Favorites reign supreme in ADV S43 playoffs round one

Bracket confusion aside, the first round of ESEA Advanced playoffs successfully kicked off last night, with most of the better-seeded teams taking the round one victory. For the losing teams, they have one more opportunity inside the lower bracket to stay alive.

#1 Davenport University 2-0 #16 doodlebob

The #1 seeded Davenport made light work of doodlebob following a slough of confusion regarding the actual playoff seeding. When it came time for action, DU stars William “spek” Smith and Denis “swicher” Baranov shined bright in the series to take the quick 2-0.

#9 Zero MarksMen 2-1 #8 Got Juicr

Following a map one blowout, Zero MarksMen rallied back on both Nuke and Inferno to reverse sweep for the series win. ZMM showed additional grit in the comeback, winning Nuke and Inferno in overtime to get it done in three maps, completing the upset win over the better-seeded opposition.

#5 1WIN 2-1 #12 Infinity

The series remained competitive through the first two maps, with both teams exchanging wins to bring us to what was expected to be a closely contested Inferno decider. It ended up a one-sided affair for 1WIN, as they kept three Infinity players below ten frags in the 16-6 win to take the series 2-1.

#4 Take Charge 2-0 #13 LAG

Take Charge’s defensive strength was the story for both maps in the series. Three-fifths of their round wins came on the CT side, stonewalling the offensive efforts of LAG on both maps. All five of Take Charge’s lineup were seemingly in form against LAG, with each individual reaching 23+ frags at least once across the two maps.

#3 Limitless 2-1 #14 EX CINCERE

Similar to the 1WIN/Infinity matchup, EX CINCERE did their part to make the series competitive against Limitless but had nothing left to offer once the two took to the Vertigo decider. Once there, the initial two-map war turned into a blowout for Limitless. Kam “kmrn” Manii’s eye-popping 18.32 RWS performance on map three serves as an indicator of Limitless’ dominance on the map as they continue their playoff journey.

#6 Reign 2-1 #11 Mad Kings

One-sided affairs on the first two maps of Ancient and Nuke brought us to a competitive Inferno decider, where Evan “Fugi” Healy was the headlining x-factor separating the two teams. The talents’ 30 frags served as what his team needed to tip the scales in their favor following a relatively quiet first two maps.

#7 Orion 2-1 #10 New Threat

It took a 53-round marathon on the Nuke decider to determine a winner between the two teams following two close contests on Overpass and Inferno. Over three overtimes were needed to settle the score, but it was Orion who had just a little more in the tank to edge out their opposition by the thinnest of margins.

#2 Eros 2-1 #15 Take Flyte

The first two maps were about as close as can be without reaching overtime, with Eros taking Vertigo 16-13 and Take Flyte responding on Ancient with a 16-14 victory. Once the two teams entered Mirage, it was the Eros show, starring Darius “PNDLM” Bendali. His server-high’s of seven multikills and six entry frags served as a primary catalyst for Eros to run away with the decider with ease.

Upcoming Matches

With the first set of games complete, competing teams will take the night off to prepare for their opposition tomorrow night, with #4 Take Charge and #5 1WIN kicking off the night at 8EST. Here are the matchups you can look forward to tomorrow night:

ADV S43 Playoff Top Performers, by RWS:

Denis “swicher” Baranov (DU): 50-25 K/D, 112.5 ADR, 1.11 FPR, 18.61 RWS
William “spek” Smith (DU): 40-27 K/D, 99.8 ADR, .89 FPR, 17.20 RWS
Ben “reham” Maher (TC): 46-32 K/D, 92.7 ADR, .85 FPR, 15.93 RWS
Collin “CoJoMo” Moren (DU): 32-17 K/D, 70.9 ADR, .71 FPR, 14.70 RWS
Jason "jason" Garcia (1WIN): 68-49 K/D, 87.3 ADR, .86, 13.73 RWS