Axolotls and timbermen secure spots in ECL Season 42
ESL Challenger League Season 41 Relegation has finally concluded, seeing Axolotls and timbermen be the last two teams to secure promotion to the coveted division after relatively one-sided victories over Detonate and Northern Forces, respectively.
After being sent down to the lower bracket after a disappointingly poor performance versus oNe, Axolotls were pitted against Detonate for their do-or-die matchup. While the majority of the Axolotls squad looked tuned-in, Andrew "Tender" Cote looked particularly deadly, posting a stellar 1.61 rating across the two-map series which saw his squad secure 16-4 and 16-12 victories on Mirage and Vertigo, respectively. This result brings an end to Detonate's respectable run through Relegation, with the side now preparing for their next season of ESEA Advanced.
AxolotlsDetonate| Axolotls |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Andrew 'Tender' Cote |
55 - 27 | +28 | 106.4 | 79.2% | 1.61 |
| Kevin 'consti' Yi |
42 - 27 | +15 | 92.8 | 83.3% | 1.36 |
| Connor 'jermanji' Buckles |
39 - 31 | +8 | 80.1 | 81.2% | 1.23 |
| Blake 'Elk' Swinson |
30 - 33 | -3 | 74.5 | 70.8% | 1.05 |
| Marco 'Pol0' Hernandez |
24 - 32 | -8 | 62.9 | 70.8% | 0.91 |
| Detonate |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam 'Noxio' Goodwin |
37 - 38 | -1 | 81.2 | 70.8% | 1.09 |
| Johnny 'JDubs' Wu |
32 - 39 | -7 | 77.0 | 60.4% | 0.91 |
| John 'arcade' Rogel |
28 - 38 | -10 | 70.5 | 47.9% | 0.81 |
| Devin 'Xzen' Barber |
24 - 38 | -14 | 66.5 | 58.3% | 0.77 |
| Landon 'landmaz' Lawrence |
28 - 38 | -10 | 59.5 | 56.2% | 0.77 |
On the other side of the bracket, timbermen faced off against Northern Forces with the former looking to build on their impressive 11-3 regular-season record which saw them place top of the division. This momentum came into play almost instantly as timbermen brushed aside their foes to steal Northern Forces' pick of Mirage 16-3, before posting yet another dominant 16-6 victory on their choice of Vertigo to close out the series and send their opponents back down to Advanced.
timbermenNorthern Forces| timbermen |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shane 'shane' Dressler |
42 - 19 | +23 | 98.1 | 82.9% | 1.59 |
| Derek 'dare' Brown |
42 - 22 | +20 | 93.0 | 78.0% | 1.58 |
| Wyatt 'snav' Phillippi |
36 - 22 | +14 | 99.3 | 82.9% | 1.44 |
 Dwight 'Calix' Nguyen |
32 - 26 | +6 | 84.8 | 70.7% | 1.21 |
| Fern 'intra' Hak |
24 - 20 | +4 | 74.7 | 85.4% | 1.20 |
| Northern Forces |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradley 'Slugy' Kohler |
28 - 33 | -5 | 74.0 | 56.1% | 0.90 |
 Adam 'freshie' Paterson |
26 - 32 | -6 | 75.1 | 53.7% | 0.87 |
 Sebastian 'Florence' Ogarev |
20 - 38 | -18 | 64.7 | 53.7% | 0.68 |
| Matthew 'Cryptic' Whitmore |
19 - 35 | -16 | 61.3 | 56.1% | 0.66 |
| Benjamin 'niise' Mauldin |
15 - 38 | -23 | 57.1 | 46.3% | 0.48 |
The final standings for ECL Season 41 Relegation were as follows:
1-2. Bad News Bears - ESL Challenger League Season 42
1-2. 
oNe - ESL Challenger League Season 42
3-4. timbermen - ESL Challenger League Season 42
3-4. Axolotls - ESL Challenger League Season 42
5-6. Northern Forces - ESEA Advanced Season 42
5-6. Detonate - ESEA Advanced Season 42
7-8. Unjustified - ESEA Advanced Season 42
7-8. Davenport University - ESEA Advanced Season 42
All eight teams have approximately one month to prepare for the start of their respective seasons, with both ECL and ESEA Advanced not set to begin until August.
