The Recap - EP10

by OnlyJoshinTV

Welcome to The Recap, a new weekly content series covering Counter-Strike in the ANZ region with a touch of global action here and there. We aim to provide a regular series covering our region, from ESEA Open, ECL, and global events, to local LAN and online tournaments hosted here at home.

Disappointment at IEM Cologne

FlyQuest were looking to spin their recent form at IEM Cologne with a hefty bootcamp and plenty of momentum, but it all was for very little as the team were bundled out of the tournament in straight sets following losses to BIG and The MongolZ. 

It was an encouraging effort against BIG with an overtime win on Ancient. The dreams of revenge were finally coming to fruition after BIG eliminated FlyQuest at IEM Dallas in a swift 2-0 fashion.

But BIG’s newest recruit rigoN had other ideas with a tremendous performance with a 1.56 rating on Inferno to tie the series up. BIG continued their reign of terror on Vertigo, and at one point led 10-0 before FlyQuest led an impressive comeback, tying it up at 11-11. AliStair and INS did the best they could to save the series in Vertigo, with the Aussie AWPer converting an impossible clutch INS winning a key round just prior.

Krimbo ultimately proved too much for  FlyQuest, sealing the series on Vertigo with a 1.58 rating.

Normally, when you drop to the lower bracket, you tend to get an easier opponent. Well, that easier opponent was none other than their main rival in the Asia RMR The MongolZ—and they were quick to prove why they are the team to beat in the region.

The MongolZ  simply slaughtered FlyQuest with a quick and standard 2-0. Anubis was alright but Ancient was even worse. FlyQuest went out with a whimper. Techno and Senzu were standout performances with 1.37 and 1.36 rating respectively. It seems like The MongolZ have well and truly flown past FlyQuest. 

The Australian scene was pinning their hopes on the bootcamp being the gamechanger for FlyQuest. The pressure is mounting on the squad to perform at ESL Pro League and the Asia RMR for the Shanghai Major later this month. I can only imagine that there will be changes in the roster if they don’t qualify for the playoffs and the Major.

Talon finds their feet in the Hellcase Cup

Talon had an impressive start after their initial match against TSM. The new squad took down Young Ninjas with ease in a dominant 2-0 fashion. MhL had an absolute blinder of a game, posting a 2.07 rating and 121.3 ADR as an AWPer, which is incredible.

Talon benefitted from a forfeited decider against TSM to take on Rebels, the infamous Aussie nemesis who took down Rooster at ESL Challenger Melbourne—Nettik looking for a bit of revenge for his former side. The first map was an ADDICT special with an incredible 111.8 ADR on Vertigo. Talon narrowly got over the line against the Rebels winning 13-11.

With the momentum from Vertigo, Anubis was a bloodbath as nettik unleashed, posting a 1.74 rating and an 11-1 on their CT side. Rebels managed to put up a sturdy resistance on their CT side; however, Talon righted the course and ended affairs with a 13-5 on Anubis. 

The ANZC Locals: Sydney Winter ’24 launches with a blast

This weekend was  massive for the grassroots LAN scene with ANZ Circuit and Fortress Sydney teaming up together to present the ANZC Sydney Winter tournament, featuring eight teams and players from all over the country.

The event went incredibly well given that I was expecting one to two hour delays due to technical issues. There were a few minor sound issues but everything was mostly working as intended.

There were two Groups as per below

Group A

• Freaky Saturday (Kiyo, Sliimey, Samuukxs, Rhyu and Rocky)
• Let’s go golfing (pz, apocdud, Jinxx, minnii, Falcon and Gareth Bale)
• Vantage Esports (Drox, N1ghtraid, Jynx, Nauh and Alecc)
• Altered Edge (Elephant, crackbaby, lawlkay, jk and Coach Parnell)

Group B

• The Art of War (Eddie, Terry, B4nana, Neo and Oath
• Arcade (Foggers, Versa, Triplus, Kobe and Kras)
• Milk Boys (Kfc, combo, zetik, blessed and Howie)
• Pot of Greed (nub, rainstylezgk, shaw, sinister and supersub Kayoh)

Group A Results

• Vantage 25 – 23 Let’s go Golfin
• Freaky Saturday 25 – 21 Altered Edge
• Vantage 13 – 4 Altered Edge
• Let’s go golfin 13 – 9 Freaky Saturday
• Vantage 5 – 13 Freaky Saturday
• Let’s go Golfin 13 – 10 Altered Edge

It was an absolutely crazy start with both of the first games going into quadruple overtime and it finished just as crazy with a three-way tie between the top teams.

Vantage were the unlucky team to miss out. Once again, they managed to get eliminated again by tiebreak in a LAN. First, it was head-to-head at TGX and now map difference at the ANZC Locals. They’ll get eliminated by total rounds next!

Group B Results

• Art of War 13 – 5 Milk Men
• Arcade 13 – 9 Pot of Greed
• Art of War 13 – 11 Pot of Greed
• Arcade 13 – 2 Milk Men
• Art of War 13 – 3 Arcade
• Milk Men 13 – 7 Pot of Greed

Group B went as expected: Art of War and Arcade qualified and the two PUG teams did not. I was more surprised that Pot of Greed did not win a single map despite their roster. I thought they’d win at least one map after getting so close to Arcade and Art of War.

Playoff Results

Upper Bracket Round 1

• Freaky Saturday (1^st Group A) 13 – 6 Arcade (2^nd Group B)
• Let’s go Golfin (2^nd Group A) 13 – 9 Art of War (1^st Group B)

Lower Bracket Final

• Arcade 2 – 0 The Art of War

Upper Bracket Final

• Freaky Saturday 2 - 1 Let’s Go Golfin

Consolidation Final

• Let’s Go Golfin 2 – 1 Arcade Esports

Grand Final

• Let’s Go Golfin 2 – 0 Freaky Saturday

The experienced heads at Let’s go golfing had the stamina to outlast all the others. Falcon closing out a 1v2 clutch to close out the second map was even sweeter. Falcon hadn’t touched the game too much in the last three months and he didn’t look too out of it. Well, unless you asked him to install teamspeak.

You can check the ANZC Locals – Sydney Winter 2024 hub here for further details.

ESL Challenger Season 48 Results

There were a few upsets this week with DXA and Vantage able to take maps off Mindfreak and Rooster respectively.

Vantage were incredibly close to completing the 2-0 sweep against Rooster. Rooster led a massive second half comeback to get over the line in regulation and to finish it in overtime.

DXA were able to skate over with a last gasp effort on the back of Roflko’s epic performance with a 1.54 rating which kiyo was definitely smiling about.

However, it was business as usual for Art of War who took a quick 2-0 over Arcade both with 13-4 scorelines.

Results – 7^th August

• Vantage v Rooster (13-4 D2, 12-16 MRG)
• Mindfreak v DXA (13-10 NUKE, 13-10 MRG)
• Art of War v Arcade – (13-4 INF, 13-4 D2)

You can find all the results for the ECL Challenger Games here within the DFRAG Event Hub.

This is a massive episode of the recap and I don’t think I can fit any more in at this stage; catch you next time!