NRG win ECL S50 NA Cup #1 via forfeit caused by DDOS attacks

NRG has won the first ESL Challenger League Season 50 NA Cup, qualifying for the regional final in November, though not in a manner that anyone is really happy about.

The best-of-three finals against BLUEJAYS started out with a thrilling overtime map on Dust2. NRG rallied back from a 3-9 deficit at half-time, with both teams notching impressive T-side halves in regulation. NRG managed to push themselves over the line in OT, but not before a couple of long tech pauses took place.

Due to the ongoing DDOS attacks, coach Tommy "Axed" Ryan had to step in on Mirage for Paytyn "junior" Johnson, but due to more technical issues affecting their stand-in, BLUEJAYS was forced to forfeit the map. BLUEJAYS was already trailing 8-1 when Axed disconnected, but it still forced the series to end unceremoniously.

It was an unfortunate way for the Cup to end, as M80 also had to forfeit the upper and lower bracket final due to scheduling conflicts, though it ended up being worth it for them as they qualified for BLAST Open London playoffs via three straight wins against Virtus.pro, NAVI, and fnatic.

ECL S50 NA Cup #2 begins Monday, September 9th.