iNTACT, Thunder Logic qualify for MDL Season 33; Just Swing relegated to Advanced
The second day of the ESEA MDL Season 32 Relegation tournament came to an end last night, seeing iNTACT and Thunder Logic earn themselves a promotion to MDL for Season 33 following wins over Oceanus and Bushido Boyz, respectively.
Thunder Logic were the first to secure their advancement as they went up against Bushido Boyz, who were looking to retain their spot in MDL following a lackluster season. The bout proved to be rather one-sided as Thunder Logic kicked off their own map pick, Train, with a 9-6 lead on the offense, quickly taking a string of seven rounds following the side swap for a 16-6 victory.
Bushido Boyz fared no better on their own pick of Inferno as a strong performance from Dominick "JazzPimp" Dimpfel saw Thunder Logic up 10-5 at the break. Again, the former Advanced roster made short work of the matchup once they swapped sides, closing things out 16-7 to secure their promotion.
Thunder LogicBushido Boyz| Thunder Logic |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dominick 'JazzPimp' Dimpfel |
49 - 25 | +24 | 110.0 | 86.7% | 1.75 |
 Sean 'Inseaniac' Morrison |
41 - 17 | +24 | 91.1 | 86.7% | 1.53 |
| Andy 'Andersin' Collins |
40 - 24 | +16 | 93.6 | 84.4% | 1.46 |
| Nathan 'rabbit' Beale |
31 - 22 | +9 | 73.3 | 82.2% | 1.24 |
| Bryce 'PureR' Lovell |
25 - 24 | +1 | 61.2 | 77.8% | 1.05 |
| Bushido Boyz |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| William 'shonk' Kittrell |
29 - 37 | -8 | 67.3 | 57.8% | 0.83 |
| Jonah 'JonahP' Pulice |
32 - 39 | -7 | 66.5 | 53.3% | 0.80 |
| Nick 'zeptic' Kaoud |
23 - 38 | -15 | 58.1 | 55.6% | 0.72 |
| Trevor 'FrostayK' Bandle |
15 - 37 | -22 | 54.3 | 53.3% | 0.57 |
| Daniel 'picky' Milazzo |
13 - 36 | -23 | 52.2 | 57.8% | 0.54 |
Peeker's Advantage and Just Swing, two of the three MDL teams in the tournament, were both left on their last legs in the lower bracket. While Peeker's Advantage had been forced to forfeit their opening matchup as a result of David "DAVEY" Stafford traveling back from Odense, Just Swing had fallen in narrow fashion to iNTACT, attempting to comeback from deficits on Inferno and Mirage only to fall short.
The lower bracket match between the two sides also ended in a two-map series, with Alex "Mauisnake" Ellenberg leading the way for Peeker's Advantage in a 16-11 map victory on Inferno. A 12-3 lead on the T-side of their own map pick, Overpass, left the team with a large margin of rounds to close things out, which they did just a few rounds later for a 16-7 win.
Peeker's AdvantageJust Swing| Peeker's Advantage |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex 'Mauisnake' Ellenberg |
47 - 26 | +21 | 97.0 | 84.0% | 1.55 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
43 - 30 | +13 | 91.3 | 78.0% | 1.38 |
| David 'DAVEY' Stafford |
36 - 27 | +9 | 78.2 | 76.0% | 1.20 |
| Stephen 'reltuC' Cutler |
38 - 27 | +11 | 72.3 | 78.0% | 1.18 |
| Kory 'SEMPHIS' Friesen |
27 - 34 | -7 | 64.6 | 74.0% | 0.99 |
| Just Swing |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan 'Winsum' Johns |
31 - 41 | -10 | 74.9 | 68.0% | 0.92 |
| Tommy 'Axed' Ryan |
27 - 34 | -7 | 65.5 | 70.0% | 0.87 |
| Chris 'Slash' Petersen |
28 - 37 | -9 | 70.4 | 68.0% | 0.87 |
| Adam 'Ange' Milian |
31 - 40 | -9 | 61.0 | 64.0% | 0.83 |
| Joel 'jcrueL' Cruel |
27 - 39 | -12 | 55.3 | 64.0% | 0.78 |
Meanwhile, Faint took on Rebirth to decide which team would return to play in another season of Advanced. It was Sterling "sterling" Allard's side that emerged out on top, initially falling 11-16 on Mirage before fighting back on Dust2 16-11 and taking the decider map, Nuke, 16-8.
FaintRebirth| Faint |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling 'sterling' Allard |
68 - 49 | +19 | 95.1 | 75.9% | 1.32 |
| Danny 'cxzi' Strzelczyk |
69 - 50 | +19 | 81.9 | 73.4% | 1.30 |
| Damian 'EMIYA' Boulware |
57 - 51 | +6 | 85.1 | 78.5% | 1.16 |
| Nolan 'bite' Hunstad |
50 - 50 | +0 | 66.3 | 74.7% | 1.05 |
| London 'welly' Purdy |
36 - 52 | -16 | 53.3 | 70.9% | 0.83 |
| Rebirth |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby 'stamina' Eitrem |
59 - 55 | +4 | 88.0 | 59.5% | 1.14 |
| Derek 'dVeeN' Vander Veen |
59 - 54 | +5 | 74.5 | 68.4% | 1.04 |
| Ian 'battery' Yates |
47 - 57 | -10 | 69.6 | 67.1% | 0.94 |
| Rahmin 'ShoukR' Shoukoohi |
44 - 63 | -19 | 64.3 | 72.2% | 0.91 |
| John 'Magic1an' Girone |
42 - 52 | -10 | 60.4 | 67.1% | 0.85 |
Shortly after Rebirth's elimination, Bobby "stamina" Eitrem took to Twitter to announce his search for a new team, saying that "schedules & lack of practice toward the end kept [the team] from making the next stride."
iNTACT had a rough time of things up against Oceanus in the final match of the night, climbing up to a 10-5, and later 15-8, lead on Nuke. The team failed to close out the map however, with Oceanus sustaining into overtime before eventually netting a 22-20 win.
A similar scenario unfolded on iNTACT's pick of Vertigo, seeing the team muster a 12-3 halftime lead before a comeback attempt from Oceanus kicked off. The Canadian squad were able to fight all the way back to a 14-13 scoreline, but were unable to take the map over the edge as iNTACT took two final rounds to force a decider.
Oceanus gave themselves a better shot at things as they claimed their first lead of the series, running ahead 9-6 on the CT-side of Mirage. iNTACT's own defenses proved to be superior however, allowing the team to do one better than the Canadian side to edge out a 16-14 victory.
iNTACTOCG| iNTACT |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander 'retrQ' Kadan |
84 - 75 | +9 | 90.4 | 65.3% | 1.17 |
| Caleb 'jchancE' Davis |
69 - 63 | +6 | 77.1 | 74.3% | 1.10 |
| Austin 'AAustiN' Urb |
73 - 68 | +5 | 77.6 | 73.3% | 1.08 |
| Carson 'nosraC' O'Reilly |
67 - 74 | -7 | 76.8 | 69.3% | 1.03 |
| Riley 'Reality' Fusch |
50 - 63 | -13 | 52.5 | 64.4% | 0.84 |
| OCG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabriel 'tENSKI' Rodrigue |
73 - 66 | +7 | 74.9 | 71.3% | 1.08 |
| David 'J0LZ' Jolin |
68 - 75 | -7 | 77.5 | 66.3% | 1.05 |
| Cedric 'Melio' Perrault |
74 - 72 | +2 | 80.1 | 67.3% | 1.03 |
| Ezekiel 'KmZ' Hughes |
65 - 63 | +2 | 72.2 | 67.3% | 1.01 |
| Yannick 'KOLER' Blanchette |
63 - 69 | -6 | 70.1 | 69.3% | 0.97 |
One of the final two matchups leaves Peeker's Advantage up against Bushido Boyz, ensuring that only one MDL team from Season 32 will return to the league. The Advanced sides of Faint and Oceanus will also clash in a battle to decide which of the teams will secure promotion, and which will be forced to return to Advanced for another season. Both matches are set to kick off at 9:30 PM EDT.
