Full Wrap #24

The second week of Stage 2 Qualifiers has concluded, and the competition for flight tickets to Birmingham has intensified.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

Be The Hunter

From friends to foes, Kips made his CDL debut this weekend against the LA Thieves and former Huntsmen teammate Nium. Entering the match on a seven-game losing streak, KOI needed the change to make an impact immediately.

The series started out highly competitive, but LAT grabbed an early 2-0 series lead after taking the Hardpoint 250-221 and the SnD in Round 11. KOI answered with a convincing win in the Overload, Scrap’s favorite mode, before the Thieves ultimately ended the series in Map 4, 3-1.

The SMG duo for LAT are starting to figure it out, with aBeZy leading the way with a 90/74 (1.22) performance, highlighted by his Hardpoint play, where he finished the series going 60/37 (1.62) in the mode.

LAT kept the momentum rolling, matched up against Boston in their second series, this time winning in an emphatic 3-0 that was capped off by a 6-0 SnD and a 7-0 in the Overload. Boston, there’s been a Breach.

Thieves fans got shades of BO6, as the Scrap and HyDra show was in full effect, combining to go 140/94 (1.49), including a flawless 8/0 in the SnD from Scrap. Additionally, the win put Thieves into a tie at the top of the Stage 2 standings with a 4-0 record.

Next up for KOI was G2, and Insight knew his spot was on the line. After lacking ice against LAT, Toronto was able to win Round 11, followed by a 3-2 Overload to complete the sweep over G2.

Despite the close maps, it was dominance in the slaying for KOI. Kips (68/54) and JoeDeceives (67/51) led the way in kills, while Insight led in K/D with a 1.33. The win snapped an eight-game losing streak and will go a long way in ensuring they qualify for the Major. Birmingham is starting to look Insight for Toronto.

Bricks Keep Stacking

After starting 2-0, it was another week of cruise control for OpTic. The main reason to tune into their series on weeks like these is to see what Merc will do this time.

To give Miami some credit, they came out hot to take Map 1, thanks to a MettalZ takeover. The Spaniard finished 39/24, 11 kills more than the next highest in the lobby. It could have been a 2-0 advantage for the Heretics, but they let Shotzzy do Shotzzy things in the SnD, posting a ridiculous 14/5 stat line to help OpTic secure the Round 11 victory.

It didn’t get any better after that for Miami; OpTic took the next two maps (5-3, 250-209) and closed out the series 3-1. Shotzzy (91/82) led the way for OpTic, while RenKoR (78/68) saved Miami from a red carpet.

OpTic then shifted their focus to Cloud9, although not much was needed. Mercules (71/45) used the series to strengthen his case for MVP, while Shotzzy (68/55) has worked his way back to a positive season K/D. Will this iteration of Cloud9 ever win a series?

FaZe Fear the Boots

After having to face the new and improved LAT in their first match, the hits kept coming for Surge as their second match of the split came against FaZe Vegas. It turned into a quick and easy 3-0 for FaZe in a balanced team effort. 

Drazah led the team in kills (67) and K/D (1.22), while Abuzah laid down the most damage (8,337). Simp set the tone with a 37-kill performance in Map 1, and Abuzah followed him up by posting 10 in the Search. 

Lunarz was the lone Surge player to muster a positive effort, as his three teammates all ended in the red. Abe had a particularly rough series, managing just 50 kills and ending with a 0.75 K/D.

FaZe followed up their effort against Vancouver with a match against a team that has quickly become the monkey on their back this season: G2 Minnesota. It turns out that finally notching their first win against them at Major 1 didn’t help FaZe turn the corner, as they fell again to G2 in 3-2 fashion, pushing their record against them to 1-4 on the season. 

To add insult to injury, G2 won this series with Skyz (88/80) as their only positive player after coming up short in both Hardpoints, even Kremplossus. After combining for 36/62 in the Hardpoints, Mamba ended the series 0.74 (and a W), with his only positive map coming in the deciding Map 5. Maybe it’s not the boots.

Meanwhile, on the FaZe side, Simp had a day with a 1.31, 105 kills, and 12,570 damage. The next highest FaZe player in kills was 04 with just 89. Simp’s MVP crusade marches onward, but his team will need to find some success to help him secure it.

Riyadh Rollercoaster

Following an 0-2 opening weekend of Stage 2, Riyadh got their lick back against two lowly opponents in Cloud9 and Carolina Royal Ravens.

They opened their weekend against the embarrassing C9 squad. Even more embarrassing was that Riyadh allowed them their first map win, a 3-6 loss in Map 2. After that the Falcons locked in, blowing C9 off the map with a 7-2 Overload and a 250-83 Hardpoint. 

Despite the map loss, the Falcons all posted absurd K/Ds: Cellium led (of course) with a 1.44, Exnid a 1.38, KiSMET a 1.26, and Pred bringing up the rear with a lowly 1.21. 

After taking another 3-0 loss this weekend (0-3 to OpTic), Cloud9 has fallen to 1-10 on the season with a 15-30 map count (33% win rate). If they continue their pace, they may just break the Paris Legion’s all-time record for worst season, when they went 2-23 with a 31-73 map record (30% win rate).

If Cloud9’s performance against the Falcons was embarrassing, it’s hard to describe the Royal Ravens' effort. Riyadh came out hot this series and didn’t take their foot off the gas in a 3-0 sweep. The only consolation that the Ravens can take is that they at least forced overtime in the Overload.

Cell and Kis both had standout performances again, posting a 1.49 and a 1.30, respectively. On the other side, the Ravens rolled out the red carpet, punctuated by Nero and Exceed’s dual 0.71 performances. Another week safe from the Qk button.

TOP PERFORMERS

Mercules: It’s hard to keep Mercules out of the top performers when he keeps playing this way. Leading OpTic to another 2-0 weekend, he dropped 155 kills with a 1.24 K/D across 7 maps. His SnD dominance continued, going 21/10, while also looking to enter the Golden Boot discussion in Overload, putting home 5 goals and casually dropping a 1.40 K/D in the mode.

Cellium: Cellium has a reputation for being a slow and plodding AR, but the former MVP was anything but this weekend. He led both series in damage en route to an overall 1.45 K/D. He racked up 79 of his 144 kills in Hardpoint, with a 1.55 in the mode.

Scrap: Scrap is back in his regular form, and it’s only a matter of time before he has another 99 card. This weekend he led both series in total kills and damage, while also finishing with a 1.26 K/D. Scrap was at his best in SnD, finishing 16/7 with six First Bloods in just 17 rounds.

KiSMET: 99Kis was on full display this weekend as the Falcons crushed two bottom-feeding opponents. KiSMET led the lobby in both series in total kills with 152 in total and a 1.28 K/D. He was a standout in SnD with a 1.38, tacking on five First Bloods in just 18 rounds.