Full Wrap #25

“Unpredictable” is the best word to describe the matches this weekend. The pressure of potentially missing Major 2 is getting to some teams more than others.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKEND

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FaZe-rs Set to Stunned

FaZe began this week the same way they ended last week: with a loss to a mid-table team. In their opening series of the weekend, FaZe fell to the Riyadh Falcons in 3-1 fashion. 

FaZe started the opening map poorly, allowing the Falcons to take a 150-32 lead, but they managed to bring the score back to a winnable position before ultimately collapsing in the clutch. After FaZe pulled even with an SnD victory, Cellium went into takeover mode with a 1.71 in Map 3, and Exnid slammed the door with a 32-kill performance in Map 4 to close out the series.

If I had a nickel for every time an underdog team beat FaZe after picking up Spart from Challengers, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird it happened twice. Boston dropped Cammy this week in favor of Spart, who promptly led the Breach to a 3-1 win with a 1.22 K/D. FaZe started hot with a 250-77 Map 1 victory, but Boston quickly turned it around with three straight map wins. It turns out Simp did not get to farm Purj.

FaZe has now lost three straight winnable series and have dropped to 2-4 in the Qualifying Stage, and if Major 2 started today, they would be playing to even make the 8-team bracket. The glaring issue so far for FaZe is their unexpected struggles with slaying. Drazah has just a 0.94 K/D this split, sitting right behind Exceed as the 35th best K/D in the league. 04 has performed even worse with a 0.85. Could there be a team change in their future?

OpTic Remains Undefeated

OpTic has been riding high since the start of the Stage 2 Qualifiers, and this weekend was no different. They’re beginning to find some separation from the pack with other top teams faltering against lesser opponents. And they didn’t even need a Mercules takeover.

First up for OpTic was the Thieves in a highly anticipated matchup between the only two teams that had yet to lose in Stage 2. LAT took the series the last time they faced off, but this time they didn’t have the OpTic reaper, Kenny. After dropping a close Map 1, OpTic locked in to comfortably take the next three maps.

It was Shotzzy (100/79) and Dashy (88/70) who led the way, allowing for Mercules (69/81) to take a backseat for a series. Some much-needed rest for his back.

Surge was next on the hit list, and OpTic kept humming, taking the series 3-0. Huke (71/46) was the catalyst, leading the team in K/D, kills, and damage while being the leader in the comms. OpTic finished a staggering +52 in the kills department in only three maps. A slight mismatch in slaying.

KOI Bounce Back

The Toronto KOI had been underperforming with ReeaL, to say the very least; before his departure the team had suffered seven consecutive series losses. They finally broke through last weekend against G2 and looked to continue rolling this weekend.

First up was a rivalry matchup between the two Spanish organizations. JoeDeceives seemed right back to his old self, posting a 1.21 series K/D. Kips matched the statline with a 1.21 of his own in the 3-0 KOI victory. Despite the lopsided scoreline, this series had close maps, and Toronto had to battle back from 3-4 down in the SnD to win 6-5 despite Super’s 14 kills in the map. 

KOI’s second match of the weekend was another international matchup, this time with the Paris Gentle Mates. Map 1 was a back-and-forth affair, coming down to Toronto scoring the last 40 points after being down 210-221. Then in a thriller SnD, the 5-3 curse would rear its head as Toronto came from behind with three straight round wins to close the map for the second time this weekend. KOI then scored first in the Overload and never relinquished the lead, 3-0’ing the Major 1 champions.

Since picking up Kips, Toronto has completely turned around their season. They are 3-1 with three straight 3-0 series victories since the roster change. Could Kips be the piece that pushes them into Major contention? Envoy might disagree, as there’s no talent in Challengers.

LAGM8s Return

The Gentle Mates entered the weekend undefeated during the stage and as the reigning Major 1 Champs, positioning themselves at the top of any power ranking. Their performance this weekend, however, may drop them by more than a spot or two.

In their first series, M8s were matched up with Cloud9, basically a free 10 CDL points. Or so we thought. Despite going down 79-5, Cloud9 rallied back to take the opening Blackheart Hardpoint. C9 didn’t stop there, and they closed four rounds straight in the SnD to take it 6-3. Paris, we have a problem.

All of a sudden, M8s were in need of a reverse sweep against the laughingstock of the CDL, and they made a valiant attempt, pushing the series to a Map 5. Unfortunately for M8s fans, it was the same story as Map 2, with Cloud9 again finding four straight rounds, this time to go up 4-1, and they never looked back.

Encourage (105/85) and Sib (112/92) led the way on the scoreboard, but it was Hide who dominated the SnD’s, finishing 25/10 with six First Bloods in just 18 rounds. Search and Destroy or Hide and Go Seek?

KOI then made it a 0-2 weekend for M8s, who couldn’t close out three close maps straight, getting swept for the loss. It was Envoy (47/68) who stuck out for Paris, posting the least kills and damage and the most deaths. They’ll need him back in Stage 1 form if they want to contend at Major 2.

TOP PERFORMERS

SupeR: SupeR lived up to his name this weekend despite Miami’s 1-1 record. He boasted a 1.36 overall K/D with a 1.66 SnD K/D. His 113.74 slayer rating against KOI was his second highest of both this season and his pro career. With this weekend's performance, he joins his AR duo RenKoR in the top 5 season K/Ds (min. 5 matches). 

Huke: The Nuke was active this weekend, posting a 1.28 K/D while also leading OpTic in kills and damage. His consistency map-to-map was critical to OpTic’s success, finishing with a 1.3 or better K/D in 5/7 maps, including a 2.13 in SnD.

JoeDeceives: JoeDeceives is back. After a concerning start to the split, the MVP candidate has bounced back to form along with his team. Joe posted a 1.21 K/D on the weekend but was a standout in Overload with an absurd 1.63, two scores, and a quad feed in the mode. Since Kips has joined the team, Joe has had a 1.20 as he hunts for the first championship of his career.

Dashy: Not always the flashiest stats, but always ripping. Dashy ended the two matches this weekend with a 1.29 K/D, highlighted by his 1.48 in Overload. He said all he cares about is winning, and that checks out with his playstyle, accumulating 301 seconds of hill time over just three HP maps.