Bad News Bears set up rematch against Triumph in ESEA Premier Season 36 finals
Three more days of ESEA Premier Season 36 playoffs action have come and gone, leaving Triumph and Bad News Bears as the last two teams in the running to claim a spot in ESL Pro League 14. Over these past three days there have a number of exciting upsets and series that will be recapped below.
Triumph stun Bad News Bears in their first loss of the season
In the upper bracket final on Thursday, Triumph claimed a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Bad News Bears — a first for the underdog team. As is becoming commonplace for Triumph, David "cynic" Polster was the difference maker for his team, helping the squad narrowly win Nuke 16-14 after posting a 35-17 K-D.
On Dust2, cynic continued to shine but a 2-0 blowout by Triumph was avoided thanks to a strong showing from Peter "ptr" Gurney, who helped his team win the map 19-16 while posting a 1.28 rating. On the third map, Train, it was Alan "Shakezullah" Hardeman's chance to shine as the IGL led the server with twenty three kills as his team won the map 16-10.
Bad News BearsTriumph| Bad News Bears |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
68 - 61 | +7 | 74.9 | 69.2% | 1.05 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
60 - 63 | -3 | 69.4 | 60.4% | 0.98 |
 Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
59 - 71 | -12 | 78.3 | 67.0% | 0.97 |
| Nick 'alter' Jackson |
53 - 61 | -8 | 59.6 | 69.2% | 0.92 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
45 - 56 | -11 | 69.1 | 67.0% | 0.92 |
| Triumph |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David 'cynic' Polster |
79 - 54 | +25 | 89.4 | 71.4% | 1.29 |
| Alan 'Shakezullah' Hardeman |
59 - 53 | +6 | 77.3 | 78.0% | 1.19 |
| Austin 'Cooper' Abadir |
60 - 56 | +4 | 70.6 | 69.2% | 1.10 |
| Wesley 'viz' Harris |
54 - 58 | -4 | 71.4 | 71.4% | 1.03 |
| Brendan 'Bwills' Williams |
60 - 65 | -5 | 65.9 | 67.0% | 0.97 |
Recon 5 go out swinging in 2-1 loss to RBG
Looking towards the lower bracket, RBG bested Recon 5 2-1 although the latter squad kept the series highly competitive, striking the first blow with a 16-14 win on Mirage. Moving onto RBG's map pick of Inferno, Recon 5 kept up the pressure but ultimately fell in overtime as RBG claimed the map 19-16.
After a highly competitive series, unfortunately for Recon 5 Overpass was somewhat of a one-sided affair for RBG as they won their T-side 9-6 before quickly wrapping up the map 16-8. Despite the loss, after being granted a lifeline into playoffs Recon 5 gave a good account of themselves, especially Koby "kobruh" Higgs, who ended the season with a 1.14 rating over 26 maps.
RBGRecon 5| RBG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
73 - 57 | +16 | 80.8 | 68.5% | 1.22 |
| Kyle 'Wolffe' Greenfield |
66 - 57 | +9 | 84.1 | 74.2% | 1.19 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
61 - 55 | +6 | 70.3 | 60.7% | 1.09 |
| Connor 'chop' Sullivan |
54 - 59 | -5 | 66.2 | 69.7% | 0.94 |
| Jerric 'wiz' Jiang |
50 - 59 | -9 | 62.3 | 74.2% | 0.90 |
| Recon 5 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koby 'kobruh' Higgs |
73 - 58 | +15 | 93.6 | 69.7% | 1.29 |
| Gage 'Infinite' Green |
1 - 3 | -2 | 10.7 | 95.8% | 0.98 |
| Dominick 'JazzPimp' Dimpfel |
56 - 64 | -8 | 77.2 | 66.3% | 0.97 |
| Tyler 'tweiss' Weiss |
55 - 59 | -4 | 67.0 | 70.8% | 0.96 |
| Dylan 'SATURN' Finch |
49 - 60 | -11 | 58.7 | 67.4% | 0.86 |
| Austin 'AAustiN' Urb |
53 - 63 | -10 | 60.1 | 60.7% | 0.85 |
GGPR fall flat in lineup's final appearance
The other match in the lower bracket on Friday, High Coast vs. GGPR ended up being a far less exciting affair as High Coast dismantled their opponent with a 16-4 win on Dust2 and a 16-6 win on Nuke. It is worth keeping in mind however that for the first map GGPR had to field Sam "4sh0t" Mariano as a stand-in, with the retired player playing his first official since 2018.
Additionally, the squad had to use Jesse "Jmp" Peraino as a stand-in for Jeorge "jeorgesnorts" Endicott for the entirety of the playoffs due to the latter player not wanting to play with the team anymore. With the team now officially parting ways with the majority of their lineup, their loss on Friday caps off an otherwise strong debut Premier season.
High CoastGGPR| High Coast |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
35 - 23 | +12 | 94.1 | 71.4% | 1.45 |
 Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
41 - 21 | +20 | 85.2 | 71.4% | 1.44 |
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
35 - 24 | +11 | 85.8 | 73.8% | 1.29 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
36 - 29 | +7 | 88.3 | 69.0% | 1.26 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
26 - 24 | +2 | 72.5 | 81.0% | 1.13 |
| GGPR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Omar '3ARK00Z' Elyyan |
35 - 34 | +1 | 84.6 | 61.9% | 1.04 |
| Sean 'Inseaniac' Morrison |
14 - 18 | -4 | 64.8 | 63.6% | 0.74 |
| Jesse 'Jmp' Peraino |
21 - 36 | -15 | 62.8 | 64.3% | 0.73 |
| Jake 'eXotic' Vaupell |
24 - 33 | -9 | 54.6 | 59.5% | 0.73 |
| Sam '4sh0t' Mariano |
9 - 16 | -7 | 49.4 | 60.0% | 0.72 |
| Chase 'lowrider' Releford |
15 - 36 | -21 | 55.9 | 50.0% | 0.50 |
RBG continues to impress with drawn out 2-1 victory over High Coast
In the lower bracket final, RBG claimed a shock 2-1 upset victory against High Coast after the two sides battled for a staggering 124 rounds. When the action kicked off on Inferno, it initially looked as if High Coast would run away with the series as Ian "motm" Hardy and co. won their CT-side 11-4 in a decisive fashion. However, after the two squads switched sides, RBG managed to claw back the map and force it to overtime before taking Inferno 19-17. During the map Jerric "wiz" Jiang was looking red-hot as he posted a 38-20 K-D and ended the map with a 1.55 rating.
The second map, Dust2, ended up going the distance and then some, with the two squads playing six overtimes before High Coast finally managed to break away and take the map 34-31. Over the course of the 65 rounds of play, Rodrigo "RCF" Figueiredo was integral in keeping the squad alive as he went 64-35 while having a 95.2 ADR, no easy feat after so many rounds.
After 72 rounds of play, High Coast seemingly were worn down as after a close opening half RBG mounted a perfect CT-side to win Nuke 16-7 to meet Bad News Bears in the consolidation final. Much like for Triumph against Bad News Bears, besting High Coast was a huge hurdle for RBG to overcome as they had previously only ever taken one map off the High Coast/New England Whalers core.
RBGHigh Coast| RBG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerric 'wiz' Jiang |
125 - 73 | +52 | 95.1 | 76.6% | 1.47 |
| Connor 'chop' Sullivan |
90 - 79 | +11 | 72.4 | 74.2% | 1.14 |
| Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
76 - 86 | -10 | 73.8 | 73.4% | 1.01 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
79 - 85 | -6 | 71.1 | 66.9% | 1.00 |
| Kyle 'Wolffe' Greenfield |
69 - 84 | -15 | 61.7 | 71.0% | 0.93 |
| High Coast |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodrigo 'RCF' Figueiredo |
112 - 78 | +34 | 88.0 | 71.8% | 1.30 |
| Ian 'motm' Hardy |
87 - 95 | -8 | 71.3 | 69.4% | 1.00 |
| Josh 'PwnAlone' Pigue |
74 - 83 | -9 | 65.1 | 69.4% | 0.91 |
| Brandon 'bew' Roberts |
69 - 91 | -22 | 66.3 | 67.7% | 0.85 |
| Ben 'ben1337' Smith |
64 - 94 | -30 | 60.6 | 65.3% | 0.80 |
Bad News Bears crush RBG 2-0 to set up Triumph rematch
After RBG played potentially their best series as a team against High Coast yesterday, they appeared surprisingly flat against Bad News Bears last night. The opening map, Overpass, was a complete blowout as Bad News Bears won their CT-side 14-1 before taking the map 16-1. During this one-sided opener Nick "alter" Jackson had a chance to shine as he claimed a 22-8 K-D and a 2.04 rating.
Moving onto Mirage, RBG finally began to show signs of life as they opened with a 7-8 CT-side before winning their T-side pistol and the following three rounds to claim the lead for the first time in the series. Despite this strong opening, the map quickly began to slip away from them as Bad News Bears only conceded two more rounds before taking Mirage 16-13.
Despite missing out on the finals, RBG end the season high above expectations, claiming a third place finish ahead of a number of more well-known squads. Additionally, Jadan "HexT" Postma played a breakout season, with a strong 1.20 rating over 32 maps.
Bad News BearsRBG| Bad News Bears |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter 'ptr' Gurney |
46 - 20 | +26 | 110.0 | 84.8% | 1.69 |
| Nick 'alter' Jackson |
44 - 26 | +18 | 99.4 | 91.3% | 1.62 |
| Gabe 'Spongey' Greiner |
42 - 19 | +23 | 89.0 | 84.8% | 1.50 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
34 - 23 | +11 | 75.5 | 73.9% | 1.20 |
| Jonathan 'Jonji' Carey |
27 - 28 | -1 | 67.1 | 69.6% | 1.00 |
| RBG |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
27 - 40 | -13 | 73.5 | 63.0% | 0.87 |
| Jerric 'wiz' Jiang |
23 - 36 | -13 | 50.4 | 54.3% | 0.73 |
| Colby 'Walco' Walsh |
27 - 37 | -10 | 60.3 | 58.7% | 0.72 |
| Kyle 'Wolffe' Greenfield |
24 - 39 | -15 | 61.3 | 52.2% | 0.63 |
| Connor 'chop' Sullivan |
14 - 41 | -27 | 42.2 | 45.7% | 0.45 |
With all but one match completed, Bad News Bears and Triumph will clash tonight at 8PM EDT with one squad going onto ESL Pro League Season 14. For Bad News Bears, they have a tall hill to climb as Triumph head into the finals with a one-map advantage and the ability to choose the opening map.
