Ghost take win in two maps over Rogue
The upper bracket match in the ESL Pro League relegation tournament saw Rogue face off against Ghost for the first spot back into the next ESL Pro League season. Both of these teams were looking to retain their spot from the previous season and were to face off on Cobblestone, Overpass and Mirage.
Cobblestone began the match, and it was Ghost to take first blood with the pistol round on their T-side. They followed it up with the first anti-eco before Rogue forced up with a set of pistols to get on the board, then evening the game. Ghost managed to keep themselves ahead, with the lead extended thanks to four swift kills from Matthew "Wardell" Bowman's AWP.
Rogue weren't looking to be kept out of the game, as Spencer "Hiko" Martin helped lead his side into five straight wins, as they finally took the lead in the game. Just as they were looking to cement that lead, however, Ghost returned in form to take the advantage in the half, narrowly ahead at 8-7.
The second half started with Rogue taking the pistol on their T-side, but it was Ghost who took the eco round to regain and extend their lead. Rogue managed to mount a minor comeback to get back into the game, including a round where Casper "cadiaN" Møller won a 1v2 clutch just before the time ran out.
From there Rogue secured another round, but were still behind as Ghost led the game 13-11. But it was all Ghost's game from there, as they utilised their CT side advantage to take themselves to match point, and claiming the first map 16-11.
Overpass was up next, and it was Rogue who struck first on their T-side to get the game underway. But before Rogue could get moving it was Ghost on their eco to claim the second round and quickly ramp up to secure four rounds. With their first buy, Rogue did manage to secure another round but Ghost near-instantly replied with two further rounds of their own, going 6-2 ahead.
On another eco, Rogue managed to secure an upset win, partly thanks to a scavenged AWP from cadiaN. Ghost then did the same, immediately answering back on their own eco before Rogue forced up to secure another round. Ghost then performed another eco-round upset as the side grabbed an eighth round. Ghost managed to stop the cycle for another round, before Rogue's next forcebuy work into another round. Ghost finished off the half with their own buy to go 10-5 up at the half.
The second half started with Rogue taking the pistol round on their CT-side, but Ghost's forcebuy saw themselves back in after a Wardell 1v2 clutch. In what was feeling like a repeat of the first half, Rogue then also forced up to claim the following round before Ghost did the same.
After the forcebuy madness finally ended Ghost managed to stabilise their advantage and claim the final four rounds to take a 16-7 win, and become the first team to secure an ESL Pro League in Season 7.
RogueGhost| Rogue |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Casper 'cadiaN' Møller |
45 - 35 | +10 | 92.6 | 72.0% | 1.30 |
 Spencer 'Hiko' Martin |
30 - 37 | -7 | 57.0 | 64.0% | 0.80 |
 Michael 'Uber' Stapells |
27 - 41 | -14 | 64.2 | 68.0% | 0.78 |
| Daniel 'vice' Kim |
21 - 41 | -20 | 63.4 | 60.0% | 0.73 |
| Josh 'shinobi' Abastado |
24 - 36 | -12 | 56.2 | 50.0% | 0.68 |
| Ghost |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew 'WARDELL' Yu |
40 - 24 | +16 | 88.5 | 78.0% | 1.45 |
| Sebastian 'seb' Bucki |
39 - 29 | +10 | 79.3 | 82.0% | 1.29 |
| Phong 'bee' Nguyen |
39 - 33 | +6 | 91.3 | 76.0% | 1.25 |
| Dallas 'Dallas' Micks |
42 - 30 | +12 | 79.1 | 72.0% | 1.20 |
| Connor 'CONNOR93' Glover |
30 - 33 | -3 | 79.0 | 74.0% | 1.04 |
After this result, the final game in the relegation tournament will see Rogue face off against Rise Nation for the last remaining ESL Pro League spot.
