The Recap - EP13

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.

Just The Tip – Episode 2

Just the Tip just filmed another episode of the podcast with Harper, Conkyy, and vision. The podcast dives into a quick summary of the ECL, Asia RMR, and vision’s experience of becoming a professional CS2 player. You can listen to or watch it here.

The Birds of War – The Asia RMR Oceania Closed Qualifier Special

The Asia RMR Oceania Closed Qualifier started with a massive bang as we witnessed an epic overtime thriller between Mindfreak and Arcade, ending 22-19 to Mindfreak. However, the expected teams managed to push through with Rooster and Talon making the upper bracket final.

Housebets had a rough Asia RMR as they exited the qualifier without winning a single map. After being demolished by Talon, they were promptly eliminated 2-0 against Arcade.

Versa was the star of the show with a 1.47 rating and continued to prove himself as a high-tier AWPer. I wonder if some teams are starting to take a closer look at Versa given his performances for Arcade in the last couple of months!

Day 2 was filled with forfeits with Vantage having to forfeit against Mindfreak and Art of War forfeiting to Arcade. The Art of War forfeit was due to an unfortunate power outage for ban4na and Bebest couldn’t get out of work. It really highlights that you cannot play Oceania qualifiers during work time due to difference of the scene being mostly semi-professional and amateur.

The upper bracket final was delivered with a key upset by Rooster on Anubis (13-5) against Talon. It was such a dominant performance on both sides where Rooster seemed like a well-oiled machine and Talon sputtered about with no real direction. Asap recorded a 1.70 rating in the series, while Talon didn’t even record a single T side round.

In the lower bracket final, Mindfreak fended off a resurgent Arcade side who managed to do much better than their previous ECL match-up. It still ended 2-0, but at least Arcade made it above single digits in the total round count.

On Day 3, Talon quickly disposed of Mindfreak to book a re-match with Rooster for the Asia RMR Spot. Talon took out their frustrations from the previous day and left a path of destruction in their wake: Nettik ended up with 104 ADR and a 1.69 rating across both maps leaving Mindfreak to the vultures.

They say birds of a feather flock together and Rooster taking on Talon is an example of the quote. The grand final was a marvel to behold. The maps were Vertigo, Mirage, and Anubis. Vertigo started off very poorly for Talon where their B site holds were essentially like a wizard’s sleeve. TJP and asap added to the misery with the support of some amazing flashbangs from dangeR.

The character of Talon would be tested as they were made to recover a 4-8 half into a victory. Talon fought tooth and nail to make the comeback a reality with a huge 13-11 win—a real statement game from Talon.

Mirage was essentially changing Rooster to Talon in the previous paragraph and changing asap for sliimey. TJP upped his torment level immensely on poor HaZR with an ADR difference of almost 90! (116 v 28).

We arrived at Anubis where I expected Talon to look very directionless and Rooster to swoop in and take the Asia RMR spot. It started off with Talon on the CT side just like last time and unlike last time, Talon led 9-3 at the end of the half.

It seemed like Talon was still struggling with winning a T-side round where Rooster cut the lead to only 2 (9-7). Talon decided to buy up some Tec9s, push their way into B, and win their first T-side round ever against Rooster on Anubis. They never looked back after that, securing the Asia RMR spot and the series 2-1 with a 13-7 finish. The moral of the story is “F*** it, Go Tec9s!”

ESL Challenger Results

Well, FlyQuest returned from Cologne to dust off a few ECL games before they head back to ESL Pro League. They never looked like they were in any trouble against either Mantra or Vantage despite the malding bettors in my chat.

-          FlyQuest v Mantra (2-0) - August 26

-          FlyQuest v Vantage (2-0) - August 30

The Departure of the Mac

In a tearful twitter post, Mac announced he is moving to Europe to journey further in his casting career. It was an inevitability as Australia is incredibly small as a casting scene where casters must cast multiple titles to make ends meet. Europe alleviates that issue where you can just purely focus on one game.

I wish him all the best in his journey because this choice is never easy. The decision to pursue your career against spending time with your friends, family, Pico, and Jess is an incredibly tough one. He’ll find a lot of stability in Europe because there is always an abundance of gigs for a character like him.

Good luck, Mac!