The Recap - EP12

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.

Flying High in Shanghai – Featured Match: Talon vs. Semper Fi

The most awaited match of this week was Talon Esports vs. Semper Fi in the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 Oceania RMR Open Qualifiers. A lot of onlookers were expecting this series to be in the closed qualifier, but as foretold by many doomsayers, the pair met early on.

The stakes were raised immensely as the losers would not qualify for the Oceania closed qualifier, meaning an early end to their Major dreams. Talon came in as favourites due to their success against European squads Rebels and Young Ninjas in the Hellcase Cup,while Semper Fi was a relatively unknown factor but the scene held high expectations for them. The veto was relatively Australian with Talon picking Inferno, Semper Fi with Mirage and Anubis as the decider.

The first map was a classic with Semper Fi making a massive effort to claw back a 9-3 deficit at half-time to secure overtime. Talon blanked Semper Fi in the opening overtime with a 3-0 CT side. Semper Fi attempted to return the favour but fell agonisingly short as nettik (1.56 rating) and HaZR (1.38 rating) secured the map for Talon.

Keen was immense on Inferno as he was causing Talon all sorts of problems which his entry frags; he had 8 first kills and 17 AWP kills.

The second map was Semper Fi’s Mirage which started off just as close as Inferno with a 7-5 half in the favour of Talon. However, Talon started hitting their stride in the second half and Semper Fi had nothing left in the tank with a scintillating 6-0 ending Mirage 13-5 and the series 2-0.

MHL, ADDICT and nettik were all operating at peak efficiency with a 1.57, 1.41 and 1.56 rating respectively. This series sends Semper Fi out of Majors albeit earlier than anticipated. The scene wasn’t particularly happy that the perceived top two teams would have to take on each other while teams like Arcade, Vantage and The Art of War had relatively easier runs.

The seeding was done half-manually and the rest were randomised. It was just incredibly unfortunate that Talon and Semper Fi seeded at four and five due to being rated as the top two teams outside of the Valve Rankings. Take a look for yourself: DXA, Vantage and Arcade are the only ones listed as earning anything on Valve’s charts.

I believe that it is unlikely going to happen again as it is much more likely that Talon and Semper Fi should have been 1 and 2. Let’s see what the next couple of months show, assuming either squad hangs around outside of OCE qualifiers.

The “Other” Matches

Arcade dealt with Abyss in a quick 2-0 fashion. Versa was the key difference in this series as he went 123.1 ADR, 1.92 rating and that was all as the team’s primary AWPer. The Art of War took out the Shanghai Sharks also in a 2-0. It was a massive team effort with everybody chipping in across both maps. Vantage manage to snag a spot by taking down Mantra 2-0. Drox was an absolute monster across both maps with a 1.75 rating with nightraid in support on a 1.58 rating.

The remaining seeding matches were Bo1 which saw Talon lose to Art of War in an incredibly close Ancient (13-11). This was a massive upset for the qualifier given their high-octane series against Semper Fi. However, I felt Talon was hiding a lot more than they let on since they had already made it.

The Oceania RMR Closed Qualifiers will continue on Tuesday at 4pm AEST with some spicy opening match ups!

• KZG v The Art of War
• Mindfreak v Arcade
• Housebets v Talon
• Rooster v Vantage

The Rooster Resurgence

Rooster have booked themselves in for ESL Challenger Atlanta after a unstoppable run through the lower bracket of the closed qualifier. The initial start looked incredibly bleak for Rooster as they were essentially blasted by Mindfreak, meaning they’d have to battle through the lower bracket

First up was Housebets. Their Mirage started out strong with a 13-1 victory, their Vertigo saw them fall back to earth in a 13-3 drubbing. Anubis was incredibly close which was expected of this match up with Rooster going the distance to win 13-11. Sliimey paved Rooster’s way in the series with a 1.55 rating.

Rooster took on day two with an impressive turnaround against Mindfreak scoring a 13-10 scoreline on Dust 2 with TJP and Sliimey starring. They ran it back like they did against Housebets on Mirage with a 13-4 scoreline. TjP earned a 1.68 rating across both series, and Rooster  finally got their revenge; Mindfreak were definitely fearing the cock that night.

The now-grizzled veterans Rooster would take on the impressive and aspiring newcomers in The Art of War. The latter dealt the first blow with a 16-14 overtime victory on Inferno. Rooster managed to close out Nuke on their CT side winning 13-7. Mirage was a much closer affair with Terryyy, Oath and BaN4na proving a massive challenge for Rooster.

However, an inspiring performance from Chelleos with a 1.40 rating across the series with support from TjP and sliimey denied The Art of War overtime and Atlanta with a 13-11 victory on Mirage.

ESL Challenger Results

Within all the madness of the Major RMR and the ESL Challenger Atlanta qualifiers, there was actually a few ESL Challenger matches played!

Wednesday August 21

• Mantra Flow v Arcade Esports – 2-0
• Vantage v DXA – 1-1
• FlyQuest v KZG – 2-0

The sad note to end on for the ESL Challenger run is that DXA will be bidding farewell to their CS2 team.

Looking on the horizon, we’ll find out who’ll be our second representative at the Perfect World Shanghai Major Asia RMR. FlyQuest will also play their catch-up ESL Challenger on Monday and Friday!