-5 Big Chillin (Mirage)
Touch Point 16-8 Fourth Quarter (Ancient)
Bad News Bears 22-20 Prison Break (Mirage)

06:40PM Strife's coach crisby talks Strife's future with Dust2.us

Christian "crisby" Schmitt had a chat with Dust2.us to discuss a variety of topics, including his lengthy experience as a player in Germany and his thoughts on how Strife stand out amongst the rest of the North American competition. You can take a look at that interview down below.

06:25PM ATK knock out InControl to claim playoffs spot

ATK will be the fifth team to lock in a playoffs spot after wrapping up their decider match against InControl 16-8 on Nuke. This victory sees them matched up against Gaimin Gladiators in their quarterfinal game.

ATK 16-8 InControl (Nuke)

05:30PM Second round of matches finish; Apeks Rebels overcome Carpe Diem

Apeks Rebels have pulled off the reverse sweep against Carpe Diem, snagging the decider map of Nuke with a 16-9 score. This result sees Apeks Rebels top their group and secure a spot in the playoffs, wrapping up today's second round of matches. Meanwhile, in the first decider match, ATK have claimed Inferno over InControl with a staunch 16-5 scoreline.

Apeks Rebels 16-9 Carpe Diem (Nuke)
ATK 16-5 InControl (Inferno)

05:10PM A slew of eliminations; Gaimin Gladiators march on to playoffs

Gaimin Gladiators claim the third playoff spot, taking care of Bad News Bears 16-8 on Nuke. Prison Break keep themselves in the tournament after a 16-2 dismantling of Omega on Vertigo, seeing the latter squad eliminated from the event. Fourth Quarter finished off Apeks Legends 16-9 on Overpass to set up a rematch against Touch Point in the Group C decider match.

Gaimin Gladiators 16-8 Bad News Bears (Nuke)
Prison Break 16-2 Omega (Vertigo)
Fourth Quarter 16-9 Apeks Legends (Overpass)

04:50PM Bad News Bears coach madcow sits down with Dust2.us

Our men on the frontlines at Fragadelphia have cooked up another interview for your listening pleasure, this time with Bad News Bears coach Nathan "madcow" Retterath shortly after their match against Prison Break. You can listen to that down below.

04:25PM Team oNe claim next playoff spot; Second stage matches heating up

Apeks Rebels survived a comeback scare from Carpe Diem on Overpass, closing out the map 16-12 to take the series to a third map. Team oNe are the second team to qualify for playoffs, as the Brazillian side trounced InControl 16-8 on Ancient. In the same group, ATK sent Stealth packing after a 16-9 victory on Inferno in order to keep their playoff dreams alive.

Apeks Rebels 16-12 Carpe Diem (Overpass)
Team oNe 16-8 InControl (Ancient)
ATK 16-9 Stealth (Inferno)
Prison Break 16-1 Omega (Mirage)
Fourth Quarter 16-11 Apeks Legends (Ancient)
Gaimin Gladiators 16-9 Bad News Bears (Nuke)

04:00PM Dust2.us has a chat with Apeks Rebel's SLY

Our boots on the ground in Philadelphia had a chance to talk with Apeks Rebels' strongest performing player of the event, Steffen "SLY" Amundsen. You can take a look at that interview down below.

03:45PM Strife secure first playoff spot; Tribute to Tribute eliminated

A strong joint performance by Danny "cxzi" Strzelczyk and Keller "SLIGHT" Nilan propelled Strife to a strong 16-5 victory over Touch Point on Mirage, locking in the first playoff spot of the event. Elsewhere, Big Chillin helped Tribute to Tribute pack their bags as they took them down on Mirage 16-9.

Strife 16-5 Touch Point (Mirage)
Big Chillin 16-9 Tribute to Tribute (Mirage)

03:18PM Carpe Diem shut down Apek Rebels' lossless streak

Carpe Diem decided that Apeks Rebels have been having it too good for too long, as the orgless side shut down the Norwegians on Inferno. Carpe Diem posted a flawless T-side which saw them secure nine rounds in a row to take the map 16-8. Meanwhile, Team oNe took down InControl 16-10 to claim the first map of that series.

Carpe Diem 16-8 Apeks Rebels (Inferno)
Team oNe 16-10 InControl (Dust2)

03:05PM The first few maps of the second round games are rolling in!

Strife got off to a strong start in their winners' match against Touch Point, as they shut down their opponent's comeback attempt on Overpass to take the map 16-12. Big Chillin were chilling against their opponents Tribute to Tribute, as they swept them aside 16-8 on Inferno.

Strife 16-12 Touch Point (Overpass)
Big Chillin 16-8 Tribute to Tribute (Inferno)
ATK 16-7 Stealth (Mirage)
Apeks Legends 16-13 Fourth Quarter (Inferno)

02:55PM Bad News Bears pull off the comeback on map 3 to claw themselves to the winners' match, wrapping up the first series of Day 3.

Bad News Bears have finally taken down Prison Break after a strenuous three map series, which included a massive comeback from the Bears which saw them go from down 6-12 on Inferno to taking the map 16-14. Bad New Bears will now be duking it out against Gaimin Gladiators to see who will top the group.

Bad News Bears 16 - 14 Prison Break (Inferno)

01:35PM Bad News Bears deny the quick 2-0 across the board as they take Prison Break to map 3. The second round of maps have been finished on Day 3!

Gaimin Gladiators made quick work of Omega on Ancient as they closed out the series 2-0 with a comfortable win on Ancient. Apeks Rebels were very nearly pushed to overtime by Big Chillin, with the Norwegian team winning a 2v4 in the final round.

Omega 7 - 16 Gaimin Gladiators (Ancient)
Carpe Diem 16 - 3 Tribute to Tribute (Overpass)
Apeks Rebels 16-14 Big Chillin (Vertigo)
Strife 16-7 Apeks Legends (Overpass)
Bad News Bears 22-19 Prison Break (Nuke)
Touch Point 16-8 Fourth Quarter (Vertigo)
InControl 16-11 Stealth (Nuke)
Team oNe 16-8 ATK (Overpass)

12:15PM First round of maps have been completed on Day 3!

The first round of maps have been completed and Apeks Rebels are looking to continue their mission of destroying NA CS by demolishing Big Chillin on Nuke. Elsewhere, Connor "Jermaine" Bucholz powered Prison Break to a very close victory over Bad News Bears, dropping 34 frags in a 16-14 win. Here is a round up of the first maps of the day:

Omega 2 - 16 Gaimin Gladiators (Mirage)
Carpe Diem 16 - 4 Tribute to Tribute (Inferno)
Apeks Rebels 16 - 3 Big Chillin (Nuke)
Strife 16 - 7 Apeks Legends (Inferno)
Bad News Bears 14 - 16 Prison Break (Mirage)
Touch Point 16 - 13 Fourth Quarter (Overpass)
InControl 16 - 7 Stealth (Inferno)
Team oNe 16 - 9 ATK (Dust 2)

10:30AM Day 3 of Fragadelphia 16 goes live!

Following the exciting action of yesterday where we saw eight teams eliminated from the competition, today's action will determine what teams make up tomorrow's quarter finals. ATK's clash against Brazil's oNe is the marquee matchup in the opening round of matchups for the day

The opening matches for the different groups are: