PASSION UA ADVANCE TO STAGE 3 OVER M80
Passion UA reverse-swept M80 in the NA derby on December 2nd to advance to StarLadder Budapest Major Stage 3.
With this, NA will have at least one team in Stage 3 of the Major. Liquid will play later vs. Astralis and can qualify as well.
Passion UA had a great chance to win Mirage as well, as they struck five rounds in a row on their T-side and were up 11-10, but M80 managed to secure the win on their map pick with a narrow 13-10 victory.
Losing Mirage didn't affect Passion UA whatsoever as they dominated M80 on Inferno, off the back of an impressive performance from Michael "Grim" Wince and some great rounds by Nick "nicx" Lee, which had a lot of impact on the result.
The series headed to Train and Passion UA dominated it from the very beginning, starting off with a six-round streak on the T-side. M80 were seemingly nervous, as they kept trying to play fast and come through smokes.
M80 did manage to salvage the first half, which finished 7-5. They tied the game by converting the second pistol and the following round, but Passion UA held their own and played better once they had rifles.
Grim was undoubtely the MVP of the series, having averaged a 1.40 rating after the three maps.
Passion UAM80| Passion UA |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Michael 'Grim' Wince |
55 - 44 | +11 | 93.2 | 77.4% | 1.40 |
| Nick 'nicx' Lee |
35 - 37 | -2 | 63.8 | 74.2% | 1.10 |
 Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou |
42 - 30 | +12 | 72.0 | 71.0% | 1.10 |
 Vladyslav 'Kvem' Korol |
44 - 45 | -1 | 85.9 | 71.0% | 1.09 |
 Håkon 'hallzerk' Fjærli |
38 - 31 | +7 | 60.4 | 77.4% | 1.01 |
| M80 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 3.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mason 'Lake' Sanderson |
48 - 49 | -1 | 88.3 | 71.0% | 1.10 |
 Fritz 'slaxz-' Dietrich |
42 - 39 | +3 | 67.0 | 69.4% | 1.00 |
 Jadan 'HexT' Postma |
35 - 41 | -6 | 61.0 | 64.5% | 0.98 |
| Michael 'Swisher' Schmid |
33 - 44 | -11 | 61.0 | 66.1% | 0.79 |
| Elias 's1n' Stein |
29 - 43 | -14 | 52.7 | 61.3% | 0.72 |
This loss is heartbreaking for M80 as they came so close to reaching Stage 3 yesterday. But, they fumbled their opportunity vs. Imperial, and struggled today vs. Passion UA.
As for Passion UA, the result at Budapest is already better than their Austin Major campaign, as they couldn't get out of Stage 1 in the U.S. soil.
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