I
music
I'm breaking next and I'm partyin' out
Throwin' elbow stuff and I'm running out
Cause I can't make it down so let's run it up
I'ma keep it goin' so I won't laugh left
I'ma keep it goin' I'ma keep it goin'
I'ma keep it goin' so I won't laugh left
Well, the NAL kickoff playoffs are here.
We've got to send someone to the Salt Lake City Major.
We are here in person.
And boy, does it feel so good.
No internet troubles this time.
We can't disconnect anymore.
And there is no possible way that anything could go.
Well, I guess he disconnected in person.
I didn't even know it was possible.
The
Salt Lake City Major is just a couple weeks away,
and we still have a very important job to do.
Figuring out which four North American League teams
will be competing on the international stage.
We're here in person for the NAL kickoff playoffs.
You guys are right here.
It feels so good.
No disconnecting issues.
I'm not gonna have that problem as last time.
Should I freeze and run off stage right now for the bit?
But really, it's good to have you guys here.
I mean, really, we've come such a long way
from where this began, from knowing nothing about any of these teams.
So now having a pretty good idea about where things stack up,
we head into best of threes where anything can happen.
Anything can happen. You disconnected in person.
I just think that was possible.
I'm glad we got it sorted.
But as for the teams, I mean, this stage so far has been so competitive,
all the new faces and a lot of them have really come to impress us
and it's only going to get that much better once it gets to the best of threes.
You know, it's a really good litmus test to see how can these new teams compete.
Yeah, I mean, not even just for the teams, even for us.
I mean, being here in this studio,
I mean, we aren't used to this here in the NAL.
I mean, it's definitely a different tax bracket
once you come into here.
So I can kind of feel what the EML guys feel on this stage.
You know what's crazy though?
We've been here for like five seconds
and I feel like we already do this play so much better
than the U.S.
We're just so much better than the U.S.
You guys got the drip, you got the colors matching.
Matching a little bit to some.
Yeah, the red on that.
It looks good, but this all kicked off a few weeks ago
where we started the group stage with 10 teams.
We now have just eight, where now we have to figure out how these teams are going to work their way through the bracket.
SSG 1 of 30, M80 and Wildcard, that's where things start in the upper bracket with five fears and dark zero waiting for them.
But now, as we said, in best of three territory, Fox, so many more questions than answers.
I mean, of course, when you look at the bottom of the bracket with Cloud9 and Shop of Irbellion playing for their lives, essentially,
because when you start out on the bottom of the bracket,
you lose one, you're out.
You don't have that safety net like the top teams do.
So when you're one of these teams at the bottom,
you are in a way more stressful position.
There's so much pressure on you
because you don't have that extra lifeline
that some of the teams at the top do.
You don't have time to get into the bracket.
One game goes wrong and it's gone.
I mean, that can be a little bit of a double-edged sword though.
The nice thing is, sure, you are at the bottom of the bracket,
but you have no lifelines.
You have nothing to rely on outside of your own confidence,
your own skill, your own team work,
and that honestly can ramp up some teams
to have tremendous performance.
We've seen that at multitudes of SIs
where teams come from the losers bracket
and win the entire thing.
It's not to say that that's going to be the case,
but it does put that little added pressure
that you do need where some teams sitting at the top
where you only need that one when we've seen them falter
because they don't have those game reps
in comparison to some of these teams
that will lead all the way up until that point.
And that could happen to a team like Five Fierce
who's come into this now with some pretty significant
expectations because of where they started.
We did not think this team was going to be able to get to this point a by round
to start a single best of three stands between them and the major.
Yeah, we were looking at the big shakeup in the roster,
many of that was happened in the NAL by no means that I think this was going to
be the roster that was going to be carrying the torch, carrying the way,
especially going flawless throughout their group stage.
I would have never seen that from any of these players,
but we heard it from time and time again with each interview,
one to the other that during their off season,
they all took responsibility and showing up
as an individual, putting in work,
not just only in the games, but outside the game,
outside the server.
And with each and every single game
that we were seeing from these guys,
there was always something that you could take from me,
like, wow, this is a really different look
than what we were seeing from one season to the next,
one stage to the next.
I mean, every player really has been doing their due diligence
and making sure that they are all coming into it
with the same goal in mind and same success rate.
Well, another young team,
team that made it from the challenger series very earlier this year. One of 30 also came
in with not so high expectations, but they started things off and shocked us coming out
of the gate day one and they're here with a chance to make the major as well.
I mean the thing that shocked us was how well the individual rookies were playing. I mean
Volspern might W had big clutch plays and they didn't really have the best start of
the stage. I mean they only won one game against 100 thieves and it was a nail biter, but the
The main point to take away is all of their other matches against SR, and maybe whatever
the case may be, it was very close.
They were keeping it in contention, and I think that gives us a little bit more hope.
There's a lot of potential in this roster for them to be able to find success.
Now they have the opportunity to continue to show it, because again, they're in the top
side of the bracket against SSG against Five Fears.
They're playing against teams that haven't also had that much time in T1, so it's a great
position to find themselves in for one of 30.
Both of these two teams, examples of teams that have surpassed our expectations coming in.
We have slacks. We have to talk about a team, though, that has come and, well, not met those expectations.
Shopify Rebellion, they're the talk of the town right now, not for necessarily the best of reasons.
No, and I said it during the last play stage, during the playday, that, you know, we should cut them a little bit of slack.
They did what they needed to, to get out of groups to make it into playoffs.
And as every single pro player knows, getting out of group stage is the most important thing.
It doesn't matter how you got there.
It matters how you get there and how you finish.
Now they aren't a best of three territory.
This is in any scenario for any single player out there.
Being in a best of three is always going to make you
more comfortable because when you do find those losses
early on in that first map,
you have that time to be able to reconcile
and understand where things are wrong,
how you can fix it going into the future.
So I would definitely hold back a little bit on SR
until we kind of see this get underway
and see what their performance actually looks like
at a best of three level,
then just looking at what happened in the best of three.
I mean, yeah, when you look at SR, the individual players,
they're not the issue at all.
Everyone's getting good kills.
I think the biggest thing is not having enough time
and the best of one to be able to adapt,
to use Canadian, has that IGL.
Bessa 3 completely shakes that up,
and the players themselves have took to social media
to be able to talk about it and say,
we're not really worried about it.
It's not about how you start, it's about how you finish,
and I think that's SR's end goal,
especially being in the lower bracket.
They know it's their time to put up or shut up.
Well, here in North America, as we sort through this chaos
and see which of these teams can at least get back on track,
we have to remember what they're playing for.
All of these teams vying to play in a major on home soil.
In Salt Lake City in just a few weeks,
the tickets are available now.
If you wanna join us, the weekend of May 15th
at the Salt Palace Convention Center,
lacks, I mean, we know how much an opportunity like this
means to these players.
you guys know this particularly well,
having been there, competed at international events,
regional play is one thing,
but getting to the main stage,
getting in front of that crowd, that's everything.
Yeah, I mean, it definitely speaks it into existence
once you're in front of that crowd,
they're cheering for you on that stage.
I mean, even for myself, the last time that I was in an NA stage
when I was playing was back when we were in Charlotte,
and just being able to be in your own home,
your own environment, your own crowd,
cheering you on every step of the way,
that definitely makes it far more better
of an experience as a player.
So a lot of these NAL teams, if they can make it here
during SLC, they're gonna set themselves up
in a prime position to be in front of their home ground,
in front of their families and friends,
to try to make something out of it.
Yeah, the community always shows up with an NAL event.
It's heartwarming, it's a great experience,
and hopefully one of these teams can bring
some pepper to the salt palace.
You don't get like this late at night.
You go to the like 11 p.m. here in Copenhagen.
Yeah, it is.
We got a little late.
You gotta put a handle on them early on
before this gets out of control.
But we've got a great day ahead coming your way to start off the playoffs here in the NAL kickoff.
One of 30 and SSG, that'll be the pallet cleanser to kick off the night.
Two young teams trying to prove themselves before we move on to M80 and Wildcard,
our second game of this two best of three slate.
I mean, like, this is exactly the kind of day we want to start things off.
We could see two blowouts potentially the way these teams are on paper.
But if I've got a guest here, we're
going to see some barren burns of matches.
I mean, for the first one, I'm hoping
we're going to see a lot coming out of the side of 1 of 30,
given what we've seen so far of them.
And then going into that second game,
I think that's going to be the bigger game for me.
Because what we've seen from Wildcard
hasn't been the typical Wildcard that we
hype up when they get to the main event.
So hopefully, we're going to see a lot more out of them.
And then from Mayday, I think it's just more about consistency
and getting Ashen into the sweet things.
Yeah, agree.
Well, let's dive in a little bit more.
SSG, to start things off, are a team
that we've talked a lot about these young teams that
have surprised us with Dream at the helm assembling
this core of young talent.
We look at these players and we go,
should they be here competing three and one
through the group stage getting to this point?
The answer is clearly yes at this point.
I mean, we were very skeptical.
Ooh, we were very skeptical coming into it
because of how Dream's success on Cloud9
was very underwhelming.
But we know that Dream has the potential
to be on a winning team.
I mean, we look at Boston.
we look at unwanted that team with no roster or no work,
being able to make it as far as they did.
Then the stint on Cloud9, now to SSG.
It's not about dreams specifically,
but it's about the players around them.
When dream is surrounded by lovable players
that he can work with, he can make better.
Everything, sky's the limit.
And that's what we're seeing on SSG.
Not only has he brought on Giddy
for a little bit of veteran experience,
but picking up three newer players has been
just the energy that dream has needed
because they all believe in his system.
and I can speak from an IGL perspective
when you have players that believe in what you are trying
to show them, everything is better.
Your team instantly goes from zero to hero
and I think that's what we're seeing with SSG.
And one of those young players, not necessarily a rookie
because he made his NAL debut late last year,
Aiden has been playing lights out.
I mean, this is someone who we know what he's capable of
but we've seen it through and through this year.
Oh, it's a night and day difference.
He's only played one stage last stage with NB
and you know, we thought that NB could have gone
distance obviously they didn't make it into the bracket play to be able to make it to the major
but that being said his performance was still something that shook us all when we saw him
enter the league he was great individually but the consistency of it was not something that was
there but now that he's been able to join SSG he's found his own he's found his position he's
not this primary entry because they have great who is able to be able to be that spearhead
you have now Aiden that can just play any utility operator play his position be very comfortable
and he could just find openings wherever needs be.
And right now, he's the second highest rate of player
when it comes to the NAL.
And that's a huge jump because on Envy,
he was within the top 40, top 50, nothing too exceptional.
Now, he's hit the ground running.
And I think that's because this team has allowed him so much
freedom in being able to pick his role, find comfortability.
And because he has other players that
can do the hard parts, like entering and getting
into those positions.
I mean, something for me not just to talk about his own play
in his consistency.
It's also just his attitude.
He's very charismatic.
We've talked to him on interviews,
just being able to be a younger player,
being able to lead that charge in terms of how animated
you can get, how you can hype players up.
You need that in a team dynamic.
Someone has to be able to take the reign.
And I think Aiden certainly does that for this team.
But it also allows him to just develop as a player even better.
When you have all of these different aspects about you
as a player outside of just your sheer skill
that all come together, that is what's truly
going to allow him to grow as a player as a whole
to be able to indoctrinate new styles of play, develop as a player, and continue his
growth that we've been seeing.
And honestly, it's been very fun to watch him in particular grow and develop as this
has gone on.
Right.
He's not only as a player, but as a person, seeing these interviews, the maturity is really
coming out.
I mean, look at this guy.
Mogg in the camera, as he should.
You gotta get a hair line too.
One of 30 on the other hand, right?
We talk a lot about this team and the youth they bring coming from the Challenger series.
We knew this would be a tough road.
But it was week one, it was day one, where this team put us all on notice and said,
we should be paying attention to them.
Eight seven, close game against Shopify Rebellion and all of a sudden we're like,
all right, we got to watch this team closely.
Yeah, you know, they've certainly gone through their trial by fire for sure,
but they have done enough to scrape by to make it now into this playoffs.
Now, when you look at the, obviously that first match, you could have argued,
they should have won that versus SR.
That was a big 1v3 clutch that they did blunder, unfortunately, due to a team kill.
and then ambi just clutching it up.
But that's neither here or there.
Facts of the matter is they got the most important win
out of the 100 of these games, securing those three points,
giving them a total of four to find themselves in this position.
Now, I'm going to be far more critical at this point
because this is where everything matters.
This is everything that you've worked for in that group stage
to really show and develop your skills as individuals
and as a team.
And that's where they have lacked is in those skills.
Now, I do have something that does show kind of a timeline
of how well their attacks and defenses
or maybe how bad that they've been in comparison
to the rest of the teams here.
You can clearly see them on the end.
They're still punching at a good range.
They aren't at that 50% mark for either attack or defense.
So for me, I want to see them at least develop on one of these sides
at a better pacing to have more success on.
But it's not just a highlight that, you know,
they aren't in the best spot because there are positives
that you can take away that they do have to show for that.
They have the potential now.
Now, sure, their attack wins and KDs.
It's not that great, but the opening kills, the multi-kills,
the clutches, if we can somehow turn all of those positives
into rounds one, into matches one.
This can be a very, very strong and competitive team,
but that all comes down to now being in the best of three,
where again, you can lose that first map.
You can take things from it,
you can extrapolate from it,
implement it into map two, fix it going into map three,
and just overall have far more success.
But again, that comes off the strategic aspect
of being able to adapt, being able to problem solve,
and that's where they've lacked in the best of one.
So now in the best of three,
we should be seeing this at a far faster pace
than where we've seen it before.
I mean, I hope what we're going to see in the best of three series is them be able to find their identity because I think from the statistics, we can all agree there's nothing that sets them aside from any other team.
There's nothing that has that spark outside of experience.
Yeah, the side of experience. There's nothing that really gives us some type of a niche to believe in this roster.
And I think in a best of three series, it gives them more experience to be able to develop these newer players to potentially find that what's going to be their crutch, what's going to be their angle to be able to set them aside from other teams.
And right now it's just Packer trying to leave this roster.
And I think we've seen huge strides from Packer as an individual.
Now we just want to see the rest of the team be able to get there.
And I think there's no better situation than them going up against SSG now.
And then five beers with no pressure.
They can lose the first match and go to lower bracket.
It's a perfect situation to ease into this bracket play for one of them.
And we heard from Packer speaking with Parker and Mint on the BBNO podcast.
He said they feel pretty good about their chances, right?
And it's going to come down to the maps here.
We know how just how important this can be from best of one
to best of threes, from a team who has not flexed
the most beautiful of map pools lacks.
You're looking at a team who needs to do this well
and perform well from the jump.
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, first map coming out is going to be Night Haven Lab.
We haven't seen either of these teams play it just yet,
but pivoting over into clubhouse.
I mean, we already saw how strong SSG was on that clubhouse map.
I mean, they made wildcard look like they
We're the brand new teams on the block in terms of how they play that and then even going into shall a another map for SSG
But we watched them dominate outlasts now night in Haven labs
They don't have balls in terms of what they can do to prep for this match
But again, it's gonna be more important for the side of one of 30 of being able to adapt and problem self
And sometimes you have to go off the script. You can't just keep sticking to your blueprint
You can't keep sticking to what you've been dry running
Sometimes you have to bring a different operator. Sometimes you even have to pivot bands in order to set up for that attacking side
I mean, it's really gonna that's what I'm gonna be focusing more on one of 30 SSG has already shown me more than enough to really get behind them
Especially looking at those last two maps of clubhouse and shall I go into their favor?
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think when it comes to a map like labs
We know that dream has been comfortable on a map like that with cloud nine
They like to play it wasn't necessarily a great map but cloud nine had their struggles SSG is going to find
Comfortability on it one of 30 big question is all gonna come down to packer when it comes to the adaptation
He's one of the few IGLs that loves being able to adapt on the fly
I'm imagining that's something that we're going to see lapses a very punishing map
Especially if you're not time-oriented
You're not keeping track of all the little angles little areas
And that's something where we could see the newer players like bolsper and Mike W
Get caught off guard and that could potentially lead to the loss on a map like clubhouse again
It's gonna come down to Packer. Can he counter track what we've seen from SSG?
Don't necessarily know if that's gonna happen because we know how
how step by step SSG was on that map.
Get the first pick, lock everything down
for the over-aggressive swings.
It's hard not to bet on SSG in this situation.
Well, Lex, I know you had something you wanted to dive
into a little bit more in regards to the map pool
of one of 30, and maybe the lack of breadth
that they've been able to display.
I mean, they have not had the results,
and here you can see that.
Again, and the best of one, you're gonna try to limit
as many maps that you're weak at,
and you're also gonna get limited maps that you're good at,
that's based off scrims, where that's based off bots, Grevath's going to be,
Shirley, they've played four maps, they've only found success on one of those maps,
the others are not so great. Now you have a plethora of maps that you possibly can pull out here
in a best of three, and this would be a time to do it. As you can see, they have a lot of
fans going out there, but that also goes to say that you can't pivot back to maps they recently
played. Now, granted, you aren't going to see some of those maps here today, but the fact of the
matter is they are showing something different just in Nighthaven Labs, which I think is going to be a
great perspective for us to really see is, you know, with the time off that they've had, with
everything that they've gone through in the group stage. Are they going to be problem solving is
going to be the bigger question here? And like I said, you know, whether that's bringing different
operators, whether that's quickly adjusting and pivoting when it's need be. But as Fock was saying,
it's easier for new players when things aren't going the way to be instantly caught off guard or
lose focus. Well, our players are just about ready to go. So we're going to welcome in our
casters. We're going to talk with Intero and Jesse before we dive into this one. Guys, Parker,
I mean, I mentioned the conversation that you guys had with some of these new players with Packer
specifically. It's exciting to hear that they feel pretty confident about their chances going into
this bracket. Yeah, I mean, if you're just solely going off of that podcast appearance, I honestly
think they're telling the truth, you know, and we say this when we're on the show, and I'm sure you
say this when you interview the guests as well. Sometimes we puff up our chest an awful lot,
right? And we say like, yeah, we're the best team. We're going to make it. But I think when you have
an opportunity to really talk about what you think, especially on the podcast format,
Players are going to be a little bit more honest.
I genuinely think 1 of 30 feels that they are the better team going into this match.
Yeah, it's pretty incredible to see how far they've already come as a team, right?
And I mean, sure, maybe they were looked at as the underdogs.
I think you guys broke it down nicely on the desk.
There's definitely things that 1 of 30 still have to work on.
But we've seen this team play in a couple of weeks.
There's been quite a bit of an off time between the group stage and the playoffs.
So who knows how much they've improved in that time.
This will be a really great showcase of exactly how much they've been able to work on this stuff after going to the group stage
Well a good question Jesse and good thing we can dive into this best of three to find those answers
It's over to you guys as we get labs underway
Well greatly appreciated
Jesse what are your expectations here because I mean all of our matches today are going to be interesting for different reasons this one to
Me is the biggest wild card part in the pun of the two
SSG, to me, have been a team on the rise, and they've got a couple pieces that I'm really
excited for.
They are very aggressive.
They've got entry fraggers that seem to be fearless, and I think that can obviously work
wonders here.
And of course, they've got the help of an organization.
Let's not kid ourselves.
Jesse 1-30 is playing with no work whatsoever, so they've got no institutional support.
They're not even getting paid to play for crying out loud.
But is their raw talent enough to overcome all of the things that Space Station has
working for them right now. I think so, Parker, and I'm glad you brought that up,
because Orgless teams in the North America League have never really found much success.
One of 30 have done something that has almost never been done in North America before,
and that is qualifying to the playoffs without an organization. The last time this happened was
April 24th, 2017, when Almanus qualified to the Pro League. Year two, season one playoffs,
And in those playoffs, they lost every game, so if 1-30 can go out and beat the face-tation games today,
they will break history in the first team ever to win a playoff game in North America without a board.
Now, for those of you that are following along, the teams that win today are neither confirmed for Salt Lake, nor are they eliminated.
So what we are looking at is we are looking at the upper bracket quarterfinals.
For those that don't have any kind of visual component, it means that the winner of this matchup will play 5 fears for a spot at the major.
The loser will go down into the lower bracket and I believe they play Shopify Rebellion.
If my numbers are correct, you're happy to chime in. Feel free to chime in here. Should I be right or wrong?
Yeah, the loser of this game will end up playing Cloud9, first round of the playoffs.
That's it. So there you go. Okay, so it doesn't flip for the lower bracket just yet.
Our matchup, ladies and gentlemen, which is the M80 wild card matchup, then that one will be, again, the winner will go off against Dark Zero, the loser will play Shadow of the Fire Rebellion.
But either way, the loser of this match still gets to stick around. So you are not seeing the last of either of these teams, and the winner, they don't qualify for the major yet.
So today is a very important day, but not as critical as what we will see tomorrow, and onwards as those matches get more important the later we go into the week.
But of course, we will see our last set of matches on Thursday.
Jesse, you and I will be taking part in some of the commentary there.
Yeah, should be exciting week here for the North American Siege fans.
Get them to decide which of our four representatives will be headed to Salt Lake City.
And of course, it means a little bit more coming from North America,
because you will be that home team.
You'll have the crowd behind you no matter who you are.
You qualify in through this week.
So every team is fighting to make it to that spot over the next couple of days.
We started here at Nighthaven Labs as the desk broke down, Parker, and this was thought
amount that either one of 30 or Space Station have played before this season.
You obviously can go back to last season for Space Station, but it's a completely different
team, so it's not exactly relevant.
I'm sure both teams have been practicing it in the off season, it is one of 30s, a
mass kick, so they expect to be a little bit stronger on it.
The breaching has not been so strong, this is a little ugly.
Mike W, he wanted to be able to make a crouch walk through with the Hibana pellets, but he's based on just a little bit too far apart.
And now is struggling to get that open, so we'll see how this goes for him as the match continues on.
It's tough getting open that IT wall.
There's lots of teams struggle with it to not to obviously not to excuse some sloppiness here, but to kind of explain it for people.
We literally casted two teams that have made it to Salt Lake City yesterday in Brazil and they had problems opening the wall.
So for crying out loud, most competitive region and two major bound teams, they struggled open up IT.
Don't play these players inside of 1 of 30 just yet.
I don't know if they've droned out electrical or not.
Maybe it was some poor coordination here.
Silo dies because of it.
Volsper and Mike on the board, Bino too.
Oh my goodness, Jesse, one minute left in the round.
And this 1 of 30 team is just about as fearless as we said
from the entry players on the side of space station.
The round is over.
1 of 30 failed to open up that IT wall right off the rip,
and then immediately decided to collaborate on an execute.
And it works out they're all smiles.
They're all laughing.
Round number one goes to 1 of 30.
Yeah, perfectly played by Bino.
Bino saw an opportunity and took it.
Little unfortunate, they let his teammate die there
inside the connector.
He's outside on that electrical window,
but Bino perfectly plays that,
takes advantage of the space that's given to him
and then rushes through the bomb site
to get a massive multi-kill to start things off
right for one of 30, attacking on NightAven Labs.
Bino, playing in his 36th map
as a professional Rainbow Six player,
he has never actually played a match
under an organization,
playing the Montreal Major under Steele for life with some of his opponents on the other side, most notably Giddy.
And then also playing Understand by last season, he has been, I think, really a shining star throughout this team.
He's had some ups and downs in his career, no doubt.
But you can see that game sense. When he sees an opportunity, he's going to step up and take it.
He's going to be able to work through the map and find those frags.
So really nice to see that coming out of Bino starting us off with a beautiful 2K.
Bino's not the guy that they usually rely on before entry.
No, far and away, I mean, it's Mike W.
Mike W has 17 entries compared to the next highest,
which is Packer at 13, Bino as five.
So, I mean, Bino's the guy that's cracking this round open.
Goodness gracious, what is happening here?
In fact, the three players that were first involved
in the action were one of 30.
We're the three more support-oriented players,
so I don't know if it was just by design or what.
Mike W obviously providing some auxiliary kills.
Mike W will be the stand-up performer on 1 of 30 if all goes according to their plan.
Yeah.
But keep an eye on him, but if you've got the rest of the team joining in,
things are looking pretty good for 1 of 30 though.
Yeah, no, you're not wrong at all, Parker.
Bino takes that IGL role on this 1 of 30 team.
Some people think it's Packer.
Packer certainly has a leadership role on this team,
but Bino just doesn't have the official IGL,
but still able to frag out all those supporting roles when he gets the opportunity.
SSG probably not expecting to lose that first round.
They'll go down to the basement for their second opportunity to try to get a defense round win, and there are quite a lot of roamers.
You can see these orange bodies scattered around the map.
Some of the top floor, some here on the mid floor as well.
Raid and Aiden on that top floor trying to lock things down up above, and it will be Aiden, the first one to fall.
Bino is not done after his multi-killing round number one.
You will find yet another early frag taking down the youngster on space station, gaining 19 years old.
Aiden ends up falling early in this round.
Paid in their highest rated player, best entry stats and best KD on the side of SSG, so if
he's not doing well, the rest of the team is going to find some problems here.
Raid obviously is on the board as well, if need be.
He's been very quiet so far, Giddy in the ground.
This entry from 1 of 30 has been terrific so far.
Jesse finding two kills with really no contest at this present point in time.
might find another yes he will but Silo credited with the kill but Mike W was
definitely in on that one Mike W credited with the kill in the bottom left
rival hadn't gotten that kill Jesse I'm not saying I would eat a hat but I'm
already in one might as well keep adding to it oh boy rival gets away with it it's
not a problem but he kind of needs more of your partner top of cargo stairs all
alone goes for the swing and hits the head on the wall spread out nice brings
the man count disadvantage down to just one and gives a little bit of
opportunity for him and dream to lock things down now on the bomb site we see
this kind of two-pronged push coming out from one of 30 you got Packer down here
in XO and then Mike and Beano pushing together on the cargo side they got to
deal with these mirror windows and they only got 30 seconds to pull off this
execute. Packer was playing on that lurk later rolled a lot of the times they'll
call it mailbox where he just sits and holds an angle it's dreamin rival now
attempting to keep this one together rival sensational good for two kills not
good enough past that. Mike W with three frags on the round. These first two that we've seen from
1 of 30 have looked very well practiced. This team has certainly made improvements. Now obviously
the wheels could fall off, but we are seeing a much better 1 of 30 here today than we saw
were much of the groups. Yeah, I have to agree, Parker. It's been kind of surprising to see 1 of
30 dominate the early game. That was one aspect of this match where I thought SSG were going to
have the edge. Unfortunately, the entry fraggers of Raiden and Aiden have yet to really get
active in this matchup. It was technically an opening pick for space station in round
1. Round 2, not so lucky. Aiden actually turned 20 a couple weeks ago, ends up being the first
one to go down in this one, so that nice angle that we saw coming out from Bino, and then
from there the roamers, just very isolated, very solo. Look at all the information that's
being brought on the side of 1 of 30. Packers on the doke, the falsepers on the snake. They've
They've got a lot of tools to find these individual roamers that are scattered around the map on the side of SSG.
They're working together, they're using the information, and they're clearing these players without any potential trades coming through on the side of SSG.
So really clean start coming up from 1-30.
I want to mention Mike W as well because he is now 5-0 and he's been so good as you mentioned in the early rounds for 1-30.
He's not actually an entry fragger, he's listed as a support player on this team.
He's playing a lot of ace, a lot of bachelors, but you're absolutely right.
He's been getting involved a lot with the opening duals throughout the group stage of 130,
and seems like that is looking to continue here in the playoffs.
I mean, Mike W plays a much more, I would say, sheltered style of defender,
and he plays a lot of that smoke. He plays that mute.
Sometimes he'll play warden. He plays hard breach a lot on attack,
or that support that enables the hard breaches.
So, Volsper will be running the ace, but it's not uncommon to see Mike playing on that.
Hibana if need be so yeah, I mean the fact that he's able to get these I don't want to say like garbage kills or like garbage time
If people know what that means or the cleanup kills, but Mike W. Can definitely be there who's the port
But again, he's got the best entry stats on the team Packer has 11 entries himself
Yeah, but he's lost eight of those so Packer is getting into the action early
But isn't usually the guy getting the kills his most played operators or day must and snake
He's on a shield this time around and we'll go off to the races all on his own some missing a golden opportunity
Caught in a crossfire and there's an entry from Packer and H becomes nine rival finds two kills down goes be no traded out
Perfectly though. There's been a lot of trades across SAO and no inhale and it puts SSG in a better position
Silo looking for something unable to do it raid his first kill of this round first kill of the series for raid
Swapping backs and with half the round to go one of 30 finds themselves in a spot
They haven't really been in and that's a deficit. Yeah, really good start to this round SSG
We started with Aiden having an excellent impact trick on the IT wall as Balsper just drones right past it cleared up
All of Balsper's Selma charges at least two of them on that initial wall
So that keeps IT closed not let's the anchors play a little bit more aggressively down towards the sites dream and rival finding
Three of the fourth rags already through this round rival huge to stop that initial push now dream gets one leaving
and Volsper all alone in the 1v4.
He's got good map control.
All of top floor has his to play with.
But Parker, in this 1v4, this advantage,
I'm just not sure what Volsper's gonna be able
to get out of this.
This is a really tough spot to be in.
I can't tell if his player cam is frozen
or if he's just making a stink face this whole time,
but I have to imagine it's frozen.
The face though, definitely applying for the situation.
He finds himself in,
one tucked really close into the corner,
and we'll get the final kill.
Yeah, that one was not really going anywhere.
You were spot on with that.
So SSG reads it correctly.
The two entries of both Bino and Packer
fall flat on their face, taken down by one player
on Space Station before being swiftly traded out himself.
The damage was already done.
SSG does get on the board, denying 1 of 30,
a perfect 3-0 start here.
As defenders on this map, SSG should be a little bit better
on these numbers.
We'll see if that changes course now
that the last band is coming in.
Yeah, I think for Space Station,
you uh, you desperately needed that rounds. This is your opponent's map picks.
That's maybe the one silver lining where as if they do lose this map,
they're still in a good spot for the series, but obviously they're coming into
this game as the favorites.
They had a much better group stage than one of 30 did.
They're also playing with a much more prestigious organization.
And despite a lot of people doubting this team, uh,
when they came into the season,
I think they really proved themselves through the group stage. They showed up.
They won a lot of games that people were not expecting them to.
And I think they kind of showed a very fun style of siege, but they were getting aggressive, they were getting active in those early games.
And frankly, the Roller Converts, Raiden Aiden, were really leading the way in that charge for space station gaming.
So good to see both of them getting active there in round number three. They get SSG on the board and set themselves up hopefully for a better second quarter.
I do really like that band coming up in them on the ace. It's been played every single round by 1 of 30, usually by Valsper.
I'll hop over to the Hubble on it to try to change things up.
Mike W on a familiar roll now, playing on this grim operator,
and we'll be there to support once again the execute.
I mean, you look at the lineup and a lot of people would be stuck in their raises saying,
oh, well, it's got to be the ash of Silo who'll be in the building first.
Silo has struggled from an offensive perspective.
Not in this game, but just in general.
Third highest amount of frags on the team,
but I mean he's he's very close to passing that baton to go down lower to both Volsperr and Bino and again Bino's the guy who
I mean he's playing shields for the most part. Yeah, obviously not doing so here
You've got a shield band too hard breach your band. So there is some flexibility on what one of 30 can play it will push them out of their comfort zone
but we're not really seeing a
Ton of changes all of these players now playing operators that are very much in the wheelhouse of one of 30
And you do need to remember that when you put a newer team together like this
They're going to probably stick to the same couple maps and the same couple operators unless absolutely necessary because it's what they've practiced and it's what they know.
While the breaching is slow but steady, the mute jammers have been dealt with so the wall should be able to get opened up.
They've got an angle into the IT breach now and they opened the connector a little bit earlier too.
So obviously the push is coming along for one of 30.
Ash charges by Silo being used to destroy some of those mirror windows.
So you've got a little bit more utile now that you've dealt with you can see giddy his windows been cracked there looking into connector
So it gives a bit more of an advantage over towards one of three to try to make their way into that room
Very clearly posting up for one of this kind of two-pronged push through both I3 and then through connector
Usually you need two or three angles I T connector and then kind of awkward aqua garage
Very obvious which way they're going with this one that the class you'd assume that they can maybe get a little bit more space than what they got previously
But they didn't have any problems with it back in around one. I'll tell you that
Silo might have a good read here onto this pinch in electrical
You know has been allowed to jump on in and I think this defender of Ray playing the corner
Yes, it is Ray comes out with the first dual packer trades out dreams or neither team gaining any advantage for Justin this round
There's only a minute left
Down goes Ray into Volsper
He's got another now and thought was tucked into the corner packer and Mike on the kill feed as giddy as last one standing, but Volsper strikes him.
Volsper thought he was playing by that bomb chassis, by the way, but then second guessed himself or maybe got bad comms, peeled off of that spot.
That could have been a devastating position for 1-30, but they find their man at the last minute and get the final kill, but they were doing a good job of sweeping through IT, sweeping through electrical.
Maybe a bit too passive a defense from Space Station.
Yeah, I was exactly thinking the same thing Parker. SSG and the group stage were known for their fast plays, their aggression, their ability to jump in and take some of these fights.
But now, for the first four rounds, it really feels like it's been a lot of sitting in a room and waiting for the attackers to do something.
That's just not the style of game you can play against one of 30, not when they're bringing operators like Capitao, like Grimm, when they're exploding into the site after they're having a lot of success on these wall breaches.
I think that's going to be part of what gets talked about here in the attack timeout.
It's just how they can make these early games go more in their favor and how they can take a bit more control.
Often it is 1 of 30 initiating these fights. It's taking these space. It's forcing space station into gun fights sometimes in uncomfortable situations and
sure, like they're the attacking team. They're the ones who are supposed to be doing that, but I don't know.
I feel like SSG could be getting a little bit more loose with it. They could be getting a little bit more aggressive.
They could try to take some more fights, they catch one of 30 off guard.
Right now it's been a lot of sitting around, playing your spots,
waiting for the push to come into you.
And at that point, one of 30 are able to just set up exactly what they want.
It took so long for the opening gunfight to come through in round number four.
And that 5v5 execute looked really, really clean.
You got to just help them somehow.
I mean, if this is one of 30's most comfortable map,
and you have to imagine it's definitely up there, given that they chose this map.
Yeah.
SSG opts to start defending on Nighthaven Labs.
Again, I don't really want to go into the numbers too too much because they bore a lot of people and frankly most maps at this present point in time are very favorable for the defenders.
Even if they're not, there's usually one or two bomb sites that you can flip a coin and the defenders can have a good job of.
You have to factor in obviously operator bans and stuff like that.
The point is that space station should be good enough on this map, on this side, to pick up three rounds.
That means that the win condition for SSG through this first half is to win the next two rounds.
There's very little that I've seen through this bombsite rotation.
That gives me confidence that this SSG team is going to be able to win the next two rounds.
It's siege, anything can happen, there's no momentum.
One bad entry, one bad mistrone, one bad call, and suddenly the round is way more winnable than it looks.
And as if she finds themselves in a position where it's a 3-3 tie.
But this is a worrying spot for space station to be in so early in this map.
They should have more than one round at this point.
Rival's being hunted at the moment, Parker.
There's a lot of pressure here towards top cargo, and Rival,
He would have heard that banshee, so he knows they're already in the building, but might not know exactly how deep Packard has gotten.
No, he doesn't. Packard, great little entry, finds Rival, he's not watching the right angle. That's a really nice opening pick.
And again, it's SSG on this Rome game, kind of sitting in their spots, not able to take the gunfight, and it's 1 of 30.
They take the initiative and take the opening pick.
It's just, I mean, when you got guys like Rival or you got guys like Raid dying early,
I don't have a ton of hope for this SSG team the supporting
Passage hasn't been there in fact right and Aiden are combining for three kills at the moment
This is well below their usual numbers though
Yeah, we have a little worrying sign right now for them down goes Aiden at the hands of Beano
So things do not improve for this team whatsoever. Giddy will join one of 30 terrific on these entries so far
But I will say the defenses from space station are making one of 30s entries look better
Yeah, I mean the biggest thing is like one of thirty are winning these fights
They've got better information and that's you're also not close enough to trade
It's like you lose the opening duel, right?
Maybe it great rivals looking the other way he can get Packer on that opening pick right go one way or the other
But because rival is all alone down at the top of cargo stairs
There's no way for a trade if that does go poorly
Whereas Packer did have other players kind of around the building lurking help another a little bit more you also
Attackers just have a lot more information available to you as we see with ops like dog and snake
But also some of the drones so we're in that advantage
Raiden dream now left alone on site. They've been here a couple times before they're gonna have to really pull something out of the
Hat because this 2v5 looks really good for 130
Dream looking to put up more of a single kill he's got to chunk in his hands
He's got Raid as backup and he's pushed himself now over to this exo set of stairs
Might have a good read here
There are five players still upright on one of 30 and with 30 seconds to go a 4-1 score line looks the most likely dream will shut down
Packer immediately pivoting
Bullets go out but no targets to be found if user plans it Raid is gone dream will need to clutch the round as all hell is broken
Loose inside the bomb site and SSG looks like they have no clue where to go
So, Reed's got a pretty decent idea, but there are so many bullets whizzing past his head
that there's nothing he can do.
For one so far with one more round to go in the first half, a 5-1 start would be incredible
and almost unthinkable for one of 30, but it's within reach, Jesse.
It absolutely is Parker, and it seems to be the same story every round.
One player I really want to focus on at this point is got to be Volsper.
He's been playing really, really well so far today, not even necessarily in that last round.
It's not that he was bad, but throughout the game,
round after round, he's been finding really big picks,
and that makes me really happy to see
because Valsper is a young guy.
He's a rookie, of course, playing his very first stage.
He has yet to go positive in a match
in the North America League.
He's been negative or even in all of this contest so far,
since joining 1 of 30 and playing here
as a professional, but now by far on pace
to go positive for the first time ever,
and it's been amazing to see that improvement
coming out from Valsper.
Yeah, fighting two now.
He tweeted after his first couple of games
that he didn't feel like he was playing well enough
that he was going to work harder to be better
here at the highest level of Rainbow Six Siege.
And I think you're seeing that in the server today,
on track to have his best game of his career here,
first match of the playoffs against SSG,
and it looks really nice on him.
Five seconds left.
Absolutely, everybody really pulling their weight
on this one, a 30 roster.
Space Station entered today's match
with only a single player having a negative KD,
and that is dream.
Well, if you look in the bottom right-hand corner
screen. Every single member of SSG has a negative KD to start this game. That is
devastating especially when these numbers are not just green, they're bright
green. Aden a plus 17, Raid a plus 12. Very close to breaking 50 kills for both
of these players. Aden within striking distance and depending on how late this
matchup goes, he could have hit it. I mean he's only one kill closer because Aden's
been having a pretty rough day but so is all of Space Station. They just simply
look out class at the moment by 1 of 30. And I mean it just lends him credibility to what
Packer said on the podcast. He said we feel really good. We think we match up well against them.
And so far he's looking like he's spot on. Listen if anybody's gonna take an Orgose team
for a major, Packer certainly would be one to do it. He's done it before, of course, on that old
CL for life roster. Right alongside Bino, right alongside Giddy as well, who now sits up cross
from him in the server. Could be a big moment for Packer. They'll have to win one more best of
three after this one. We're only at the beginning of this, so we won't get too far ahead of ourselves,
but definitely is a great start coming out now for one of 30. The information continues to be good.
Valsper on this snake, spotting out the one player that's off-floor. It's going to be Aiden
and Raid that are roaming up there, just as they have on most rounds when they're going for this
roam strategy. But look at this, Parker. The information remains very good, and they could
They catch off guard SSG one more time.
I'm reloading.
It's really been the story of this first half.
Space station playing a bit too restrained
and not able to fight back.
They're not wasting enough of 1 of 30s time
and it's allowed 1 of 30 to get set up
on most of these executes really effectively.
Score lines shows perfectly just how dominant
this has been for 1 of 30 up to this point.
Of course there are two sides of siege
so there is a possibility that space station
might just be more comfortable attacking
and frankly, Evan just passing the eye chest,
They haven't been a bad team whatsoever on attack.
They get caught in an uncomfortable position now
on that rafters' staircase.
Mike W, the highest rated player on this team
heading into the match, will continue his reign of terror.
He's got seven kills at this point in time.
And the sixth round's still not finished,
so there's more damage that this sludge can do.
And again, Parker, I feel like a broken record.
Raid all by himself.
He's gotta watch like nine different angles.
He's surrounded by players on one of 30.
He just doesn't have a chance at escaping that positive.
He ends up dying as the first player that he spots.
Now Rival's got a lot of work to do, he's got the sharks circling around him, and Packer
will bring this mancamp lead up to do hoping for a fight right now.
Raiden Rival dead doesn't give me a ton of confidence, Defuser getting planted right
now by Bino, Dream will lose Giddy, it's him and Aiden, Dream shooting at Packer, a flawless
end to this first half now with in reach of 1 of 30, somebody just needs to find Aiden,
It'll be Volsper, finding both the final kills
and one of 30, a five one first half.
Right now, just wasting no time whatsoever.
The side swap comes in and it should benefit one of 30
based on the numbers.
Oh boy, I don't know.
I don't know how we're feeling about this first half,
but you know what?
Maybe the desk can help us out.
How are we feeling about this one?
Because one of 30, Parker said it right off the bat,
that they thought they are hands down,
the better team in this equation,
did not feel like, or it was early enough
to make that statement.
But look at what they have done here.
Five-one on labs attack.
Yeah, I mean, it clearly goes to show
they know exactly what they want to do
on this map on their attacking side
and why they've kept this map maybe outside of groups
and showing a display in here.
I mean, one thing I will say, this is the most fluid.
I think we've seen this team look within a single half.
Granted, they are five-and-one,
so obviously something's working out.
But even just in terms of their operator lineups,
They always have something for the walls.
They always have something for the Rome clear.
They got that information.
They also have the disruption from a lion, from a capitol.
They have a twitch to be able to get any little bit of Utah
to help towards that execute.
Clear any of the information from the camp.
I mean, you've seen them time and time again,
getting those opening picks.
I mean, they understand exactly how they're
want to approach these SSG roams.
And then on the side of SSG, they look a little disoriented.
I think Jesse also hit the nail on the head.
They aren't in position to go for trade.
So it clearly shows a lack of comfortability on their side.
But so far, I mean, 1-30, looking very convincing.
Yeah, I agree.
1-30 has been looking strong.
I don't want to take anything away from them,
because I do feel like they're assessing the situation.
They're getting that first pick more often than not,
and just executing.
They're keeping that man advantage.
But I agree.
I feel like a lot of the issue is on SSG shoulders.
They're going for these over-extra-neuous roams.
Everyone's very split up.
It's too stall time to fall back to site.
If you're going to go for a fight,
you should be teaming up.
But that's not coming from SSG.
They're continuously spread out trying to stall time, but they lose pick after pick consistently and there's no adaptation
I think that's the biggest thing for me watching SSG, especially with an IGL like dream
There's no communication of let's just maybe give up a little bit of map pressure so we can just have a trade potential
So we can just have players holding on positions in areas
We're not seeing the adaptation for SSG at all and I think this map 5-1 losing your defenses like that
I think it's already wraps that being said if you're SSG you want to just be able to feel as comfortable as you can going into clubhouse
Right see if you can build a little bit of momentum at the very least even if this one
Maybe just add a hand. We'll see if they can bounce back 5-1 at the swap Parker Jesse back to you. Oh
Thank you very very much. Jesse. Do I say couldn't have said it better myself?
Couldn't have said it better myself
I'm glad we got the I'm glad we got the desk to break things down and kind of
exposed a little bit of what's been going on in this game because it has been really rough for SSG.
I mean, they can now move to the attack and we can hope that their attacks will be looking a little bit better.
I will say, space station gaming's attacking win rate was a lot better than their defending win rate through the groups.
74% attack win rate from SSG through the group stage, so they are a good attacking team,
but I do fear that a lack of familiarity with this map has really hurt them in this first map.
Oh, absolutely. And hanging on for map number two, their choice to Clubhouse might just be the only thing at this point in time that they can really do.
Again, the numbers for SSG really do tell the whole story. A lot of these defensive rounds are them sitting there, getting droned out, not being able to fight back.
They're not being able to waste time. A lot of people think that roaming or lurking is often designed to get kills.
Yeah, I mean, that's a part of it, but a lot of these teams have set up their roams designed to waste utility and time and then try to trap the attackers in the unfavorable positions where they can replay upon them and get those kills, whether as the anchor and support players that are situated quite well because the attackers don't have enough time or information to execute on later in the round, or because they think they have intel that might be outdated and they try to go for swings and get picked off by roamers that might be supported or unsupported.
But one of 30 seems to understand the assignment
and how to go about this map.
SSG are mostly just playing to die,
and I know that that sounds a little bit simplistic,
but really, the desk backed it up, we've talked about it,
and your eyes are also telling you the same thing.
It just looks like a lack of comfort for space station,
and you know, on attack,
things don't usually get much more comfortable.
Yeah.
In a moment like this, Barbara, I look for a hero, right?
Who's gonna step up and start taking some initiative?
You're on the attack.
You can see so far, the Yutso game has gone pretty well,
I like the IT breach, they banned it in Kaid, so they shouldn't have had any problems with that.
The mirror not being run by one of 30 either, so the wall gets open to fit any real problems.
They've got good meeting control now, so they've got good space, but once these kills start to come in,
who is going to be the guy to step up and say, alright, I'm going to find a gap, I'm going to get this multi-kill,
I'm going to open the door for my team.
Traditionally, I'd say it'd be somebody like Aiden or Raid on the SSG side, but really, I would take anybody at this point.
You have to hold out for a hero and I mean there are heroes in the sound of space station
There are players that are very very good at most of the marookies
I mean they're being guided by guys like gimme who'd been gimme's been around a while
But not in a cure one love it dream obviously been around for a very very long time the other three are as green as they come
So if you're eight and if you're ready to your rival you look to that leadership that you have on this ssg team
Unfortunately sometimes you can't fix that in the midst of a map
But hey, Space Station, not too bad on their entries throughout much of the kickoff.
How are they doing here? They've used utility well.
They've actually been able to push one of thirty a little bit back and take map control quite fast.
To the point where we could see action breaking out at any second with still a minute left in the round.
That's pretty good for Space Station.
Great does open things up.
Finds Packer now, swings through IT, will let Silo get his fourth kill of the game.
CapTowbell can come through to kick down Mike Belfi and give SSG the man advantage.
They continue with this push, but the Toxic Bades equalize three to three.
Vulsper and Silo now tucked in with the corner will allow them to get back up into a 3v3 full fighting position.
But as they keep tearing through them, Dream and Gideon are gone, and now it's rival against a very hurt Vulsper and an almost dead Beano.
Very winnable, but not if you don't hit your shots.
Vulsper seals the deal, and just like that, map point for 1-30 on their own map.
I mean there were good bones to that push Parker. I loved the capital play
I love some of the utile they were using in this positions they were taking but in the end when the rubber hit the road
It was one of 30 who were popping off getting those kills of all spur in particular
My god double digits after that rounds 10 and 2 for Nathan Myers and his rookie playoff game
The very first time he's playing a best of three at a professional level
Beautiful to see that coming out from him very close again
I thought that one could have gone in either direction and it is caught for defense or night havens
So you kind of look at that attack you say well, that's pretty good in a bubble
The attacking teams don't often win that top floor site the positions they were taking were great
But in the end did it matter not really this is still a nice six one game for one of 30
They had to pull off some miracles on the attacking side and close isn't good enough when you're in the position that space station are
Yeah
Close but no cigar still means no cigar close than no major still means no major
So, I mean you can be as close as you want and we even talked about this a little bit yesterday in the team liquid alien
We're a phase matchup where you can be the better team for 90% of the series
But if you lose
Cool, glad you were the better team. What do you have to show for it? Nothing
You can dominate on your own map, win 7-0, go into a 15-rounder on your
opponent's map and then lose a 15-rounder on the tiebreaker. You can turn around and
say, well we won more rounds. Congratulations, are you at the major? No
you're not. So who cares how many rounds you won? At the end of the day you just
got to be the better team objectively and right now that's one of 30 here on
this map. Pulverizing space station right now is 6-1 and yeah you're right that
round could have gone either way. There was hope for space station there, something
that hasn't really been present through much of that first half, but how much
much hope can you hold out on this map. Look at how daunting this is for Space Station.
They now need to win five rounds in a row just to go to OT. Then they have to think about
winning. Right now victory not on the table for the astronauts.
Yeah, we'll see if they can isolate some fights. That's what one of 30 are doing such a good
job of on their attacking side. And frankly, one of 30 are spread out quite a bit on this
Rome game, much like SSGWorse. That maybe opens the door to be able to find some of these
players and get an isolated gunfight. They've also brought a lot of information, but it
is one of 30 that strike first.
Mike Papu inside storage takes giddy.
Playing on the stakes, the info is there,
but it's all alone.
Despite the vert pressure up above,
despite other players knowing that position,
they're not able to play together to work that pick
to try to get a trade.
Now, BlitzDream is trying to push up here to wrap theirs.
But again, relatively solo here in the man count,
favors one of 30.
Things are not improving for Space Station.
What's to have arrival?
We'll give them a single kill onto silo.
Trade out for those four, but...
Dream's been trying to terrorize them with the shield and he's letting most of these players escape.
Volsper with a dozen kills now.
An absolute hero.
We were talking about heroes on the side of the space station.
How about Volsper?
Volsper with a dozen kills so far, an incredible performance for him.
One of his best so far through the NAL.
He's still got, well, I mean, presumably he stays on the team, which we imagined.
So he's still got at least one more stage to go.
Who knows what happens with rosters here, but I mean, he's going to continue to grow as a player.
What a statement it has been for him.
Aiden will pick off Mike W.
That's a bit of an ego challenge.
And Jesse, an experience can cause you to toss rounds
that seem quite easily won.
With Aiden in Dream's position right now,
you've got to imagine 1 of 30
are the favorites to hang on for this round.
Yeah, smokes for Dream to get a plant under,
but two toss baves and two impacts
in the pockets of 1 of 30.
They've got plenty of plant denial.
If they go for a plant here, it's not going to be easy.
Down goes Bean out to Dream.
It'll be all up to Packer to clutch out.
If you're getting planted, Aiden with the good coverage,
some life on the side of Space Station as they hang on
and Giddy looks like he might be doing a bit of praying.
I mean, hey, anything to win your engagements
and Space Station stays alive, still a daunting task.
Map Point remains for 1 of 30.
Pray to Dream and he will deliver for you.
I said that they couldn't go for a plant strategy.
They didn't, Parker.
Dream steps up and gets that kill,
puts them into a 2 of E1 before they even think
about putting the Fuser on the ground.
Really important that Dream makes that call.
He takes down Bino because I think if he had decided
just to play for the objective,
that probably wouldn't have gone their way.
Again, I was a little surprised at how poor
the roam clear went.
They worked together there.
You saw the dopey following up Dream on the replay,
arrival able to get a couple of more kills there
and continue to hold on to the number one spot on team.
But it really comes down to this late round
where there's just a little bit,
a little bit over swinging happening outside of 1.30.
You saw that an ego swing from Mike W and I would absolutely agree.
8-3 when he goes for that play, doesn't exactly pay off.
They cost the man advantage.
It happens.
Those are the type of mistakes you can make when you're 6-1 up, though.
I mean, one of 30 are not going to be kicking themselves that bad
if they lose for losing that round.
They lose the next four.
OK, maybe we're starting to panic a little bit,
but a little bit of over-aggression against Punnett from one of 30.
I think they can rein that into closeout this game
before we get too deep into the match.
I agree with that point about how this is the position where you can kind of make those moves, but I would argue you probably shouldn't be.
Play safe, play smart, keep your ego in check.
I mean, it's not a full ego challenge. Mike presumably thought that he had the right read on it, so I mean, it's whatever, but yeah.
You're gonna play up against better teams. Let's say you win Space Station here, right?
You're gonna be playing up against better teams moving forward. You have five fears on the docket right away, and if you beat them, then you actually make the major,
and you're going to be playing up against even better teams.
That kind of thing that Mike just did?
That's not going to fly against most of the teams in the NAL.
It's certainly not going to fly against a lot of this international competition.
So this is not so much an ego challenge.
This is a very common spot.
Volsper swinging over on rafters, takes down Raid.
Good bye to the Ram.
And maybe a style relief for space station rival dies as well.
And now dream is shot from multiple angles.
Another one for Volsper continuing to add to the tally, Jesse.
He just looks like a completely different player from the group stage, Valsper, we saw, and he looks so good, Parker.
Mike, I'll be top of the stairs, gets one, let's finish it off.
Another kill for Valsper, why not?
A massive round coming out from him, and a massive game popped to bottom.
Valsper leaves 1 of 30 in this game in a crushing victory over SFD.
Valsper entered this match with 23 kills through all of kickoff.
I think he just finished that map with 14.
Oh my goodness, talk about an incredible run.
Anyway, we got the break ready for you.
There's still so much more siege to go.
Let's see what happens after the break.
...
7-2. It was a dominant start for 1 of 30. They come out of the gates swinging and take down the team.
There was 3-1 coming in, maybe the favorites coming into this matchup. Lose the first match, 1 of 30.
A very, very strong start. We saw 15 kills from Volsper after, I think Parker said this, 23 kills, all-stage before this.
now 15 in this game. A wild difference in this team overall. Yeah absolutely and I
think the bigger picture to paint in this matchup in particular was just
being in the ability to trade the uncomfortableness on the side of the
map. Clearly 1 of 30 was very comfortable. We saw how fluid they were
moving to the map but then even on that last little stint on the defensive path
I mean they were playing very well on those trades. Round 8 in particular was a
map that I wanted to highlight. Sure they did lose this round but
Volsper just immediately recognizing, okay, he's going to be pinched, he needs to
class, he needs to fall back, he moves to that server column and is able to pull
off a double kill that just off the transition of being able to play in that
position. But then the round falls apart, which is still, you know, rookie
mistakes here, it's going to come with a learning lesson. But through and through
the map, I mean, they were playing pretty pristine. I mean, I think that round shows
the limitations of how successful I said she was. I mean, we highlighted that they
are stronger when it comes to their attacks and that round painted it
Perfectly the trades dream on the shield
then being able to follow them up
and constantly getting 1v1 picks.
That's all we saw on defense at all.
That was the biggest plot hole for SSG.
There was no adaptation.
We talked about in the mid round
that they were all very spread out.
The whole game plan was to stall time,
maybe get a pick here and there.
But after you lose one or two of those rounds
due to being so spread out, adapt, change something up.
There was no adaptation and one of 30 recognized that
and that's where they just stacked bodies on each other.
they knew that if we just push, we find this gap,
we find this first player.
We'll be able to get that kill, traded no matter what.
Nobody from SESG is going to be there to trade.
And I think you said it beforehand,
it really seemed like a fundamental lack of understanding
Night Haven Labs from the side of SSG.
I mean, round nine in particular, if you can even recall,
we don't have it, but you can even go look back.
I mean, Volsper swings onto the guy outside of balcony,
gets that kill, they had a cam on it.
Dream is over pushing towards Aqua's stairs
from the outside, which already you should be able
you don't have a player covering that someone needs to cover for dream dreams
entering into aqua now is fighting at the window funny I knock was there loses
that fight it clearly shows a lack of understanding clearly on the side of SSG
that that just isn't their favorite map but that's the beauty of the best three
they have two very good maps going forward in kind of the game within the
game that's been playing out here we talk a lot about the battle of the rookies
the battle of these young teams we kind of have a literal battle of the top
rookies here coming into this game Aiden number not a raid raid number
the lead. Mike W a close
second and here they are going
toe to toe again and things
look a little bit different
this time. Yeah, I mean, I
think night Haven Labs is one
of those situations where we
have to take a map by map. I
mean, Mike W himself, I mean,
they had a really good game
plan going in. He's a who's
playing on that ace, you know
that secondary support of
role, but the beauty of that
is once you use the utility,
you can go ahead. Yeah, you
can go refragging and beat the
refragging and beat the trade player.
And that's exactly what Mike W is finding success on.
Same thing with Volsberg.
As for Raid, there's not really too many opportunities
because the strength from SSG is their attacks.
And when you go 5-1 down on your defenses, at that point,
it's just let's just keep the momentum up, the mental up,
going into a map like Clubhouse, which
is a lot more elementary, a lot more basic.
And I think SSG would have a lot better of an opportunity
to showcase their talents on the next two maps,
not just Clubhouse.
What clubhouse is next and a big one that is needed for SSG if they want to get back into this one five fears awaits the winner
So a very big map to to see if we can get this one all the way to the distance to start off the playoffs
We'll be right back
I'm breaking next and I'm out and out.
I'm reckless and I'm trying to be signing out.
I'ma keep it going till there ain't no night.
I'm breaking next and I'm out and out.
For real, for the stuff that I'm running out.
If I can't get down, I'm just running out.
I'ma keep it going till there ain't no night.
I'm going till there ain't no night.
We'll be getting into Clubhouse in just a few moments here.
Our final few players joining the lobby now, but we talked a lot about 1 of 30 and what
they've been doing well before the break lacks.
Let's shift gears a little bit and talk about SSG because they clearly need to work on some
stuff going into Clubhouse a long way from a 7-2 to hopefully a math win for them.
What stands out to you as one thing they can concretely improve if they want to send us
Just being able to play their cuts, being able to play for the trades.
I mean, when we last saw them play, it was versus Wildcard, it was a 7-4.
We believed that Wildcard was going to win that.
Just sheerly off of how well Wildcard plays on a math like clubhouse.
But immediately, that defensive half that they had, it went to 4.
We weren't sure what it was going to look like.
But once they got to that attacking half, they were doing such a good job,
which is why we were highlighting 8, which is why we were highlighting Rave,
is because they were doing such a good job at managing the players
and moving them around, coursing them into gunfights, coursing them into crossfights.
crossfires, not allowing them to get much leadway in any of these rooms. And if they continue to do that,
and actually have that team play, have that dynamic there, it's going to be a struggle for 1-30,
because now they're going to be playing a lot more loose on the side of defense.
I mean SSG started off very aggressive. They find their first opening kill,
Raiden and Aiden go get that kill, then they set up the lockdown cuts,
and that's what we want to see from them. Starting out on attack would be great for SSG,
But that being said as long as we can see that same style of attack
But then transition it to defense of understanding as long as we're playing together and focusing on the trades will be better suited on a matlin clubhouse
SSG will be a little bit more comfortable. Well, let's see if we can get this first best of three the player
Let's see. Let's see. Let's see. Let's see. Let's see it. So you disconnect. See ya. Okay. Parker and Jesse
It is all you guys. Let's get clubhouse underway
Thank you so very much greatly appreciated gentlemen and I'm just happy for us to see map number two now
Jesse typically with this much downtime between maps
Do you think that benefits the team that just got smoked or you think that benefits the team that is gonna be riding pretty high because one of 30
Maybe some of their momentum is chilled a little bit here in the community both seems to suggest so because I says G has gone from in the
70% out down to 59% despite this being their map. Do you agree? Do you think it's troubling for space station?
Yeah, I think maybe it's troubling for one of 30 losing the momentum from from map one
They were so dominant on night Haven labs now coming into clubhouse
They're gonna have to keep that energy up keep those vibes up
But the same time look at those player cams and let's start the screen. They are all smiles
Valspers got a smirk, Packers got a smile when he licks his head up large enough for a high enough that you can see it.
Beside of SSG, they're smiling too. Looks like Giddy's singing a song or something, okay?
There's definitely some positive vibes over in the SSG camp. They know they're not out of this series.
They know the game plan is a win club host, win chalet.
Was the first map brutal? Yeah, kinda. But it was also your opponent's pick.
You don't expect it to win it. You're not thinking you'll win it. You hope you'll win it, sure.
But in the day, the series is still anybody's game.
Yeah, I mean, you just got to mentally reset.
Take it one map at a time.
Chalet awaits us as a time breaker, should she be needed?
But I don't know if that's gonna happen.
I, when you get to a Vesta 3 and you've got inexperienced teams,
and let's not kid ourselves,
both of these squads are inexperienced teams.
Typically, you're gonna have a couple maps
that you know really, really well,
and you hope that your opponent that you're matching up against
doesn't share those same maps.
For NightAven Labs, it looked like they didn't share it at all,
because it was a confidence-inspiring map for 1 of 30,
and it was frankly a map that SSG looked like
they didn't really have a good idea of.
So when you come into this situation, you think,
all right, we're gonna lose our opponent's map.
We just gotta win our own.
When you go to Clubhouse now,
we know Space Station's players might be familiar with this,
but how do they do it as a team?
And 1 of 30, despite the fact
that these are all relatively new players themselves,
likely got some idea of how to tackle this map
at a T2 level, but how does that work
from a T1 perspective?
for me, space station gaming should have the upper hand here, but I suspect this won't
be a blot for either team.
I mean just ask Shopify Rebellion how 1 of 30 look on Clubhouse at a tier one environment
and I think they would tell you that they look pretty good.
Opening game of the season that wasn't 8-7 lost for 1 of 30, but I don't like to use
the S word often Parker, but I'm gonna say it, they probably should have won that game.
They came very close, max over time, couple of classes that they make, maybe just because
it was their first ever match as a team, so 1 of 30 have a lot of experience here on Clubhouse.
They've played this map in the past. Space Station is a wild course, beating Wildcard earlier in
the Group 7-4. That was a much more confident victory, a confident game for SSG, so it makes sense
why they pick it, but 1 of 30 no strangers to Siege's oldest map. Now we've got a bit of a
dirt punch coming in here, it will get spotted by Meenow, he pops the Vulcan, but the bot is already
past then, he's taking a lot of damage. Ooh, I don't think he expected such a quick follow-up from
raid if he did he was ill prepared for it and it's allowed ssg to get some good
ground in this dirt tunnel escape tunnel as it's called you know was trying to
escape did not succeed raid still holds a diffuse case in that position so the
diffuser is but feet away from getting into the bomb site that's a very
advantageous spot for us this sheet but Packer is being called in on the flank
he gets one not before Wolfsburg can die that was giddy credited with that kill
He's posting up on blue stairs. Packer in a tough fight here. I favor Giddy's weapon in just a straight 1v1, but
Packer's not a bad shot
Giddy looks primed and ready to drop a candela in this position
He'll work effectively and pushes him out, but Giddy cannot hit his target. Packer does get away
Not too bad to recover on the side of 1 of 30
Yeah, Packer shot that candela so that he could then cross the angle doesn't get blind
That could have been a free kill for a Giddy, but a really nice reaction to come down from Packer. In this 3v3
they know all the positions from SSG. They're just pushing oil pit, they're just pushing third
tunnel. Everybody is kind of on this one side of the map, and it allows SSG, or one of 30 I should
say, to kind of focus their attention this way. They can hold the angle in the dirt tunnel as long
as they don't let these blue players get too deep or cause any panic. They should be totally fine.
Mike W and the kitchen hatch will make this very difficult to plant. Yeah, this is a really
good cover by Mike here, and he's kind of given his position away by firing a little bit early.
Raid's been entrenched in this spot for so long, Giddy's moving up now to get some coverage,
and that might be a bit of a problem for Mike W. But right now, over by Dummies,
laying just behind the boxes, Giddy can flash away and now reposition, but Mike is very wisely gone
prone, completely blind inside a church. Down goes Mike Giddy quarterbacking this entire thing,
almost single-handedly winning the round for Space Station. Giddy, the hero that you were
We're hoping for on map one.
Well, he was a little bit late here,
but what a confidence inspiring execute for SSG.
Yeah, that was not an easy 3v3 Parker.
One of 30 really had the heavy advantage in that round.
They couldn't get in from dirt tunnel thing
to Mike W's position, but Giddy recognized that.
It was very much a smart push in
from the guys on space station.
Giddy uses those candelas to get space in the mid round,
pushes up inside of Armory,
gets caught towards that dummy's position,
and then fights Mike W on the hatch.
He knows that this kill right here is the most important kill of the game.
As long as you can kill that hatch player, you can get in, force the plant, get one more
just to show off.
Giddy, a really impressive first round here on Clubhouse, and it's good to see because
despite going 2 and 11 in the season opener, Giddy has been fantastic.
First base station towards the latter half of that group stage, pushed over a 130 EPS
in his last three games before today.
If he didn't have that real stinker of an opening match, he'd be a top three player
in the league right now.
watch out for Gideon, he's playing very very well despite what the staff might suggest about him.
Yeah, he was one of the four players on the team that entered with positive KDs,
we highlighted it back in map number one but just in case you didn't tune in for that first map,
it does bear repeating, Aiden top on the team with a plus 17 KD, plus 10 on entry and plus
Plus, uh, well, 43 kills, plus 7, he hits 50 kills.
I don't know, players at this point in time,
and if it's 50 in the lead, so it's definitely something
to keep your eyes out for you, it was just gonna save.
I didn't wanna say it just yet, but he's awfully close to it.
And Aiden, of course, the second highest-rated player,
raid the seventh highest-rated player,
so the numbers for us this year have been really good.
They were terrible on that first map,
so everybody on the space station.
I need a water at the moment, but a good clubhouse will change that very quickly.
While we will rotate bombsites, of course, we'll go back, or we'll go up to top floor now to try to defend Jim and Bedroom for one of 30.
I liked their early game last time, with fast reactions from Bino on the anchor position, so slow down that rush and get them into a good position.
No roll rush this time around, okay, they've got the Choozie wall open very quickly, they've got the CC wall very open very quickly,
They've got all their hard breaching done here today, early into this push, but it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be sprinting right into the bomb site.
Still have a lot of map that they want to clear out, other than right on the bottom floor, and nobody's really entering into the building just yet.
With this con wall open, they could decide just to kind of drop in through Lodgey, push the decreasing breach and hit site.
It doesn't, to me, look like they're going to go for a cash clear, Parker.
No, this is fair, fair in.
Dream is found as opening, shield goes down, gun comes out.
out Giddy, eliminating Packard continuing his really hot play. Now his rival's swinging
for one, he finds Mike Silo and Bino are on the board and this is a brawl. Half of the
round still to go, Bino taking no prisoners. Giddy and Bino, players that we've seen in
T1 before, they're making their voices heard. Volsper eliminating Aiden and leaving Raid
in a 1v3. Volsper finished that first map with 15 kills, he's up to 17 total now and
an impressive tally, he himself screaming towards that 50 kill mark, Eden I think is
only 2 away, Mike W a single kill away from being the first player to hit 50 here in the
NAL kickoff, not going to be able to have much impact as he's dead, Syle will close
things out, standing pat over by Jim, 1 of 30, take it, tie things up.
Raiden that round hunting for his first career clutch doesn't come in that round though,
have to wait a little bit longer and it really is some solid play from one of 30 there on the defense.
I want to highlight the hard support and the primary entry. Bino, in back-to-back rounds now,
I think really locking the site down, recognizing when the push is going to be coming in quickly,
holding things down, getting one kill on the first round to slow down the rush through third
tunnel and then this round as well, just inside of Logi. Packer dies, he's in an unfortunate position
with those Vs, but then able to step up and trade at a couple of kills. Bino is so important to
to retake this base in Lodgy and then kind of isolate the rest of this push over towards
the east side of the map over towards the Cache.
And then Volsper, a primary roamer, primary entry player, he's over towards Cache.
I mentioned how that wasn't something that SDG decided to clear.
It kind of comes back to bite them.
He's able to play around the window, pressure those highway players, and just kind of provide
that back pressure in towards Khan that makes that push a little bit dangerous for PlayStation
Gaming.
Nice team working me off from 1-30 and inside the scheme of playing the game.
1 of 30 saw how much they can flex that defender muscle back on the very first map, but defending
on a map you know, defending on a map you're comfortable on, completely different than
trying to do so against your opponents, and I mean, you picked the defender side for 1
of 30, so the presumption is that they're more comfortable on this side.
I mean, you gotta run up the score.
If 1 of 30 cannot muster 4 rounds on this first half, it will by many be considered a bit
of a failure here, but again, it's SSG's map, with inexperienced teams the gap between
map pools and their abilities tends to be quite high. So if you suggest that, well,
that number one is a blowout for one of 30, SSG now blows them out here on Clubhouse,
then you reset for Chalet, maybe four rounds is a bit too much for one of 30 to be able to do.
I think the win here is once they hit three rounds in this first half,
one of 30 are in great shape. The question is, do they get there? A quick pace now to open up the
main wall for Space Station, once again showing far more comfort here on Clubhouse than we saw
I mean when they defend CCTV cash gives shopfire a billion one of thirty went two for two
This was their best bomb site the last time they played clubhouse and especially with the operator bands Parker both capitals and glass
To the best of the game for cleaning out that rafters position
It is going to make killing balls were very very difficult without those tools look at the SSG lineup
I was wondering if we might see a bit of a rush coming out
Just because they've got right on that finger, but doesn't look like you're gonna go for that play
We do see the front of dreams shield Mike W holding an extremely long angle from the gym window
But of course at the Monty playing that position can't find a kill saw the head briefly
One of those players, but he doesn't find the frag and said silo is the one to strike first bottom garage on the kitty
Exactly what you want here. Get he's been the top performer for space station so far
I think you take that trade if you're Mike. You've already set up his utility over towards
the bomb site. You can see it there on the CC wall. Going to make it very awkward to
jump in the main breach. Dream on this Monty, he has to get Vulsper out of this position.
They want to do it mainly, the flash has come through, but Vulsper falls back. He's playing
behind me, Thieb is very smartly wasting time and making Dream's life kind of miserable.
Nades will go off knocking the shield around, look at that wall here, and here comes the pain!
Dream slaughtering Vulsper, now taking control of Raptors, he can go to work opening up.
This will make me a little bit easier to get in.
Now it's up to Bino and Silo to save the round.
Bino with two nitro or two of those gas casters in pocket.
First one will go out.
Second one could be tossed at any point in time.
Aiden now watching the coverage dream
breeding too much of that miracle gas.
And out will come the adrenal surge dream
marching his way into cash.
They've shoved him out of the position.
Great read by Aiden.
It's all up to who can find Silo hoping for something.
Does he have the read on it?
No, he'll go fishing down below.
Lots of anglers know you can spend all day fishing
and come home empty-handed.
That's exactly what will happen with Tyler
with a double stack at the top of the stairs.
Raid will get the final kill.
Space station regains the lead.
It was a bit messy, but they got the job done at the end.
Great calls and a great idea or dream
to pressure that rafters to get rid of the defenders playing
up top before moving towards the bomb site.
You know, if there was one pause that you could take away
from Night Haven Labs as a space station fan. It was probably Dream's play on the shield.
Back on map one, his Blitz play was absolutely fantastic Parker. He was able to smartly know
when to go for the plant, when to go for a kill. He was often with his teammates. He was
doing a really good job of kind of directing the attacks from that shield position. And
you're seeing that again now on Clubhouse. With that Monty, he's so intelligent on how
he takes that Raptors control. He never offers a free gunfight or a free pick up to Volsper
playing in that rafter's position. He does a really good job taking that space.
And even though it's really scary because he takes it with 30 seconds left,
takes him two and a half minutes to clear that rafter's position. Dream knows. He can start a
plant, he can fake it. The second that smoke comes out, he can push deeper, he can get that space for
his team. He can continue to be a menace on the shield. I expect to see Dream playing a ton more
of these shield operators through this next three rounds. I expect that to go up and up and up.
a little surprised they didn't ban it on the side of 1 of 30 but just given how good he was on the blitz
on night haven you kind of figure your band one is going to play another anyways so maybe that's
part of the thinking dream one and two at the moment but in my mind the MVP for space station
oh absolutely i mean giddy had that very first round where he was integral dream winning the
round for that third and it goes back to what you said about needing a hero on map number one space
station never saw that hero materialize nobody emerged from a telephone booth with a capon it
it just didn't happen. But here it was Gideon round number one. Again, quarterbacking that
push, controlling blue after he'd lost his teammate, taking care of Packer, pushing in
over towards Dummies, and very correctly reading Mike on that hatch and getting rid of him,
which allowed the plant to go down. Then it was Dream very wisely rushing through the fray
on that rafters to save the round in number three. So ultimately, great individual hero
performances, but those were also enabled by the other guys that were playing in the background
that aren't going to see as bright of a spotlight.
SSG has retaken the lead, a good spot for them to be in,
but again, it's been a pretty tough match
for both of these teams, and I don't expect
that to change any time soon.
Not roaming very much at all.
Both teams have adjusted their strategy
for this bottom floor parter,
one of 30 deciding they don't want to go for a roam game.
SSG deciding they don't want to go for a rush.
That is not a coincidence.
Of course, the rush really prompted by how heavy
the roam was for one of 30 last time.
So it's gonna be a bit of a slower round. I think that's safe to say.
SSG taking their time to open these hatches,
fear of some utile inside the bombsite,
and set themselves up to exactly the type of push they want to go for.
Struggling a little bit with these hatches,
they even still lots of pellets to play with,
but it's certainly slowing down the clear
as they are getting tricked off the hatch,
rotates and stuff around,
and those two should pop without any problems, so...
A little bit scary, a little bit slow,
but ultimately this is fine for SSG.
You start to look at the tools they'll have for this execute.
They're gonna have all those bees coming out from Giddy.
They're gonna have a couple of flashes from Aiden and Rival,
and then some smokes from Raid as well.
Is that going to be enough
when you're going up against a Warden,
a Dario that smugs some C4s on the bottom floor?
It'll be tricky, it'll be tricky, Parker.
I'm very interested to see what this push looks like for SSG.
Yeah, interesting is the word that I would use as well.
It was a very linear take through DirtTotal.
I think they were hoping to topple their forces
and then just push in and get a quick plant off back in round number one.
At least that's what it was shaping up for.
Obviously, when Dream died and you lost your shield, you had to pivot.
And it was a successful pivot from Space Station.
Now, though, this is more standard stuff, right?
They're going to open up kitchen.
They're going to pressure the hatches.
They're going to put somebody over towards blue.
You're going to isolate those blue defenders with the Grim Bees.
They'll likely keep somebody positioned over kitchen
to watch all of that soft destruction he did.
And the answer now for this one, a 30 team,
is going to be, how do you use your secondary explosives?
Volsper's bound dreams are down.
He goes, Raid will start off the killing though
with his first frag here in this round.
He's tied Giddy now for four kills in total.
SSG not with a lot of time, now 20 seconds to go.
The buck working his way over
and now it's trying to sweep through towards Church.
Volsper continuing his winning ways.
Another from Mike W. Bino now on the board.
Aiden will break 50 kills, but it's all for naught.
As one of 30 trades that round right back
and we are tied again.
Knights hold coming out from one of 30.
They adjust really nicely. That blue play, it gets kind of scrappy with Dream being the first attacker to go down in the midst of that.
It comes off the back of Silo's desk, so it ends up being a one for one trade, but Valsper is so critical that he's there with the Nitro Cell Parker.
The trade game was what separated 1 of 30 from Space Station back on map 1, and I think it's what separated them in that round as well.
Even though the opening pick went the way of SSG, there was immediate response coming out from 1 of 30.
They now know exactly where the push is coming from.
It's coming from blue.
It's coming from church wall, coming down the main stairs.
There was a little bit of pressure in Armory as well
when Driver made that rotate in through the soft wall.
But ultimately, the information was flowing from one of 30.
They didn't win every gunfight, but they won enough of them.
And when they lost, they traded things out perfectly.
Volsper probably MVP that round,
but they're just playing back of Armory,
trades his teammates, gets a second kill on the giddy,
really put the beautifully done.
of these teams showing off that they are more prepared for this clubhouse map and what we
saw back on Night Haven Labs. Much more familiarity with the pretty default map, dare I say. Night
Haven Labs is certainly not a new map, but it is one of the newer maps to the map pool.
So I do have to wonder if some of these younger teams tend to favor your default maps. Go after
your cap bays, potentially your borders, your clubhouses, your chalets, the maps that
been in forever. Obviously, the pick rate of maps like Cafe and Border do kind of answer
my question. We don't see them as frequently as we see like Nighthaven Labs or Lair, even
Fortress has a higher pick rate at this current point in time. But a map like Clubhouse is,
well, she's a little reliable, right? When you get rid of Border or when you get rid of Oregon,
when Border disappeared for a period of time, you look at Clubhouse and this is the map that
pretty much every team should know. And there's comfort here for both these squads. And the
caveat to that point, Jesse, is that once again, one of 30 got to choose this side so they should
show that they know it decently well. The question becomes what happens when they swap sides. There's
one of 30 still have that same level of comfort attacking. If not, they need to run up the score here.
Good pressure on the main stairs. Clearing that barb will let rival walk up the steps, try to get
towards the bomb site. There's nobody looking to flank him. All five anchors sitting on the top
floor for one of 30, so they don't have to worry too much about that. Again, they haven't cleared
cash out of the map. They're going direct to site for the second time on the seat on the gym
gym, bedroom, bomb sites.
And this is not how most teams push this map.
Usually, you will see a pretty heavy commitment
over towards that other side of CC and Cache
to try to get that map control.
But space station gaming, deciding
they're confident with the limited take,
they're confident going direct to site,
and this executes, but it comes straight into the logic.
Mike Reed's giddy like a book now turns towards the opening
in construction.
Packer takes care of dream the F2 in the hands
of rival on the stairs.
You're seeing great recon work.
He and Aiden now picking up a pair of kills,
want a peace rival still in this position
and numbers will go back to even that opening bout
definitely helping one of 30,
the space station turns the ship around very quickly.
Aiden now and rival working together,
rival position to where Mike W had a,
maybe even an opportunity to kill
against Shopify rebellion just a couple weeks ago,
if you recall, it was just some beginner shakes,
I'm sure.
I don't really love this position right now for one of thirty guests and they're boxed
out of the bomb site.
They've lost control.
Silo firing through the smoke.
If you skin in the hands of Aiden, rival looking for the cross now, he's allowed one to slip
on by.
Oh my goodness.
Aiden has to get off of his position as it's bulls-burnt him in a 1v1 and Aiden wins the
duel.
My goodness.
Iced in his veins and around in the win column for SSG as they regain the lead.
And finally, we're seeing some life out of Aiden.
It took a bit for him to get active in this series, Parker,
but that's exactly the round he needed to step up
and play alongside rival in that 2v2.
He loses his cover in the midst of it.
They see the player pushing on in,
but what does Aiden do?
Jumps off the diffuse kit in order
to make that play happen, beautifully done by Aiden,
continuing to up the clutch stack for space station gaming.
SSG entered this match with the most clutch team
in North America with 26% success rate
in their clutch situations, and they will add on to that total with another successful 1v2 from Aiden in that round.
Again, they don't have a lot of map control in that push. That's the reason why there's still defenders inside of Khan when they end up in that position.
But because that a fuse gets over inside of Chikuzi, because it's just inside of Jim, where they're trying to get that plant down,
it's okay if they don't have Khan control. They can plant behind the reinforcement.
They've got the cover from Ryder. They're on the snake in the previous round.
He does dive, he lets one player slip and right pass them and you get a little bit nervous in that situation.
But Aiden can always be counted on to clutch up in those big moments, sticks in tune out from the young player on SSG.
There's a reason why Aiden was such a highly touted prospect.
Aiden taxes most of the people who knew of him before his debut had heard of him.
He did have some tier one reps on that old Envy squad if people will recall.
I mean the spiritual successor to that team is five years Aiden sought greener pastures here on space station
But if he'd stayed on that five years teams might be a little bit closer to making it to Salt Lake City
Still the whole business that you win this best of three and you get to take on if you're
Team obviously space station has their hands full
They will need a full reverse sweep here as it's one of 30 who took map number one
I know there's nothing Aiden would like more than to take down JJ
But gotta get there first, of course,
left that team to come and play alongside Raid,
his fellow Jinxie-versed main character.
He had the North America League at a pro level,
and I think they've really been showing
exactly what they can do.
I think, obviously, Raid is a rookie,
but Aiden has hit brand new heights
that he never was able to really hit on Envy.
Did S. touched on that a little bit
before our game began?
Final defense for 1 of 30.
You touched on this multiple times, Parker.
It is so critical, starting on the defense,
that you can at minimum get a 3-3 split.
If this goes 4-2 for space station,
then I think Chalet will be waiting for us,
but still the second half to play with it.
Unlike on their gym attacks,
they do want to take map control for space station gaming.
They're hoping to zero this other side of the map,
but it's starting with a nice little peek.
Mike W gets aggressive with it and pays for it with his life.
Feaster Fam and style of play of Mike W so far today
is admittling results.
He brought 50 kills, which is great,
and he had a pretty good first map,
but is now unfortunately in the negatives for his team.
Packer not having a much better day,
and Packer's the kind of guy where you're expecting him
to pick up kills.
Good news though, Volker's been the man
just taking out the trash time and time again,
and he's easily handling some of that weight.
There he is on your screen.
He's got a target-rich environment
in front of him out on highway.
He's being watched from above,
but he's got two players that he might've been able to find.
They've now made their way into the building,
so I think the opportunity is completely gone here.
You can't sit and be static. SSG did that far too much on map number one. It bit them.
One of 30 of three players left and the walls were closing on them.
SSG have 40 seconds with everybody still offering the plop. A successful top floor.
Now we're going to drink it over to Bino. The action might have been a little bit earlier on.
And now Space Station is being watched by a bulletproof camera as well.
So there's layers to this defense. One of 30 will have Volsper swing, Rival guns him down.
the first half of the season.
The first half of the season.
Silo and Bino now stacked up a
top red and rivals looking for
a quadra kill can find Silo in
this spot. Daring through all
of these defenders, multiple
players from Space Station
searching for the spinal kill,
and it'll be rival to get the
job done. Space Station will
take the first half attacking on
Clubhouse four to two. Space
Station looking wonderful
through that first half,
Parker. They really did manage
Listen, we got laxing on deck, ready to break down one of those critical rounds back to round number two in this game earlier on.
Yeah, gentlemen, I want to take a look at round two, because this was a really good round from SSG.
They could have ended it at a 5-1-1-1, and they did end it in a 4-2, but I really want to showcase that they had a great understanding of how they wanted to pick apart this site,
and ultimately get control of it.
Step one, Dream is going to be pushing through hot tub to be able to get all the control of main, to be able to get control of bathroom,
to be able to get control of gym, and feed that information for rival below.
Step two is they're going to eliminate Packer from Lodgy Hatch to be able to remove any bit of pressure with Aiden then dropping onto the outside rafters to be able to get all of control of Khan to be able to essentially cut the map in half.
Now, where this is going to fall apart is the key position isn't being held here outside Master Window and because of this, it makes the whole round really fall apart.
And what you're going to see is Dream now pushes through. He gets all this information. He relays the rival. He can now come up from main. Aiden drops.
They put the pressure onto Packer, they get the pick onto Packer.
Now again, this is where everything starts to fall apart because as you can see here,
Raid is now just holding onto CC window.
He is not applying any pressure anywhere where Silo now is able to then rotate through Jim into Jim
and then take this pick onto Dream because there is no pressure being applied on that master window.
And as we will continue to see and how this unfolds, Silo pushes through into Jim,
takes this pick onto Dream, Bino gets this pick onto Rival.
And if anyone had been there, you've got to understand, if he's in this position, if Ray's holding this, he gets this pick on the silo.
He has this information of rival trying to be able to rotate and get that pick onto Giddy.
And again, this entire round falls apart due to this minute detail and this small mistake that has made an understanding of how this strat was going to play out.
And again, it's little details like this that as perfect as this round played out, I mean, it was flawless up until that point, and they could have ended at a 5-1-1-2.
Overall, it was a really good attack. But again, it's just these small details
if they look back at these rounds and understand where things went wrong
They are only going to look even stronger than what we're seeing so far. But that's here for round two
I mean, it was a wonderful display from SSG, but you don't want to give hope in these rounds where you're dominating back to the desk
Thanks, Lex, we're gonna throw it quickly back over to the casters here Fox
I'm not gonna let you speak because we're diving right back in to the second half four to two one of 30
Have some ground to make up guys
I mean, it's really easy when you've got two younger teams to be a bit more critical of the mistakes that they're making because there are a lot of things that will happen just because they're not as
practiced, but it's very important as Abe showed off on the desk there and I think he did a very great job of it, is that you need to be able to highlight the good.
There is gonna be a lot of bad that happens when two teams are inexperienced. It's gonna happen everywhere. It happens in every field, happens in every industry, happens in every sport, every e-sport.
But you have to highlight what they do right, because both of these teams are still figuring it out,
and it seems like they're getting a better handle on this matchup and how they handle each other the deeper we go in.
Does that mean that 1 of 30 is done on this map?
No, far from it.
But I do think, with the scoreline through this first half, Jesse, and you feel free to correct me if I'm wrong,
Chalet seems more and more likely by the minute.
I would say there's a good chance you make it to Chalet.
If I can play Devil's Advocate, though.
Both of these teams have a better attacking win way through the group stage than they do on the defense.
They both seem to prefer that offensive side versus playing on the defense.
So there is the poke for 1 of 30. Now that gap is a lot bigger on space stations.
74 to 55% on their attack versus defense.
It's about a 3% increase on the attack for 1 of 30 and as laxing showed on the desk before this game began, it is still under 50%.
But we hope to see 1 of 30 putting together some strong attacks here on clubhouse.
they would have expected this map to come through into the pool.
Starting on the base, it looks like in like, you know,
the kind of low maps here, push parkers,
they kind of want to just take control of their funnel,
take control of kitchen hatch,
and see what they can get fishing towards the bombs.
So they're made in voyage here now,
attacking against this SSG defense,
and again, good defender teams.
I have done a fair bit of time
highlighting the space station attack,
but look at how quickly one of 30 is in the building, packer.
The only one with a kill so far, Wolfsburg and Beano easily swatted away by Space Station
to go up a broke strategy and it certainly appears that broke is the ultimate conclusion.
Silo with a desperation kill before or just after Packer had died, it's Mike W and Silo now with two minutes still left.
Yeah, very obvious push coming through from 1 of 30, SSG read them like a book.
They knew there was no pressure around the map.
There was no pressure around the Moto Hatch, no pressure around Garage, no pressure around Blue here.
They kind of see that push coming down through the main hatch inside of kitchen. It was a really nice swing out from
We do is dream just shut down, you know there in the midst of that push
Spike in the opening pick the numbers now favoring space station gaming. How do we react?
Mike W and silo two rookies here for one of 30 in the 2v3 situation
They've got a lot of time to play with but the diffuse kids in a very awkward spot
They don't have a ton of actual utility
not a lot of resources including a hard breach to start breaching some of these hashes and getting down towards the building in other angles
So what does it look like? Well, it's gonna look like dirt tunnel and it's gonna look like maybe some pressure inside a kitchen as well
Lots of time to fish for crabs here park for best station. They're caught our care cautious
They're careful. They shouldn't be giving up their bodies and they should be able to walk down this 3v2 advantage
Yeah, I mean you try to go through dirt tunnel
Your tunnel is one of the most infamous places that you can set up a crossfire.
There's no way you can kill the guy that's going to be playing AK on the left
and there's somebody who's going to be playing by bomb chassis on the right.
There's just no way unless you're able to, you know, maybe you're a high sense player
and you can do a perfect 180 flick.
This should be an unwinnable position for Mike W.
Best case scenario, he kills one, Silo gets the other, and you're in the 1v1 at that point.
Oh, hold on a second here, what was Dream looking at?
Mike W. Waxing gets the kill and immediately backs out.
All of the theory crafting, tales and practical application.
Rival hits the drive-by and gets another,
so he saves the round, but that one could have been bad
for Space Station.
They go in it and they stretch their lead because of it.
Yeah, the crossfire from Aiden and Dream,
not quite what it needed to be to stop that dirt tunnel push,
but thankfully Rival is there to shut down any shenanigans,
Any hope of a 2v3 clutch coming out from one of three really saw a defense to start that second half coming out from SSG
Again, it was very reminiscent of our first round Parker where we start baseman
We start with a decent roam up under the top floor so the attackers say okay. It's our first attack. Let's go for a rush
Let's try to just hit the bomb site, but much like earlier in this round
I thought it was read quite nicely by the defenders able to stall things out
They were able to get themselves into an advantage position, but this time
There's no giddy on the attack with Candela's to take that space to take the gunfights that they need to work that plant into a viable position
The 2v3 just didn't have the right resources that they needed to make that happen
So tough round for one of 30. I don't imagine they'll be trying that rush strategy again
But they're running out of lives here on the second map park. There's only two rounds separate SSG from Shao-Lan
I understand attacking the bottom floor is tough
I totally get it and sometimes need to get a little bit creative but both of those teams trying rush strats and both of them ultimately
Well, I mean, technically, I was gonna say fall short because technically SSG's Rush
Track did fall short, but they still won the round because of the pivot.
But that time around, there was no way for 1 and 30 to gracefully get out of that spot.
They lost three players in the blink of an eye, and they didn't have a ying holding one
of the most pivotal spots on that bottom floor on Blue Stairs, so.
When you're looking at a team like 1 and 30, one of the biggest knocks against them is
going to be their experience.
whether it be from a leadership perspective
or a strategic perspective,
they're gonna trail the fact that there are veterans on SSG
who are gonna be able to read things and call things
maybe a little bit faster.
And I think that's something they need
to credit players like Dream4.
Dream is being just about everything at this level.
He's going to understand what's coming
and while he might not be able to marshal his troops
across the field with perfection,
at least he's going to have a good read on it
and a good idea on how to handle it.
We'll go to gym bedroom for our next bomb site. Parker, this is going to be once again
an expansion towards the cache side of the map. One of 30 did open some walls and they've
got Packer down below so it seems like they do want to clear this and they've still got
Silo over here as well so it definitely feels like this is going to be the read. 60 seconds
off the clock so far though and not a whole lot of control being taken. A big pick for
Ray. He finds the Black Rude of Vino in the Raptors position. They know exactly where
he's at but he still holds his force down. He would have a great job of just keeping up,
being annoying but not giving up his life. This has been excellent from the rookie.
And he takes down Packer as well. Finally felled by Silo. There was a
nade on his lap too so something was likely going to kill him. It was just a matter of who it was.
Take control of the exterior. Now they've also got Raptor's control. They can start to clamp down
on construction but all this focus might distract you from the fact that the bomb site is over
on the gym and bedroom side of things, so this full extension over the cache, very typical,
handled fairly fast by 1 of 30, even if they do trail in numbers.
Yeah, this is awkward. They still don't have control of this east side of the map. Aiden here
on the red stairs, he can take the fight, yes he can. Silo will fall and hope for even more.
Throws out the Gersbond, knows to default for just on the other side of that doorway.
He's got pings on it from his teammates as well, so loads of information for SSG.
They could fall back and play the bombs that had this marker, but they're still just happy to hold on to this control.
Still fighting for catch because the fuse gets down here. They have to walk in. They have to fight this Ella.
And 1 of 30. They don't have any good way to play the U-Tilt.
That bulletproof camera was a huge story on the side. It enabled players like Aiden and enabled everybody else on the team to give pings to.
And there's Aiden and Giddy getting really active. The last two players on 1 of 30 trickle into their death.
They held that position inside for so long, but information is the name of the game, and it was used to great effect by space station.
Even if the tempo from 1 to 30 to open up that wall and get in was pretty decent, everything else ultimately fell apart.
And now it's map point for space station now demolishing this 1 to 30 team the same way that we saw it back in map number one.
Both of these teams winning their maps dominantly, I gotta say, it's not a habit. I'll leave my words on this one.
Yeah, Parker. I mean, I was really impressed with the attacks from
space station gaming in the four to and despite the copium I was thrown out with both these teams
being better on the offense than the defense. The defense is looking even better for space station
here in the second half. They're just so consistent. They know exactly the positions they want to play
forces attack timeout to come through from one of 30 desperate to try to figure out what they can do.
Now having to be perfect through the next four rounds, they have not given themselves much time with this
with this lifeline, Royz, the coach of 1 of 30,
will be talking as much as he can
over these next couple of seconds,
just to get that information out,
try to fix some of the problems,
but it's tough to diagnose.
I mean, you only see in two attacks now from your boys,
and first one was a rush,
you're probably not gonna replicate that anyways,
and then it's like, well,
what do you tell them to help clear Rado better?
They did all that they could,
they tossed the Uto, they had the shield,
but Rade just played that phenomenally,
and then once they get into the low man count situation,
Maybe that's the one constant across two rounds.
How do they recover these moments?
Because SSG are consistently winning the early game.
They're consistently having big plays
that set themselves up into a winning position.
And one of 30, I think both rounds that we've seen from them
haven't given us the best attempt
to try to recover that round.
They've kind of continued to push the same angles
they were pushing on plan A.
They've continued to try to take that space.
And sometimes they're forced into that
either because the Qs get a drop top right
because they just don't have U-Tilt
and open some of the hatches on a baseman attack.
but they gotta find some way to get back into these rounds.
The players from SSG are not gonna stop giving them that advantage.
7-2 was the scoreline on map number one.
You can see it on the top part of your screen.
It's looking like a 7-2 is gonna happen here on Clubhouse.
So pretty quick games, all things considered.
We've only been live for about an hour and a half at this point
to be able to knock out two maps in an hour and a half.
I mean, if you're watching this after it's live,
you've probably got a good idea.
If you look down at the bottom and see how long
the actual matchup was for, well, that was a really quick one.
And you find out that it was potentially three maps
and go, what happened here?
These teams just getting to Chalet very quickly.
And for a map like Chalet, it's not really
going to play that similar to either of these two maps.
I will say, I do think there's a lot more similarities
than that even labs in Clubhouse than most two maps
when you put them together.
130 does not have any history as a roster playing Chalet.
Space Station blew out Outlast.
Seven two just a little bit over a week ago when they went to it and the organization has a five and one record on it
Over the last six months, but again, that's the org
The org used to have a completely different lineup playing it up to up until what a month ago give or take so
Hard to just go off of those numbers
But of course beating out last time to his confidence inspiring
But outlast has looked like easily one of the worst teams in tier one so far and the numbers do tend to back that up
So I don't know how much is going to be learned from Space Station in that one official map.
So they're just so important for 1 of 30 to activate themselves off in the right foot.
They've got good information thanks to this snake.
They win the fight after so much damage in towards him.
Silos flings instead, but loses the fight.
There's a trade from Paco with the pistol.
These kills have still been falling all around them.
It's a one man lead for 1 of 30.
They're clear on the master side, it's gone quite well.
Minute and 15 seconds or so to try to convert the rest of this.
I think that's exactly what they wanted to come through of their top floor clear
They lose their grim which will be painful when they go to attack this bomb site
But ultimately they got the job done that they were looking for man advantage now the lead is in their hands
They're dealing with a lot of site utility right on rafters fine
But then Aiden and dream both with ability to deny that plant with their primary gadgets
That's gonna be what I'm worried about Parker 50 seconds left on this clock
They need to make sure they're planting before they get to those final 20
I've been watching the the two dead players on space station shuffle through the yokais that were manning sure
It feels like the only way to celebrate is in construction. It's going to play such a huge part here
It's got a good read on two separate players in the side of one of 30 and because of that
They've managed to take down packer be no now also almost dead
Volsper and Mike W will need to help out be no as that case is escorted on in
Volsper in this top position on red with be no not far removed, but they are very worried about nitro cells
They're worried about plays from below. They're worried about the yokai's really for no reason
You've got to deal with the one yokai, but there's very little else that can be used your way
Impact will go on dream he spotted one of 30 in great position
They get the diffuser down and off to the races they go leaving raid and aid in as the last few
Read let all this happen from last year's
He'll have to clutch out as aiden dies the hands of Mike W like W on a single point of HP raid takes him down
It's him versus Volsper
Diffuse kids still running away at the halfway point right now Volsper on the glass a great operator to deal with this
Will he be able to long arm him? It doesn't matter Volsper takes the fight and he wins it one of 30 stays alive
Yeah, Mike. We're all thinking the same thing SSG still sitting on that point though
Oh, it doesn't get closer than that Parker just by having a slight advantage
You were right to call out that information advantage for SSG that yokai inside of con started things off so well for them
But then they made such an interesting call on the side of space station all three players in the 3v3 said we don't want to hold
On to the site. We're gonna go down below
We're gonna play the vert from bought from bottom floor now that makes sense a lot of the players are being pushed out by the yin the
Candelas were so impactful to try to take that space and give that advantage over towards one of 30
They had information the site as well
I mean there was that there was that yokai of course inside the site that helped things out
But ultimately they just weren't able to deny that plant and as soon as that happens man
It becomes really difficult to retake great attempts coming through but without the man advantage into the 1v1
The post plan will always favor the attackers. So nicely done by one of 30 raids sure
Yes, that a good old college try he nearly clutches it up
But unfortunately for him Balsper is better today
They continue to creep closer to double digits, get it on map 1 and could do it again on map 2 if they continue to extend this map.
Is that 24 kills for Volsper at this point across both of these matches?
Yeah, 24 now.
It is 24 and 11.
Unbelievable stuff. Again, he came into this match with 1 t3 kills.
He has 24 kills.
He has eclipsed the four matches that he played in groups in two maps.
He's done it in half the time.
And I mean, it's not even like he's changed up his style that much.
He was playing no mad doker, he was playing snake, he was playing
fragging operators on defense too.
He was just not doing so well.
I mean, he had 11 entry stats, seven of them were deaths.
So he was involved in this early action.
It's just taken him some time.
And again, I mentioned outlast earlier, they didn't look like the best team in
the NAL, that's undeniable.
Oh, what?
What?
What do you kill yourself with your opponent's Goyo canister?
I'm fat-folded, I'll be going back at it.
Yeah, I'm gonna need to know what happened there.
That is actually, I know that we might joke about it,
but that is genuinely a devastating loss.
You've asked for the black beer and you've lost the case.
Like that big dude around right there.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure he breached into the soft wall inside a dirt tunnel
and he breached into a Goyo canister.
This is exactly what happened.
So as soon as he breaches the wall with that Blackbeard shield, the Goyo explodes and it does all that damage and he ends up killing himself like that.
That is kind of crazy. Only they droned it. That's so unfortunate.
Yeah, I mean, that's probably Curtains here on this map if we're being completely honest.
Yeah.
If you- Silo had to pin it off of his position, he had to go retrieve the Diffuse Kit from Dirt Dumbled.
The jig is up. They noted that was Dirt that was breached as well.
So that's information as to where the initial execute was going from so they can potentially turn things around.
Silo got second Guinea so there is maybe some saving grace here Silo's just taken up beano's spot
But I mean having a recruit in dirt tunnel instead of a blackbeard is a completely different game Jesse
It's much weaker. It looked like Silo was gonna be joined by Mike W as well
So this might be a double play loading you back. What you knew he was there. Okay?
We're trolling a little bit on both sides today Parker. We're doing a little bit of a throw Jesse
Just like that, 1 of 30 are back in this round, despite all the shenanigans.
These roamers have returned back towards the site, there's over 60 seconds, so 1 of 30
can start to pick apart this defense.
They do actually have a hard breacher this time, so Mike W can start to work on some
of these hatches.
If they get the Moto hatch open, then Rage should be dead to rights.
They seem to know he's here, with Packer holding the angle from the hallway.
One kill would be all it takes to track this wide open for 1 of 30.
New Mike W was in that position long ago when he was defending.
He's going to favor it again on attack.
Silo making up for lost time here.
Oh, he could have won the round right there.
He missed his out on dream.
It was a fight he should have won.
Silo would have picked up his poor kill, but it's all for naught.
Now it's Packer trying to survive.
He trains.
What a dagger.
I in all of my life have not quite seen a round like that, Jesse.
That is one for the books.
And what an anti-climactic moment for Space Station to win their own map.
Listen, one way or another, Parker, they get the job done.
One of 30 on Clubhouse.
It just seems to be a little bit cursed, doesn't it?
And in a dead, they still got Chalet on back,
so we'll try to do a quick break and come right back.
So now we slow to the front.
7, 2, and now 7, 3 were flying through this series of games.
So far, but a map three is in our future SSG
They looked a huge step up better than they did on that first map Fox. It was almost everything
We talked about coming into this one. They improved the energy was up. It was very clear
They were on the ball from the jump. I mean, we know SSG understands clubhouse same SSG that we saw dominate wildcard
I mean, they were getting the first picks on their attacks
Locking down the angles one of 30 couldn't really respond and I think that was just the structure
the fundamentals of them understanding the map that much better and they felt a lot more comfortable everybody on the team
Was rising up to the occasion just because of the maps simplicity once the sides swap
I think SSG did a great job of being able to add their own layers
But I think that's where we see the fault fall onto one of 30 shoulders
They couldn't really find their own openings
They couldn't find a way to get comfortably into the map
They tried to bring those shields some of the times the blackbeard be there was one of those players
But unfortunately the shield was the first player getting picked apart
and that has no success for 1 of 30.
If their main entry into the bomb set into the map
is your shield and it's the first one dying
and it just looked like 1 of 30 tried their best.
What didn't seem like it was really that big of glaring issues
besides the fact that they just couldn't get
the same level of entry into the map
for the risk or reward factor that SSU was doing.
And the storyline that we talked about coming into
is that kind of rookie battle.
Well, we said it was Mike W coming out on top,
beating Raid through and through.
Things have dramatically changed here coming off of map 2 raid.
I mean was all over it. We saw him playing rafters in the trenches round after round on defense.
We saw some almost insane clutch power as well from him.
I mean we've seen a little bit of everything from this kid and it's looking better week to week.
I mean this is where we highlighted raid in the first place in his debut versus wild card where he popped off as well.
And Fox I think you also touched up on it as well.
If there's gonna be any game for any of these teams to be comfortable and it would be against one another in themselves.
They know these players they know their idiosyncrasies and you can just see and raid and his confidence and the rest of the team as well
They're all playing well
They're all very well synchronized in terms of how they're doing even the round that I broke down around to that entire strat was clean
Through and through it was just a small mistake that yes silo instantly opened up
But I mean again it for me even we were listening to the comms in the back
It was a night and day difference in terms of what we were getting out of SSG versus what we were hearing on a 1 of 30
And something that me and you know, I mean once you get into these best of threes. It's not a sprint
It's a marathon. It's about endurance.
And I think some of that is slowly starting to tapering.
And that's where we really start to see these inexperienced teams,
how they handle that, how they handle going from a tremendous win
to then the inevitable loss where they just get pounded.
And now you have to go to a map three and it's a matter of,
okay, how do you bounce back from this now?
That's what I really want to see once we go into this third map is
what is the mental state going into this?
Because from when we heard from Combs,
it did not sound great from 1 to 30.
I mean, just from the level of comfortability,
I mean, you go to a map like Clubhouse, SSG looks a lot.
Now we're going to a map like shall lay that's a situation where it's very similar to clubhouse. Very
Cut and dry, you know
You get the first pick on library side or master side and then you lock down both avenues of that
The other team can't find a way back in it
I want to see one of 30 be able to respond if they lose that opening pick or at least be a lot more impactful in the
Roam because you can't really do it on clubhouse
you can do it a little bit on shall lay and
Again players like Packer are people that you're going to be looking towards to carry this team out of the funk
of losing that map too.
You mentioned the comms and I think it maybe wasn't the defining moment of the map but
it certainly was a funny one at the last moment the last round pure chaos ensued.
Take a listen at the comms to these Goyo canister death from Vino on the final round.
Yeah, I'm gonna climb wall before I rotate to the meter.
Yeah, I'm not gonna work that's a...
Okay.
Okay, you put a Goyle on...
I mean they were just stunned.
Stunned in the Goyle placement.
It's kind of just one of those things where you just gotta accept what just happened.
It's just to be out of this situation.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the last round.
But if you can make light out of the situation, it kind of shows a little bit of maturity
from the team.
Maturity?
say so a lot of people who get super upset and then you know yeah I read that
off if that was my team and we're not droning the drywall for sure I agree with
that that's the second round that my shield is dying first if I was in a
team house at Bino I'd smack him on the back of the neck that would upset me
that's not what we want to see when you're playing to make it to a major
yes we're expecting our expectations are minimized for teams like one of 30 going
to Salt Lake City because they're a new team blah blah blah they got the first
map it's in their hands your shield player should not be dying that's sloppy
I don't care how much fun you're having you need to make sure that that shit is completely cut out going into map 30
All right, they got it. They got it. They got to be mature. They got a lock in in our desk
Okay, well we clearly get that get the dynamic here
Hopefully this dynamic between one of 30 and SSG we can continue to see it ebb and flow going into this third map
We'll find out exactly how shall a plays out after this
All right, well, map number three has arrived, and one of these two teams will move forward
in a date against five fears.
In the next round of the NAF kickoff finals, neither of these teams are qualifying for
the Major just yet, and neither of them will be eliminated, so we will see both of them
in action moving forward.
The question is, which one goes on and gets one step closer to the Major, and which one
has to run through hell, a.k.a. lower bracket.
1 of 30 started off with a very strong performance
on their own map.
They gave the gears to SSG a little bit on map number two,
but SSG still won their own map tech.
Now we go to Chalet as the ultimate decider, Jesse,
on paper.
1 of 30 has one more rounds.
Do you think they've been the better team?
And do you think they have what it takes to win Chalet
or is Space Station going to pull off the reverse sweep?
I mean, Parker, there's no argument
who was the better team on map.
one of 30 crushed space station there.
Our analysts just broke it down.
They clearly just are not experienced enough
on that map as the G-Arts,
but I think Clubhouse told the whole story.
That was a map that both teams had played before.
Both teams were familiar with.
We now come to Chalet,
where again, the familiarity should be relatively equal
across both sides.
My favorite as an SG,
they showed they were better when the playing field was equal.
And I think we're in a similar spot now.
Yeah, I agree with you.
I think the one thing that we should take away from this
irrespective of who wins this third map these teams are pretty evenly matched. If you are a
team like Five Fears you are watching this with glee because you are seeing all of the mistakes
and all of the strategy unfold in real time and now you've got maybe more recent data on three
maps that are typically in the arsenal and most of these NAL teams a lot of this region plays
clubhouse they play chalet most of them play nine even labs as well so you can see what goes right
You can see what goes wrong because of course both of these rosters got a lot of fresh faces on them
Not a lot of game day reps if you are a rookie you have played
Or not to get to this point
That's all there was for the first stage of kickoff. So I think you said the term earlier when the rubber meets the road
This is now number three. This is when all the rubber meets all the road Jesse
And we'll start with SSG on attack 1 of 30 defending here on shall a first bomb site will be kitchen on the main floor
Yeah, and when space station places map earlier in the season versus outlasts
They only had to attack three times and they attacked every bomb site except for kitchen
So this is the one look that maybe at 1 of 30 will not have any VODs on whatsoever
I will also mentioned that SSG were successful in all three of those attacks on the other bomb site
So it's not like you can spot out any weaknesses from those previous mods and it was against Outlast as we've mentioned
Probably the weakest team here in the North American League through the kickoffs so far
Not a whole lot that you can necessarily learn from but you don't need to learn much when you get tossed next to us like that
Mike W straight on to Ray through the solar window to kick us off. That's gonna be the only hard breach I have to take it off the board
That's a really rough loss there
I mean I guess the beautiful thing about a map like chalet is that
So many of these walls and floors are going to be shot out by soft destruction that
Hard destruction is I think it's fair to say not as important on this particular bomb site than the rest of the map
And frankly not as important on this map as it is on others
You look at a map like clubhouse try pulling off and execute without any hard bridge on clubhouse
It's much more difficult especially if you have to deal with hatches here though
Pugelson can easily get the job done smokes flashes
They can get the job done as well, and Space Station happens to house them back up.
Well, they did.
Rival gets dropped after the ROU projectors had gone out.
Bino dies at the hands of Aiden.
So the fragging will continue until morale improves.
Into A4V4 now that Rival's been picked back up, and we reach the halfway point of the round.
Yeah, you're happy about this if you're SSG.
You still got more of these trends, Wallace, to play around, even though the first two did get down.
You're all site control now as well, so as long as you can avoid the vert,
This plant should be able to go down relatively early around.
Volsper has had a terrific day so far. Far and away the best player on the team.
Numbers are quite crazy. Doubling up on kills and deaths. 24 kills, 12 deaths.
A reminder for those that didn't want to watch the second map and might have forgotten those of you that haven't.
Volsper had 23 kills during four maps in the groups. He has 24 kills. One more in just two.
maps rival guns down packer diffuser gets planted successfully all under the eager eyes of one of 30
and now the retakes full spring music is not mine to scout for information a nice flank from silo
does he know that somebody else is over by far place no gaden picks up a two-piece
mic w over on the trophy stairs gun down and space station starts shall a strong pretty shocked at
how they get that plant down parker rival is on 20 hp not even planting instead of dining
on a ping, on a soft wall, and still, nobody is able to deny that plant.
Packer misses all of his shots from inside a bar with the Aruni DMR.
The players up above aren't able to deny that plant, so that's going down.
Rival somehow gets away with that. There was definitely pressure elsewhere around the map.
We saw Gideon Aiden inside the building having some pressure, kind of inside the site, inside a fireplace,
but really surprised Rival got away with that plant and was able to put him in a strong position.
the post plant was excellent from Space Station as well. I love their positioning in the midst of that.
This spot from Giddy just not expected at all. Allows him to get a big important kill in the midst of that.
Helps Aiden get a nice little two-piece in the midst of that too. So really nice post plant from Space Station.
They execute on their game plan of wanting to take that site very quickly and frankly it looks really well executed from the astronauts.
Now all told really, really well done. I'm not really certain what these tech issues have been that we've encountered so far today,
but we have another. They seem to occur in between maps, which is the ideal time for them.
We don't want it interrupting the actual gameplay itself. Teams are not supposed to be talking
while they are sitting here in a tech pause. I don't know if the culprit is one of the players
or maybe a peripheral or something along those lines, but they do happen. Sometimes there are
ghosts in the machines and small hiccups that are just outside of our control.
It's one of 30 teams that I am a little bit worried for is that their momentum came in
map number one.
They started off looking really, really good.
Five-one was the scoreline through that first half.
They carried that momentum.
Wolfsburg was killing everything that moved.
Map number two, well, the familiarity wasn't quite there.
They did muster up more of a challenge than we saw from Space Station when the roles were
back in that number one.
But it's been a long time since you've been winning,
and there were some pretty big mistakes
committed by this 1 of 30 team that might get under your skin.
They might live in your head,
but you've got to just kind of push to the back
and get through here.
Space Station has that leadership.
We've touched on it so far in every single map that's been played.
And it is honestly a major difference maker.
Yes, Packer and Beano have both played in T1 before
on the side of 1 of 30,
but nowhere near the experience that that man on your screen
right there. Dream has. And
he's got some experience too.
So I mean, if you're not
talking, you've got to think
that the brains, they're
working, they're thinking,
they're coming up with,
they're coming up with next
steps. Maybe dreams do
preoccupy singing, but I
honestly think the longer the
series goes, the more it does
favor space station.
Yeah, I mean, dreams got
playing this thing about.
He's back in the NL playoffs
for the first time in two
years. The last time that he
made it to the playoffs here in
the North American League was
that he's going to be in the
next season. He's going to be
stage one of 2024 back with
oxygen before he got let go
from that team. And of course
that's going to really empower
him and I think feed that
hunger that he and the rest of
his players going to have.
You're absolutely right that
there's more experience than
that of space station gaming
with particular dream, but
also guys like Gideon to an
extent, Aiden, but I also think
they're extremely hungry to be
able to prove themselves
given the fact that they're
when the season began. I mean, you should see the reddit comments when this roster was announced.
There was not a single positive word said, frankly, about this announcement, but they came out and they proved everybody wrong.
They crushed the group stage. They looked absolutely dominant in games where nobody thought they would.
Now they've shown up in playoffs as well, and they're not a perfect team, right?
They're not necessarily at that same level that Old Space Station was, but you're seeing the growth with these young players.
seeing the new generation of Rainbow Six players be developed here on Space Station Gaming and it's
been a really entertaining process to watch from an Outsiders POV and I think they got every chance
in the world to win this series and make it to the Major. Five years will be a difficult opponent
in the upper bracket, there's no doubt about that, but even if they lose they'll have another
opportunity in the lower bracket to qualify in towards the Salt Lakes City majors so it's a lot
on the line for these SSG guys, certainly for 1 of 30 as well, but you can tell that there's a lot
maybe on the mental that people don't often think about when you talk about this team.
No, absolutely. And Vibes, I imagine, will be high on both of these squads. They made the playoffs,
only two teams did not ultimately make the playoffs. That was outlasted 100 thieves. That
100 thieves roster in particular is something that we could talk about during a tech pause for
quite some time here, but focusing on the two combatants that we currently have in the server.
I think that if there were fewer spots, these two teams are two of the squads that people would be
saying, I don't know if one of 30 makes it into playoffs. I don't know if Space Station makes it
into playoffs. I think a lot of that is just simply a lack of knowledge when it comes to these teams,
and the lack of experience these teams have doesn't exactly shoot them up the depth chart. When you
look at NA, you've got the lay of the land, right? You've got your M80s, you've got your wild cards,
You got your Shopify rebellions who've been on a bit of a downward turn as of late.
You've got DZ. You've got all these organizations that have been around for so long
that you can expect them to do well. DZ basically took the core of Space Station and have looked like
a significantly improved team by adding Kino and NJR to that roster. They've looked really,
really good. NJR is actually having one of the worst seasons in his career and yet DZ is still
so dominant, Jesse. So it's good that these two squads were able to make the playoffs,
and it's great experience for them. The fans of these teams are probably looking at the bracket
and going, okay, okay, we've got at least two games minimum. Let's see what noise we can make.
The winner goes up against Five Fears, a reminder the loser goes down to the lower bracket where
they play Cloud9, as you corrected me on earlier. And then of course the former organization for
Dreams, so there will be potentially some a bit of a grudge match there if he ends up in that
position but right now space station up one nothing in this map and looking like they are getting
more comfortable the longer we go into this series. Yeah giddy as well was on that old
C9 roster SSG kind of bought out that team and built around them adding some of these younger guys
like like raid Aiden and rival really to just try to reassemble a squad here after their primary
roster got taken over to DZ so you're right I mean there is going to be a lot of crudges no
matter where we end up certainly in this game there's certain there's a lot of grudges between
these players. I'll mention once again, Packer, Bino, and Giddy all used to play together on that
CL4Life roster that qualified to the Montreal Major a few years back. And I know that was a big
point of experience for these three players and has helped them grow into the position they're at
now inside the NAO playoffs. The other couple of players on that team, maybe not fighting as much
success these days. Of course, Adam, the dover to that 100th Thieves roster where they failed to
make the playoffs. Uzi is putting questionable things about Robots on my Twitter timeline,
So everybody's kind of moved on to their own adventures, but I think at this point now for for one of the SSG
It's time to showcase exactly what you've been building towards since that Montreal major since the stage started since kickoff
And the break that you had in the groups in the playoffs now it's time to show us everything you've got
And a really good point is these teams will continue to improve and
You know we do go up against that next match whether it be down in the lower bracket or the upper bracket
I imagine that we will continue to see those improvements
I don't think people realize those that haven't played at this level and I'm gonna play at this level
But it's something that I only realize
For my vantage point as a commentator and as somebody who's talked to these players is how little
For best of ones actually is from an experience perspective you barely blink and your groups are oh
You know you again. This is the third map of this series
There are four maps in kickoff so you're gonna go through this almost
Doubling your amount of experience that is crazy to think about
That's a good point. I've never thought of it that way, but you really are doubling nearly your real world experience just by head of the chalet, so
It's a very fast format that we have here in kickoff
It's got to be quick so that we can get teams invited and you sent over to Salt Lake fast enough, but
It's all gonna be worth it if you can make it in the end all the long nights and all the multiple games a week that you have to play
Even these playoffs will be a bit of a blur as you've got game after game day after day lots of matches to play
Onchalade back into the game for round number two. We have made it, thankfully,
so we appreciate you guys sticking with us while we got one of the player's PCs reset
after a quick crash. Now we can start to clear on towards this top floor, and despite the defense
not working as well for 1-30, they can definitely hold on a little bit tighter to the wall inside
this time around. And again, I was surprised they weren't able to deny the plant after they lost
control of it back in round one. I don't expect them to lose control because I ask quickly to
the summer. It's an odd spot for Mike to be in. You might be getting run over by Dream
on this Blackbeard, because you can hear that shield coming from a mile away. Hino, the
very first kill, Volsper gets rival Dream, he's been down two, a minute and forty off
of the clock. I thought Mike would be the one who would die, but no, he's the one who's
best standing. Not a single point of damage has been done to one of thirty. Hino, removed
by eight and is all they can show for it because Silo shuts the door on a comeback and we are
tied.
Well, Parker, I said I didn't think they'd get in the bomb site as quickly, but they
clearly had other plans.
I said, she decided it doesn't matter what the site is, we're going to get in.
We got our Blackbeard.
We're going to take that space.
It was really unfortunate for Dream.
He just didn't clear the corner tight enough and he missed Mike W sitting in the very corner
of bathroom, which is how we ended up going down as he rotated him through the site.
At the same time, they had early deaths from both Raid and Rival that were trying to play kind of on different sides of the map.
One over towards Solar, one over towards Library, and as all those fights just ended up going the way of 1 of 30,
the chaos did not favor the attackers in the midst of it.
So, nice to get their head on straights, but a very fast-paced game from SSG, and 1 of 30 have done a great job responding to it.
Yeah, absolutely, and I'm hopeful a computer didn't blow up yet again.
Wait some information here
Ever noticed how much beano looks like Jarvis
You know what I have I have noticed that it's not they I don't know of any but I don't know of you
Hey you in chat. I don't know if you've ever noticed
How much they look like
It appears that we have a rehost now for bands. We're seeing a bunch of people get up and go to the bathroom
So I'm a little concerned this might be a bit of a longer break a
Great time for those of you watching to also go up get up stretch your legs go grab some water
We'll say hi to friends family you've a dog will play with your dog do you have a cat?
I don't play with your cat your cat doesn't want you to do that cats don't like that. Oh
Look at your cat from afar and not approvingly that's the type of behavior cats like
I don't know partner. I feel like both you and I have cats that are very obsessed with cuddles and
attention
In my partner, and I have a Bengal cat that we inherited from her grandmother who is
15 pounds and is a
Velcro cat, but only on his terms. Yes
He will not lie in your lap. You cannot hold him for longer than he wants. He will not lie on your chest
But he will lie next to you as long as you don't touch him too much, and they'll get up and be angry
Difficult pre-Madonna behavior from cats
Yeah, Indy's much the same she didn't want anything to do with me earlier today and in between maps
She was meowing and scratching in my door just to try to come in and join the cast
So, you know always on their own terms, but lovable
lovable creatures one way or the other
There was somebody in APAC like a couple days ago who was dancing with their cat live on
stream and I am scrolling through Twitter to try to find out who it was.
I forget the name of the player.
Someone in chat will know what I'm sure.
Am I supposed to know that?
I feel like if you pay attention you'll at least know the clip I'm talking about.
Say it again.
There was an A-Pac player dancing with their cat.
That's really the next place.
I've seen the clip.
I have no idea who it was because I didn't...
I just...
What is that?
Some kind of keychain or something?
It's gonna say it looks like a type of keychain.
Looks like like a little fuzzy like...
A ball?
It was feel.
I found that it was feel.
But kiss from a rose seal. Wow, I didn't know he played no say star seal. Oh
Terrific song though
After those that are wondering what happens next m80 wild card still has to take place
Again, the winner of that matchup does not qualify for the major
They move on to play up against dark zero the loser goes down to the lower bracket where I'm
I'm reasonably certain they play Shop of Fire Rebellion, because that's the only team that would make sense.
The loser of the next match plays Shop of Fire Rebellion, yes.
Yes, Jeff, that was talking about the upcoming match.
Yes, sorry, I don't listen much to you speak yet. Sorry.
Yeah.
Now, while we're here, and while you're here, hopefully we have your ears at full capacity, because realistically, there's not much else to listen to.
later today and every day this week for the NAL kickoff because we are in North America
we will be giving away tickets to the Salt Lake City Major you will have an opportunity
to enter I'm assuming it's a giveaway I don't really have a lot of information but there
will be two winners each day and they get two tickets a piece so if my math is correct
2 plus 2 equals 4.
Hold on, yep, 4, that's correct, okay, good.
Really worried about that one.
It'll be a giveaway, so stay tuned.
We haven't done it yet.
But if you'd like to attend the Salt Lake City Major
and go to beautiful Utah in just a couple weeks time,
stick around and we'll see about maybe getting you some tickets.
Parker.
It'll be a good event.
If you win the tickets, will you bring me as your plus one?
Can I come?
We got a break ready.
We'll be back in a couple of minutes.
You didn't answer.
Perfect.
Well, it's time for us to get Chalet back under way.
Thank you as always for your patience.
We should have all ten players ready and set to do battle on, Jesse, would you call it
the snowy slopes of France?
That is what I said, Parker, and I stole it from you, so you knew that.
I say the sunny beaches of France as a joke, because it is obviously sunny, but there are
no beaches there, and there are mountains, and it is snowy.
It is quite funny.
Maybe we zoom out enough and they'll be able to see a beach.
I think we probably will.
Just now.
We're trying. Thank you to the observers for trying.
Oh, look at that. Look at those textures.
They probably have the ultra HD graphics on.
Oh, it's an alley.
Wow.
Wow, it really, oh, it drops off. Really, that's cool.
Jesus, I had no clue that was there.
That is, look at the topography, huh?
I do apologize to the analysts watching this game,
trying to see the setup.
That's why you get replay files though.
I was trying to think of something way I couldn't do it.
The replay files have always been very nice.
A lot of people don't know this.
I have to remind people of this like every two weeks,
but the replay files these matches are public.
You just have to navigate to the match page
on the RCC course website,
you can download the replay files for any of the pro games, assuming they've been uploaded.
I've been really enjoying going through the match replay files and making TikTok content out of
it, Parker. I was gonna ask if you if you peruse them, I'm very glad that you're finding time to
have hobbies. Yeah, absolutely. Very important, I go and I watch more of each. There you go,
that's quite the life that you lead. Because we had the rehosts, all of the scores have been
wiped we can we can reference them and where the players are at once we get
through this matchup or at least a couple rounds we can talk about it until
then up for Chalet defending over on the other side of the building from where we
just saw the entry upstairs that will not be had. Rurora has seen an uptick in
play over the last couple days. Just see why could that be? Because they increased
the range on the gadget marker so now you can close doors and when doorways off
from much farther than you previously could.
Loading full max.
Additionally,
clothes faster take longer to open.
Yes, many buffs.
Many, many buffs.
Just as they buffed Thorn, and we saw her pick rate shoot up Ruroras too.
Will increase. Echo is seeing a steady increase as well,
as Ubisoft tries to buff these underperforming operators.
How will that impact the overall environment?
How will that impact this round?
This round so far we've seen only one of those doors go out now to aid in suffering through an awful lot of damage
I have to imagine that's the nitro cell of Mike
Packer as good as gone rival traded out immediately dream on the board to down goes Mike W
It's still a minute to go space station holds a lead of one. That's now completely gone. Hulspur is having a terrific day
He's been good on all three maps. It was a bit of a saving grace for this one of 30 team
Yeah, now down to the 3v3, 45 seconds, they all rotate back towards the bomb site.
Parker, they're happy to play behind their utility.
The mirror window remains strong inside a back bar, so they're going to have good information
of where this push is coming from.
Giddy, Ray, and Aiden will have to find some other way to work an advantage before they
can get this plant down.
It's a great cross by Giddy.
If he can win this engagement, it'll blow the whole round wide open.
SSG's still in a good spot, but they need to now get into the bomb site, and they are
losing control of the clock.
One of 30 using as much data tree as they can.
Nades go in, the Jaeger of Wolfsburg dances around both of them,
and gets the swing on the hatch.
Wolfsburg drop by Giddy, and Giddy will have to get the job done all alone,
less than 10 seconds, no diffuser control whatsoever.
Two players remain from one of 30.
Giddy can't get to them in time, and the clock will run out.
A spirited effort, but one of 30 will win the round and take the lead.
Very competitive game here as we go back and forth.
Nice little defense coming out from one of 30,
and I'm really glad you highlighted
Volsberg Parker. He has been
popping off all day long. Maps
one, two and three. Maybe his
three highest performing maps of
his career, at least so far.
We'll see how Chalet develops,
but you said it dancing around
those nades, being able to dodge
out raid who is up above trying to
toss them from that vert position.
You've got two players inside a
back bar playing it for the Verts
forced them out with the Nades.
so aggressive there. It's a punishable move. If he gets caught off guard, if they're washing the
hatch when he swings out the door, he could get hard killed and it could have been very bad,
but he had to take that risk with the Nates coming out. That move right there from Malzpur puts
him in a great position to win that fight on to Rage. Overheats a little bit, goes for a second swing,
but at that point the man advantage is too high. The time is still very favorable for 1 of 30,
and they will close that one out now to 1. Unsurprising that it's another gutsy round,
one that ends up being almost tooth and nail to the very end and I mean I don't
think even if that banshee wasn't there that giddy would have made it in time but
we talk about how evenly matched these teams should be and so far it's paying
off you can see the score line from game 1 7 2 game for game number 2 7 3 what
happens here do not be surprised if we end up going to overtime and then again
We do have one more matchup today.
There'll be M80 versus Wildcard.
That one will be fascinating to watch.
Wildcard has had some domestic struggles after Dash left the team.
Homesick, he's gone back to Brazil.
He's now qualified for the Salt Lake City Major,
so he'll be there just on the loose roster.
Adrian from Team Secret,
a team that won't be at the Salt Lake City Major.
Well, Adrian came on over
and it's required Wildcard to make some changes.
They have looked like they've taken maybe a bit of a step back in comparison to the rest of the region
So the question would be how did they take the net the last week off?
Are they able to match up to an M80 team that looks like they are steadily improving after losing Kino and picking up passion?
So a lot of questions that will hopefully be answered in our next best of three
But before we get there which of these two teams moves on face off against five years in the next matchup
with no determined who goes to Salt Lake City.
One minute into the action,
the advance from SSG coming to the library side.
Aiden's question's gotten banned out, so he's moved over to Snake's Truck.
Here, there's his top floor apart, where they want to be able to get this space
to be like, you know, get him to work with the plant inside of office.
False for the first line of defense.
That's Thilo not too far off, but he's full blind,
which is going to make this defense very difficult,
as he's trying to take this space,
and they can. There's a spot, but no packer on the stairs!
It's his first kill of the map taking down dream and punishing the shield player of FSG
A good crossfire here and I mean both of these teams have a lot of tools at their disposal
It's about putting it all together
We've seen moments of brilliance from both of them through these two almost three maps and again the fact they're pulling this off with
Limited experiences is very very strong and again improvement would be the name of the game
I suspect there will be some decent careers for a lot of these players
moving forward. This way in particular, Volsper has to dance around the naiden, gets away, almost gets
away. He manages to take Giddy down in the process and Volsper is bleeding out, might be retrievable.
Aiden looking for the follow-up, does he have the all clear to go in? Is anybody watching in
his direction? Volsper not really retrievable at this point in time, finished off by Rival,
and that's channel control. Packer will get Rival though, long range through the wall and one of
30 finds themselves doubled up on SSG and man counter.
Yeah, this feels really rough now for SSG.
They're definitely trying to hunt down Packer.
The pistol comes out, but we're missing every shot.
Aiden, that's not what he needed.
Packer's still on over half HP.
This point, they have to cut their losses.
Packer has gone back towards the bottom floor.
They can't really worry about that now.
Head to the bottom site.
30 seconds to try to get this plant.
Oh my goodness, down goes the now.
Aiden warming up at this point in time,
still being able to use that gadget to get a good idea,
and knows that somebody's playing the A bomb chassis.
Doesn't know, though, that Packer is looking for the flank.
He takes down one.
Aiden slips through his fingers.
Silo will pay for that.
10 seconds left.
Aiden tucked in.
Now hoping he get the defuse kick down,
but it's watched from above by good old Mike W.
And Mike Wazowski will get the job done.
1-30 takes another round, and their lead grows yet again.
Brilliant round coming through there from the Romers,
most notably, of course, Packer, who got that big 3K.
it's good because it's been a rough couple of hours for Packer. You go back to map two, he was
four and nine lowest rated player on the second map of Clubhouse and then had a struggling start
through the first quarter of Chalet, ended up going 0-2 through the first three rounds, but a big
triple will get him back into the positives. Nice to see that from Packer and a lot of it came from
him playing around his teammates, Parker. We saw Volsper posted up on side of Mezzanine, making sure
that he was taking a lot of the attention from his teammates and even after he goes down,
Packers able to reposition down towards the game side of the map.
He's able to really run circles around those players.
They think he rotates back to site through West Main, but no.
Rotates back up the blue stairs for his third kill in that round.
It was just such a menace, so annoying to deal with for for space station gaming.
And he really just is a thorn in their side, forces the tack time
which come through from DMC.
He'll have a opportunity now to talk to his players and hopefully get them back on track.
It's been a long three rounds, long four rounds just due to these tech pauses.
though I'm sure lots of talk about I mean I don't know what's going on with
Space Station the problems that we see are a little bit different than we go
back all the way back to map number one because there weren't a lot of problems
from Space Station on their choice of clubhouse right it was it was more that
night even labs now where we saw especially on defense they were just a
little bit too static this time around it's the drone work that seems to be the
They keep you caught by the late lurks and the opening crossfires.
So you either get in the building and you manage to survive,
but then you get caught by a late flank.
And I think there's, of all the three rounds that have been won by one of 30 at this point,
there has been a late flank, at least for what I can recall.
But on the side of those early rounds, you jump in, you think you've got one player down,
but these setups for one of 30 have been great.
been great. Lots of long-range engagements using those DMRs with P.A. Cogs, using the
power of that caliber destruction to shoot through the soft walls and use those as sight lines.
It has been strategically really good on the side of 1 of 30 and SSG does not, or at least
not yet, show that they have an answer for it.
Space Station really likes the fast takes. We saw them in the first two rounds. They
go back to the top floor of Almsley where they found some success. It was mostly limited.
They got the space but didn't get the kills last time they tried the strategy on master
So they're gonna try a bit of a different approach once again. They're like to change their attacks up here on shallay
They're going for more of a map here this time around
Raid entering in through the bottom floor packer does exist down here in the basement. He's just actually inside a blue hall
So merely to a gunfight there, but back up to the stairs
So annoying in round four just previously we saw him be that thorn in their side
They're kind of dedicating Raid's entire kit just to hunting him down and forcing him out
But Packer's playing really passive with this
He's not giving the gunfight over towards the demos and he's wasting a lot of the time and a lot of the attention from this SSG attack
Finally you find Bino
He shoots that drone away
Oh my
Yeah, I'm not a shocker here the amount of utility they're gonna use to try and trap you know in this position
What did I say about not having tons of intel nice line up from Bino?
It does not help aid and they know that he's looking in that direction
Packer is there for some coverage to a perfect flash a
Volcan might be able to take you know down it will accomplish his goal. That's giddy now
It's rival looking for a duel with Packer
He greets with open arms shuts him down and it's control of trophy on the side of space station
They have watched as some of their soldiers had been felled, but one of their he's lost to
2, 2, 3v3, which is a little bit over a minute to go, Jesse.
Yeah, not as clean as they were hoping, but they do eventually kill Packer and Beano.
That was the roamers that they were dealing with. They didn't know Packer's position was the biggest problem in that roam clear.
It could have been a little bit cleaner if they had him on lock. 3v3 defense, lots of utils still for the defenders.
They've got both Willi and Yeager to stop some of these throwables from clearing them out,
and the mirror windows from Mike W will provide a lot of assistance to the truck to slow down this defense.
Really important to force these players back, but
Capitile Fireball's hoping to accomplish it, but might just not have to move off this window.
Magnet Ripping.
Not a very strong spot to be in for a mirror, and you can
look long range, you'll get smoked out, though, that allow them to take more control of
Stellarium in the Sinus Base Station. Two players now in that position.
Silo will be the first line of defense, tucked in really tight to the corner.
If Rival only knew that he could inch up and shoot a little bit to the right, he could capitalize.
Oh, my stylo and my WNL doubling up, diffuser surrendered.
Giddy got a kill earlier, he'll find a second on the way out.
I might be looking to correct myself yet again, Jesse.
One of thirty is dummying Space Station on this first half of Chalet.
And I hate to say it, Parker, but I'm getting some flashbacks all the way back to Night Haven Labs.
Not that the rounds are playing out necessarily similarly, but just like before,
All the tack timeout, part way through the first half, and there's no real adjustment.
Yes, you've got information on one roam, but that's great that they had no idea of Packer's
position.
Maybe they had a clue about it, they did eventually trade him out, but the fact that
Packer's able to get one and Bino's able to get one on that roam, when there is so much
of an advantage over towards SSG thanks to that Util, it just sets up that late round
so nicely, and yeah, it was a 3v3 push, but I really thought 1 of 30 were the advantage,
consistently thanks to the hard work of Packer and Vino playing down below the bomb site.
They didn't mind if they got drones, they didn't mind if there was a damless track because
they knew they could still hold their angles, protect each other, win those fights and keep
the man count exactly where it needed to be.
One of 30 very dangerous that they could be going up 5-1 on the defense side of Chalet.
I'll remind you again, Space Station Gaming, a far better attacking team than on the defense.
19 percentage points to separate those two staffs from the group stage
Yeah, I mean you don't you don't have to know ball at this level to seek to know that well
This is the better side for space station and they are struggling on it
They won't be able to diagnose this because there's only one more round left
Then we get to defend and hope that maybe the math works in that favor
I mean, I understand what Packer was trying to do here. It's not a terrible idea
That is that is a catch you off-guard completely unprepared for it surprise you and maybe win the round
They've also got a mic W now for insurance. This is
All right
Very all in on stopping space station. I'm getting into the building. I don't hate it. Obviously. It's it's it didn't work
Yeah, now you've lost the soulless, but I
Agree and he's kind of the right response Packard dies, but he's had an incredible last couple of rounds was feeling himself
you're not that upset about losing this game.
They can be nice to try to deny the plant if they're playing above,
but usually you kind of expect this to take that top 4 control anyways,
so end of the day, you're not too upset about that.
Second goal here is going to be clearing out Library.
That's exactly what they're worried about.
Sylo is kind of playing just in the entrance and Volsper is here as well.
No one's in the corner, which is often what you see from these defense teams.
They've got the capits out if there was a player there,
But still the U2O is going to be very awkward to force out, right?
They've got the Yager, they've got the Wami, they've got so many of these resources to stop us from clearing up above.
They might just have to send you to site.
He knows there.
He gets flashed, he's a little bit too close to that one.
Volsper guns down range. Does Aiden think he's got the clear to hop on in?
Does he think nobody's watching in his direction?
He'd be wrong if he thought that was the case.
Nice play by rival to get Sylo on the hatch.
That's when Sylo's going to walk back.
All this ground being taken, but then immediately falling away, they don't expect Aiden still in this position as Mike W and Beano get two.
Aiden and Dream standing the test and Mike W will need to clutch out.
And 1-30 wants to stretch their lead even more, he will have to be the savior.
If yous get getting planted, Dream repositioning Mike W going for a much later flank than you expected,
he'll now head up over towards Lobby.
He doesn't have a lot of intel to play off of, I don't know if he's doing fed comms from
his teammates, but this is going to be a really daunting task.
Diffuse kit, close enough to the hatch and the window where some serious damage can be
done by either of the remaining attackers.
They really just need to wait him out at this point, Jesse.
He doesn't need to give too much.
The moment they hear him get on that diffuse kit, one of them can easily find him.
Giving him some patience.
He's sticking it, count to three and there you go.
They swing at the same time, and SSG picks up their second round in the first half.
It's in the books though, four to the scoreline, one of 30, just eking them out.
Nice to be able to get a little bit of a lifeline back, Parker.
Space station gaming still very much in this matchup, but the second half does remain on
Chalet.
We've got our studio to break it down.
Thanks guys.
This one has been maybe not exactly what we expected coming out of that second map, SSG,
the momentum. Maybe it was there early in this map, but hasn't quite translated to these
later few rounds. Let's take a look back at how this all began. A big moment for Aiden
in the very first round of this game and how SSG got off to a good start.
They're shaking keep applied pressure every round. They could they're just gonna lose more and more
I mean they can't recover. I
Mean that's the kind of energy that we've seen from this team. It's so infectious
It just makes you smile, but that's what they can do now, of course things shifted a bit four to two now
They're down. They need to find that again. Yeah, they almost lost five rounds in a row immediately after that
I mean it's good to showcase on they are getting hyped after one round
But it's it's quick to show how fast things can easily fire out of control
But at least for the side of 1 of 30, I mean one thing I've really liked and Parker even said himself
They've been very strategically sound on this map
They have a great counter play of how they want to burst SSG when you think of how SSG plays
They do a very good job at playing those cutoffs using those shields for power position gang control and their team
You don't want to let them set up getting into that mid to late round and the second they do they get picked apart
But what they're doing really well is stalling out that time bringing on castles bringing out mirrors
using shotguns to make long rotates that is constantly being a thorn in the side of ssg just to get into the building
Let alone getting into the fight. Yeah, and one of 30 is adding that extra layer
They get that first pick they slow it down and make it that much harder for ssg to find opening
So that first round of Aiden getting hyped saying there's no traps everything it woke 1 of 30 up
They started running way more traps fighting on the entry early on and making sure that they could stall out
So she's long as possible and even if that first round didn't feel like it for one of 30
It's been very clear. They have come prepared for this game
I believe right like they don't strike us always as the team that's gonna have all the coaching staff and all the
Institutional knowledge, but they've prepped and they look ready to go right now up two rounds over SSG
Now it's SSG who have to make a comeback happen. Back to you guys
Thank you very much and very well put and always nice from the desk says nice things about my analysis too.
I think the most troubling aspect was something we actually talked about Jesse.
This space station team is significantly better on attack than defense.
Now that doesn't mean they're bad at defense.
It just means that in theory and in isolation they should be running up the score on attack on most of these maps.
But then once again, you have to take the other things into account.
Is it a defender sided map?
How favorable is the sight rotation for the attackers?
How are the operator bands doing?
Stylistically, how do they match against their opponents?
Again, these teams are very evenly balanced.
And I think when you look at this map score,
going up 4-2 defending on Shelly is not abnormal
if you ignore which teams they're playing
and what their overall stat line is.
So for space station, I don't think the end
is as near as it might suggest.
I like what I've seen from 1 of 30.
I think they've got confidence
I think they have the overall strategic element, but do not count on SSG yet because I think they're good for at least a couple more rounds
And that can ultimately determine whether they walk out of here facing five years tomorrow or down in the lower bracket
Where their next run begins. I mean, I'll tell you this Parker if SSG are gonna come back and win this chalet
They need to be getting more out of raid when they beat Wildcard in the first stage raid was their highest rated player
Maybe outlasts in the group raid was their highest rated player when they won back two of this series
Raid was the highest rated player six rounds on Chalet. He's yet to find a kill
We know how good this guy is youngest player in the league
He's been really impressive so far on space station gaming hasn't been able to show up on this side air map now on Chalet
This is the most important game that he has played in his very brief professional career. We need more
Absolutely down goes rival be no taking note prisoners. They don't have to take control, but they do talk for right now under their thumb
Aiden tucked in the bathroom will gun down Packer and immediately head for the hills closer to the bomb site
That's the right read because it's just him and Giddy left in the span of a minute and 15 seconds
One of 30 has snapped their fingers and over half of this SSG team has disappeared
Not an ideal spot to be in they will now recoup and hope that one of 30 does not
Continue on their reign of terror a nice shot from Aiden
One thing I will say, Win or Lose, Aiden has shown up enormously for this SSG team and deserves all the accolades that he can get, but it's far more than just a one-man show.
The good news for 1-30, Jesse, because this happens so fast, even if you did lose a couple pieces, you have plenty of time to settle in and think about your next steps over the next minute and 15 seconds.
Not a bad spot for Aiden and Giddy, though. Giddy's gonna reposition through the basin to get up towards West Main. That'll kind of be an unexpected position if they're not watching it through the verts.
Aiden uses his last talks with Babe now to stall things out over towards Trophy Stairs
and it's a free beyond to Balford, gets the down and surely finished off.
Aiden has got three big picks Parker and is dragging SSG back into this round.
He's the blitz over towards Solar Stairs.
They're going to have full information where this push is coming from.
You were calling for a hero and Aiden heeded that call, now getting Scott to cross onto the shield of Bino.
Mike W will be the lone member to support him.
Aiden still watching those stairs from long enough away. This is a very good spot for Giddy. Giddy just unfortunately lets him go past.
Now it's my W with some freedom, but Giddy guns him down and Aiden goes huge!
A round that seemed all but certain for one of 30 falls apart and if that man on your screen is the reason for it, huge moves by Aiden and SSG now, trail by just one round.
You heard the communication at the halftime how important Aiden's voice is to this team
And I think you saw it just there in the player reaction cam too. What a round from Aiden
It starts beautifully from one of 30 discretion to office works exactly as they intended to the ramp plus the ying plus the blitz
It's such a good combo to take that top floor control
But then little mistakes continue to cost them that pick on the loss
There's a tragic one that they're gonna look back on let's Aiden get them back into a man count even situation
then clutches up with the SMG-11, his positioning on that site was so critical, used those toxic babes well, found those frags.
Just an incredible performance coming out from Aiden as he continues to be one of the best players in North America League.
Second highest rated report today began with a 1.1 KPR. He has been so incredible since joining this SMG-4.
Broke 50 kills earlier, not the first one in the NAL to do that, that was actually Mike W, you thought of I think a round or two before and that was because of Mike W's very impressive first map.
Volsper has been the story for this one of 30 team though, an absolutely, you should say,
curculean effort when it comes to this team. And of course right now, so we have 30 kills
for this best of three. That means he's averaging 10 kills a map. That is an eye-watering number.
You don't usually see that from a lot of players. Nobody is remotely close. Aiden is next in line
with one T5, which is still like a full round behind if we were to ace. So,
Volsper showing off, the rest of the team has been doing okay.
You got the usual suspects towards the bottom. Packers having a bit of a bad day, but again,
maybe one of 30 decided that Packer would be on a different role. Then Volsper and allow him to
play a little bit more aggressively. If that was the goal of one of 30, it has certainly worked.
Granted, SSG stands one round behind now, so it's anybody's game.
Finch and Genoke going back to that last round part where Aiden historically has played the Denari on that bomb site inside of KitchenAid.
It's not usually thought of as a site player, so maybe switching roles a little bit.
The operator bans may be influencing that a bit as well.
Finds so much success on the first defense for SSG.
Now they get to defend up on the top floor as well.
They can try to lock things down with a little bit of a roam game, both Giddy and Aiden playing down below the site.
It's gonna be something that one of 30 should have to address.
There's not that much pressure over towards the library side,
but these players down below could be a big problem if they're not cleared out properly by 1 of 30.
Reloading, cover me.
They're pretty good on their drone work on both taps, to be completely honest.
So 1 of 30 should be able to locate these players.
It really just depends on clock management at this point in time.
The jig might be up for Giddy here, Jesse, as the logic bomb goes off.
He's one of those players that you mentioned that was playing down below,
he could have easily cut Bino off of that position on Repel, but it will slip through his fingers.
He could be a little bit of a slow execute so far for 1-30.
I don't think they knew he was there. I mean, they had the logic bomb, maybe that ticked him off,
but it's a little bit cold B. There was a player out on the solar Repel, so maybe an opportunity.
50 seconds left in the round. They've got to be careful with this clock. 1-30 do not have a single
tick, and they're still going to be the solos below the site.
Raid takes down Packer, 1 of 30 looking for some blood. They'll get it.
Vulsper, spilling raids. That was Raid's very first kill, and it comes in round number 8.
They take charge right now through office rivals, the next one to fall.
SSTC reduced to just 30, 1 of 30, hoping that their lead continues to grow.
They watch their momentum get blunt a little bit in the previous round.
Dream will need to save it alongside Aiden. Aiden maybe just warming up.
He's taken Mike down read dream and Aiden side by side. You do not want a collateral to happen if you're getting planted
He gets it. Oh my god. Aiden might have just done it again
Silo the last one standing of one of 30
It's these final moments of the round that have been the undoing of the team on the left side of your screen
Silo will come up empty-handed and space station is tied the game
The nightmare from New Orleans will do it again. Aided in the late round just seems like an unstoppable force.
That nitro cells go through the wall was so brilliant Parker. The fact that he didn't have an exact line of sight, didn't know exactly what the plant was going down but could hear it.
That's exactly what he needed. He used that information to toss out the nitro, win a round that absolutely should have been in the possession of 1 of 30.
They didn't have any of that utility coming back in from the bottom floor.
So what do they do?
Well, they just stand tall inside the site.
They deny that plant and they get themselves a tie game up against one of 30.
What a ridiculous round to come through from space station gaming.
Yeah, I think this is the time you call your tactical timeout.
That's two backbreakers in a row.
You need to at least do that for posterity's sake.
To be honest with you, I think it's a good idea.
time out. That's two backbreakers in a row. You need to at least do that for
posterity's sake to try and get people's heads back in the game. Even if they say
they are, this team is not playing the way that it needs to. I credited through
that first half how good this team was in the beginning of the rounds. We didn't
really see that much room at the tail end and now that we're starting to get an
idea of how they attack in the final 30 seconds of a round, it's not been that
good they lack a lot of information whether it be because the drones are
getting shot out or they're just simply rushing things and not expecting
space station to move I'm not entirely certain what the culprit is but the end
result is all that matters and the end result is that there were two rounds in
a row that probably should have gone in the wind call but one of 30 and yet
neither of them did both of the times Aiden was just simply unable to give up
hope and he willed his team to the finish line. The man's been incredible so far. The
whole rest of the team's been doing okay and Aiden obviously benefits for the intel and
the rest of the squad and again that leadership to help him. But there was a reason why he
was not on the MV squad Jesse. And we're seeing it here on full display. He is an error to
deal with.
Well I was in a conversation with Aiden a couple days ago Parker and he talks to me
a lot about his career and the journey that he's taken and he wasn't even
initially supposed to get a tryout for that MV squad. It was a cancelled tryout
that ended up allowing him to play in his first scrim and eventually get picked
up to tier one. Now signed with Space Station playing alongside Raid and some
legends of the game like Dream. I mean it has truly been incredible the journey
he has gone from just being a console kid who played in those Jinxie
tournaments to now here on the biggest stage in North America. Only a couple
days away from qualifying to a major if they can take down 1 of 30 and then 5
beers in the upper bracket but not get ahead of ourselves. 1 of 30 I think it's still played a
really good game here on Xiaowei. I've overall liked their attacks, it's just been
falling apart at the end. They can use that timeout to settle their nerves a
little bit, calm down, slow down some of these late rounds and not get so caught up
in forcing a plant. There is still some hope for this team.
Oh, absolutely, and I did say right at the onset, and I feel a little vindicated here,
that this was likely to go deep.
With the scoreline being what it is, the likelihood of overtime has skyrocketed.
It would be the first OT that we see.
Both of these teams won their maps in pretty decisive fashion.
But Chalet has been a completely other beast.
We've made lots of small mistakes that are committed that have unfortunately snowballed
into something much larger on both sides of this map.
Attack and defense.
One of 30 though, I hope that timeout
has been used effectively for them
to figure out the final 30 seconds of the round
because a lot of the time, Jesse, two more points.
Strategically wise, the first two minutes have been great.
It's the last moments.
Arguably, the most important, that need to be fixed.
That's a small error though,
as Eno misses that flashbang.
Small stuff like that could add up.
It also shows the mirrors, Jesse.
Yeah, maybe a little bit of pressure getting to 1 of 30.
They know how critical this game is.
Chonoklear ends with a case as Hall.
Mike W, first one to strike.
He's able to find Dream who's playing close
towards the bomb site.
Still three roamers up above the site now.
Rival just in the library entrance as Miro window
remains intact.
All those asterisks got used and stayed with the Selmas,
but none of them were able to crack this mirror.
That could be problematic.
But Balls for Watson for two, never mind.
Get to a third, and it's Gideon the 1v5.
This is an unreal performance from Volsper up to this point.
We'll do some stat checking on him when all is said and done.
Get him, just victim of siege timing and a 4k from Volsper.
He kills just about everybody.
One of 30 will regain the lead.
Cannot kick themselves over the previous rounds.
They are still in fine form.
Two away from a date with five fears later in the upper bracket.
I mean, it is just perfect entry play and he has been doing this consistently throughout the map Parker the the ability of
Valsper to just take space
Finds the right moments to spot a gap run in and take it has been really impressive to watch
Even though there have been some mistakes obviously that kitchen attack where he dies up above
That's an unfortunate one
But his ability to be that entry player that primary entry for one of 30 grab that space for his team
Get that multi-kill and then hype up the team a little bit too. Why not?
You just got a 4k give us a little screen get everybody a little bit hyped up
That's exactly what you want to see from a guy like Balsper who again
Struggles in the regular season struggled in the group stage wasn't really able to find any positive games
But it's looked like a completely different player here in the playoffs by far has been the best guy on one of 30 for my money
You're all three minutes
Yeah, I know that some people might give you a little bit of
A little bit of flak for that one saying,
yeah, of course the guy with, you know,
30 some kills is the best player on the team.
Yeah, sure, but it's so much the kills.
It's how those kills are happening.
And Volspar's doing a lot of this on his own.
He's miles ahead of Mike W.
And the rest is sitting at 36 kills now
through this best of three.
Offer 13 kills more than he did
through the entire group stage.
and there's still at minimum two more rounds left here on Shalloway to be played.
Who knows, there could be more.
He's not, as far as I'm aware, he's not within striking distance of any of the best of three records.
I need to dust off the record books there, but I mean, this is still an incredible performance.
After he with 36 kills, it's Aiden with 27, Mike W with 23, and then Rival at 21 and Silo at 20.
Silo's been very quiet, racking up 20 kills in his role.
He's just been doing his job and he's a name that we haven't really settled off,
but that's because so much that spotlight has been on Volsper.
Aside from that though, the team is doing really well and they've managed to start out their mistakes.
Crazy to think that this one could be over if some small mid-steps have not been committed
just a couple of moments ago in the previous two rounds, but so it goes,
and 1 of 30 will now need to mentally move on as we have.
And look to close this one out. Space Station will hope to tie it back up.
Best of three kill record is 55. We've just not had a long enough series. Frankly, the first two maps, two decisive. They're not really in the combo.
Runout, certainly in the combo for Giddy. It does get caught, unfortunately. Picks a lot of damage outside of Big Garage, and now is starting to get pinned down as the rest of one of 30 collapsing on this position.
He was going for that runout a few rounds ago, decided he was better off not making the play. Probably should have made that same decision this time, Parker.
time Parker he remains in big garage and has many different angles to fight well he just gets
fed into bino he had to dodge whether or he had to make a decision do i try to dodge that candela
or do i take the man directly and maybe get blinded by the candela it was a a decent decision by
giddy and not a spot that many people want to be in bino punishes him for that and now you see the
drum work going off we talk about information how integral it is there's not a lot of intel operators
that have been used by 1 of 30 on this side of Chalet, but Brava might not seem like an intel
op, but she absolutely uses it, actually if those clutch drones are used to hack other cameras.
Keep that in mind, because Packer might be using it to full effect. Oh, Dream gets run over by Mike
W. Volsper dies to Aiden. That's two Titans colliding. Raid gunned down by Mike W. So Volsper's
God that's the one too much of this one of 30 teams so far. But leaves Aiden and Rival as the
last two standing. But Aiden's been here before. He's clutched out against worse numbers. If you
get going down by Bino, Aiden and Rival cannot stop it. It will go down successfully, both controlling
the hatch from above in very similar positions. This is a bit worrisome. One might want to go down
through Solarium into Trophy. The other might still want to watch the hatch. Aiden in this position
gets backer amidst that gas. They are double stacked. Silo gets one, Bino gets the other,
and what a 30 moves to theory's point. Aiden is but a man, and even for him, that
cluster's just a little bit too difficult. Parker, if they were able to find that plant before it
goes down, they got a real chance, but unfortunately they find it just a second too late. Rival through
the hatch eventually spots it out, but at that point, barreling down the solar stairs is too
difficult of an entry point. You mentioned it, Mike, having a really big
rounds there, being that spearhead after Valsper is the first one to die, makes a
really big difference and it shows the depth on one of 30 as well. Even if one
of your primer entries goes down, you've got a guy like Mike W, Mr. President
himself, able to step up and take those fights, take that space. It comes as a
side of those makes some space with the team as well, so everybody is really
together on these pushes and that's the story of the map. Has it not for one of
How together they are, how coordinated they are as a group, their ability to push in, take space,
or not like Chalet, has just been, I think, the difference maker, putting them ahead of SSG so far through these first 10 rounds.
Very impressive stuff's crossed the bottom, and now they've earned themselves, as you said, two opportunities to close this one out before OT.
It's not that I really wanted to try and get talking points here, but one of the things that Reddit picked up on very, very quickly with the Space Station team
was how good the entry players were and how much confidence their roamers were playing with.
You know, we would often hear in North America, oh, there's a new fragger on the scene,
but a lot of times there would be a pretty passive entry.
Give credits to SSG here. Aiden, Raid, Rival, these guys play with a level of fearlessness,
even if they're not all on entry rolls.
That was really nice to see now. It could be them as a player, it could also be the way that the team is built around them.
But it's 1 of 30 who's stolen that spotlight today, and it lines up with the point you just made.
The entry from 1 of 30 has had so much teeth behind it, and they've just been biting chunks out of this SSG defense round after round.
Yeah, it's not just that the entry was so good for Space Station, the group stage, but it was frankly quite bad for 1 of 30 in their group stage.
I mean, I said it a million times, but like, Volsper is just looking so much better here in the playoffs, it's been excellent to see his growth.
Now they'll have an opportunity to again close things out in regulation. They're attacking up towards the top floor
This was a bombsite that SSG were able to win last time around. It did come off of some
Heroics from Aiden on the balcony, but in the end this was a successful play from them
So hopefully SSG can try to replicate that, force us into a 12th round of regulation
Giddy has moved over to the clash, which has really caught my eye. He was on the soulless last time around
It was not finding a lot of success for him down inside the basement
So completely changes the type of operator he's playing on and hopefully can slow down this push from 1 of 30
Make it more difficult for those entries to take space and take kills
First logic bomb goes you hear the howl of the King Delas is now silo will follow up his made arm to library stairs
Everybody is blinded
Great having a really poor performance will go one and nine and that might be it if one of 30 is able to overpower
What remains of space station dream dies as well?
Rough go of it for the astronauts one of 30 now
charting their course
Looking for an opportunity to take down five fears in the upper bracket semi finals the winner of that series will move to the Salt Lake City
Major
SSG's left with rival and Aiden Aiden will need to clutch again. He's been in so many clutch positions
He's got packer. That's a start now
Now he's got Silo as well, but the clock will run out,
Bino shuts him down, and one of 30 takes the series.
Massive round from Silo, he steps up big time.
Parker goes positive for the first time in his professional career
and gets one of 30 over the line.
Such an impressive match, such an impressive team.
Going from group stage to this, they look night and day so much better.
You heard of what the conference before this series began,
you saw it in the server and you'll get to see it again in a couple of days.
When they move on, it's like five fears.
Absolutely incredible stuff.
How do you wild card and M80 follow that one up?
We'll find out.
This is our next match.
It's just moments away.
Sit tight.
We'll be right back.
One of 30 have a date with five fears for a spot at the Salt Lake City Major.
What a start to the playoffs.
One of 30 come out defying expectations, take down SSG and we have not seen the end of their
run yet.
We have got Bolsper standing by so we're going to welcome him in now.
My God, Bolsper, tell me right now how this is feeling.
We were talking about this all map Parker was talking about this all series.
You go from dropping what 23 kills over four maps to absolutely going nuclear 37 kills
over three maps.
What's it like in your shoes right now?
It feels great.
It's definitely like a weight off my shoulders.
You know, I definitely put a little bit too much pressure on myself.
I think week one, um, and you know, just to come in and buy, put in, you know, the hard
work shows, you know, it's, it feels great.
Yeah.
I mean, I can imagine big game from you, big win.
My question is more around, we got a chance to, to see the communication between you guys
after map two on clubhouse that last round of be no dying to the Vulcan canister.
And my question to you is obviously you want to be able to have some fun, right?
You lose your black beard opening round.
you lose the map, you just want to be able to shake it off.
But in my opinion, it felt like you guys were a little too
shaking it off.
Like no one was upset.
Are you asking a question or are you standing on a plane?
No, I'm asking a question.
I'm saying, like, is there a level,
we can't hear all of the communication.
My question is just, is there a level
of which the fun and games has cut out?
Did you guys mention that after the map itself
or something to be a little bit more tighter on the droning
or going slower?
Is there a level?
Yeah, that's my question.
That's a question.
I would say that last round, we had a plan.
It was kind of a preset thing and Bino died.
And we didn't have like the right U-Tiller hop.
So Packer called it for it to be a broken round.
And let's just try to find in, get gaps, find kills.
Obviously I failed at doing that.
But I don't know, I think our, we take it serious.
You know, we work hard, but I think our silliness
silliness and our our our friendship, you know really keeps us above teams because um
You know what I mean? We just laughed at that. I mean like what what what we're gonna do that?
That's that's being of the carrot. That's what we call him the carrot. Um, I mean, he's uh, he's a little he's a little guy
What why you call him the carrot?
um
There's some lore by those who know those who know yeah, I would say those who know um
Um, maybe he'll, uh, he'll expose it one day.
All right, for sure.
Well, those first one, I want to congratulate you guys on the win.
That was a very much needed win, especially after the regular group stage.
But going back to the group stage, you guys got that one win over a hundred
thieves that was desperate need of a win.
Obviously gave you those four points, even sit to where you guys are now.
What's kind of been the process for you guys kind of taking everything and what
happened in the group stage, having that week break, then coming into today's match
and just being able to look like a night and day difference of a team than what
we were seeing throughout that group stage?
I think the week before the stage and the week after our first three games,
we didn't have the best scrims.
We didn't really stick to our goals too well.
And, you know, I think we caused more problems than fixed.
So this last week, we just, you know, you got to humble yourself.
You know, we wanted more.
We expected to maybe get two or three wins group stages.
You know, we have a lot of confidence in ourselves, so...
Well, clearly you do, isn't your status part in itself?
Yeah, yeah, so just kind of humble ourselves, you know, and actually work through our problems,
you know, every day is a struggle.
We don't have, like, a clean day of scrims because we work through our issues.
So just really focusing on our problems, you know, as individuals.
I think that's a big thing, it's improving as individuals.
That just makes you a better team, so I think that's...
I think just better scrims have been just, that's helped an insane amount.
Absolutely. And just one last thing, and this isn't a question for you to answer.
Just whenever we wrap this up, if you just want to send me a picture of those
Katanas in the back, I'd love that. I have a couple Katanas back at home myself.
Yeah. Yeah. No, I'll, uh, I'll let you know about that.
All right. Sounds good.
All right, both. But thank you so much.
We will see you in that match against five fears in just two days time.
So get prepared, get ready for that.
We look forward to seeing you out there.
Sweet. Thank you guys.
Thank you. What a win and what a performance from this guy.
I mean, the numbers speak for themselves.
The difference that this team showcased from the group stage
to now lacks, I mean, it really was wild.
Yeah, it definitely was.
And it's not what I was expecting,
because what we saw from game after game in group stages
was the lack of identity, the lack of being
able to adapt and understand where things are going wrong,
where things are going right, how they can fix these issues.
And throughout the first map, I mean,
it was a beautiful display of how well they understood
Night Haven Labs.
I talked about their map being not being that strong.
They pull out Night Haven Labs.
Wonderful map from them.
Great place.
We hop into Clubhouse.
It was a little bit of not understanding
how to play that map.
The trades weren't necessarily there.
Now was a bigger question of, OK,
you go from a high to a low.
How do you bounce back?
Where is the resilience from these guys?
An immediate adaptation.
Straight out the gates of understanding the counter play,
how they can get this map going in the favor.
How they can get these gunfights going in the favor.
And it was just, again, a night and day difference
in terms of what we've seen out of all five players.
Yeah, in map three, that's when we saw the adaptations.
I yelling from Packer be able to come in full force because they really understood what SSU was doing
It wasn't a moment of oh our preparation was good. We know how it's that she's gonna play
They just adapted very well. They understood the win condition for SSG
They were packing head-on to be able to slow them down on their
Defenses and be able to make SSG be very uncomfortable because that was a SSG strength is getting the first pick
Yeah, locking down the site and getting picks that way and what do we see?
We saw 1 of 30 fight early on, win or lose the pick, they fall back down the site, they were not moving.
They were not giving SSG a leg back in the game, forcing SSG to execute and vice versa on their attacks.
There was a lot of times where they'd get the first pick and explode on the site altogether.
Never giving SSG a moment to get those suffocating kills out, waiting for it to get into the last couple of seconds.
They were very, very smart on their time management. They understood in that final map exactly how to beat SSG.
Absolutely.
The run for SSG is not over yet.
They still have a chance here as they are sent down to the lower bracket,
but a big deal for one of 30.
They now play five fears for a spot at the Salt Lake City Major.
Speaking of, we hinted at a giveaway earlier and it's going to happen right now.
You got to be very careful in the Twitch chat.
An exclamation point will immediately get you timed out.
All you have to do to enter is type Major and you will be automatically entered
to win two tickets to the Salt Lake City Major in just a few weeks over the next few minutes.
We'll be collecting entries.
If you win, you'll get a DM from one of our wonderful Twitch mods and some details on
how to collect.
There'll be two winners today, two winners tomorrow, all the way through the rest of
the playoffs.
So again, to win tickets to the Salt Lake City Major, you can type major in Twitch Chat
to make that happen.
As we collect those responses, we're going to step aside.
got MAD and wild card coming up your way next.
So don't go anywhere.
We'll be right back.
One best of three down, one of 30 move on, but our next match is sure to be a good one
as well.
M80 and Wildcard go toted.
So we'll bring you an updated bracket picture as to how things stand right now after that
victory.
We said five fears.
They will now be playing 1 of 30.
That will happen in just two days time.
Meanwhile, DarkZero await the winner of that M80 wild card
game with SSG moving down to the lower bracket.
I mean, maybe it wasn't the way that SSG wanted to start,
but with two chances here, it's not over yet.
I mean, if you're SSG and you've got Cloud9 as opposed to SR,
you're still going to be very comfortable.
It's an opportunity for you to make your way all the way
through the lower bracket.
We've seen it happen every single time.
team falls to the lower bracket.
They go undefeated, so at the end of the day,
I think there was a lot of good to take away from SSG.
Can't be upset about their place.
And SSG, as an organization, obviously not this roster.
That's true.
They have a pension for lower bracket runs
and finding a lot of success.
They did this a lot last year.
But we'll dive into the action for this series here.
SSG aside, it is M80 and Wildcard.
Two of the more legacy teams.
Not a lot of youth, not a lot of rookies here, Lax.
We look at Wildcard.
We look at a team that has consistently struggled
well domestically. We brought up this talking point coming into day one of kickoff. They
do not perform well domestically. They have to find a way to beat that pattern now. Yeah,
the big question for me is will history repeat itself? As we've seen time and time again
with this wild card roster is they always had punch at the middle of the pack whenever
it comes to group stage. It's certainly not the songs and prayers that we give these
guys whenever it comes to a land event. Regionally, they just underperform, but the second they
They get into playoffs and most recently in the playoffs to make Munich, they would end
up making Munich and they would end up being one of the best teams outside of M80 going
on to win the entire thing.
But then again, once they get to land, they always perform.
So I'm expecting a lot better showing coming into playoffs, just similar above even what
we saw at 1 of 30.
They were able to bounce back from one game to the next into the next map and then they
ultimately close out the entire series, now putting them one step away from SLC.
I think something that happened when it came to interregional play is a lot of it was big
individual plays that would scrape them by because they were better than the average team in that ale
then they go to the event and they power up but since picking up adrian it seems like there's a
little bit of a difference in the way that they've been underperforming because adrian's been doing
amazing he's way better in position as opposed to dash but the rest of the roster rolls wise feels
like they're just missing the mark well i'm glad that you're talking about roles and something
that we're talking about specific individuals because there's two players that if you want to
talk about this roster they have to be mentioned and it has to be Bay and
baby shark particularly I want to focus on baby shark here because for me when
we're looking at how he's playing now he plays a standard entry but not the
standard entry in terms of how it's actually played he plays a far more
passive sort of entry which typically that's not what you want from an entry
player you want them to be able to get into the nitty gritty of things you want
them to be able to take that map you want them to be able to get that opening
pick similar to players like new words like Andy so for me I want baby shark to
kind of play a little more aggressive here so the rest of the team can kind of
shape out the rest of the round especially when we've talked about
Spiker's struggling. Now pivoting onto a player like Bay. A lot of Bay's success
really comes on his defensive path because he's so good at being that
defensive player. He understands the structure, he understands the personal
awareness of positions and that for me is where Bay really shines is because he
always knows where to put himself strategically being able to take one
gunfight or two gunfights and then being able to fall off of that. So far I
I believe he's played 17 rounds on defense,
only getting 13 kills, I believe, in some of those rounds.
So for me, if he can kind of find either of these players,
find comfort in where we've seen them time and time again,
that's when I think everyone else
will start to piggyback off of that.
And especially on a player like Spiker,
where he is taking on those roles of Dash,
being able to play those shields,
being able to pivot, maybe onto a more supportive Havana
or Thermite, whatever it's needed,
if that's only gonna make it easier
if those players are finding far more comfort
within their own realm.
It's a team that's been curious as to why they're struggling, right?
Like they've addressed that on social media, like the scrims are going fine.
Why can't we translate that to game day, right?
Now, that hasn't been a problem for MAD.
They made a change.
They bring in action.
And so far, Fox, it's clearly been a productive change.
They're moving in the right direction.
But we know how these things take time.
They do take time.
Have they looked as dominant as MAD in the past?
No.
I think it's fair to say they aren't the same M80.
That being said, every player on the team in their interview
say that transitions like this, going from Ashen,
losing a support player like Kino,
it takes an immense amount of time
to get everybody comfortable on their new roles.
And before we got to this week, we actually highlighted,
was Ashen better in his position than Kino was?
Is the team doing better with Ashen as opposed to Kino?
And the answer is yes, he was.
They were doing slightly better
and they haven't had as much time as they had with Kino.
So hopefully with more time, it'll be better.
But my question was more who is the player that was going to be impacted the most with losing keynote?
It's Han cold and is he feeling a lot more comfortable in this role since losing keynote because not only is he having to play
Shields play support, but he now needs to make sure that somebody else is taking that secondary supportive role playing those difficult positions
Where he gets to be able to be on that flex
So it's very difficult to manage
four different players on who's going to be playing what flexible operator and
it's a lot for him to task and I wouldn't say he's doing better or worse
he's at the exact same area as he was rating was in the last year so it's not
a win it's not a loss and hopefully we can believe in the M80 where with more
time it will become successful and believe in Fabian's infrastructure I
mean it's proven us wrong time to time again they've won majors with it so you
know hopefully this will be another situation where they can prove us wrong
over the history of these two organizations have clashed quite a few times. I went back in the numbers. I think it was nine exactly with M80 holding an edge seven to two. But when this comes to the maps, especially recently with the addition of Fortress into the pool, we see some things shake up. Is that where Wildcard might be wanting to lean something new?
I mean, that's the beauty of the best of three, though, is you're most likely to get one of your
comfortable maps. The other opposing team is going to get one of their comfortable maps. And
the decider typically is a toss up between both teams and haven't, you know, maybe a little bit
of comfort there, maybe not so much. But end of the day, looking at this right out the gate,
already Wildcard is going to play one of their most comfortable maps. I mean, you saw this
displayed at SI. They were one of the only reasons why NA was on top of the charts in terms of
Fortress because they went flawless 4-0. So we're talking about comfortability on a map.
by all means wildcard has fortress in their back pocket and ready to showcase it where we've even
just recently seen m80 they didn't find success first g2 at si and they also didn't most recently
find success over five fears on this map as well so we're looking at this first map i think this
is going to heavily lead in the favor of wildcard if those changes are made when you play against a
team like wildcard with their map pool you're going to have to take out you're going to have to play
one of the lesser evils m80 banning clubhouse banning labs getting map like fortress they can play it
It's a good testing ground. We know it's going to be an uphill battle for Mady transitioning to cafe. It's one of that made his favorite maps that I believe they played in the regular stage in with that thrilling on it. But that being said, it's Mady. We believe that it's their game to win at the end of the day.
Wildcard hasn't really impressed us when it's come to the regular stage so far. So at the end of the day, I don't think it matters too much on the maps as opposed to will we see the wildcard that can perform at events show up today when it matters most? That's the question I agree with that, sir.
Well, this is a tricky situation and we'll welcome in intero and Jesse for this next part because we're looking at a situation now where M80 play
Wildcard the loser plays Shopify rebellion one of these three big organizations with a lot of international
Presence a lot of results will not be able to make the major that is not a situation. We thought we'd be it
No, certainly not and this is something that every every region to their credit is grappling with though, right?
This is not like a uniquely North American thing. There's only four spots for these regions and right now frankly
There's more than four good teams. So who goes that's the question add the five years through a spanner in the works here
And it's anybody's game
Yeah, I mean that's the thing right there were so many upsets throughout the group stage that now teams have been
Seasons of the racket and they might not like to the growing up against but you only have yourself to blame if you find yourself in that situation
The good news for these two teams, of course, they can just avoid that lower bracket by winning today
Yeah, that would that would be the easy way out fortress is up first guys. Have a good time
Thank you very much. It's just that simple right just win
Why doesn't every team in the region just win more? It's really quite that simple Jesse
But no, it won't be very simple today. These are two incredible teams. These are by almost every metric
These are the two most successful
Organizations coming from North America in international play over the last calendar year
And there is a high likelihood that one of them does not ultimately make this major
So who ends up coming out ahead if both of them had some pretty big roster moves
Losing a core component losing some of their identity in the process M80 lost keynote picked up ash and wildcard lost ash picked up
Adrian just see if I have to ask which team do you think emerged better off of the two?
Oh, that's a tough call Parker. I think I
Mean M80 have definitely been off to the races a lot stronger
I feel like their switch was less natural.
They had to change roles around a little bit more.
Gunners taking a bit more of a backseat.
He's playing a little bit more support,
a little bit more passive with Kino's departure.
So that's obviously been a bigger change for them.
But I also think that they've found better success.
I think time will tell.
I think both roster moves have the potential
to be quite successful for these two teams.
I know it's kind of a nothing but a grand turn.
I'm so sorry.
But I truly do feel that both of these teams
can find success with their new rosters.
I don't know as much if both of these teams
can find success on Fortress. I was pretty shocked to see M80 let this one through. Wildcard when
we saw this map debut as Eximitational were undoubtedly the best team not just in North America
but in the world. At this map feeding giants like Fyria, like Falcons, like SSG, they were so dominant
on this map and M80, they never won it ever. So I'm very surprised to see this map coming through.
If Wildcard can show up, and even the 80% of the team they weren't the Six Invitational,
I think it's going to be really difficult for them to hit in this first map of the series.
I mean, I agree with what you're saying here, but Wildcard looks like they've taken a much
farther step back for a lot of the other mainstays. I think of all of the regions,
out of all the teams in this region, Shopify Rebellion has taken by far and away the largest
step back but they didn't make a roster move so we often don't include them in
this like the angle of teams right it's it's usually wild card when we say well
they made a roster move and well they weren't as good as they were before
wild cards had to adjust spikers playing on shields that was dashes roll and
dash whether or not his individual stats were poor they were poor more often
than not it looks like he might have fit the team a little bit better now
Now, admittedly, this was a move that Dash seemingly pushed for because he was homesick,
so it's not really like Wildcard made this move themselves, and now they're dealing
with, you know, the self-inflicted knife wound to the heart of them and their fans.
But they made the best of it, picking up Adrian, who just finished second place at SI.
So he's obviously a talented player, Spike are adjusting to this position, still calling
from this role, and very quickly they are in the building, Jesse, less than a minute
into live action and they are already tantalizingly close to this bomb site as ROU projectors go.
Ashen drops baby shark is the first one dead. Wildcard cleaning up but then immediately
M80 answers back. You know me! Do a 2v2 they go. Hot and cold flushed out of his position by bay.
A stalemate now? A 2v2 with over a minute and a half to go? This is good stuff.
Yeah this is exciting. I mean now we're in this 2v2 spot. How do we adapt for Wildcard?
The rush didn't get what you were hoping for, it's a nice swing from Gunner, gives him the man advantage, puts the IGL into a 1v2.
This is very difficult to win on the Blitz, Spike will have to go big now, and knows seemingly the last few positions, knows their players around Horst, but can't win the fight.
Gunner, just too good into 2v2, steps up big time to lock it down and give the early lead to M80.
I like that entry. I like that they understood the assignment, right? You cut off a potential
flank that could deal with that cannon hallway that leads into the bomb site. So what do
you do? You throw the ROU projector down and you use a second set of smokes to block off
top white. There was a rotate in the soft wall there at the bottom of those tower stairs
that lead into the bomb site. That was a very critical spot that Hot and Cold was playing
because of the commotion in the site. He had to stay anchored in his position. He could
not go for a flank, and even if he wanted to, the smoke would have stopped him in his tracks.
It set up a lot of really isolated engagements that at the beginning favored this wildcard team,
but half of the server got cleared out in the span of 10 seconds or so. So kudos to M84 responding
to this great job by wildcard on their initial assault, especially with the crossfires they
established, but M80 was just a little too slippery, and I mean, hey, although these teams are very
They make deep runs at LAN events, but only one of these organizations are major champions.
So, if you want a major, and you got your major winning coach, and you got 4-5th that major winning roster,
they've seen some stuff, and they're probably prepared for it.
No, you're absolutely right, and it's true too that domestically, M80 have been far better than Wildcard.
Throughout the last couple of years, Wildcard have played, I believe, six stages of the North America League
and have never finished in the top three, which is ridiculous because they've finished top three internationally just never domestically,
which is a pretty rare stat to see, but something about these online games always seem to cost some primes for Wild Card.
We've seen it fit it after the kickoffs so far.
Again, good kind of tool play for Gunner and Gavin to lock things down in that first round.
We'll go to the other top floor site to keep things rolling, Parker.
It's going to be dorms for our second site here on Fortress,
and Wildcard will kind of take a different approach.
Knowing that they have to go for a full map clear,
they're not gonna start it with a rush
just like we've seen from them in round one.
So they start to clear up these roamers to Fuser,
maybe the most aggressive player here,
just inside of Museum,
hoping to play with Gavin not too far back.
They see Spiker.
He's able to do some damage.
Spiker also taking damage from the Razorbloom debuff.
Now his gunner dies, Wildcard striking first.
Very early actions so far through these two rounds.
Wildcard wanting to push the tempo up a little bit more.
It's their map.
They are presumably playing on the weaker side
since M80 got to choose that starting half.
So why not Wildcard set the tempo, set the pace.
Try to knock M80 off, because if you
can get away with two really quick rush strats
and find yourself a nice 2-0 lead,
hey, that's a third of the way through.
You've done an excellent job.
And then you can play maybe a bit more conventionally,
of course, assuming that rush strats are not
the conventional way that Wildcard plays.
And like they checked the tub, by the way, I think after the Holy Pox game, you gotta check that tub all the time because they didn't drone that and Team Liquid Alienware literally won a round because Holy Pox just popped up from that position and demolished the attackers.
Yeah, absolutely. They're daunting their eyes, they're crossing their T's and now as the road clear goes through, they can start looking towards the site, understanding that rush round one didn't go their way.
So they change tactics pretty dramatically apart clearing through the full map
Spikers got a way to try to get himself into the bombsite historically
Spikers love playing the maverick here to try to open things up stop any kind of bandit tricking
But starting they don't need it getting more value out of this blackbeard through the clear through that north side of the map
Except himself is up pretty nicely to go through this clutch if he can get himself to a plant spot
That could have been big but the fuser just crawls through to take him down
What is happening in this match?
I mean, theatrics obviously, but we expected that.
Kansan's got a couple of silhouettes that are just out of reach.
Almost dies in that position.
Han cold down on the board, shredding through age at 94.
Baby Shark will die shortly thereafter.
M80 through these mid rounds.
They see it thrive in the chaos.
They get all the right reads, they win all the gun duels, and Han cold screams so loud
he's scared his poor cat.
2-0.
Start for M80.
Yeah, you can see the emotion on the side of M80 and I really like what they're doing on these defenses Parker when things get slow and wildcard are just getting ready to set up.
M80 are swinging out, they're taking the initiative, they're making things happen even though they are the defenders.
It takes us all the way back to the very first series, the very first map when we had space station gaming versus one of 30.
One of the biggest criticisms we had was on their defense, SSG weren't really making those swings, they weren't making a lot of moves,
They were really just sitting in their spots and hoping to win the duels, and they were very active on these defenses.
Whether it's the fact that they're engaging so quickly on the roam, like we saw on this round earlier on on the north side of the map,
or whether it's just the late round movements, whether it's the user crawling out on his belly to be able to get a kill in the midst of that,
whether it's Gavin who now consistently has dropped 2k after 2k in the late round chaos, holding back through his team.
It's been really impressive to watch.
Lots of weapons on both teams, so far the offense though sputtering for wild card.
I like the idea again behind these these rush strats but if things fall apart early and
you can't recover it's quite tough.
I mean you saw it in the matchup that preceded this.
I know I'm just I'm look I'm not a man of short words.
But I see stuff like this and I just think I'm just not creative enough I've been playing a particular Pokemon inspired game on the Switch that also kind of plays like Minecraft and Stardew Valley and I see all these but I just went on YouTube once looked up a bunch of videos and this was my
This is my Pocopia home and I looked at it and I was like, yeah, I'm just too stupid for this.
There's no universe in which I can even come close to me and look that nice.
And then I see even some of the intricate setups that teams play and I'm just like, man, I'm so out of my depth here.
I do appreciate the creativity of the Denarii tripwires, especially the one that was found a long time ago,
where they just coiled it on the bottom and the moment you walked through the window, you just insta-died.
I'd be punching my monitor if that happened to me, so.
Good to see Gunner use it, though.
It's long been loving this Denarii and we're seeing it once again now.
being played on this bottom floor site, that hatch dropping into, uh, into sitting is such an important hatch to try to control whether it be the attack or the defense.
Curious if Wildcard will have much pressure up above, they think we're gonna ram, but this is going very horrid also, and it's a beauty shot from Adrien, which rips the head off of Gavin,
starting us off strong with a one-man lead. Now we start to see that burnt pressure from up above. It's pretty solo from Davey Shark,
trying to cause some distractions and seeing him hit towards the site.
I'm cold levels things out yet again and there's m80 once more it's Gavin using the razor bloom very rare to actually see a razor bloom kill usually just use to slow people down and do some damage maybe some displacement.
So kudos to them for that two rounds in a row now where Adrian has started off the bloodshed and while he doesn't really have a ton to show for it he gets an opening pick and then is very quickly traded back and the intel ops outside of the doke of your the ones that died at the hands of Wildcard big difference here round number one shield focus with a big deal.
Intel second round mostly shield focus to this one all Intel all the way
The holy triumvirate of the doka be the lion and the demos add fake to the mix if you really want but he's obviously banned
Still a lot of Intel there for wild card three very irritating operators deal with all this information wild card trail by one
Yeah, it's so awkward though. You don't have control of that. They gonna just sitting inside of there being able to hold things down
Spiker equalizes taking down hot and cold so that things maybe bodes well for the attackers the positioning
I still like from M80, but with 30 seconds left wild card could have an explosive execute to finish us off
Maybe sharks been having a bit of a rough stage
This is the time where he needs to come alive along with the rest of the team who was
Instrumental in their land runs down goes cans and at the head of Ashen at the hands of Ashen
So baby shark will need to do even more
He won't get it done ashen with two diffuser the final kill and that's all she wrote
and they are really not breaking much of a sweat so far.
Yeah, and one thing you can notice between all three rounds, Parker,
is Wildcard will take some moves to get close to the bomb site.
First round it was a rush, second round it was the roam clear,
third round it's kind of interesting, they're taking space towards the south side,
they get around to the site, but then there's always a pause
right before they go for the execute.
And whether it's them trying to bait out movements from SSG or from M80,
or whether it's them just trying to set up their utility,
Utility that pause always seems to screw them because if they go slow then sometimes that made he's not doing anything
And they're just wasting their own time if they try to go fast then they may be often are making swings
They're making those moves and it's catching wild card off guard
It's making it really difficult for them to try to make these aggressive plays and have success when they actually go for the
Executes because I think the early game has been relatively successful
But just converting those final pushes those final 30 seconds where wild card have really been struggling
big moment from Ashen of course the one to kind of close things down in that
third round he's playing against Wildcard for the 12th time in his career
but has just a 27% win rate versus his org because historically Wildcard had
ownership over SSG. It seems like and it's a low sample size so far but it
seems like Ashen's fortunes are changing as he's now moved over to M80.
Time out now finishes, great points across the board.
Opening kills for Wildcard, tell a bit of a story again.
The opening rounds, so good.
Go back to round number one, they almost got the opening duel.
Ooh, it was a trade, so even though technically Hot and Cold got kill number one, there was
a blink and you missed it back and forth between these teams.
So, in theory, all three rounds, Wildcard has been getting kills immediately the moment
the action begins.
Sometimes it's ahead of M80, one time it's literally a second afterwards, so the start
of the round are okay for Wildcard.
And I do wonder now, with this new look and this new identity, and Spike are changing things
up because the roles on the team have now forced them to do so.
If they think maybe on this map if M80 doesn't have the familiarity that we do, then we can
get away with playing cute and cheeky and ninth.
I think we are going to get a rehost here.
Sure, we'll get it sorted out.
Quick little tech pause.
Hopefully nothing too dramatic.
But in any case, this wildcard team
might benefit from slowing things down a little bit.
They just used their tactical time out.
And it seemed like we were getting in nicely
before the tech pause came through.
So a bit more time to dwell on the words of Ligonus.
He will not be able to talk with his team anymore, of course,
through the tech pause, but I can think about those words a little bit more.
Hopefully try to get themselves back into this game mentally.
I wonder if there's maybe some pressure to it as well, Parker.
Obviously, Wildcard have not had the best stage, but you come into what is
undoubtedly home turf in terms of fortress.
You were, in my opinion, and what most people would agree, the best
fortress team in the world, the first time this map was shown in competition.
4 and 0 at SI over some very, very good teams to go down 3-0 has got to be quite shocking,
especially because they've changed some strats up and certainly they've changed a player on the
roster. That'll make a big difference, but it's still the same map that they know and love. A
lot of the same styles of push are going to be the same that top floor clear over after clearing
the North Rome game was very similar to what we saw from them at SI. So I wonder if that's maybe
getting in their head a little bit and making them worry a bit about, okay, well, have we been
and found out how our straps been read too much.
Are we still that same fortress team
that we were back in Paris?
So apparently, there was an issue with the timeout
where the coaches were unable to speak.
So there has been a re-host due to that.
So we'll get that all sorted for you,
just trying to be as accountable and forthcoming
with you, the viewers, as possible.
Obviously, if you're calling the timeout,
probably want the coaches to talk to the players.
I think that's a pretty good thing.
To your point though, this is the type of thing where when I reference numbers and data
and we talk about things like, oh, they're the best fortress team, it's a completely different
team.
They didn't just swap a player, they swapped their roles up, right?
Spiker went on to dashes, for the most part he went on to dashes old role, it's a role
that he's not familiar with, it's a role he does not have experience playing.
Yes, these are tier one players.
They can adjust to just about anything, but again, you have four maps in kickoff.
Sure, they've probably been screaming it, but you've got to adjust to Adrian.
Adrian's got to adjust to you.
The rest of the team needs to adjust to the changes in style because the calling is obviously
going to be different.
Spike can't call from his role the exact same way he did previously.
He's going to be seeing different things.
His focus will be elsewhere.
Who knows if Adrien is helping with the team on the day to day when it comes to calling?
And the meta's changed.
Aurora is different.
Right?
She got some serious buffs.
Solid Snake is in the game.
Shields are still very viable, but we have now shifted quite quickly towards DokuB, Gamos,
Snake defining a lot of these rounds, and it's also changed operator bans.
So very quickly you go from being what could be the best fortress team in the world on
wildcard side of things, which I have no issues with whatsoever, do suddenly it's a whole
different landscape, a whole different meta, and you've now got kind of a different team
as well. It's very easy for all of those changes to add up enough to make it where you don't
have that edge on this map. Additionally, Fortress was a lot newer back then. Now teams have
been screaming it more, they've been playing it more. Maybe other teams have changed up
their map pools, and suddenly we're seeing squads play Fortress more. And to that point,
This has actually seen quite a lot of play across all regions, surprisingly so.
Other teams could just catch up.
So, I mean, if Wildcard was resting on their laurels here, it's not going well.
And overall, as you pointed out very well too, this team is like perennially fifth
place in the region.
They do well internationally, but this is a team that always seems to be on the outside
of the top four when they play domestically, it's internationally where they flourish.
So a lot of things working against this wildcard team right now.
I think what confuses me most with this wildcard team is you talk about the roster change,
the role changes, you talk about Adrian and Spiker having to change roles and that's all
true.
But Spiker is by far playing the best on this team.
You look at their stats and even how they were playing throughout group stage and it's
not the supports where the role changes were where they're having problems.
It's guys like baby shark going minus 11 through group stage being the lowest rated player that's still qualified to the upper bracket
I mean he is role has a really changed from the old team to the new team
Obviously there are things changing around him and that can affect a player, but it's some of these other guys that I think have been
Extremely successful for wild card in the past
He was the best player on wild card in stage two of last season who have now come into the new season and just haven't been able to
find their stride
For baby shark in particular, I know it's something he's talked about. I know it's something he's working on
I know it's something he's desperately trying to solve
But it's not necessarily the roles and the players that you would expect after a big change like this
That have been the problem points for wildcard throughout this stage so far
It's very difficult to diagnose from a fans perspective certainly from a caster for a desk POV without knowing the internals of the team
We're never gonna really have the right answer as to what's been going on with this roster
But it's definitely something to keep an eye on going forward because I do feel like as this team has
Has changed with their roster move. Maybe their stealing is even higher. Adrian's a great player. Dash had some problems last season
For some reason putting things together have not gotten the results wild card are looking for and
Well, I hoped that the time between playoffs and group stage had maybe been able to smooth over some of those issues
So far through at least three rounds of playoffs. We haven't seen that
Yeah, and again, just to go to show you, this is four best of ones for you to find your footing in a game environment.
And I say game environment and I stress this point because you're going to be screaming, you're going to be practicing.
You know, you got your game day reps with your team at SI and then SI was two months ago.
Like time has flown by here.
The game changes, players change, attitudes change, meta changes, map pools change, rosters change.
and you have to be on top of all of that.
I mean, I hate to use them as kind of a focal point here,
but look at a team like Shopify Rebellion.
They made no changes.
They brought in an assistant coach to help them.
The roster remained the same.
This is a team that consistently finishes
top three in their region,
usually in the conversation for top 10 to top eight
internationally, and they're in the lower bracket
and are one best of three away
from failing to make the major.
Did they make any changes?
not really.
Ambie started helping to call on defense,
but surely that's not the only reason
why they're having issues.
Obviously, there were other things
that must have changed about their strategies
behind the scenes, but effectively,
for the average viewer, this is the same team.
And yet, there seems to be quite a drop-off
in their ability.
Wildcard made a move.
They picked up a player who I think is objectively better
in Adrian.
But sometimes, bringing on the better player
does not necessarily make you an overall better team.
So I agree with you. I think that the skill ceiling might be higher for this wildcard team.
And maybe they do get better, but maybe it just takes after Salt Lake. Who knows?
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think, and again, we're maybe reading too much into three rounds,
but it's all we really have to go off of, so I'm so good at doing this all over time.
Ha ha ha. Um, I think this is a very difficult matchup for wildcard.
You go to the group stage. What were some of their strongest statistics?
Well, they were very good at the entry conversion.
They had an 80% win rate when they got that opening pick,
But they're going up against M80, the best recovery team in the North America League.
They have a 47% win rate when they lose that opening pick, and I think we've seen that.
Multiple opening picks now have gone the way of Wildcard, even around one where they didn't get the entry, as you said.
They have the early advantages, and M80 are the best team in North America at reclaiming the advantage and winning the round anyways.
What if it was another one of Wildcard's strengths for the regular season?
Well, they were the most objective focused team. They had the highest plant percentage of any team in the North America League.
But you look at this first three rounds, they haven't gotten a plant off once, and M80 are the best team at denying plants also in the North America League, allowing plants in just 5% of defense rounds that they played throughout the group stage.
So I do think there's a factor where a lot of wildcard strengths that they were able to show through the regular season kind of get nullified by M80's own strengths, and that might be part of the reason why we now have a 3-0 lead for M80.
Yeah, of course. And Ashen is, and nobody's ever doubted Ashen's ability as a player either.
I do know that when the SSG team would struggle, Ashen was a lightning rod for criticism. Not,
I don't think because of his abilities, but because of him as a person, right? Ashen is
loud. He's brash. He is in so many ways. He is the American stereotype that people all
over the world see and will often skewer. I think Ashen is a great presence for an Esport.
I think he's a character. I think he makes people care about his matches. I think he's the type of person that
Makes people talk. I don't know how he is as a teammate. I've never teamed with him
but I don't think you could argue that he made SSG worse and I mean M80 took a player like Kino
Had some struggles
Comes out of the team and he looked really good. He was playing the unsexy roles, but he looked really good
Now Kino's over on DZ being one of the best players in North America
So, Ashen has big shoes to fill, and he doesn't fit very perfectly into Kino's roles either,
but there's familiarity there, and there's comfort there, and Ashen is finding the system
all of it under Fobbyn as a coach who's very different from Call Out, I think that's fair
to say.
So, Ashen is now dealing with, you know, different coaching, different vibe, it's not that SSG
friendship team, I think he's flourishing in this role, and just as we said that about
wild card I honestly think that with Ashley on the team the same AD skill
ceiling could be a little higher than it was with Kino as well. You know what
that's on a knock against Kino because he's playing on DZ right now and DZ
looks like an absolute juggernaut. I think the potential is very high in North
America all teams have made moves that could end up resulting in some some big
performances in the future but thankfully we have to speculate no longer
because we are back in the game we too appreciate your patience waiting for this
match to resume and maybe a perfect set of sight rotations through the first quarter
wing all three of the primary sites here on fortress. We go to the top floor once again
though this office site last time wildcard tried to rush they're not going to be trying
that again multiple drone operators being premed brought by bayon baby shark you've got spiker
here on the Monty as well so it speaks to me Parker they're going to take this push slow
and steady clear the south side of the map go for a full top floor clear and try to get
space before the gold threats. Well, Spikers being harassed, left right and
center, flames in front of him, meets an impact nade as well. The guy who was
responsible for the opening picks in the last two rounds, Adrian, he's gone, he's
bleeding out, he'll need to be secured at some point, the job will get done,
Ashen catches him. Can I say, Ash, catch him?
No, you don't get the ref. Okay, that's great. Okay, whatever. This is very funny.
Everybody's a very funny play.
I like the next one up.
Leaning in real life while trying to deal with the pillar
in front of a pot and cold gunning down baby shark wild card.
Once again, very quick 90 seconds off the clock
and they are just knocking on the door of this bomb site
and yet they come up empty handed
as we've seen through the last two rounds.
It's a Rome presence,
it's been so annoying to clear out for wild card.
I mean, every time they try to take space, there's a go-yo,
there's an impact, there's a torn, you set up Parker.
It's just been so difficult to take space,
They spent almost two full minutes and they have gotten control of briefing, but man, it has cost them a lot of bodies
Now trying to do what they can to continue to get space. This breach should be fine
There's new jammers, but it shouldn't stop these cans from getting the wall open
They'll have an angle in towards the bomb site, but I'm worried about just how many different angles and maybe we'll have
They can flank out through master
They can push up around force if one of these players loses their gunfight on the side of wild card
It could all come tumbling down for the plant
Absolutely, Spiker will already be in a position where he's relying on two players to contend
with five, so it'll be a really tough spot for them.
They make the little bit more winnable.
Down goes Dunner and 30 seconds off, 30 seconds remain on the clock.
They have to jet off.
Negrosel will go out to finish off what remains of they, Kansan dies, and Spiker is shortly
there after.
and he's got a lot of
players. He's got a lot of
players on the side of M 80
involved in that final
altercation. Long delay
between rounds. It does not
matter. M 80 back to their
winning ways. They are
undefeated so far here on
Fortress. It's good to see
Ashing continue to find
success on this M 80 squad.
We talked about him a lot in
that tech pause, but really
just having a big impact on
the Rome. He found that
opening pick onto Adrian. He
found I believe just on the
It has been excellent on the opening pick department for Wildcard today, and at the same time Baby Shark kind of hitting the back lines over towards mezz ends up falling to make that a 5v3 Parker.
And it's again kind of some of the similar stories we've been talking about with Wildcard where they're not able to get some of those early rounds converted.
It's especially tough if you don't find that opening couple of kills, if you're not able to win the early game and M80 looking so confident.
said that this was going to be nearly an impossible map where I made it to try to take up against
wildcard, but despite the successes they've had in the past, it is looking like this will
be their first time falling on fortress.
5 seconds to insertion.
Grim stuff and not the stage and the start that they wanted.
We did talk to Spiker on the podcast a couple times about this issue a few times and what
it means for the team and he was pretty confident that they'd be able to work it out.
Spiker undoubtedly has a great mind for this game, but there is a long trail of players
with a great mind for this game that ultimately never won a championship.
Spiker and fans of Wildcard really hoping that they don't add his name to that list,
but there's obviously a big hurdle here that this Wildcard squad need to get over.
And I don't think you can simply say a lot because Dash is off of the team.
There's obviously a lot more going on.
Baby Shark is not looking like his himself.
He got a lot of trains and accolades at SI for how dominant he was in games against tough competition
and yet he enters the day towards the very bottom of the North American charts.
78 EPS is bottom of the barrel. He's in micellar right now with a negative 11 as well.
And despite that, he's the second most entry stats of anybody on the team.
He's just dying a lot and that's a problem for them.
Yeah, absolutely, he's, again, he knows this problem, he's been talking about it a lot on socials, he's trying to get back into things, but it's been a tough start to the season for him.
Now, just approaching that minute-and-a-half mark here on the round, Parker, they are desperate for one of these opening gunfights, hot calls, repositioning on this throne.
He is very aggro. Scythe's to fall on back. Scythe doesn't need to risk his life as Mr. Tronka.
They'll fall back, reinforce these Scytes, and I don't know if this is better or worse for Wildcard.
They take a long time, but they don't end up getting any picks. I guess it's better than
round four where they lost two bodies in the opening gunfight, but I do feel like they're
kind of playing into M80's hand once again. They're going to be stalling out quite heavily
here on this bombsite attack, and if the time gets away from them, it could end up being really
devastating.
These are now taking some damage.
Wild Cartel will strike first.
They've done that a couple times so far.
It's never netted in a round win,
so they're hoping that their fortunes
change this time.
Ash and gone.
Now they will follow some Niner team with a
big advantage.
Credit to M.A.B.
for being able to trade this one right back.
Gavin swings.
Oh, he almost had one on the Kansan.
McKansan can now level up in this position.
Very quickly finding himself in a 1v2.
These teams come to blows and then everybody dies, Jesse.
All at the same moment. Impossible for us to talk about it.
With the final kill, M80 secures another round and they are staring down a perfect first half.
Right now, sitting at 5-0, one more round before the sideswap.
The last time Kansin faced up against M80 in his career was at the Munich Major,
where he posted the best game he has ever played, 15 and 2 on map 1 of that Vesha 3 series.
Goes for a good try here, nice little triple kill on the round, sets himself up nicely to trade his
teammates, but it's not quite enough to even straight-five 1 up against the M80 team that
they're facing today. Struggling once again to get themselves in with those entries. Yes,
it's a technical opening pick, but then the advantage is immediately traded back out. You
We talked about it, Diffuser steps up for a big pick in the middle of that round to try to equalize that and man counts.
And again, I don't think the time was a huge problem for them.
I do like that Maverick coming out from Spiker.
They started to have ways around that wall dial and it helped force them into some awful spots on the side of M80 that got them that opening frag.
But at the end of it, here Barrow and I bolted tower and the shots are frankly just better on M80.
They look more confident, they look more composed, and they're winning so many of these goals that Karrick can't seem to compete on.
What does this mean for map number two, Jesse?
Like, you get, frankly, you get humiliated on your own map choice.
You know, I heard that the Edmonton Oilers are playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs,
and I hear that you as an Edmonton native, a day away from your birthday,
which happy-bladed birthday to Jesse J. Chick, for those of you that are following along.
Tomorrow is technically Laxing's birthday, but since they are in the Copenhagen studio,
So it is technically Laxxing's birthday, where he is, so happy birthday, Laxxing.
But my point is, is that if Puckdrop is in about an hour or so,
maybe MAD got the memo and they're like, let's get this one done for JC
and we don't need the good Lord up top.
I mean, I know Ashen's a big hockey fan, not necessarily of the Oilers,
but listen, maybe try to catch that game as well if your team is already out of the playoffs.
In any case, I'm sure MAD are not going to complain about an early finish.
They are really storming over Wildcard in this series and have been so dominant on this
defensive side here for Fortress.
Down to the bottom floor for their last attempt, they could close out a flawless half-parker
which would almost certainly shut the door on Wildcard's chances at least for this first
map.
You're looking to that entry as you always are, aren't you?
I mean, it's a very similar push to what we saw last time from Wildcard.
They've taken the ram up top, they've gotten a little bit of space with that.
are mostly playing around these old tower stairs.
I like the fact that they're both kaid blocks
which is the place on this hatch,
but when you come down to the exit,
it's 5v5 where Wildcurt has struggled all day.
Is this utile burn going to be enough
to finally let you get that kit on the ground?
That's a great question.
You got this top floor control,
and they're now looking down endearingly
into the bonus site, but...
M80 so far just evades them away in corners of the rooms not visible from the destruction
that's been done from the attackers up top.
Now logic bombs will go off to enable and help them here.
Hanson suffering some serious damage.
Bay dies and Spiker seemed to hesitate to us.
He wants him dropped to his death right in front.
Baydy Shark will get his first kill.
He and Adrian moments ago without a single frag since coming back from the rehost.
What are they able to do here now?
Number two to one, yet again, and Baby Shark being watched on that default cam.
He's got a couple targets to try and find.
Now on over to Adrian as he gets ever closer.
Ashen, sitting like a target dummy inside the oven.
Let me kept him in there for a little too long.
Adrian ties the hands of Hoth and Hole.
So does Baby Shark.
Okay.
Not today, he says, a perfect first half for M80 on Wildcard's map.
Parker, if I was Wildcard after experiencing all of that, I would be completely floored.
I would be speechless, and thankfully I don't have to come up with anything to talk about,
because we've got our desk to break down those first six rounds.
What have we got our hands on here, guys?
At the mid-match point here where we're coming in to break this down,
and it really feels like we're doing a post map analysis.
6-0, this feels like it's just about over Fox.
Maybe we thought this team was gonna come out swinging,
but 6-0, map number one, what is happening right now?
These guys suck.
These guys.
It's a close game.
For Wildcard, I mean, like we said,
it didn't matter what maps it comes down to,
are we going to see the tournament Wildcard
that we're used to winning?
I mean, no, we're not seeing them right now.
Of course, it's defense fortress,
But the way that M80 is playing, I mean, this style of play of bringing so much utility
that wildcard has to go through step after step, wall after wall, and at any point, M80
can turn the Jets on and fight them exactly in the place that they want to fight wildcard.
And it just looks like wildcard just doesn't have a way around it.
If they're trying to get through Bandit Tuber Al, even if they bring a map, whatever the
case may be, it just doesn't look like they know what to do.
And frankly, I mean, M80 is just playing very smart.
And when they choose to go for those gunfights,
they're winning.
Even in the last round, it looked like Wildcard just
kind of gave up.
They opened up the hatch and said, all right, let's drop.
And two people drop into a crossfire.
It just seems like Wildcard has already
counted their loss out in this map.
And I don't want to say Wildcard isn't trying here,
because they are clearly still bringing operators
to help with an attack.
It's just every time they get to that late round point,
I think Jesse or Parker said it, they just stopped.
There's immediate pause that you can clearly see that they lose all sense of what this next step is
Players are dying then players are going off in the room. I already talked about they and baby shark
They're supposed to be the entries, but I see them droning for themselves
I see them doing their own
Obstacles and you know things that they're trying to do on their own
They need someone droning for them and even for the side of spiker. I mean yes, you are taking on dashes
Well, yes, you can use those shields a little better
But if it's clearly not working pivot off of it at that point do something else try to get yourself in them
And I think that's really what's hindering Spiker in particular, is that he is taking
on these roles.
Whereas you look at him back when he was up with Dash, he was off on his own doing something
with someone else and getting information relayed.
Now he's taking in information, which on one side, that should be easier for you to make
a round going to your favor.
But then on the other, you're also changing your style of play, which maybe systematically
just isn't working out regardless of picking up a player like Adrian.
And also maybe Adrian might have to shift onto a different role.
But whatever we're seeing right now clearly is not working anywhere into their favor.
It feels like we're going to be having a similar conversation in maybe just a few seconds.
But for now, Jesse and Parker, back to you.
Half time.
Oh, by the way, there might be one more round.
Not quite half time.
Hooray!
I mean, what would be for MAD to take this 7-0?
We talk about statement matches and we talk about players having statement games.
Aiden just had a statement game on Chalet in the series that preceded this, I'm not going to spoil what the end result was, but sometimes you can have a statement match and it really doesn't mean much beyond, you know, making a statement for yourself or for your team.
Yeah. Here on M80, everybody looks good. They're jostling kills, they're all prepared for it. Wildcard doesn't have a single answer. Wildcard gets first kill? Doesn't matter. Wildcard gets dominated, finds some footing in the mid-round? Doesn't matter.
While Wildcard gets to defend on Fortress, the name is quite apropos, because this does tend to be a bit of a fortress for the defenders at times, so Wildcard by nature of this map will likely do better here.
And again, they chose this map, M80 chooses the side, Wildcard will likely see much greater success.
But you got one round, that's it. You bottled this first attempt, that's it, the game is over.
Well, M80, they've certainly got their opportunities, they can go for something crazy, they could
go for a bit of a rush if they wanted to, choosing not to do so in this first attacking
rounds, they're not following Wildcard's footsteps, and I have to say that's probably
a good idea given how those footsteps went.
Also not going for a super heavy roam clear from what we're seeing so far, Parker, instead
they've got these players down below, and this should get spotted by Adrien, he's about
to see one, there it is, fine solid snake down below that's Gunner and can track his movements
as he's likely going over towards the main stairs.
If he makes it there and on to the quest pin,
the shotgun doesn't quite find its mark though, Parker,
and gonna really escape the fall of his P.
Oh, Ashen gunning down Spiker,
Han cold needs to be retrieved, there goes Bae.
In a hurry, things falling apart for wild cards,
so maybe showing their team.
Han cold does get finished off by Adrian,
that nitro cell would have claimed Ashen
if he'd gotten too close.
Credit to the youngster for not bothering
with that engagement.
and allows Ashen to show what power a Deimos has.
I'm down the pole, so Intel vs. Intel Wildcard,
also bringing the Valkyrie,
this is a lot of information for the defenders,
and they'll use it, hopefully, to their success
in the next 90 seconds.
Great information coming out from Gunnar,
he knows the exact position of this player
inside a bedroom, it's Adrian on the pole,
so the information goes both ways,
but it's gonna be easier for the attacks
from our capitalized on this.
These that won crosses, pulls up the secondary
and Gavin eats about half HP,
But he is still existing just fine outside that main breach got players down below. They've got players in new tower
There's information strong on the side of wild card, but they have to take a fight to get this man count back to even
Gavin is a really good read on this baby shark exposes a bit too much of himself
This might be the ball game as Adrian gets active over towards those tower stairs now running for the bed
Not quite tucked in just yet
with bedtime fast approaching for them.
Hanson on the board now, defuser goes down.
M80's lead still holding strong.
We've got one more player.
If Ashton attempts to get the defuse, get down.
As he is, they just need to cover.
He gets picked off by Adrian though,
so poor coverage on the side of M80.
Well either of these two remaining players
attempt the defuse?
No, Hanson shredding Gavin.
Gunner almost punished him for that.
Gunner flicking over, caught in a crossfire.
wild card will not go without around. They win their first defense. It's tight, but a win is a win,
and they prolong their stay here on Fortress. Welcome to the game, wild card. You're a little
late, but at the end you've shown up, and that's what matters. Nice little defense coming out from
there. The information, I think, was so critical in that, Parker. The pulse was feeding from start
to finish. All of the moves that were being made on the side of wild card, because they had all
that Intel because they knew where these players were at. They could go for kind of aggressive swings
and yes it didn't always work out their way. Adrian and Kanzi got left into a 2v4 but they
had the information to play with in that 2v4. They knew where those players in M80 were likely to
push from. That allowed them to hold the crossfires. That allowed them to take good fights. That allowed
them to hit the shots that they were hitting and it's a big pullback from Adrian and Kanzin.
The oldest and the youngest player on this wildcard team to try to get their roster back on
track and survive in this game against M80.
It's a long series, so when we go on over to Cafe, it'll be our first, it'll be our
fifth unique map of the day.
The only overlap between this series and the series that came before it was the Chalet,
and that's if we need a third map.
Right now, the likelihood of us seeing map number three given the score line and given
that the next map is M80s, and M80 is just a single round away from winning map one.
Yeah, I wouldn't bet too much on seeing that chalet, so either way, unique maps, but yeah,
a cafe, that is going to be an exciting one, and if you think this wildcard team loves
their unpredictability on a map like Fortress, well boy oh boy, there is so much rush potential
and quick plant potential on a map like cafe, the only thing is, it's going to be more comfortable
for a mage.
So, will wildcard still decide to go for broke knowing that they are behind on that map just
in terms of knowledge, it might be a viable strategy to try and even the playing field.
It has not worked on Fortress.
This time around, now we turn our sights towards Run and Braid.
It's going to be a dorm's defensive course, very standard segregation from both teams
to the first eight.
Gunner loving this solid snake, he's been using it really nicely.
Not historically been his operator, I mean he played a ton of different ops on attack
throughout the group stage.
He's played some of the most attackers of any player, but it's not surprising to see him necessarily on this snake.
He starts to get information down below as there are no roamers down there.
The Fuser gets the main breach opened up and, wow, here's that information coming into practice.
The Echo just playing on the site and able to get cleaned up from below.
Perfect coordination. The drone plus the player beneath him.
Gavin, nice little work with the pistol to be able to get that opening pick on the Adrian.
Opening duels have not been as important in this series as you think, but when you give
MAD an inch so far on Fortress, they've taken a mile.
It did not work out on the previous rounds, so they're expressed in gear for MAD to ultimately
bottle it, despite having a numbers advantage.
They find themselves in familiar territory and with over a minute to go, Hot and Cole
is getting the diffuser down.
Wildcard reduces three players.
Nitrocell goes out to no avail.
Baby Shark dies as well and in the post-plant, MAD just needs to find time.
two souls.
They and Spiker now working together,
Bayes taking down one, still four more to find,
but the timer will be a bigger impediment.
They need to be quick here.
A good swing from Spiker,
but a cleanup from M80 sends Fortress away.
M80 stealing Wildcard's map in dominant fashion.
Huge round coming out from Gavin.
Absolutely perfect game coming out from M80.
Start to finish.
Those defenses were impeccable
And the attack with the information just as good as well, Parker.
It doesn't get better than that for M80.
No, it doesn't. At least one more map.
Will we see a map three? Let's get Burn Cafe first.
It's up after this.
the game is a bit more accurate.
Seven one M 80. Absolutely
dismantling wildcard on the
opening map Fox. This was
exactly the game plan for M 80
going in. I mean, this is
exactly the kind of thing they
want to do. Build that
momentum going to map to an
end this right now. They know
what's going on. They know
and end this right now.
They know a spot in the major is just too best of threes away.
And it feels like that time is getting ever closer.
Yeah, it really looks like this is the we were talking about.
Is M80 as strong as they once were?
I mean, map 1, it was definitely a good showing.
I mean, fundamentally, the way that their strategy works
is they're bringing so much utility
that sometimes weaker players might be able to,
might struggle when they have to use that much utility
and constantly be putting up wall after wall.
But that's M80's game plan.
Since Fabian has joined, it's always been that style of play.
Utility on attack, utility on defense.
I feel like I'm a broken record by saying that their defenses
were just so strong because they were just
adding so much utility.
And right when Wildcard would get maybe past one wall
or two walls, that's when M80 would go for those gunfights.
They'd explode.
They'd get picks all around.
And it didn't seem like Wildcard could ever really
get a leg in the match.
It is what it is.
I mean, I don't really know what else we could say about that.
Because did Wildcard play that?
Yeah, maybe a little bit, but I really do think M80 just played so well that Wildcard looked as bad as they did.
And that's just the reality of this, is sometimes the team is just naturally going to play better than you on any given map at any given day.
It's the beauty of the best of three. We just saw most recently in the most recent match of one bounce back to the next and then it went to a full game of three.
But now it's going to be a situation for Wildcard, you know, where are they going to fix on their mistakes?
As we talked about, they were very timid on their attacks. They looked like once they got to their end goal of how they were going to approach the site, they would just stop.
stop and then that's immediately what you're talking about and maybe we just
spring into action get one kill here force another play here and then wild
card is out of options at that point then it's basically chicken with a
tent cut off trying to run to a site trying to make it work so for me for
wild card again it's really gonna be on bay and baby shark it doesn't matter
what map we're going to if their entries can't get into the building and
create space get get even opening picks going into their favor I can't imagine on
a map like cafe you're gonna get any sort of leeway once you're on that
attacking half. If they keep up that performance I mean there's no reason to
think why it's not going to be the same thing. I mean you talked about hot and
cold coming into this game how his role has shifted how things have changed. We
look at how he performed in that first game. It feels like everything's going
right for this team from what he was looking like before he came into this
match to what he just did now. It's another night and day difference. I mean
he really looked to be coming alive. I mean you can just see already
throughout the regular stage, you know, 28 kills, 29 deaths, not too bad, but he
already has a third of that in one map. So that being said, well, a lot of
pressure is on Han Fogel when everything is going well for Amade, when the
strategy is working and you don't have to do much micromanaging, you don't have
to worry about these small things. That's when you can see the IGL brain come
through and he just knows where to position himself, what angles he needs
to hold, and the rest is history. The rest is Wildcard just walking into his
Crosshair and match to clean it up and that's what I imagine we'll see on that too. I don't know if wild card will be able to
Research themselves going into this series. Well, we're all thinking it so I'll just I'll just straight up asking
Do you think wild card can?
Take that performance on map one and somehow turn it around solve it for map to send us to that third
I mean give me what we saw I don't think so
I think they're obviously having a lot of team issues. It's not to say that they can't do it. They're a strong team
They'd be strong opponents and that's no exception. I made even when you look at the last time these guys played
It was back during the NAL regional finals and they got dismantled on cafe. I believe was a 7-2
I'm sure Jesse's gonna correct me if I'm wrong on that and just again based off their performance on fortress
They were super confident going into it
They had a clean record on it and then just what we saw completely dismantled. Yeah, I agree
I mean, I think the first step is wildcard getting drones in front of their entries
They're gonna hand a strategy get Bay and baby shark to walk in with a donor from sharkman one and eight
You can't go one and eight on entry like you you just you can't do that
You're not gonna find any bit of success for your team let alone yourself. It's like Jonah and ranked
Okay, I mean you're giving him a little bit of credit
I don't even think he gets a kill let alone gets the building alright
It just looks like he'd stand there like a deer in a headlight waiting for a spawn kill to happen
One clip of me playing ranked with with some other casters and it was a
a disaster, well, making it sound like that's a light-hearted way to put it. Disasters like
nice. I threw a C4 missing, like, missing the target by about 10 feet, then I moaned
and I ran out of window. I mean, it was really bad.
We could throw you into anybody on Wildcard right now and they'd probably get more room.
I don't think that's true. I don't think that's true. But I'll take it and Wildcard hopefully
disconnect during the server.
I'm good at the disconnecting thing. At least I have that down. At least I have that down.
But speaking of, one of our players has disconnected, so we have to get them back into this lobby.
When we do, we will get this second map underway. Don't go anywhere.
Map to Cafe M80 Wild Guard coming up.
I'm breaking next to the body now
Breakfast at a gala, signing out
I'ma keep it going til I ain't no nut
I'm breaking next to the body now
Go my elbow, suckin' my money out
Cause I can't make it down from the front end
I'ma keep it going til I ain't no nut
Going til I ain't no nut
Well, this could be the end of the road here for Wild Card in the upper bracket.
The loser of this series has a date with Shopify Rebellion and the loser of that series goes
home.
So good news, Wild Card fans, this isn't the end of the road for your journey to maybe
make the Salt Lake City Major.
Double for M80.
This isn't the end or the beginning of your journey.
you don't qualify based off of these results.
MAD would then move up the bracket to go up against DZ
in what would be an incredible matchup.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Jesse.
While Wildcard got absolutely demolished on their own map,
there is always still hope for the comeback.
And Wildcard have proven time and time again
that they are a team that can hang with the best of them.
Will that materialize here on MAD's map pick?
It's going to be a tough battle, Parker.
There's no doubt about that.
MAD love to play here on cafe.
They are 2-0 since the season began and Ash enjoys the roster beating both 1 of 30 and Shopify Rebellion
So we've got a lot of experience with this team playing on this map
That means Vods will be available for wild card no doubt about that
But you still have to be feeling confident if you're in the line green today
They played expertly on their opponents map. They now get to come to home turf where they will go up against wild card playing for their upper bracket lives
starting on the attack might be the only disadvantage they have in this map.
But I still have to imagine they'll be feeling confident.
56% attacking on the cafe since the season began.
That's a nine around sample size as well.
So quite a lot of that is suggesting that M80 should be off to a strong start this game.
I mean, we didn't expect them to be off to such a strong start on fortress.
And then they go 6-0, Jesse.
They won.
But sometimes that allies as it did in that previous map, so maybe now it'll lie the other way
You are a numbers guy anybody's good way done when numbers are wrong have to imagine it's you
Thanks, so I trust you on the numbers
No, okay great
My life if I lie, I don't think the line
I didn't forget what you not taking in a song sitting in those tickets
First round here on cafe we are live in action wildcard choosing to defend first a familiar spot where people on
on this map
cafe not really so much pec rate in an ASM of its contemporaries, but a
a stable and reliable map.
I do worry for Wildcard's chances here.
We always want all three maps,
and we always want a competitive series.
That Wildcard might have some early struggles.
I think for me, it's going to see
not what the results are,
but how they go about it, right?
Because there's a 4-2 where teams are competitive
and just there needs to be a winner in the rounds,
and then there's a 4-2 where you get demolished.
As I said in the same word I used earlier,
on your losses and then you demolish on your wins.
What is the confidence gonna be for Wildcard?
because I think there's good reason for their confidence to be shaken.
M80 didn't have a real weakness on Fortress that could be exploited.
They were good on the entry, they were good on trades, they were good on the mid-round.
They were excellent in the final moments of a round. Where does Wildcard start to turn that ship?
Gotta be in the early game, Parker. This is maybe the one thing that they had some success on
with the opening picks on map number one. They've got another opportunity now here on map two
to find that first frag, get things open up in the round, start yourself off on the right foot.
It's always where it has to start. This top floor clear, of course, will come under way from M80.
I like the tools they brought for this, but it's the peak through the window.
Adrian, yet another opening frag in this series. He's been very sharp with that today, Parker.
Now they just have to convert it.
Yeah, I feel a little bad for Adrian because he got the opening duel twice before.
This is lucky number three. It's only with him and Kansan striking first on this team.
And guess what? None of those times resulted in a round victory.
They lost every single time they got first blood.
So not really an indication as to where this round is going to go,
but ultimately a great start.
And more importantly, you take out the Capitao.
This is a critical operator for making space.
Adrian will take down Gavin now, his second kill as a nitro cell
goes out, Gunner on the board, defuser two, Kanzin in on the fun.
Ava the server gone, 50 seconds, still remaining it's M80, down by one player.
It's a classic nitro cell up to the laundry hatch.
an oldie and a goodie, so give us the advantage over towards Wildcard even more, still that
one man lead, lots of time to work with if you're M80 and they've got a bit of map control here up
above, make sure to see where they want to take this, they could go dropping through the pillar
into the reading door, that will be the play for Gunner, he's in a plant spot if he wants it.
He's got defuse kid, he just needs the correct read.
Light finds him salvation here, defuser good enough to trade off one, that means that Gunner
We'll have absolutely no coverage and sound the alarm that was wild card getting in mighty mighty close
Kansan hitting her
Donor man just to get away
But he doesn't see spiker over on the reading door good coordination by wild card very um
M80 like on fortress and wild card get a much needed round to start off this map
Yeah, again despite the information advantage that M80 had there are just some tricks
They didn't expect Adrian peaks out the window for the first pick on a hot and cold
the Nitro for the first for the second pick there over towards Gavin and once you've got kind of that two-man lead
They're able to run away with it with the man advantage
Happy to concede that top floor because they know M80 or the team who have the plants
They try to get a little pinch going down those white stairs to fuser good for one not good for more than that
Tough push there in the 2v3 for M80. They did it their best, but not quite enough
kind of surprise gunner committed to the plant and got it down in the end there and
and made the order objective focus team
and you can see that they're willing to die
for that plant to go down,
but even still not quite enough for Gunner in round one.
Competitive, but Wildcard often early starting round
in map two.
It's a small snapshot,
but there was a lot more confidence there from Wildcard
and I liked what they had with Adrian.
His position in particular,
he read into where the attackers were coming from
and he was fully prepared for this.
Whether it was because they were actually able
to figure this out ahead of time,
given that this is a made his map,
You're probably going to be aware of how they're going to play it.
That is one of the small downsides of your map pool is that your opponents will likely know how you're going to tackle certain things.
Again, maybe M80 is bringing new strats.
Who's to say it would be you?
It would be a question.
I think it got something stuck in my throat.
I'm dying.
Parker, don't worry.
I could tell you that I don't just not itself was fun.
All the difference is clear.
But they did have very different operators.
So this is definitely a new look from M80.
Once again trying to change things up a little bit. There are consistencies diffuser loves the gridlock here on cafe
The buck a very common choice here from Gavin, but hot and cold on the sense again, something they played
This is actually very similar to strapped. Well, they played earlier in the stage
So this bottom of their attack might be a little bit easier to read from wild card
But you're right
They didn't have any struggles with that when they were defending down onto reading now one floor below
Should be much the same
I expect this to be a slow push Parker because we've got a full anchor set up being played by a wild card and M80
You brought double soft breach operators. They're gonna want to take this top floor control
It's like we won't see the first kill until the last like 45 seconds though in the round
Yeah, I was like Marco Rubio grabbing for the glass of water there if you know that reference just trying to not
choke on whatever air I breathed in but
Either way back from the dead and now able to cast it again. I think your points are spot on
I think this will be a very practiced execute from m80. They are still droning things out. They are still taking map control
We are leaving the discovery phase and now we are in the mid-round
Typically break things down with the discovery phase being the first minute or so then in the mid-round then the play round and execute as the final moments here
Teens in North America. We don't always make it to the late round especially these two teams
We saw a lot of very quick executes not gonna be very quick at all. You are spot on
We're about to hit the minute mark, and they are still totting their eyes and crossing their teams inside of M80.
That's also important, it'll be really interesting to see kind of where those go down, what the goal will be to try to make this execute happen.
Huntington Zotto canister right now on White Stairs is what we see from Defuser, hoping to clear that out so that they can get the hatch open sooner rather than later.
Ager's position in VIP will be well known. Every team really does put a tube route in here.
It's a very strong position to try to hold inside a VIP.
It might not be as familiar with hand position,
also locking down VIP,
but that two player position inside of that room,
it could be a bit devastating,
but then maybe you don't clear it.
Now get the lead off pick now, baby shark gone.
Baby shark had a really tough first map.
He won't have much of an opportunity
to change things around.
Adrian, sensational, spiker as well.
Grave in the clutch in the previous round.
Then he's doing some mighty big work here.
20 seconds to go, Ashen in the bomb site.
Nobody on M80 has that diffuse kit.
It will need to be retrieved,
and it is being camped by Wildcard.
Great structure from this Wildcard defense.
Sputtering on the side of M80,
but Gunner's now made it winnable.
10 seconds for him to find Spiker.
I like the odds of the shotgun in the hands of the smoke.
Gunner needs to pick this one, so right.
And he runs at a time, right as Spiker seals the deal.
wild card off to a great start up 2-0 on M80's map.
Yeah, beautifully played by Spiker in the midst of that, Parker.
He really does everything he needs to in that round
to lock things down.
Starts off playing Whiskey Bar, right?
And just trying to stop that pressure
as the sense wall comes in through the restaurant window,
slow down that push from M80 as they try to get VIP control.
Adrian was good enough to get one early pick,
but it was that pick onto Hot and Cold,
which dropped the diffuser, which was so critical
in shaping the rest of that attack,
kind of allowed some rotations come through from wild car.
You saw Spiker move in into coachech,
into the front door reception area
and just have so much success
as they're locking down that bottom floor bomb site.
So, M80, despite taking their time with it,
not able to handle that early play coming out
from the tube route inside the VIP,
and then not able to clean things up
despite Gunner's best attempt.
I mean, it's been a rough recovery
from this M80 team, but it's hard to judge how many drones are actively being used because
I'm still of the suspicion that that drone town is not always accurate look at that
lineup from Gunner. But yeah, I mean, a very close round, but one again, where Wildcard
Adrian in particular has done an exceptional job of flying under the radar. He's just not
being spotted by these M80 aggressors. And at some point, you're going to need to pin
down this player. Spiker, though, to his credit, has been so clean in the final moments, and
Adrien is getting a ton of information scouting with that Yo-Kai drone, just as out in Bakery Door.
They've got the pulse there for backup as well. Cafe has a jump out and spawn peek potential.
Ashen was on a roster that loved spawn peeking, if you recall. But to see if he tries it when
when they move to defense.
As for now though, the main job for our mate, Jesse,
just make it in the building
and maybe not give up a player early.
Yeah, they want to be able to take that space
to be able to convert in towards execute
because mighty and dining up on the docket
for our third round here
and our third bomb site selected in by wild card
and they brought Ashen on the blitz truck,
help maybe with this top floor clear
and then also a sports execute as well.
Not an operator we've seen him play
on this map, because he's in the game,
so it could be something that isn't expected by a wild card,
but the Rammann already caught four.
They're going fast with it, Parker.
Yeah, they've decided to go a breakneck pace.
I like this.
Off to the races, they go great read by Gavin through the wall.
It allows Ashton to move up in impunity.
He just needs to be wary of what happens over towards white stairs.
Adrien was integral in the first moments
of this round gaining so much intel,
and there's still potential for him here.
As he shreds Gunner and will now try to buy time against the Blitz!
There were two others in tow though, M80 was getting their kill, come hell or high water, and they, well, it ends up working out, M80 on the board.
Bit of a chaotic round, Parker. I'm not sure if you caught it, but hot and cold jumps in the skylight, finds the opening tick, uses the ram to cause some chaos.
That's all well and good, but then he dies to the vert and drops the diffuse kit upstairs in bar.
It kind of puts the pressure on the guys of N80. They no longer really had planting as an option.
So even in kind of the 2v4, the 1v4, there was some hope to play around.
At the time was pretty crazy. They had over half the round to go still.
But even with that, they couldn't exactly force that plant.
There was maybe an angle to get back in for Kansan and Adrien, the best two players so far today, here on Wildcard.
But not to be in that third round. They strike back with a nice little rush.
You know, this is after hot and die soft floor with a fuse kid.
It really is just good pressure being taken by Ashen and Gavin.
Making that space inside of reading, there's some good answers back, but the blitzers.
So what I highlighted before that round, he just makes it oh so easy for the rest of these
players to jump in, take that space and get those three kills.
All this one's been a little bit more like what I was hoping for between these teams.
Why don't we just make this map number one and just keep going and then make you unable
watch your little hockey game that you want to watch. So let's park around that way anyway.
His lock card, take an early lead on map number two. And I'll be honest, I kind of rather
a happy sticker around to watch these two great teams if the gameplay is better than what we saw
in map one. Yeah, map number one was really not one for the books. So I mean, if you're a fan of
M80, you love map number one. If you were a fan of Good Siege, I mean M80 was doing Good Siege,
There's no denying that but it wasn't a particularly tight contest and of course for those listening
It's just banter no there is no universe in which Jesse is eager for a match to finish early so that he can go watch a hockey game
If you're taking the things we're saying seriously. Well, I got some beachfront property in
Saskatoon for all of you to buy
I just want a good contest between these teams and more over for the story. I want wildcard to bounce back to where they were
I don't have any vested interest in any of these squads.
Fabian is my mortal enemy, more than you, actually.
But I still want M80 to succeed, just as I want to see Wildcard return to form,
because I think it's fair to say the Wildcard that played at SI,
the Wildcard that played at Munich, the Wildcard that played at Reload,
that's not the Wildcard that we've been seeing here so far in kickoff.
Yeah.
It's been good to see a bit of battle back here on map 2.
A lot of that's been driven by the captain, Spike,
who now sticks in one below the roam or below the long site.
Not being addressed much by M80 as they just focus on this top floor, but it's a long shot from day
Another early death from hot and cold will do them well and Bay's good enough for two
Finding Ashen to put them in a 4v3 advantage
The fire does good work. Ashen is having a bit of a poor game
The day where he and baby shark both without kills so far, so
Canceling each other out. I think is the way it goes
Hit the halfway point now here of round number four. The defenders still locked in on this top floor bomb site.
It is a mid clear upward push for the attackers.
Spiker wanders down. Gunner catches him on white stairs.
More information now will be at the disposal of the attackers. As those cams are cracked,
you can see the bulletproof cameras being brought by Wildcard.
If Intel is the name of the game, Doka'd be obviously a strong operator for many reasons, but this one in particular,
really good patience here from Gunner. He spotted two targets. It's a Gumi, manages
to get one. He knows that the jig is up. Still taking damage from that mine. Sees
another inside a back bar. He's got information. He'll have to stop at some
point to pull this out. All the while relying on an 80 to cover him. Diffuser
bottles that one and allows Baby Shark into the series. Diffuser going down,
Kansan hoping to stop it. He will not succeed. Gunner and Gavin now as the last
two baby sharks been dropped so Kansan will have to do it all himself. I don't think he
can retrieve his teammates so Kansan will need to swing. He's hoping for somebody on the side of
M80 to move. He's gotta read on one over towards cocktail. This is a rough spot for him to pin.
He outtools the Tokami. Time running out. If you're Gavin, all you have to do is survive.
Play the long game but Gavin gives him the gears and M80 takes the round.
the way he's going to be
going down. Gavin's not want
to step back and win on the
time. Parker. He wants that
frag. He's been so good for M
80 all season long. Really
since he joins this roster. I
mean, he's just been fantastic.
Clutching things up here in the
late round. It's gunner who I
think has the biggest impact in
that one you mentioned him
walking up those white stairs,
on the doka be. There was the
echo on the board, too. Don't
forget. And there was still a
yokai camera live. I believe in
by the attackers, so definitely some really good information being gathered by M80 in the midst of that.
And then just putting together those final couple of moments there in the plants, getting it down cocktail.
If Kansan just knew where the plant was going down, he absolutely could have denied it.
If he's brazen up through the bar, maybe he's able to get that player down, but I don't think he had perfect information
and certainly didn't know where the last guy was as well.
So, tough 1v2 to come out from Kansan, despite all the successes that he has had historically in that clutch position.
and is not able to get it done today.
Prompts that tack timeout again, early to come out from Wildcar,
but unlike on Fortress, the scoreline is relatively fine here.
It's only two to two, but I guess just feeling like
they could have won those last couple of rounds,
like maybe there's some big issues that need to get fixed,
but Jonas decided to call it early to walk our tack timeout.
Yeah, again, this goes back to why you call timeouts
in the first place.
Maybe there's something he's hearing in their comms,
or maybe an understanding of this map
he feels is improper and you can nip that in the bud before it becomes a much bigger issue.
Coaches hear the players. We don't. Coaches can sense the mood and the vibes of a team. If a
particularly talkative player is not talking like normal and your strats revolve around that,
maybe the timeout is being done to try and say, hey, what's going on here? We need your voice
in the team. Maybe it's not even a strategic thing. You can't know. The only real way to know
I always ask them directly afterwards and if they feel like being candid and honest they might tell you but a lot of times they just give you the
This is the boilerplate like I you know the team wasn't performing well
Terrific, I don't think you called the timeout because the team was performing well. I don't think that's why they do it
So I get it entirely but yeah, sometimes you win a couple rounds in the coach
Still doesn't like what they're seeing and think that there's potential to do better
So call a timeout early maybe sell your players down and success will follow
We'll go back to reading for round 5, this is the bombsite where Adrien really started
things off with an explosive nitro cell up through the laundry hatch as well as a swing
out on the white window.
He's brought a sentry and actually has not brought a nitro this time around, Barb and
Impax to play with, his teammates ripped the nitros instead, Spike are just playing down
below the new hatch with potential to toss that up for an early pick if they get balls
he's dropping that hatch, it's a run out instead and it's the air jab!
Adrian goes flying into Ashen to plunge for his first frag.
Well, Ashen is on the board.
Maybe Shark found his first kill in the previous round,
and that settles all the goose eggs that we saw now.
Just a couple of breadsticks for some of these players,
so gotta get them out of the bakery at some point.
Getting rid of a utility-based operator
like the recruits is a good first grab,
but I do think there are other players on Wildcard,
operators in particular, that would have been a better target.
I'm just I see a player like Adrian who's been one of the most alive and active from a kill department across Fortress and now here on
Cafe and I think that's a big loss irrespective of who he's playing on
Give a maybe a little bit more breathing room down goes diffuser at the hands of spikers
I guess also been pretty good seven kills two deaths. He'll have to do even more as Kansan bleeds out on the ground
They circling around
I don't know if Keyneson is retrievable.
Diffuse kit being planted by Hot and Cold.
Ashen is here to protect.
Looking over towards Fireplace.
A beautiful shot by Baby Shark.
My God!
Gavin gets sent to the afterlife on that one.
Sitting on that skylight is such a strong position
and he just could not contend.
Hot and Cold eliminating Spiker.
That's probably target number one.
And they're looking for the win on this round.
Diffuser at the halfway point.
3v3 has now finally reached the M80, head back to the bomb site.
Baby Stark almost takes him down, Kansan gets one, Ashen a double for his third on the round,
making a fourth!
M80 take the lead!
Oh Liam Paz, welcome to cafe, you were maybe a bit quiet playing on those shield rolls
earlier in the map, but a huge multi-kill to be able to get M80 into the lead for the
first time on the second map this series and Parker what around it was to come
through from M80 I mean it was a nice retake of top red coming up from Wild
Card in the midst of that you saw Spiker rotating up those red stairs
Kansas trying to push up through bar a couple different players collapsing on
that top red position but as everybody on Wild Card was taking the top floor
regaining it back under their control and maybe we're planting in the site
Sure you're getting nasty stuff in the skylight, that's great, but you're on the top floor with your entire team, and Haughton's planting the diffuser.
Stats them up so perfectly for that post-plant, the objective focus game, but MAD loved to play, continued to shine now on cafe,
actually will pop-off dance after he gets his 4k, and it is finally a lead for MAD.
It took quite some time, but we finally arrived here, so...
Kudos to them, and 3 in a row for Emadion is certainly quite the feat, and they've done it without changing up much of this operator lineup.
They're trotting out very similar ops, obviously the big exception was the previous round.
If user has played the gridlock, every single round so far on attack, he will change it up now and will go with the twitch, as this lineup has been completely blown up.
up. Ace now being brought for the second time in a row, just the second time in this first
half. Flexibility on the side of M80. Wildcard still using Intel but nowhere near as much.
No bulletproof cameras, just the Yo-Kai drones to deal with. I think this might be in response
to the constant Doka B usage on the side of M80. If that is the call made by Wildcard,
Kudos to them. I think it is a smart one.
Well they are still going to be bringing that echo that Kansan was playing last time that
They defended on the bottom floor. He ended up posting up just inside of VIP protected by Adrian not in that same position
instead gonna be similarly close inside of whiskey, but
I'm curious what I made you really want to do on this push Parker. They dipped out from the buck
They haven't brought as much soft destruction and so it speaks to me like they're probably gonna go a bit more
Horizontal with this push doesn't mean it's a rush doesn't mean it's gonna be chaotic
But they kind of have a different set of tools and they could take this a slightly different way
See? Even still, recognizing there are no roamers on these top two floors, Gunner will take the space as it's given to him for free.
A lot of pressure is still happening over towards base right now. You see Hawke and Colt tossing in some of these helmets, even challenging the big player.
His teammates are trading out towards the garage side of the map, but that's going to be okay.
The brunt of this push is still being put together nicely.
to recruit the guys early again utility ops being played and just pure utility
secondary utility mind you if user will find baby shark if you're taking some
damage in the process early set of gas canisters deployed by spiker now
yokai is still up on the side of kanzan too it looks like he's got two hard to
tell if his third is there but he is piling around just trying to get
information as to where this advance is coming from now situated over by whiskey and now you've
there you go you got a good read of where they are all positions spread out so he will have a read
as to where these attackers are coming from line up those good cans and dies you will have to
govern those yokai's from the afterlife spiker finds his second kill bay on the board now to
bay inside of bakery he's last man standing he's taken down gunner in the gunfight so gavin could
try to get his teammate up or he might just go for kills they surely have a read on bay's position
but that read gone after five seconds.
Faze lined up, playing this pixel angle on the B bomb site.
He's giving himself away, re-engaging.
Gavin won the engagement earlier.
He's trying to get up the doke-a-bee,
almost playing for the Fuse Kid,
out goes the pocket impact,
but Gavin still wins it!
What on earth just happened?
M.A.D. takes their fourth in a row.
The first half is in the books.
Absolutely baffled by that play from Gavin.
I have no words, so let's let the desk break things down after the first half.
Good Lord.
Jesse, you're baffled.
I'm befuddled.
I mean, this is a wild turn of events from the first two rounds that Wildcard were able
to take.
Lacks, we saw four in a row from M80, almost every single one, defined by a clutch, defined
by some hero plays.
Maybe it's not the way they want to do it, but they are happy that they're doing it
this way.
I want to have to rely on a single player to be able to pull out big moments, but at the end of the day when you're looking at a team like M80 that has won two majors, I mean you're going to have big plays, you're going to have big players and Gavini is no exception to that. Gunners no exception to that, but specifically I mean Gavini here.
I mean this was a tremendous clutch coming out of him, just good display of skill in these positions that he finds himself in. And this is where we've highlighted, wait are we doing Gavini or Gunner?
A little bit of that.
Well, okay, it is a little bit more...
I was confused a little bit for a second.
But, I mean, again, all of these players at any given moment can be able to pop off time and time again.
Even in the second round prior, I mean, that was a huge 4K coming out of Ash,
and then even in that last round, the 1v2 would give in.
He once again being able to pull it off.
And both these two players have always performed exceptionally well.
It's good to still see Ash in his performance.
I did like what Jesse was talking about.
He wasn't finding a lot of success in the early rounds on those shields.
He immediately pipped its off of it.
it's off of it, boom, now he's on the leaderboard,
now he's getting impactful kills,
and but it's good to be able to transition,
test the waters, if shields aren't working,
sometimes you need to swap off them,
sometimes need play something that allows you to frag,
get into the building a little quicker,
move around the map quieter
that a shield just doesn't allow you,
and again, I mean, this is the same thing
that we've been seeing time and time again
out of them, maybe, and on their attacks,
they can pivot any single role,
given their flexibility, versatility
that they have on the team.
Yeah, that's the game plan,
and it's nice to see Ash playing shields
at Olivier Todd, cold happening to do it,
He can play flexible operators himself and Ashton being able to have the heads of knowledge and his teammates to adjust when things don't work specifically for him.
But that being said, from the side of Wildcard, you can almost see the frustration.
It felt like when they looked at their cameras, you could see the frustration on Spiker's face, everything that's going on.
They're very frustrated with how M80 are clutching some of these rounds because it's small positions where you're like, yeah, gunner walking up the white stairs.
Yeah, Gavin's in a 1v1.
Yes, anything can go any way.
But at the end of the day, those are small little areas
that if Wildcard's paying attention to it,
Gunner doesn't get a 3k and help clutch the round out.
You know, it doesn't put them in losing situations.
And I think that's what Wildcard is trying to focus on
going into this next half is eliminating those gaps
because that's what M80 is attacking on, essentially.
Right, and this is siege, right?
Those little things, they add up
and you keep losing those rounds on your defense path.
In challenge.
Right, you're setting yourself up for failure.
See if Wildcard here can make this act
Comeback happen can get these two rounds back. They have a lot of work to do though on the attacking side guys
Yeah, great points all around an m80 just seemed like a very well oiled machine at this point in time the score line across both maps
11 for m83 for wild card
And while I don't think there's been as much of a yawning chasm between their abilities like that
I do think that M80 has looked like they've been in full control of this series with the exception of those first two rounds
In the first half, so I
I don't know
I just think this M80 team continues to make improvements at a very quick rate
And they didn't really need to do that much to improve
I mean obviously losing Kino Hertz and we didn't talk about this quite extensively
but
This is a team that is just they're firing on all cylinders
Gunners, Gunner said, Erm, I think he took some damage during the prep phase, do you see what happens?
He impacted himself, trying to find the road of fate.
So, it happens.
Okay.
It happens from time to time.
It's a small loopsy.
It's a small loopsy, it'll be okay.
Always plays here, very often we'll play the Skull List here on this site, as he does on a lot of different sites.
Gunners, again, played quite a range of offers on the attack,
attack, but has played almost about 50% of all defense rounds here on Solus.
Just enough to lead you in.
Choosing the Malusi this time around impacts one way or another though in struggling with
it regardless.
Smiting, dining, defense looking very similar from M80, what would seem for them earlier
in the stage.
You've got a lot of long angle guns with the user from Gavin holding those egg oxes trying
to take those fights across the top floor.
Wildcard, so far don't seem incredibly eager to challenge those top floor fights.
They've got a lot of players just kind of outside the mining window.
They could go for a fast play in towards the bombsite if they want to,
but there's also plenty of pressure up above that they would like to alleviate.
So different goals from these players, they start to pressure the top floor.
It's an awful lot of damage done to Kansan, by the way,
and now Bay will fall by the wayside.
A run out through the door, Adrian gets it.
He was expecting a jump out on top of White as well.
Really well positioned for the European player on this squad.
One of two, mind you, baby shark.
Also, European, last I checked, France is still in Europe.
M80 with that early aggression, and now they find themselves back in the same place they were in when this round of dance tied up.
One minute and 30 seconds just eclipsed, they were starting to get into the execute.
Refuse, get in the hands of Spiker, he's been gunning a lot. He tends to be one of the more active, fragging IGLs.
Well, this time around, he's going to rely an awful lot on the two Europeans to watch him.
And Gunner did die to a body shot, so I'm not saying the impact self-damage was the only thing that got him killed, but it didn't help.
2v2 still down on each side, leads to a 3v3, man counts still up, Gavin got two massive kills on the top floor, now it's up to Wildcard to put this together without all of the players available for the executes.
Spike with the fuse kit is over by White Stairs, so he's likely going to try to get down those stairs and try to make his way into dining for the plant.
There's a lot of threats they got to worry about action at the bottom of red
You've got the fuser in a lot and cold lurking around the site as well. Oh
Ashing a missed opportunity
You thought he had one on the run finished off by baby shark. He's getting better the more he settles into this match
It is hard to attack
So the fact that he's able to thrive in this position
Who goes to him on into future the last two four and maybe now ten seconds to go
So, down goes Adrian, the drop from Spiker, he's all by himself, 6 seconds, 5 seconds,
you just gotta hide if you're M80, excellent final round for M80, I'm cold, decides to
go over the ego peak yet again, Gavin did that too man, M80 are certainly feeling themselves,
what a demoralizing position I'm sure Wildcard feel like they are in, and they've already
called their time out too, so there's really no way to fix this in the moment.
the round for M80. They continue on their streak. They are two rounds away from
facing off against DZ for a spot at the major. Glad you brought up attack time
up. Our since Lagoan is called his back. It has been non-stop round wins three
straight now from M80. Just been dominating running away with this game.
It's five straight since Wogcarve put their team with a lead here on cafe.
And you come back to this round number seven. It really does come down.
So just those long angle guns that M80 were bringing just hit some brilliant
shots they started of course top floor with Gavin hitting two nice kills and
then the fuser hitting two nice during the low 2v3 push as well coming through
from wild card just really sharp shots coming out from there made their
positions very nice as well. So I think those individuals really shining Gavin in
particular I think has to be highlighted not currently top dragging but have the
massive 1v1s end out round six and also in a gas where we talked a lot about
birthdays myself and games turn 24 back on Saturday so plenty to celebrate if you
can win this game as well he'll be feeling very good one step close to
Salt Lake City I I always appreciate the legwork that you do to find where
people live what they do and then I don't know what else you do with that
information Jesse but you have a lot of power
these people and they're whereabouts in their locations my database don't worry
about it you get blood spots in the broadcast that's what you need there is
no way for you to just freely input data you are the loudest type of keys like
they owe you money wildcard you just started hitting their keys particularly
with a huge key, if you like that transition, as they start to try to pull their zone.
Game and back!
Oh, round 8, it's not going to get easier, Parker.
They have to attack once you're reading now. Very similar to the bomb site, they just attack,
where the top floor remains an important part of the defense.
The user, once again, bringing that ACOG on the two properties.
The first to fall to Adria and trade it out nicely as these players swarm through the top floor,
and it's a big man advantage to walk right through by two.
Oh, it continues to grow.
M80 left with just hot and cold.
What a sweep that was.
And rocking the old wildcard skin on the FAMAS too.
A good shout there.
Spiker leading by example, his team
hoping to turn this corner.
It will end the streak that M80 was riding on at five rounds,
closing the gap to just two.
But yeah, I mean, a lot of players
chewing on their lips, chewing on their fingers,
fidgeting because they know how much pressure there is on them.
But every comeback starts in one round, you have to close that gap, you have to do it in a hurry, because M80 is on the presumed favorable side here, and this again, is their map.
Yeah, it's important to see confidence coming out from Wildcard, and we did see it in that round there, Adrian's so important in that round, being able to just get in through cocktail, right swing in one of those windows, get the massive two-piece, and the mix of that top floor chaos is able to find both the bodies of Ashen and Gunner pushing in through that top floor.
So they get a lot of early value comes off the back of a logic bomb comes off the back of some of that Intel from spiker as well
Playing the snake in the IGL role can be really impactful, too
I know we typically talk about snake as an entry fragger
That's usually how the proteins use snake, but I remember talking with some Ubisoft developers
Back before snake was announced or released and they said yeah this this new operator that we're working on for year 11
It's gonna be really big for IGLs that have a lot of information that kind of drip fed me some of that some of that intel
And I was like, okay, okay
It's good to see any of the IGLs kind of using that info and feeding for us their team and powering guys like Adrian's to get these
Kills that really start to pop off on these pushes
Yeah, I mean obviously we're gonna talk a lot about
Spikers own frag abilities because he has nine kills on his own
But how many more of those kills on the same as he was responsible for right?
So the fact that he's able to do this from that leadership aspect and do it on his own as well with a gun in hand
Again, the fragging IGL doesn't really exist these days
And when you think of the fragging IGL a lot of people will go back to K-drew with the way that that old UK squad
That he used to be on for so long played it now
It's biker to take up that mantle though the rest of the IGLs are towards the bottom of the North American lead standings
is Spiker sitting near the top.
So while Wildcard has had some struggles,
Spiker has remained consistent,
and it's nice to see him settling into this role.
Yeah, a lot of the fragging ideas
just are in other regions.
When you got Looking Back in Europe,
you got Vulps inside of South America.
Spiker certainly embodying that title
more than most here in NA.
Actually, Andrew of the series is the only player
on Wildcard above a 1.0 KD ratio.
So he really has been fragging since this kickoff began
and is continuing that in this playoff series versus M80.
rambling a bit once again because this is going to be a kitchen defense for
men without a Rome presence, which means it's going to be a slow one, but that's to
be expected here on cafe.
Hoping to see what this push ends up looking like.
The Stens is also being brought out by this wildcard team.
And you can see Spikers starting to draw lines throughout the bomb site, hoping
to confline the site and they go for the plant.
Kansan will start things off.
Gunner goes down.
This might be the comeback materializing for yet another round as
they've lost Gunner, you've lost those gas canisters.
ROU projector goes out.
I don't think it bounced the way that Specter wanted,
at least from the reaction on his face.
But it might be just enough to conceal their draw.
Knock off of the archives as the echo gets knocked off
because of that logic bomb.
And now Baby Shark will contest with Gavin.
It's an ugly fight.
He loses a lot of HP in the process,
but he walks away with the victory.
He and Adrian punished both down,
but not out, as Diffuser has a great lead and incredible cross,
doing so much damage in the process.
Ganzin on a shred of HP.
Spiker will need to retrieve his teammates
unless Ganzin can do it, but Spiker
is in the middle of the bomb site.
He's completely alone.
Yokai drone skirting in front of him,
sets up eyes now trained in his direction
from the remaining M80 players, still upright.
Ganzin trying to sneak his way in under the cover of darkness.
he'll be able to get these players back.
Both Adrian and Baby Shark are in the cover of their positions,
but Kansan knows that Defuser is lurking somewhere nearby.
He finds Ashen, time running out.
He has no choice but to watch as the Yo-Kai drone is shot.
Defuse kick going down to Spike or pull it off.
Defuser walking in, Kansan blocking them out.
Han cold will lead to clutch.
This is completely turned on its head,
and Han will get finished off by Kansan.
An unbelievable final moment of the round as Kansan saves it and Spiker trusts him completely.
That was absurd, Parker. He shot the Yokai Cam with, I think, genuinely on triple zero,
less than a tenth of a second when Kansan kills that Yokai, stops the plant from being denied.
That could have been an entirely different round if he just doesn't click his button a little bit faster.
Kansan saving things on a sliver of HP, maybe literally one HP, playing in that clutch position alongside Spiker.
That should have absolutely been it for M80. The Yokai from Cotton Cold was perfect, but he's just not able to deny it in time.
He waited until the last second to try to deny it, and I pray we get it on a replay, Parker, because it was just a ridiculous shot.
Right after that clip, we just missed it, but Kansan shooting the Okai Cam was ridiculous
in that moment, and then the fact that he wins the 1v1 too, I mean, again, just won 0HP
when he makes that play happen, an unbelievable clutch from Kansan.
I would be hated if I was hot and cold.
That was crazy.
Just crazy.
Attackers have discovered the location of Obama.
And that would have been, for the record, that would have been
series point formating if they pulled it off.
Wildcard, what unbelievable fortunes in Kansan is just,
he's a terrific player.
He hasn't really been talked about this much so far,
boot kickoff, despite how good he has been.
Yup.
He's not been the top rated player on his team.
He's down in the middle of the pack.
He's actually 26th of all the 50 players.
50 players, but it we're not that long removed from where
canzen was statistically one of the best players in North
America all of last year and easily outduel the best of the
best. He does it domestically. He does it internationally,
not really known for his game sense, no more for his
mechanical ability, but his game sense on that particular
round was unimpeachable and he and spiker work together to
deliver an incredible final moment.
I'll say it again progress earlier in the cast, but
Canjens number one game, the best performance of his career came to the
Munich Major last season. It was a 15-2 map that he played up against none
other than M80 themselves, so we know how good he can be when he plays up
against his four here of M80. He really does all the work necessary in that last
round to keep them competitive on this second map. Gunner goes for a bit of a
plenote outside of Bakery, had a target outside on the window, but unfortunately
he wasn't able to hit his shot, so back on the Solus,
as we so commonly come to expect from him,
gets read a little bit by a wild card
and they don't get hard punished by that.
Bombsite top floor here as they work
to try to clear this top couple of rumors.
A very patient play from Kansan now on this window.
He almost died in the very first round
of the second half, if you recall,
when he was on repellent in a very similar position.
He put himself in harm's way only
so that he could pull off his hard breach.
X-Kyros is far and away the best hard breaching tool
for long range.
You are easily the safest that you can be,
but you still have to expose yourself for just a period of time.
Adrian dies, Ashen colors shortly thereafter.
I feel like we've said this about four times
in this particular series.
Kansan will die shortly thereafter.
So all the hard breach now gone from wild card
and I didn't get to see it,
but Kansan still had 16 individual X-Kyros blasts
in his pocket?
Yes.
You spawn in with 18.
So he was only able to use two.
If that's correct, that is quite devastating for Wildcard.
Gunner takes down one.
Hunt cold gets beaten by Bay.
He was looking for another.
But there is a fade away from MAD.
As now, Spiker swings into the building.
Spiker holding that diffuse kit, looking
to break double digits as he hunts down along with his teammate,
the three remaining players of MAD.
Not a lot of time to work with Jesse.
Only 40 seconds here.
They might get another.
Oh!
Bay almost losing that engagement to diffuser one HP for Bay, Gavin goes for Broke, wins
the engagement, Spiker in a hot pursuit now swinging towards the A bomb site but he's
running out of time, 20 seconds on the clock, defuse kid at the halfway point, falls off
expecting M80 to be aggressive, Gunner wins the duel, and to series point M80 go.
No doubt in my mind Parker, Gunner is the best solos player in North America, such a
a high impact in that round, playing down to the bottom floor.
They knew he was down there. They knew he was existing in Bakery,
because he went for the earlier runout, which missed.
But eventually, he buys his time, he doesn't get cleared out, he says,
wow, I'll do it again. Runs out Bakery for a second time.
The second time he does it, he kills Kanzin.
That's how he goes down with 16 pellets still in his back pocket.
It was a massive runout to come through from Gunner.
And then eventually, when they go to hunt him down,
eventually, when they go to try to refrag that kill, he is ready for it.
He's watching he gets his tenth kill of the game managed to get a really massive pick
I believe on the baby shark he tried to push him down right there. Yes on the bottom floor
So well done coming out from Sean get one last one here taking down spiker in the 1v2 post plant too
So they're not quite post plan, but plant denial here from gunner
Beautifully played pushes that mating onto series point will it get two opportunities to close it out
At the end of the road, here in the upper bracket for Wildcard, might be soon approaching.
It has been a significantly improved cafe over what we saw on Fortress, and I do have
to wonder if part of it was just them taking some time to settle in, because they are playing
much more constantly in their engagements.
One thing that I didn't really want to mention in map number one, just because we had so
much to talk about, but also because it seems maybe a little bit simple, is that Wildcard
we're losing an uncharacteristically high number of gunfights and again we've
said this every single cast you can have all the strategy in the world you can
have the best ideas in the world the perfect operator lineup and if you just
with your shots in 350-50 gunfights next thing you know it's a 5v2 for your
opponents and all the strategy in the world they can help you. Wildcard is hitting
their shots a lot better here on cafe. Now it hasn't been perfect there have
still been some serious issues and maybe some shakes but they are playing with
your confidence. Could that have changed the fortunes on Fortress? Possibly. It's just
one thing for Wildcard to keep in mind and if they do go into that lower bracket up against
Shopify Rebellion, they cannot get caught flat-faded so early.
Nice hack thrown from Hot and Cold. It does get shot out there, but the information remains.
The C4 tossed off of it. The Viper is able to survive. They shoot the Viper A2 and start
this plant.
Oh, he's getting it down, and nobody's really watching.
Babe, from afar, he's good enough.
They've lost it, though.
Spiker died.
A devastating kill, not enough coverage from Babe.
They've still been able to find their licks here, Jesse.
As they work through these M80 players, objective be damned.
The guns are doing what they need to do.
This reinforces the point I was just making about how you just need to win your engagements.
Worried about the doka-bee hack? Gunner will take out some intel, then take out Adrian
shortly thereafter. He's just playing these pixel angles. He doesn't have a lot of information.
Needs to be worried about that upstairs control. He hears somebody crawling around on the red
stairs, two of them in fact. The logic bomb will give his position away. An ankle-biter,
Gunner is shooting at the shins of multiple wildcard players, but that MPX might as well
will be doing negative damage.
One more round in regulation is wild card.
Bring us to the brink.
Gunner had the aura on the one before.
That would have been so scary if he pulled it off.
I thought maybe he could do it with his positioning,
but Baby Shark is good enough to be able to hit that head.
That's a really important kill, I think,
both to keep Wildcard alive in this series,
but also build a bit of that confidence back, Parker.
I mean, you said it.
There have been some missed shots on the side of Wildcard,
but they were very good in that round
the force of 12th here inside a regulation. I really liked Bay's play in that early round too.
I mean we saw him on red stairs. He shoots the nitro cell, he shoots the hacked bossy cam,
he shoots the player inside a train who's trying to stop that plant. The only player he's not able
to shoot of course is the guy behind denying that plant. I believe it was Ashen who eventually got
that down onto on to Spiker but just wasn't really an angle that he was able to catch inside of
mining so really good play from Bay early on in that push the rush doesn't go
exactly to plan for wildcard the most objective focus team actually that we
have here in the North America League but the kills are very good to follow it
up and it forces attack time out out from Fabian hoping to end this one before we
see extra innings yeah I mean this is the time that you call it at no point did I
feel like and I'm sure Fabian felt like this because he's significantly
smarter than me and more experienced and more handsome but at no point do I
I think that he thought M80 was in trouble.
This is the point where M80's still not in trouble,
but why save it for overtime when you might be?
If there's one more round to go,
or if there's something that he's assessing as the problem,
or even if he's expecting overtime,
this time out can check all of those boxes.
So he's a brilliant player.
He's been a great coach so far.
Lagonas, same thing on the side of Wildcard.
And I mean, hey, Legones called his time out.
And this wildcard team has looked a lot better
since then, even in the rounds they haven't won.
This is a good coaching matchup so far.
It's obviously very challenging as an observer
to see what the coaches do
and to hear what the coaches do.
But you've got two really strong IGLs,
you've got two really strong coaches,
and so far strategically,
I'm liking what I'm seeing on Cafe.
I liked a lot of the strategy on Fortress 2,
It was just a bit one-sided, but here on cafe, far more even about.
And you can tell the coaches have a hand in that success for both of these teams.
Yeah, and even in this round part, you see the impact of the coaches.
Albion calls for them to repeat the site.
They go right back to Mining and Dining, playing the same site they just lost.
What have they done differently? Well, they brought the pulse, they brought the solace.
They brought good tools to deny the plant that they didn't have last time.
But Wildcard, reading that that might be the case,
have gone for a completely different operator lineup.
Instead of rushing in for the B bomb site again,
They're going to be playing to try to clear out some of these top floor players before they go for that plant.
So it's going to be very interesting to see how I may try to react to this.
You can see the gutter was hoping for a runout.
That air jab he spelled at least momentarily.
The large bomb comes out, so does the snake, and the top floor will begin to get cleared.
Down goes to Fuser Bay, playing with all the confidence in the world and allies.
He's got that ROU projector just concealing the top of red stairs,
should somebody want to go for a quick follow-up.
follow-up. If user got caught in a compromising position on that top floor,
I don't think he was expecting that drop with a minute off of the clock. I mean,
hey, if you ever play on the top floor of cafe,
oooh, a nice read. You know that people can easily hot drop there, and you always
have to be a little concerned. Gunner dies at the hands of Spiker. This is
really just a fascinating one to be at the follow-up on Ash, and Gavin now dies
here and wildcard in excellent position. We are looking at overtime, not three becoming far more
likely as every second ticks by. I don't know how I feel about an m80 clutch here. I don't even know
if I could feel a single kill because it's flawlessly done by wildcard to send us into extra innings.
And that's perfectly done Parker. This is exactly what we've been waiting for from wildcard for them
to be able to put their strats together for their fraggers to start fragging. Baby shark had some
some brilliant shots at the end of that round.
The information is flowing from the IGL of Spiker
and from the rest of the team.
They've got really good information
as they go for that clear.
And honestly, Parker, they just read that strategy
so beautifully.
You try to run things back and Gunnar
goes for another run-out with the Solis
over towards Garage.
He's been persistent on this operator, I gotta say.
All throughout this cafe map, he's been going for run-outs
and if they fail, just going for them again.
It was kind of readable on the side of Wildcard.
They were predicting it, they were ready for it.
They're not gonna get caught off guard
like they did on previous attacks.
Really clean stuff coming out from them.
They're expecting every little move from M80
and they're hitting the shots when they matter.
My attackers.
M80, floundering a bit now
as they've given up this big lead
and Wildcard look more than ready to force a third.
Yeah, this is a totally different team
that played those eight rounds
all the way back on Fortress.
And I mean, I don't think it's really much
of a consideration for this team at the time,
But maybe what separates me from being a player is I'd be thinking, I'd be sitting there thinking,
Man, if we played like this on Fortress, we might be in a position to 2-0 them.
It is nice to see though that Wildcard has that dog in them, has some fight left in them,
because people were really quick to write their obituary after those first four days of kickoff.
I think for a good reason, because the team did not look all that strong and more importantly,
they have never been dominant within North America.
But now we're starting to see the international wild card the flourishes of aggression the good coordination the depth baby shark and zero kills
What seven rounds ago now? He's at 10. Yeah
It's been a complete turnaround for this squad while we were talking asherman first spawn peak
It's been a while since we saw a team do that in this matchup. He doesn't get anything
They saw him. He saw them. He gets away. No damage is done
But I will I like that style of play for me to get under the skin of wild card
Do what you can to try to win.
Well, I think it's a sign that we're getting quite deep in the strap up here on Camp A Parker.
It's been such a fascinating map to watch between these two teams.
Dueling with different setups and different attacking strategies in round 13 is no different.
It's the only time we saw a midi defend this, because we saw the miraculous hands in clutch shooting out the yokai cannon, winning the final 1v1.
Robino Yo guys to shoot out this time is one called moves to the clash and in response wildcard bring help
You use heal from spikers
So once they get this top floor control and they mostly have it under wraps at this point
They get started serious work using these cluster charges to deal with some of the util inside the site
whether that's barbed wire or whether it's gonna be maybe some of the
Wow frankly might just be the barbed wire
They don't really probably tell you can't say stuff like that
but the utopia will be there nonetheless.
Wildcard will try to work with this clock
and they go for a vertical pushbox more.
Use can be such a menace on this map.
Shield or no shield, a.k.a. or a...
or no a.k.a.
So, Spiker is trying to flush these defenders out
and take down utility in the process.
It didn't push on cold back into the spot
where a lot of teams like to plant.
That's by the espresso machines in the back of Kitchen,
not by the bomb chassis,
which is the usual plant spot, even though I'm by freezer door.
Default, as it is often referred to as.
After those cluster charges have gone off, not a lot much has happened.
This is a very slow paced round. Finally we see logic bombs.
Scott, this M80 defense, on the move and Gunner hits Bay in a beautiful shot.
He thinks otherwise though, he should have not doubted himself.
Three kills for M80, answered back immediately by two from Wildcard.
Buck, within range, they double up on him.
Excellent coordination from Wildcard. Red so well.
Kansan loses a lot of HP in the process.
Oh, and you rest your hopes on Kansan and Adrien.
Good things tend to happen.
Three kills for Adrien now, and Defuser playing the long game.
Quite literally, far back.
With the GMR in hand, we'll have to clutch.
They've given his position away.
If Adrien is on the ground, is Defuser expecting this?
Yes, he is. Can he do anything about Kansan in his position? No! Oh my word!
Wildcard move to map point!
He is inevitable on that site Parker. Kansan does it again. Another 1v1 clutch attacking
onto the bottom floor of cafe. That's just his site. That's just his domain. That's his property.
They're on the bottom floor of the map. Another push that seems like it's a disaster.
M80 start with a massive man count lead, and then the best player from Florida steps up
after the plant goes down, takes out the user in the 1v1. This was really a disaster push,
a 5v2 for a split second, with then the coordination between Adrian and Hanson to isolate those picks,
go one for one for one, and then the fact that he hits that one bullet sent out is all he needs
It's head in hands for Gunner.
You've got 13 frags this game, Parker,
but it might not matter if they can't win the next two.
Tony, wall, there he is!
Just an unbelievable map so far.
Our best map of the day,
one of the best maps that we've seen here in Kickoff.
And frankly, this is probably the best map
that you and I have casted since the kickoff began.
There's still plenty of time for that to change.
We have three more days of North American siege
in front of our very eyes.
Tomorrow we will have more playoff matches.
Teams will start to get qualified
for the Salt Lake City Major.
North America's a little bit behind all the other regions
in terms of their schedule.
I don't think all the APAC teams
or the Chinese teams are fully locked.
You can correct me on that.
The time zone makes it a bit of a challenge.
All of the EML and South American teams,
AKA the four teams from Brazil, they've all qualified.
So they know they're waiting.
They can start their group camps.
They can start their scrims and prepare.
But as for this region in particular, North America taking their sweet time as we always
like to.
And I look at the teams that are still in this bracket and I think there's a lot of
good teams ahead of us.
And there might still be great teams here too.
We might actually need Chalet between these two teams, which seemed unthinkable even thirty
minutes ago, a little over an hour ago, when M.A.D. destroyed this wildcard team.
One round now for Wildcard to send us over to Chalet.
Well, the major champions will know how to keep themselves composed,
ups against the miraculous rounds from Wildcard.
They'll have to dig deep to be able to pull these next two rounds out
and close out the series without needing that third.
Wildcard in a great position here on the defense.
They've got their top floor set up, still mostly intact.
Kansen on these mirror windows to set things up nicely
baby shark in bay playing around them from the top floor. M80's got good utility to try to clear
out some of this utility. The Stelma charge will likely grab that first Stelma although it might
have actually been shot off so never mind the mirror window remains here looking into piano
and it just becomes even more awkward as the seconds tick by. How will M80 take this space
from the top floor? How will they manage to clear through this road game and take them out of control
what they're looking for I fall off now a very tense moment for these teams and
there still might be more to go between them playing as if a spot is directly on
the line both of these teams will still be in action no matter what happens here
I'm cold suffering through it he's had a bit of a rough game but if anybody on the
side of M80 is gonna have a rough game you probably want it to be him his
His fortunes don't get any better as he walks into a razor blue record and he is down for
the count.
Gavin will grab the diffuser.
Air apparent I suppose on that roll.
Final 40 seconds to a wildcard with a one player advantage.
Yeah, Impox, Nitro, there's a lot to deny this plant, Parker.
They will need to go in and push for kills.
If they can't get this long angle plant going down inside of reading, it could be very devastating
for M80's chances.
Yeah I think M80's playing a little bit scared, almost like the pressure is getting to them,
for a team that is one of nature's insane thing to say.
This is even do or die.
A bit of an issue for Ashen is he gets the read down
and reading room, Baby Shark on the board.
Gunner trades one out, there's Ashen,
but he's traded out by Baby Shark again.
Wild card, get it done and send us to map three.
They said it couldn't be done.
They said map one, they lost it on Fortress.
Wrap up the series, but no.
Cafe goes the way of Wild Card.
They power up halfway through and they managed to send us to this third map marker.
A whole new team showed up for cafe and now we've got a best of one showdown on Chalet.
Oh my word. We'll be back after this.
I
Music
to go from a 7-1 loss to an over time win on map 2 the resurgence of this team
laxing wild card came out of nowhere down two rounds in the first half and
they reversed we've come all the way back to take it unreal what we're seeing
yeah it's completely unreal and I can't even believe you said that these guys
I mean, I would never say something like that.
I mean, the complete resurgence from this team,
I mean, it was one from that time out
that we saw being called in,
and it was a complete transition
in how they were approaching the game,
and just the mindset.
You could completely see the ship,
and there were obviously huge heroics out of some players,
particularly Kanzin in that basement site.
I mean, that one round where he was able to pull off
that 4K, hitting that Yokai drone with 0.03 seconds
left on the clock.
I mean, it's rounds like these,
as much as we talk about how strong and resilient
team like a medias those rounds in particular will chip away at your mental
back to back and we'll put even more stress on you going to the next round
and then even into that last round I mean again hot and cold dies to a gets
down to a razor bloom gets back up dies to a razor bloom before getting even
into a gunfight if that's not a tilter on side of everything else that's been
going on I mean wild card wow what is showing yeah I mean this round we're
Kansan doing magic, shooting the yokai right as there was one second on the clock.
I think it's rounds like these, specifically the basement attacks from Wildcard that the clutches were amazing.
Thankfully that Kansan was there, he was able to clutch up, but the fact that they were able to consistently clutch those basement rounds
not only was a guaranteed round win for Wildcard, but it also, like you said, was kicking away from M80's mental.
And that was the biggest factor. Winning those rounds was showing the weakness from M80.
It was flustering them, frustrating them,
putting them in a position where Wildcard
stole the momentum from Map 2.
Going into Map 3, it's something that Wildcard, again,
can still just dig into the wound
and just make things worse for MAD,
because MAD now is playing with that mental aspect
that we could have closed it out.
We're going into a Map 3.
We can't make any more mistakes.
And that pressure is something that will eat at great teams,
even teams like MAD.
And so, thankfully, I mean, for Wildcard,
we say it all the time for a team
to be able to come back into a series.
You need either everybody to be on the same page or one player to have big rounds and that was Kansan being the saving grace for Wildcard and they desperately needed it.
I mean, I do love the mention that you talk about, you know, yes, we can praise Kansan, even in the other clutch where he did get that 1v1, you've got to give credit to Adrian in that round as well.
I hit a big 3k that put him into position to even go for that 1v1.
But again, the entire team across the board stepped up tremendously and that's really where they've been fighting against themselves is not everyone has been on the same page.
Not everyone has been able to find success.
I mean, we heard and saw Baby Shark.
He wasn't finding any success in the early beginning
of that game, and then towards the middle,
towards the end of it, he was at 10 kills.
Everyone now looks like the wild card
that we're used to seeing at an international level,
where they're taking their time.
They're understanding where they can pick apart
the defense and slowly and slowly start constricting
that site until they can go for those executes.
Yes, some of those rounds, they get a little dicey,
but they have the players to clutch
and bring it into the next round, into the next.
And as Parker said, as cliche as it is,
every round can contribute to a comeback,
and they absolutely made that happen.
We're really seeing it.
You said resurgence a few times could not be more accurate.
The question is, can they hang onto that, right?
Can they keep up that momentum and still play like the team
that maybe has some glimmers
of that wild card international success?
Our third map will decide all of that.
The sixth map of the night to send one of these teams
On a date with Dark Zero in two days, it is M80 and Wildcard.
They're going toe-to-toe on map three when we come back.
If you just tuned in to map number one and didn't see any of map number two, you'd be
shocked that we find ourselves here on Chalet as the decider between these two teams because
everything was pointing towards this being a very quick 2-0 for M80.
The wildcard had other ideas and in map number two they found a higher gear and
have now pushed us over to the sunny beaches of France. Here in Chalet M80
still the people's favorite and honestly might have looked like the better team
through this entire series but it's a best of one now to determine which team
moves forward in the brackets and which team goes down to start their lower
the world's most important
champion. We're bracket run.
Will it be a baby major
champions that are technically
still defending major champions
because I saw he's not a major
or is it wild card a team that
is a bit of a new look like
maybe. But it's never done as
well domestically as they've
done international. This one's
going to be a dog fight. Jesse
That's incredible that we even
as you said for a spot deeper in the brackets.
If you win this game, you have two opportunities,
two best of threes where you only need to win one
in order to make it to Salt Lake City.
So this is a critical game in order to put yourself up
in a good spot to make it to the major chalet,
not an app that either of these teams have played
since their respective roster moves.
Historically, it has favored an 80 though,
winning it a couple of times back during SI
and of course through stage two as well.
Wildcard haven't won this map in over six months losing in that time to both M80 and FaZe Clan
So hopefully the practice they've been putting into this map will pay off and they can show us exactly why they force this third map at the first place
Well, I mean don't tell Wildcard that the odds are stacked against them because they
Completely bottled their own map and have made this the most difficult best of three humanly possible
The only way this could have gone worse is if they'd lost the only round they won back on map number one.
So, this wildcard team has taken some time to settle in.
And again, this is a very good reminder for people that the kickoff was only four best of ones through the groups.
That is not a lot of time for a new roster to gel.
Certainly not a lot of time to get used to a new meta, a meta that is still steadily evolving.
So wildcard just needed, I guess, to settle in.
Or maybe they will completely implode here and there'll be another 7-1 for M80 and that cafe will look like an aberration more than anything else.
Who knows? Let's get into the match because theory-crafting won't get us so far. Let's see the actual practical application for these teams.
My eyes are really going to be on Baby Shark for this map, Parker.
I mean, he really did struggle. He was the lowest rated player in the upper bracket before today began, but finally was able to come alive inside a cafe.
It was a huge reason why they were able to win that map and now has an opportunity to do so once again here on
Shelly action is the first one to go down
It's Adrian who continues this streak of early opening picks on all three maps
Finds the two brow early from the outside position and will start to pressure M80 as they now go into a one-man disadvantage
Top floor under their control, but they go down towards the basement
Potentially brewing if baby shark could find a player down there
Adrian, Mr. Start of the Round, he's been involved in so many of these opening duels,
obviously that's his role, he's going to be the first point of contact for this wild card
team, but he's been very, very good so far today. On entries, he's been able to find
an entry kill on all three maps now. That's something that not a lot of players frankly
can say, so shout out to Adrian for that. He said to adjust to this wild card team and
Well, the man that I've seen having the hardest time adjusting has been Baby Shark, and he
really picked it up on map number two.
If he can carry that strong play over here on map three, we'll absolutely give Wildcard
a fighting chance round after round.
Like the map control so far from Wildcard, they've taken over towards Piano, they've
taken a lot of his top floor, it's really just library-ed, they don't have control
of, but Gavin persists here inside of Library Entrance, defuser on the stairs trying to support.
A lot of his dreadmines will keep him safe, they try to push down through Cases Hallways,
He's got some good fights, but his teammate dies, and he's left all alone, forced to fall back to the bomb site as the final 40 fight.
Gunner, the only player of M80 so far, to strike on the board, and he's been finished off as his hot, now it's diffuser to get nothing done.
Baby Shark, with those final two kills, he set his name and it immediately pays off.
Making me look a little bit smarter than usual.
You drowned from wild card and they just got into the building with no fear M80 have completely fallen apart
You have to somehow fix this momentum that is purely in your head, but is letting you down
Baffled that you just blatantly stole my baby shark point
Seconds after I say it and now you're the one looking smart for it. I don't know about that one
But I'll let it slide as long as you know maybe we were talking about baby shark
Okay, you know, it's battling me, you know, it's battling me, you know, get to watch the Edmunds and Oilers play.
I get to watch Wildcard and Aden, partner, that's far better because the level play...
Neither of these teams, like you're a fan of the Edmunds and Oilers?
I'm a fan of Babyshark, no.
I'm a fan of Babyshark and the performance that he's been putting up, as I've been talking about throughout this series.
Didn't have the strongest of starts, but really came alive, again, 12 kills on that too.
Now starts off 2-0 here on map 3 for wildcard, and I think it really just does come down to
how the rest of team is able to
Pressure the players into him and assist him as they go for some of these pushes
He's always been that lurk player for wildcard not necessarily with the rest of the team not necessarily getting into those gunfights
Directly where we expect from him, but lurking him through the basement finding his way up
Catching these roamers off guard and pressuring them as they get pushed back from the site pushers
It's been really impressive to see him in Wildcard.
He's been clean on that first shallay attack.
You know, I often call Baby Shark the Conor McDavid of Rainbow Six Siege.
Cast the game.
So maybe it is like you're watching the Edmonton Oilers.
Hey, you wanna know something funny about Wildcard and the Edmonton Oilers?
They both won the same amount of Stanley Cups in the last ten years.
It's interesting cut off.
Okay, 20 years. Sorry, 30 years.
This is how it- this is actually gonna make him mad outside of the broadcast, and I am all here for it.
Anyway, one minute off of this second round, a terrific start from Wildcard. Everybody doing their part.
They really need much objective play because they just demolished these M80 players as they walked into the building.
spikers in the bomb site with over half of the round still to go. He gets gunned down,
my oh my, how long has it been since they won this map, Jesse? That was, that was a bad one.
That was, and that is almost entirely on Bay, not being able to deal with Gavin, who still is half
of his HP. Bay's gotta be hitting shots better than that, because you've now completely blown
the round open. That's really quite unfortunate. Everything looked like it was working. For wild
No card, Adrian 9. He handed. The diffuser dropped in the bomb site.
Unless M80 completely bottled this, it should be over.
The defenders can just close in on the diffuse kit.
Sorry, I threw out the cans and it just kills everybody in puzzling ways.
My apologies, chat.
Open to be able to collect this one back. Never count out, Kanzan.
Especially with how Baby Shark's been playing this team still in it 2v2.
Baby Shark facing off against Ash on the thought floor.
He's got good information thanks to some of these drones.
We'll try to use the ram to clear a little bit more of this utility.
Find out some of this burp pressure. They do spot out Baby Shark now, so this can force the 1v1.
Spot out Ash, and I should say Baby Shark with that information.
Canson down to the bottom floor. He's gonna have to be the one to retrieve the diffuser
and start on with this plant if they can get it and start that thing inside of B.
That'd be big for them.
I don't know, it's complete swap now as M80 was holding this E chassis part of the map
and now it's falling a little bit farther back.
Acogs are plenty for these wildcard players, they can lock this one down.
An astonishing result if they end up winning.
It all comes down to Kansan yet again, 10 seconds.
Ashen is from above, you're going to have to plant this one and see what he chooses to
do.
Kansan's getting through it, shot it through the wall, they know Ashen's positioned now
but Kansan doesn't have a choice.
No way, he'll be able to get this kill.
He's just got to stick the landing,
ashing, dropping with the shotgun through the wall.
Yeah, Kansan, you tried really hard,
but a lot of that really falls on that gunfight at the door.
Spiker had full trust that the Ella would die
when he did not die, when Gavin was allowed
to stay in that position.
It completely knocked the round on its head.
A frustrating spot for Wildcard to be in,
but you literally saw how one small misread
in one small mistake, snowballs into something much larger.
It was still a very scary round for him,
maybe let's not kid ourselves here, Jesse.
Yeah, unfortunately, just couldn't quite get the job done.
They find the opening pick on the hot and cold,
but then he's reloading with his pistol,
and he doesn't have nades.
That's kind of the biggest thing, Parker.
Usually with demo players, you'll see those nades trying
to force the player out of position,
but he brought the can openers instead.
Didn't get any value out of that secondary gadget.
Unfortunately, just kind of lowers the man count
then on the side of M80.
They're able to play the time really nicely.
Ashen never overextends inside of Solar.
Never extending on the side of Gavin either,
just inside the bomb site, letting the time tick down.
We enter that 2v2 with over a minute still on the clock.
But despite that, the time was the biggest problem.
Couldn't work with it, couldn't try to find picks into that 2v2 situation.
And unfortunately, just let the rounds slip away for them a little bit there.
Really quite devastating stuff, but...
The attackers are moving out to locate a bomb.
Again, this map has had just a, this match in fact, it's just, just about everything.
Jesse, and, and I mean, it's late for us, it's late for the studio in Copenhagen.
Big respect to our production team currently working at 5?
Nearly.
47, 4, 447, something like that.
It's, it's quite late for our production team working out of Copenhagen and of course to the...
Also to our desk.
We're also situated over there. It's a beautiful studio.
We, of course, are working remote, so we're a bit privileged here in that regard.
But, and of course, thanks to you, we're still tuning in.
We're hoping to send you away with a very intriguing match.
And so far, this best of three has given us just about everything.
We haven't had an ace yet. I suppose that's one thing that's missing.
And there has been a team kill.
We're gonna start checking those off the boxes, but gameplay has continued to steadily improve.
We're only two rounds into Shelly and it already been quite an unpredictable affair.
Spiker attempting to spring shot as an Amaru in towards B-bomb gets gunned down immediately by M-80.
That's the defuse kit drop as well yet again.
Wildcard, come on.
You see the power of the thorn there, Parker. The barb-barb plus gadget makes it impossible to try to make that space.
The gun fights so free for Gunner, he's going to explain how to make that pick.
Another one from the Fuser now is getting into building
has proven to be such a difficult concept for Wildcard.
It's Adrien smoked off the big window
and he had some interesting sense walls
that are being set up.
But unfortunately, I just don't think
we're going to get to see the result of it.
He's dead now.
He can't bring those walls to put us up to come up.
And they're just battling out for these fights.
Not enough information.
Gavin finds Baby Shark and with over a minute 20 still
on the clock, he's got five kills to find.
There's two bodies to use it.
Tanks on the vault in, caught by the cross.
M80 looking far more poised on this round than what we saw previously. No real mistakes being committed here.
Wildcard left to just bay and I mean, what are you gonna do, right? One minute to go. They hear that diffuse kick going down.
The four remaining players on the side of M80 just need to sit and wait.
Excellent patience. A pop up from diffuser. Maybe sitting waits not the ultimate goal.
They got some smiles on their faces so the mental's not chalked just yet.
M80 regains the lead.
And so we didn't get to see more of that push coming through Parker from wild card
It felt like it was it had some really interesting bones to it
But I think spiker maybe just a little ahead of his teammates. He goes for that rappel into solar
I guess thinking it was clear or think he had more coverage than he did under the cover of the lion scan
He does his best to just jump in through the solar window, but it does get read
There's too much util and he's not really got anybody with him
So bit of an awkward death to come up from spiker that really just started that round off on the wrong foot for wild card
something to think about something that they can reset and they actually do call attack timeout here
I was a little curious if they would just because these last couple rounds have gone so poorly for them, especially that last one
clearly Lugonis is wanting to use these tax timeouts early hoping that he can
Fix these problems before they start to spiral into even bigger ones
Deciding that now is the proper time to have just two one to m80 to use this tactical timeout
Early timeouts again could be called for a variety of reasons and we can speculate in fact
while we're paid to speculate actually it's a really great thing. We can talk about what we
think is going on with these teams and these players. Wildcart have had a really rough best of
three obviously it's been papered over a little bit by the results of map number two but this is
still a team that is having issues you saw it in round number two they probably should be upright
now in this round count, but small mistakes can lead to such larger consequences and damning
results. That's what happened. That particular round went bad for Wildcard as well in a hurry.
So if you're seeing these small little missteps, say you call them a thousand cuts. Death by
a thousand cuts is still death. It doesn't matter how many cuts you get or how inconsequential
they seem. So trust in Ligonus to be able to settle this team down, talk them through
the strategy. This is not a very familiar map for Wildcard. You said it yourself before
we even played a single round. So there is going to be some... I don't know, some onboarding
that needs to be done, some learning on the go. Wildcard showed up better on Shelly than
I expected, Jesse. They call the timeout. Your hope is that when you call that timeout,
they play even better than they already are so far.
We'll go back to bar and games, Parfor, as we go through the second quarter. They banned
out both the Demos and the Ella. The Demos have been such a consistent staple for a wild
card. It was actually Baby Shark who played it back in round number one, so he moves over
to the Snake to do much of the same job as that Demos. Gathering information, giving
yourself advantageous flights as you start to work with that intel to get yourself in
the crags. The drones are good too. We're seeing a little bit of information being
fed by that. Gunner's spot inside of Nining being given away as the drones were able
to spot him out. There is a site you tell me they thought
worry about of course that mirror window that we saw being set up by hot and cold is going to mean
they can't just fly into the bomb site fly in as they try to back around number three
with all this information the drone's coming through and of course the snake scans soon to follow
i like wildcarts chances of getting this opening pick
glad baby shark has woken up on this team now playing a very important operator from an
information perspective usually you will see defenders playing very close to windows and doors
Snake counters them so well, but guess what he doesn't do?
He doesn't counter Gavin when he pulls his brain out of his head
and jumps out of a window.
Down goes Baby Shark.
The snake is no more.
He's been what, 20 seconds hyping up Baby Shark on Snake,
all for none.
It's a bummer.
Gavin's just a smart player who will have taken down there,
just catching him off guard as he's busy fighting the guy
inside of office.
That's that team play that we expect from M80.
Now with five players still alive,
They will toss the Nitro straight up the window and hit Spiker in the shield and well he's fine, still half HP, but now a little bit more vulnerable.
There's a second Nitro being held by Defuser and if they try to toss these Nades in, it's actually a Rebusis from Hot and Cold to get punished, and they're in the building.
Oh, Spiker was so close to finding safe pasture to get that Defuser down and now it's a Lydnia targets, but only one can be found.
M80 still with the advantage, diffuser maybe a bit out of reach, that's the case, not the player as diffuser guns down Adrian, try not to be too confused.
Cans it all alone, yet again, watching as his team gets felled player by player, his job was to sit and wait, but what are you waiting for when everybody is dead?
Who give it the old college try?
Maybe?
They're just wasting time.
They just called their time out, so there is potential here for them to still talk through
some of this, albeit not with their coach of Luganas, but maybe workshop it as some players.
It doesn't seem like Kanzan is going to give this a serious attempt.
He trades, so it'll be good for the stats, but M80 in control of these last couple rounds,
Errors being committed by Wildcard pounced upon by the defending major champs.
Yeah, errors being committed. Another way to say that would be UR Copper.
Those are the words that were chosen by the Fuser in the midst of that round, Parker.
And I think part of it just comes down to these Thorn Traps.
Consistently now, back to back rounds, we saw Spiker just jump right into a window that does have a Thorn Trap on it.
That time when the Blackbeard, it ended up being his demise.
It plus the barbed wire probably would have been his demise last round too in round number three.
3 if he wasn't killed by Gunner so quickly, but it's kind of this lack of view so clear
that even when you have the nades, even when you're on the Blackbeard, you have the tools
to clear out some of this that is kind of stripping up from Wildcard.
These mistakes that you don't really expect to see coming through, and then of course
that kill over towards Blue Stairs as well.
One word diffusers feeling pretty confident in himself, we've seen some really nice play
coming out from M80, but it also just feels like Wildcard has a slight step back from
what we were witnessing towards the end of Caffe, they need to get themselves back in
this game because we're used to seeing a lot better from them.
Used to being map 2 or used to being farther out?
Map 2 in last season.
Bit of a cold day, bit of a cold beat.
It was always going to be an uphill battle for this wildcard team just based on the history
that they have in their region, right?
We highlighted it in map 1, we talked about it in map 2, we might as well bring it up
here in map 3 just for the people who haven't been listening since the start.
card has always domestically and this is the point I want to put emphasis on. Domestically
they have struggled. Struggle usually means they're somewhere between 4th, 5th and 6th.
When they get to an event internationally, they do really, really well. Getting there
is the bigger struggle than succeeding at the event. Now, usually that's a very good
problem to have, but for kickoff, it's a terrible problem to have because the runway
to land this thing is so short. And for a team that usually need that long runway to prove they're
one of the best, they're gonna have to be better immediately. Now Wildcard obviously didn't get
that memo back in map number one, but they made the upper bracket. So they are doing something right
and they're still adjusting to this player of Adrian who for the record has looked mighty good.
They're gonna get a leg up now as Gavin gets a little bit irritable, jumps out, dies to a Claymore.
the first kill for Wildcart, thumbs in maybe unexpected fashion here, they've taken the
thorn down. Now it's a run out from hot and cold, you won't find anything, a lot of gumption on the
side of this M80T, but they're not finding any success.
They're struggling with it there, Gavin ended up jumping out of games with that opening death,
but Baby Shark with a technical second, the claymore for the first, and now the gun
rings out to find Gunner. The user's position was given away long ago and finally will be
capitalize on baby shark thriving in this high info environment that it is a clean sweep a full
all this round for wildcars they get themselves back in this game the information so much better
that time parker they had all the drones they had the claim or as they had the utile and they will
walk away with a round win because of it this seesaw match is going to continue and i mean hey kudos
to the kudos to all the teams that are competing so far. Our first series of the day very evenly
matched and here we are seeing the same thing again. I do kind of wish we could have seen a
more competitive first map but I think it just adds to the overall story and do keep in mind that
second round that wild card did ultimately end up losing when if you remember Bay and Spiker both
died to Gavin on that drill. This could easily be a wild card lead here on this map, so still a lot
more to go. We're about a solid, we might even be halfway towards the end of this map, but
Side 12 is about to come in and I'm fascinated to see if we end up with a 3-3 and end up
with 9-13 any closer to a conclusion. It really isn't coming in my mind upon wild card not making
one mistake because of these two teams so far they have committed far more mistakes than I made
through these five now six active rounds. Yeah make sure to see what lessons
I made earlier from that previous round too you know they were playing quite
aggro over towards solar they're burning burned out by capital bolts they were
running out into claymores I would expect after that result to see them rain
things in a little bit to see them play things a little bit more passive they
are holding with four and five players up towards that block.
Lord Gavin probably the hardest from site just on the other side of this window from
baby shark he is inside a back bar in a position where maybe he could try to go
for an early gunfight, try to get aggressive, but the most, most of the players pushing
actually focus their attention over towards Solar, wanting to go more direct to site,
not thinking of the engaging back with these roamers, you've got to play into their hand.
The cans being on that gridlock down below, it's going to make flanking from Gavin or anyone else
very, very difficult. The cans can kind of just sit down here for free, play with the shock,
and start working the verse. It'll counter this bandit that's being played by Gunnar,
just on side of the master wall over towards Solar, and it'll also start to counter some
some of these other positions of the players inside a bathroom or inside a
bathroom.
You really don't see a lot of Bandit on this bomb site, Jesse.
It's a bit odd. You see Bandit across a couple maps, but usually Kaid is the
go-to electrification. We don't even see a lot of Kaid these days for crying out loud.
It's just, breaching is not the be-all end-all like it used to be, so breached denial is not the be-all end-all.
Fascinating, still see how Gunner pilots this operator.
Hotten called the only player in the lobby yet to get a kill.
He had a really weak second map from a bragging perspective.
Hotten, highly touted for his IGL skills, not only known for tons of kills in that role,
though he can go back and forth.
Metrosoul gets shot.
First kill is onto Gavin.
Now Gunner taking some damage.
He's finished off.
Wildcard looking so formidable outside of the building.
Another nade.
It gets better.
Oh boy. Two players left alive now inside of M8 to try to clutch this back over 60 seconds to work with two.
The bullets are flying, your teammates are dead, hot and cold. Good luck, a nice swing at a big window.
That's the start to a 1v5.
Oh.
The start. The finish is the OV-4 wildcard. In control of these last two rounds,
Halfway point three three for both of these teams now again
You can dive into whether the attackers or defenders have a leg up here on Chalet
But these have been very evenly matched rounds back and forth nobody the clear victor through six
Well Parker we've got our desk to break down those first six and tell us who they think is clearly in the lead
Clearly in the lead. I don't know if we have that in us right now Jesse
I mean thinking about where we started our first half-time break on map one
We said, why are we even here?
This isn't a halftime break.
The game might as well be over.
It was 6-0 at that point.
Here we are, lacks a map and a half later.
And it is, I mean, 3-3, a complete coin flip.
I mean, for a viewer, this is what you'd love to see,
especially if you're excited for both these teams,
to get to the very last map.
And it is a battle of attrition.
Who is controlling that tempo?
Who has that momentum?
Who's able to shift and adapt better?
And so far, what we've seen in the latter half,
we are seeing Wildcard adapt a lot better.
And I'd agree with Jesse.
you know what we saw in that round five was M80 getting too aggressive,
which was allowing Wildcard to get these free picks where they would ultimately close around
on a flawless half, and I completely agree with Jesse that maybe we dial it back a little bit,
we play a little more passive, let's play our crossfires, play our layers, and sure enough,
Wildcard takes their time, uses the time against M80 and understands, okay, if they don't want to
play aggressive, they don't want to peek into us, let's force them into our gunfire, let's force
force them into crossfires, using that capital, just oppressing them left and right.
So if I had to say at the end of this half, and how those last two rounds played out,
I would be on the edge that Wildcard has the favor going into this next half.
I do agree. I think the map itself is a lot different, a lot more difficult to be able
to defend uncomfortably as opposed to the map like Fortress. You can't really add layers,
but still even then, it looks like M80 is still very flustered from that map to loss.
It seems like they're going for a lot of aggressive fights.
The fights that they are losing, and sometimes when Wildcard are winning these rounds,
dominantly those last two rounds, it just looks like M80's losing one kill to just,
and bleeding and hemorrhaging kills.
And I think that's the biggest issue for M80 going forward.
Sides swapping, Wildcard is on the defense.
It seems like they have a really good understanding.
They're calm.
They have the momentum in their favor.
M80's only hope, in my opinion, is if they can really shake off the fact that they lost
and really tried to out-counter.
I mean, it goes without saying Han cold being the IGL,
he only got his first kill in that last round.
So that being said, you can tell from their gameplay
and from the way that they are performing,
it looks like they're still shaking up.
So it sounds like Lacks, at least you gave a definitive.
Do you think Wildcard have this, Fox?
Where do you fall?
Well, I don't wanna say they have it,
but I think just going into the second half,
they're gonna be a lot more comfortable.
I think if there's a team to get overconfident
and start losing and hemorrhaging rounds after mistakes,
I feel like it would be M80.
So I think it's safe to say that I believe Wildcard could run away with it in this half.
Alright, well, I think we have our answer, Jesse.
The momentum seems like it's on the side of Wildcard 3-3, though, as we said,
basically a coin flip going into these final few rounds,
but exactly what you want to see in a playoff match like this.
Very well put, a battle of the Titans,
and I mean, you're at the very final halftime of tonight's broadcast.
And of course, neither team is closer to victory.
If you are here, neither a fan, or a fan of neither team,
you are treated to some really great speech.
Cafe, excellent, shall I?
Definitely shaping up.
Can we cut from that same cloth?
Just don't bother to go back and watch Fortress again unless...
Well, unless you happen to love M.A.D. in awful odds,
then watch it as much as you want.
Heck, you didn't do it...
Yeah.
Yeah, I did.
Ow!
Okay.
The textures in this game are kinda funny,
So some of them you can throw Valkhams on, some of them you can shoot those drones at.
I think he's worried that somebody is hidden a drone in there, and I think that's the right call.
He didn't actually catch a drone.
Yes.
Yeah, he caught a drone in those plants. He caught it when he uprooted the second time.
So he will have that information to play with.
Little bit of offer that bounced off the first time around, but he's fine.
He's got the info he wants, and now Baby Shark can position that drone wherever he wants.
It looks like he's driving it up towards Mez at the moment, so he can really use this to try to
catch the attackers off guard, maybe enable some aggressive moves from these other Lockard drummers.
Oh, boy, it'll just immediately get shot. Never mind.
So much of this series has been us calling what happens
95% of the times and then watching as the 5% of the time unfolds in front of our eyes.
Yeah, unfortunately I don't think he caught that brava drone. It's not showing up on the hood, so there was maybe some opportunity for another hack to come through, but not to be for Baby Shark.
Bitted a long series, bit of a goofy one, but it has been entertaining from start to finish. Now they've got to find some way to break through onto these defenders.
You see the setup over towards Piano. Bay here positioned himself behind the shield, not far away from his teammate over on the tuber out.
Adrian also in an aggressive spot,
and around those top floor roamers,
you see so much aggression from top to bottom.
Ashen will find Bay.
I'm not really sure where that denial was.
Oh, Ashen's found his way in.
Okay, perfect.
He's up top by piano,
might have another over by bathroom,
but he doesn't get there fast enough.
What are these comms from Wildcard?
Ashen was allowed to exist there for 10 plus seconds,
and nobody called that one out.
Adrian looking in the complete wrong direction.
Spiker will get one kill with the Nitro cell,
Now he has to hang on for dear hope.
Gavit is also downed, retrieved now
by one of the two remaining M80 players.
Look at this denari set up.
Yeah, that's so cool.
Walks off that office doorway,
there's no shot that you're destroying that trip wire
from down below at least,
so it makes it very tough to walk in through office.
You stop for a second here
and think about this particular part of the map.
This is also where the electric laws will go
to electrify the garage door underneath
people don't think about, or rather sorry the wall underneath that people don't think about.
And now you've got the Denarii trips as well. This is a really precarious spot for Spiker. I
don't know if he's able to make it out of here alive. No, not at all. He was getting pinched from
the kitchen door and then down solarium stairs. He was finished off either way. M80 do not look
particularly happy. Certainly not the level of vibes that they had even 10 minutes ago,
let alone on the previous map here. And I think for good reason, they could have closed this one
out in two, they watched it slip through their fingers and now they're fighting for their lives on
map number three. They've got the lead though as they take the first round of the second half.
Yeah, I think that's key. Despite the vibes, they did look quite well in that push and it
all falls back to Ashen. Got just three kills in the first half and will double his total in just
the first round of the second half. Be able to get another triple kill. He knew that there was
the denari set up inside a piano. We saw it with that ployable shield. Walks in, gets that kill,
immediately flicks behind because he knows baby shark is roaming down over
towards the bottom of blue stairs get the second kill and then the final player
just Adrian inside of office he's got a million different angles to look at I
believe you distracted by hot and cold just inside the master bedroom so when
Ashton walks in the office door ends up being a freebie for him to cap off that
nice little 3k when you've got a snake player like Ashton who is so good at
gathering information and then using it to get a multitude of kills it really
can crack the defense wide open.
Wildcard spent a lot of that early round
hunting for an early pick,
hunting for that aggressive play
that will give them the edge,
but it was Ashen who ended up finding it
and gives us an early pick of it.
The series so far that's been defined by a lot of things.
Some sloppy play, teams figuring each other out
as it goes on a little bit longer.
Great individual performances,
the yo-yo effect of some of these players.
Baby Shark having a terrible game,
bouncing back to almost top-fragging on his team,
Spiker carrying the wave and now taking more of a back seat.
We've been all over the place.
Quite the journey here through these three maps,
and it has been a really special series,
and it's not for a direct playoff spot.
So you have to imagine that when the stakes get higher,
the games will only improve.
DarkZero awaits the winner of this series,
and then the winner of that series
gets a spot at the Salt Lake City Major.
The loser here does not go home.
The loser here goes down into the lower bracket
to start their lower bracket run for one of those four spots
and will have their hands full against Shopify Rebellion
in a matchup that I imagine has to be very, very interesting
to watch, irrespective of which of these teams win.
This is a quick one by M80.
They've made their way into back bar.
Ashen and Gunner taking no prisoners.
Defuser goes down wild card and will now trail by two players
can find themselves in the worst spot possible.
Down in numbers, while you've lost control of the bomb site,
round is on the line.
Ash and Shagin' off of this spot,
they do manage to get one kill on Wildcard's side.
But one kill over the span of 20 seconds
ain't gonna get the job done, Jesse,
when there's four other players to go.
And that big window will be the greater issue.
No opportunity to long arm, they all trickle in,
and M80 will greet them one by one by one.
They go up by two, five, three.
score line so far, M80 perfect on the second half.
It's been Akshine's initiative that has really changed the pace of this game for me Parker.
He has once again been able to jump in the building, cause a distraction, be the focal
point of all of those defenders, and enable this team to be able to get in and get that
plant.
First time he did it on the stake, little 3k gets the frags, this time he only gets one
kill for his trouble, but he's that guy on the blitz jumping in through the window, distracting
the smoke of Adrian, who is the one player that was still on the bomb site, which allows
Hot and Cold to jump in and get that plant then on to Capitao, everybody else in that
rush holding after out through the game's window or up above the library windows.
You saw Gunner get that opening pick, unfortunately, the spiker who was roaming all the way over
towards Office felt like the information was so clean there from M80, and despite the fact
that Adrian was sitting in the site, they said, we don't really care, we're going to
send it in, we're going to force you out of this position, Asher was able to gun him
down with the pistol on that blitz, and it just made all the difference in the world.
These pushes have been so decisive from MAD, Wildcard need to find some way to shut them
down and they're running out of time to find that solution.
And they already used their timeout yet again.
Both of these times that the Wildcard timeouts have come have been so early in the game that
you can't diagnose these issues with your coach in the midst of it.
Right?
This is quite devastating for them.
They do get the time out now in the middle of the game at halftime, so they are at least able to do that, but it's a rough spot to be in if you're wildcard.
You've just got to go with the flow and hope that you can figure it out.
Good drone work now from M80 as we turn our sights towards round number nine and M80 succeed here.
Well, that might be the end of it for wildcard.
The ball didn't, Spikers unable to stop it,
Neistar still goes down, doesn't connect,
he does some serious damage,
doesn't find any casual teams.
The fuser, the first one on an enemy in the ground,
but Spiker died shortly before that,
hot and cold on the board now gunning down Kansan.
This attack towards the kitchen side
was down on that main floor through trophy window.
Once they clear that, then they can think about
next steps up Solarium stairs.
Got really messy, Kansan dropped the hatch
through master to kitchen to try to help out
his roamers spikered down below the site but unfortunately all it resulted in was
his own demise. A little bit of a scary roam early game coming out from
wildcarders. They lose that man advantage. They've got major on the clash but as a
clash you kind of have to bring the gun up now that you're in a man count
disadvantage because if you just play that shield well now it's a 2v4 on the
gun. 2v3 I suppose with hot and cold also bringing out that shield but it's
gonna be in an awkward situation regardless. These last few players on a
a long guard or guess where to continue to waste down this time.
They very aggressive still playing on these solar stairs.
Someone isolated from his two teammates.
But he gets one regardless on a gavet and the C4
will give the man advantage.
OK, we're back in it.
What happened here?
Well, we talk about these rounds having just about everything.
My goodness, Jesse.
Wildcard went from an incredibly weak position
to now being the favorites to win this one out.
Han Cold will need Gunnar as his lone escort.
Gunner's been having a good day. Gunner's also got the F2.
Gunner can also kill Adrian here, but he needs more information.
He's let him slip on by. Great read. Good patience by Gunner.
Could find two! He'll do just that! But he's watched Hot and Cold die.
Out will come the scanner and he's got a read. He knows that he's being watched
and will just be a straight up 50-50. Are you feeling lucky?
Bay is! Bay wins breaking the run that we saw from M80.
The gap is now just one round, M80 still in control, but Wildcard coming for that lead.
Jacob Dowling from Quincy, Illinois does it in the 1v1, big round from Bay coming out to
shut down Gunner. It looked like it was going to all fall into place. The piece is lining up for
M80, but unfortunately it's just that 1v1 from the clash that comes out big time. I'm shocked
that they were even in that position once again Parker. It felt like M80 had the clash dead to
right, pins down there on the solar stairs, but Bay somehow fights his way out of it, found the head
of Gavin down there on the bottom floor, at the same time the Nitro alleviates the pressure from
up above, clears the player off the solar window, sets him up to be able to be in that clutch position.
You'll see it now. Here's the Nitro from Adrian. There's that kill from Bay on the left side of your
screen too, as you'll be able to get that kill. It is beautiful from Gunnar making his entry in
through the office door, but at the end of the day, the trade is better from Bay. It is a perfect
It's a perfect shot with the SMG. Wildcard is still in this game.
Running out of things to talk about in this matchup and ways to address these two teams and these individual performances.
It's just been an incredible run. Wildcard are improving in front of our very eyes.
And again, I go back to that one round. It could be a wildcard leap.
So the scoreline really does reflect how close this has been. It feels like a completely different day
than when we started this series and M80 Dog Walk Wildcard 7-1.
So...
Two-dose to them for sticking through it. Keep in mind about an hour and a half ago, or about an hour ago give or take,
depending on your timeline here. It was 5-2 M80 on map 2.
We were six minutes away from this being done, and M80 taking a triumphant 2A victory.
And it could very easily be Wildcard who ends up winning this best of three, which is an insane thing to say.
But it really does go to show you why we play matches in the server and not on paper.
And you get Gunner, who decides to walk in, drop in, but they haven't blown the whole way.
Baby Shark hits them and then goes for the home run run.
away he goes and then he suffers the first loss of the round.
Well he might have had the same gun but unfortunately the twitch is not the snake
and without that extra information gunners just not in an advantageous spot
doesn't know if babyster expedition over towards the stairs it's crazy how much of an impact
one band will make but removing that off the board is just giving wildcard that extra edge
that extra bit of intel gone out if they need it.
So to get that opening pick work themselves into an advantage
It's the first opening pick that they've gotten through this second half. It's been very
Consisting for an 80 getting these early-round victories, but this time around baby shark strikes back
His third opening pick of the map by the way, he's been very good with it, even though the most came boomer staff
They don't expect that peak from spiker on the stairs. He goes for the swing blanketing it with the gas
He had that other
Proxic babe in hand. It doesn't look like he's gonna use it.
It might have been just a reflex expecting a follow-up from Manny.
I mean, usually as players in lockstep.
But as we've seen, as this has gone on,
and been playing more like a team of individuals,
that might be a concerning sign for them.
Henry serves. M80 still has their time out.
I wonder if they call it should they lose this round.
Nitrocell goes up. There's the team kill we talked about.
At least the Nitrocell doesn't go off.
You got that, I suppose.
Still affecting the corner is Adrian.
He's got coverage now from the clash as Kansan will keep him safe for the time being hot and cold all the while standing outside doing guys
I just gotta wait. I just gotta wait guys. He walks right in off goes the head of Adrian subtracting him from the equation
Kansan's fallen all the way back to blue still 45 seconds left
This will feel like an eternity for M80 and their fans
That breach opened up Kansan off of the shield trying to take the engagement directly to hot and cold Gavin fell
He was the target they so desired and now it'll just be a reflex test that Kansan wins.
Tie game! We will need all 12 rounds of regulation for this. Wildcard draws even.
Oh my, oh my. Fabian, is this the moment for the tack timeout? Probably the messiest round we've seen from M80.
There it is. Not a hard thing to predict Parker. They're gonna call it after that.
Just a really sloppy opening death to come through from Gunner as he enters the building with no information.
Then you've got a bit of a swing from Spiker that doesn't get caught. It's a little bit slower action time from M80.
And then the team kill is just so unfortunate. Obviously trying to shoot that. Nice yourself, unsuccessful in it.
But when you're grouping up like that, looking towards the weakest bombsite on Chalet, may I add, you can't be having simple mistakes like that.
can't be giving yourself such a poor start to the round.
Seven, eight, and nine, we saw the early round
go the way of N80.
Even though round nine stepped away from them,
it felt like the early game was going for them,
but it just feels like similar to the last couple
of rounds on the first half,
maybe we're getting a little overconfident,
maybe we're getting a little over excited,
maybe we're moving a little bit too much too quickly,
because mistakes are being made from N80
and Wildcarts are walking away with rounds because of it.
They have clawed back this period after the disaster on map 1.
They clawed back to score on map 2, just before the third, and now on map 3, they play from
a disadvantage once again and are finding success once again.
You think we're going to go on overtime, Jesse?
I think it will either be an overtime or it will be a 7-5 win for Wildcard.
I cannot imagine they're slowing down at this point.
The only questions do M80 respond to the attack time though.
They not just call their time out of my brain?
No, no, that's what I'm saying.
Like, can they react to that attack time?
Or can they bounce back because of the time what they just took in order to save this game and force that overtime?
I don't think Wildcard will be losing these next two rounds.
They're just playing too well at the moment.
I misunderstood.
I'll pull up it.
Either way, we have been treated to two incredible series so far today.
We started the broadcast about six and a half, almost seven hours ago.
You and I have been casting since 5 p.m. Eastern is now 1120.
So this has been a tremendously long day.
I thought as long as it really could, barring the catastrophic implosion of somebody's computer
that would have delayed us even longer.
With a 7-1, by the way, crazy to think, these teams will come to blows very quickly,
Defuser finds his way in, Spiker dies because of it, Baby Shark throws Defuser out of the building.
Grats that, he might not have actually moved into the building, he might have just been killed through the window.
I mean, technically, I'm correct, his body's not in the building, so at least I'm half right there.
I'll give it to you, I'll give you points.
Thank you, that's really nice of you.
Gunner was surveying the landscape, seeing if somebody else would peek their head through that hole,
but nobody will. It'll block off some line of sight with that ROU projector.
They have intel. What are the drones doing on the side of M80?
I have not seen a lot of droning from this M80 team lately.
Parker, the information might have been there,
but the shots are better for Kansan. They trade it out.
I mean, they keep things equal three to three,
but it does feel like the guns have just been a little bit better on this wild
card side as of the last 45 minutes or so here comes a flank up from baby shark
on the solar stairs big kill in the hot and cold now everything goes his
direction Adrienne another one and Gavin left in the 1v3 it's crumbling
again it certainly looks like three in a row for wild card in these rounds and
it'll push them to series point an incredible turnaround for this team
They just need to find Gavin and then the lead is theirs.
They led back in round number one, but that has been it.
They have been trailing or now tied with this M80 team no longer.
Wildcard moved to Ceres Point.
And it just feels like it's every individual Parker that we have been waiting to see pop off from Wildcard.
It's Kansan going for these tiny peaks where he hits the head every single time with perfect reaction speed.
It's Adrian on these long angles, playing the Acogs, playing the DMRs, punishing players that try to get into the building and trading out his teammates.
And most impressively of all, it's Baby Shark. It is the kid who has struggled on Wildcard since this stage began, all throughout the group stage.
Frankly, through the first half of this series, where he could not seem to win a fight, could not seem to find his bearings, could not seem to have an impact on the round for Wildcard,
Now we're seeing the old baby shark now. We're seeing that French
Menace that was so good for this team factoring last season that was the highest rated player on wild card through stage 2 of the
NL last year. He has come alive in this series
He has broken the curse that has been falling him since this season began and Parker
It might be the end of M80 if you can do it in one more round
It absolutely absurd ending 08sus and it could be with Wildcard putting an impressive punctuation
mark on the end of this best of three or we go to overtime which is equally exciting and
gives us at minimum two more rounds after this eight full round twelve.
It has been a series of streaks on this map round one went to Wildcard and three in a
a row for M80, two in a row for Wildcard, two in a row for M80, three in a row for Wildcard.
It would be a perfect mirror if M80 wins this round in rounds one.
It'd be fascinating to watch.
It's just something fun to pick up on.
But M80 have really looked like a team that has lost a lot of their confidence and their
guns are not working.
Their strategy is not particularly good again.
We go back to drones.
I have not seen a lot of time spent on drones for the 780 team.
Yes, they just, we just saw Gunner doing it with the Trich Trony drones himself in,
but the rest of this team is largely just playing off of their gadgetry and intel.
But the intel's coming through operators, again, not through drones.
This is a tough spot to be in.
A tough spot to be in, speaking of, this Chimney player.
On cold, aggressing in this position, he's got Spike around the run.
Maze will go out to dislodge him, it's a hail of bullets.
How does Wildcard come out ahead of this gunfight?
Adrian there for backup of the Nitro-Selcaven gets one,
but it's Wildcard to come out ahead.
They pushed Spiker out of the position,
but M80 lost both of their shields in the process.
Big fight from Gunner equalizes the numbers.
They're still in this fight.
They just need to pull out their guns
and take this map control.
Top floor is now under theirs.
Parker, they've got control above the bomb site.
Diffuser was dropped by Haughton-Colez.
He was trying to make that space
that will have to be recovered,
But they're playing with the vert so perfectly.
The fuser gets the angle on to Adrian.
It leaves just the two best players on wildcard.
Baby shark and Kansan, they're trying to clutch this up
into 2v3.
So much time on the clock, though, Parker.
So much map control.
So such good guns as well on the side of M80.
Somebody on wildcard has to make a move in order
to get an advantage.
If they just sit in sight, I can't see them winning this.
I mean, you've got Kansan needing time to be bodiced.
He's now going for a flank.
They've got two sets of eyes on the side of M80 watching this.
The two best players on Wildcard are the last two remaining.
That's a good thing to hang your hopes on.
The Chansons is good as dead here, right?
Yep, they sweep through the last two.
We go all the way over time, Jesse, on the board.
How else could a series like this end,
these two have been neck and neck ever since
about the halfway point in Cafe
and it has not gotten any easier
to determine who will be the victor.
We saw the lineup coming into it, right?
It was Finca, Blitz, Monty.
You had everything, the lion as well,
to try to surprise those top floor players,
to explode into the top floor,
and whilst it got messy,
while the strat that they were cooking up
made a disaster of the kitchen,
it ends up being a delicious dish
that serves them overtime here on Chalet.
Two rounds separate both teams now
from a spot against Dark Zero,
deeper into the upper bracket,
but Parker, I could not tell you
Who's likely to come up on top here?
I have no idea what the hell's going on at this point in time.
Just, yeah, I'm just, I have stopped trying to make predictions.
I do not, I'm not a prognosticator.
I'm not guessing here.
I'm just along for the ride at this point, and I think for good reason.
These two teams have shown that they both deserve to win,
and yet only one will ultimately succeed.
This is where we said the better team ultimately might not win.
Take a look at the score line right now, right?
M80 blows out wildcard on wildcards map wildcard
Weasels out of victory on M80's map and now
This could end up going all 15 rounds with one of these teams ultimately winning
By one if it's wildcard that ultimately wins this you look at the score sheet and say well M80
One seven one wildcard one eight six and say eight seven
How can you say wildcards a better team on paper? Maybe you'd argue that M80 was the better team
just based on those rounds alone.
And people would be salty and the M80 fans would be upset
and I don't think that would be unjustified.
But you gotta win your maps.
Congratulations, you won your rounds, that's great.
Wildcard are proving that when the competition is the toughest
and the stakes are the highest,
they can elevate themselves to that.
They did it on cafe, it seemed unlikely
that they'd be able to do it on chalet and yet, here we are.
Great that it's M80 now, we were on the comeback,
so can they pull it off?
Wildcard defending first, still discovery phase for M80.
Doing some more drone work than we've seen
until a lot of the other rounds.
This is something that's very good.
It obviously aided them in the previous round, one by M80.
Big game moments, call for big game players
and the parts argue anywhere in the server
doesn't fit that description Parker.
They have so much experience in international events,
whether it's Adrian winning EWC
and making it to the grand finals of SI
or whether it's most of M80 lifting a major trophy
not once, but twice.
These players know what it takes to battle through
these very long nights and these difficult matches.
On the top floor, they're gonna have to hold things down
on the side of Wildcard.
Action's starting to close in,
hot and cold with the Cat's Outdoors,
but it's Gavin who strikes first on the Adrian.
Wildcard answers back with a brisk two-piece.
That's gonna be a tough spot for Baby Shark.
He's fighting his own demons.
M-80 now have reduced Wildcard to just Spiker.
Kansan might be retrievable,
but I don't think that'll be the focus
for the captain of Wildcard.
They're posted up watching his position.
Three players from M80.
Will they be able to get to him?
Yes, they read him so perfectly.
The rotate from Spiker was smart,
but M80 were ready for it.
They move to series point now.
They've just been passing this baton around.
We are reaching the end of this race,
and it is currently M80 by a hair, but a photo finish
still awaits us.
at least one more round here in OT.
It's a gut punch of a round, Parker.
They were up in a 4B3 advantage at one point during that push,
but M80's trade game is so fantastic.
Players all around the top floor,
whether it was the push-in through piano from Defuser
and Ashen, whether it was players over on the solar
and bathroom window like Defuser,
whether it was hot and cold in the big window,
every angle that you can think of surrounding
that top floor room clear was being held by M80.
So wherever Wildcard tried to walk,
They were walking into a crosshair and they played so perfectly so together in that round to force those skills and work themselves into an advantage.
They beautifully get that done and now have earned two opportunities to move on in this bracket to avoid the lower bracket for a few more days.
Wildcard, how do you recover from a moment like that? How do you get back in this game mentally?
gotta find some way. The attack on Chalet historically has been the better side. I think these teams obviously there have been moments back and forth, but the both shown very strong pushes, very strong attacks. Wildcard will have to remember how good their attacks can be going into their final one here on Chalet.
An unbelievable series that is now starting to find its conclusion.
I almost want it to keep going to a pure entertainment standpoint, but alas, there has to be an end.
All good things come to an end and this has been good and potentially a great matchup.
Wildcard have to win this to stay in the fight or else everything would be for naught.
The heroics in map 2, the dominance here on their run halfway through this chalet
would be up in smoke and M80 would basically be like why did you make us work this hard for it
when the end result looked like it was gonna happen midway through cafe a spirit of effort from
wildcard even if they do lose this team watch your face off against chop if i rebellion let me
tell you watching this series i don't think sr is really eager to play either of these teams jesse
and yet they will need to the winner goes up against dark zero in a matchup where the victor of that
goes to Salt Lake City, so a major spot will be on the line. Just not today.
One minute off the clock, Wildcard hanging on for dear hope. They almost missed all those shots,
but it still gets the opening pick, and it is a sigh of relief across the bench. A Wildcard,
they lose diffuser, so hold on a second. Action happening very quickly here.
Information advantage for the attackers. Once again, Parker, that's able to work them into this
two-man lead. It puts all the weight onto the shoulders of these last three players.
Gavin up inside of library is kind of a key focal point too. Can he even move? As long as these
players are watching his windows, they're holding him dead to rights. There is a player just outside
on his balcony. He's got Ashen not too far away over towards the blue stairs. Adrien hold of this
though where they start to toss in some flashbangs, hoping to force movements, hoping to get some space
and bait capitalized. It's killing the anchor. This is going so well for Wildcard. These attackers
are just dominating in a flawless round sending us all the way in all the way the 15th and final
round of a best of three a single round shootout three minutes to determine which team moves on
and you know what Jesse this is the best birthday gift I ever could have gotten you and in 28 minutes
it's here on the east coast.
It's laxings birthday to so.
Celebrate hard one of these teams will be heartbroken.
We'll find out which one in three minutes.
It's going to be a brutal turnaround to parker.
You lose this series.
You've got to play lower bracket tomorrow
if I'm not mistaken on the schedule.
So you've got a lot to think about if you lose this game
and have to put your head on the pillow tonight.
It's getting late even here in North America,
but they can't focus on that now.
Wildcard will choose to go to the basement. Most teams don't touch the site with a 3-foot pole, Parker.
This is the one bomb site where it is always avoided on Chalet.
Despite how it gets played and ranked, pro teams don't like this bomb site.
It's just too easy for the attackers to try to breach in, work a pick.
If they get top floor control, it can be absolutely devastating.
But frankly, the last time they went here, it was a master class.
I mean, M80, a calamity of errors as well.
It was an opening death from Gunner.
It was a team kill over towards the snow stairs.
It was disasters all around.
And Wildcard hoping to force more of that magic.
It's a failed spawn peek from Baby Shark
that kind of sets the pace for this final round.
Who will be the one to strike first?
Could you imagine if he'd gotten that spawn peek
and completely deflated M80?
I mean, we've seen pretty much everything in this match so far, and it is about to come
to a screaming halt.
Wildcard now defending in overtime so far.
The attackers are 2-0, so M80 in much better shape because of that riding out the better
side here in OT, but again in overtime the script tends to get flipped.
You flip the script again in OT when the script is already in overtime and you flip
that script.
I don't think it goes that deep.
By the way...
This is a fast bonky, Parker. They're really worried about the top floor.
You want us in the moon drone, and we're gonna be trying to do it now, but there's nobody to find.
Despite that early aggression, Wildcard have now all fallen back down to the basement, and...
...M80, the longer it takes them to figure this out, the tougher their final push is gonna be.
This is really something else.
MAD, being as patient as ever, both of these teams have been very, very quick so far through
this series.
The tempo breakneck at times.
But as we see with so many teams, when it gets this deep into the ball game, they slow
down.
They pay a lot of respect to their opponents.
They make sure that every move they make is as important as it can be.
One small misstep and you might have just cost yourself the round.
This is a similar spot for Adrien now, surviving half of his HP after damning Gavin to the
next minute and a half of watching his team's fate from the sidelines.
Gavin, the highest flying performer, and he has no more.
His gadgets at least done some work here.
One minute to go in the final round of this matchup.
Yeah, before he died, he shot off the bandit battery, and that could be good enough, but
not if Adrien keeps this up.
A nitro cell tossed out as well.
It doesn't get a kill.
The guns are alive.
Three kills for Adrien.
He has completely deterred this game on his head.
He gets outdulled by Ashen, still watching amidst the smoke as Han-Kol pulls off the
diffuse kit and dies in the process.
The newest member of N80 will have to contend against the four original members of Wild
Card.
You'll have to watch the library window.
You'll have to watch over top of Garage.
You'll have to watch the opening.
Flash gets on the diffuse kit.
There's no way for Ashen to respond.
This!
He gets dropped, resigned as he loses it and Wild Card win a Wild Best 3!
They move forward in the brackets.
One more step close to Assault Lake City major spot.
Crazy as faster three that we have seen so far this season,
Parker.
I think across all regions, M80 Wildcard just put on
an absolute show.
But I'm out of breath.
I'm exhausted.
Let's throw it down to the studio to break down this game
and have an interview with our winners.
Thanks, guys.
A heck of a night.
Oh, my word.
What a way to finish.
What do we have to set the tone for this week?
Jesse said it.
One of the best series we have seen
in quite some time here in NA.
First taste of best of threes yet this year
and in the very first day.
The first two best of threes we saw,
we go three maps both times
and a barn burner here, wild card.
They move on.
No, it certainly didn't disappoint by any means now.
You gotta wipe off the first map, I will say.
Well, first map was straight dominance.
Second map was straight resilience.
Third map was just straight to Nasty
I can't believe you said Wildcard sucks.
I mean, I can't believe you said that.
I didn't say that.
Wow, there isn't enough words on here and enough time
to really break down everything that went through that game.
I mean, just from being a former player,
and being in moments like that, being in situations
that they found themselves in, I mean, it just weighs.
It digs on you.
It just destroys the mental round after round,
when it's right at the very cusp.
You can get it done.
You don't get it done.
Falls to the next.
Now you find yourself an OT.
I mean, both of these teams really fought hard,
And there's a lot to take from this, especially with now them
going to upper bracket and maybe going to lower.
I mean, both these teams are looking in the position
that they want to find themselves.
I couldn't agree more.
Both teams have positives take away and things to work on.
That being said, wildcard came out on top.
I think the deciding factor was just their mentality,
the way that they stayed in, especially after how map 1 went,
and everybody on the team slowly getting more comfortable
showing us that wildcard that we'd love to see at events.
And that being said, too, then you
pick up Adrian that last round from that one from the main stairs.
Well, had a way to come around for them to wait to shut down M80.
I mean, it was just so well played from a lot of card.
But the way this match up when I would not be surprised if we see both of these
teams at the Salt Lake City Major.
Again, it's not a situation that M80 wants to find themselves in.
They don't want to be in a lower bracket, but to be able to go through all the
trial and error throughout this match, that is really going to set you up for
long term success as you continue into this bracket.
And that is the beauty thing of being the upper bracket is you do have that little bit of extra life
And now you're going against a team like I saw that hasn't had any game day reps hasn't had this intense of matches
And that's gonna be your opponent. That is a very
Pantalizing thing to have to go against a wildcard take the win spiker is standing by to join us now spiker
What a match dude. I mean over here
We let out a huge sigh of relief that this thing finally had a conclusion. I can't imagine what this felt like for you guys
I'm so tired. I'm so tired before the game
I took four pages of notes from prep with the guys because that's what we did for BF3's because we have to play so many maps
We can't go through everything. So at least I know
But literally I was doing stuff for eight hours straight
I was doing stuff from 1 p.m. My time until right now. So I'm exhausted
That was a burner for sure. We sucked caffeine child and we didn't suck as much but that was a burner
Yeah, I mean Fox said you guys sucked. I couldn't believe that he said that I didn't play that
I'm just kidding. I mean, I was the one that said it originally. Obviously, it's very light hearted all jokes aside
I mean again, you guys bounce back from the first map that obviously wasn't the showcasing that you guys know you're capable of
Second map you guys had a great understanding. It was great through and through then this third map
I mean even for yourself being the ideal in a lot of these moments
I mean what is going through your head and how are you able to just take each and every single one of these rounds?
Punch after punch hit after hit round after round and then ultimately getting to that end goal of Adrian having that tremendous
3k to set you guys up for success in that last round
Yeah, I mean our attacks honestly our game plan didn't work the way we thought it was so we kind of had to adapt mid
Mid attack half and that's kind of what we're gonna system out with us
We had to kind of figure it out
But he just kind of like solidified it for us that we needed to change what we were doing and then I mean the defense is
Every round is felt like a burner. I don't know
Everyone started like a burnout.
We were just running bunkers, trying to make them execute.
They started adapting well and started doing more split stuffs on Kitchen,
especially they were splitting top and it was difficult for us.
But you know, it was mostly just keeping everybody calm.
Like I think through every round, I was saying like everybody reset,
like trying to keep the tones calm, right?
And in a high intensity game like that, it's a very good team where every map
is very close.
It's easy for people to start screaming and yelling and talking too much.
So, especially mid round, I was just trying to keep people calm and compose.
And, you know, that was the main thing I was doing.
And I have another question before we move on to Fox with his question in this moment as an idea
How do you control that tempo of understanding? Okay one round you played aggressive it worked out
Then you maybe try it again the next it doesn't you try to slow down and you keep fighting that battle of it working not working
I mean
What is going through your mind in those moments to make sure that you're on top of it for the very next round the very next obstacle to get to
the end goal
Yeah, I think it's just about like realizing what they're playing well against will away their playing stuff like that like
Like, our first Master Attack, like you saw us trying to pull them game side, a gunner
state closet.
So we were kind of, like off of that, we were kind of able to tell that they weren't really
going to be rotating too much.
We started kind of doing more like ISO attacks and trying to ISO certain people, and also
kind of do the adjustment we made.
So that was the main thing, just trying to ISO picks because they weren't rotating to
help each other like they normally do.
So yeah, that was the main thing.
Yeah, amazing.
I want to know a little bit about the mind of an IGL, the mind that you have.
And it comes to adapting mid-round if we just use that map like Shall I, when you guys were
defending bar and games, right, there was one round where M80 just bum-rushed site.
Clearly, you guys are trying to adapt to what M80's doing the rounds previously.
They bum-rushed site.
What do you think of going forward, especially if you have to go back to one or two, a site
like that, how are you trying to counteract that?
Because if you are also adapting to what M80 just did, you know there's a possibility
that they just might change it completely the next time they have to approach it.
I mean, I think the main thing is obviously you have to adjust what they did before.
That's why they ran the Galeo, that last bar defense when they ran out the first round.
So that way we kind of took away that game's window plant.
We knew they were going to do something top fire or have to clear.
So it's just kind of about taking away the options that they were doing early in the game
to force them to do something else.
And so we knew once we once were in the Galeo and we had the ward in sight,
they probably weren't going to go for sight.
So we were able to kind of move more and fight more.
Obviously we lost the round anyway.
But like, you know what I mean?
Like we were able to kind of...
for sure. Like it's like a puzzle that we were able to solve based off like what they
are going to do based off the pieces we were giving them, I guess.
Can I, I'll just say something real quick that right after that round where they
rushed, Han Kold said something along the lines of, oh, if we go back there, we'll
just bait it again. So does that make you feel better or worse knowing that they
weren't going to go for a rush anyway that round?
I mean, whatever. I mean, the price, I don't expect teams to do the same thing
again anyway. Right. But it's about just taking the opportunity away from them if
they want to do it again. Well, a big, a big win for you guys here tonight,
Spiker. We will, I guess, I know you said you're very tired.
You'll burn yourself a day off tomorrow. So we'll see you on.
No, we got scrims. We got scrims.
You've got scrims, but at least that is the game.
Scrim fortress a little bit.
Oh, man.
Don't even get me started.
Maybe ban fortress.
Throw it away.
Thank you so much for your time, my friend.
We will, we will see you down the road.
Good luck in these coming matches.
Good luck with your scrims tomorrow.
All right, thank you.
What a way to finish.
I mean, it's always good to hear from Spiker,
because, I mean, the mind of an IGL,
as you pointed out, Fox, I mean,
it was crazy to see how things ended for them.
A two to one, a barn burner of all barn burners
against M80.
And I can't believe this happened in the same day.
A few hours ago, one of 30, an SSG went toe to toe.
We obviously now send both SSG and M80
to the lower bracket.
They will play Cloud9 and Shopify Rebellion, respectively,
two big matchups who could be potentially close.
SSG, of course, maybe got the easier draw
because naturally, Blacks think we're just waiting
for Shopify Rebellion to come alive.
Yeah, but I mean, even though you can say Cloud9 and SSG,
it's a little easier game for them,
you can't take anyone seriously.
You don't have that extra lifeline.
You have to come prepared.
And where we saw SSG falter today was being counter-shotted.
They didn't have a response into that chalet.
They were met with a force, met with props fires,
not being able to be taken advantage of.
So if Cloud9 can watch what happened today
and try to display that into their match against SSG,
it will be a hard game for SSG,
but it's gonna be even more impactful for SSG
to understand, okay, where do we go wrong?
How do we get exploited?
How do we fix that if a team starts
to identify our weaknesses?
That's what's gonna be big going into that matchup,
regardless of a team Cloud9.
Every team is a threat.
And when I'm looking at this bracket,
there's no more of a threat in the shop of Iron Ballion.
It's like, uh, you know, they're waiting to wake up.
You don't know if it's going to happen.
But if anything and maybe look great today, but that being said, if we see a
P shop of our belly and show up, it's another situation where it's
so anybody's game, right?
I mean, it could be just like tonight.
Exactly.
It's a scary situation to find yourself.
Yeah.
Especially when you look at what's ahead, things are only going to keep up from
here.
As you said, SR and maybe that will be our second game tomorrow.
We want things up with cloud nine and SSG to see if that cloud 19 can continue to try to build on that one win
They were able to find from the group stage and as we said earlier the upper bracket action will continue on
Wednesday, but we know that the rest of this week is going to be ridiculous
I mean just based on the pace of this game tonight. How crazy it ended up being laxing. I mean we know we're infantry
Yeah, I mean absolutely
I wasn't expecting that we were going to have all games go the distance again even for one of 30
I wasn't sure what we're going to see from the group stage and comparison to what we saw today
But we saw a lot of resurgence
We saw a lot of
Rejuvenation for some of these teams and that's this thing same thing that I'm expecting out of a couple teams tomorrow
Comparison to lead to what we saw in the stage. Well, I'll leave the day on a hot take
I think whoever wins between shop fine. I made it just wins out through the bracket
I think that's pretty fair. You got two heavy-hitting teams right there very much
I think that's the six a.m. Talking right now. I mean
That's the six a.m. Not talking about what we still don't know exactly who is gonna end up at the major
We do know two people who are gonna be there because we have our first round of giveaway winners
The tickets go to dark rows for and fray underscore
TTV so if you're still hanging around be sure to check your twitch DMs a mock
to reach out and we will see you in Salt Lake City. Tickets are still available for anyone else
who wants to join us in Salt Lake City in just a couple of weeks and of course, we're still
doing the pepper. Well, of course, as Foxy said earlier, we're also giving away more tickets
over the next three days. We're going to keep you on your toes exactly when that happens during the
broadcast. So, you know, you have to stick around, but we will be doing that no matter what happens.
But for all of you who stuck with us late night over there on the East Coast, we know it's late.
It's late here as well. Thank you so much for watching. We really appreciate you and we will
see you as action continues at 5 p.m. tomorrow for Parker and Jesse for our entire studio crew
and Fox and Laxing. I'm Jonas Willinger saying thanks for watching and we'll see you tomorrow.