Gaimin Gladiators And Azure Ray Secure Top Three At Kuala Lumpur
The Group Stage just ended hours ago, but the action doesn’t stop. Both Upper Bracket matches were immediately played right after, and two teams have already booked a top three finish at ESL One Kuala Lumpur.
The first Upper Bracket match involved G2.IG and the Gaimin Gladiators.
G2.IG suffered a shocking 0-2 defeat in their opening match against Tundra Esports, but did not drop a single game after that loss. Meanwhile, the Gladiators looked a little shaky, and only got to the Upper Bracket thanks to Quinn winning his 1v1 tiebreaker match against MidOne.
In the first game of the series, G2.IG drafted Meepo for JT, who played the hero in the Off Lane. Game 1 turned out to be a total stomp in favor of the Chinese side, putting them up 1-0 in the series.
However, the Gladiators showed why they placed second at TI and quickly adapted to G2.IG’s drafts. JT went for Meepo a second time, but the Gladiators answered it to keep the series level. The third game was another stomp for the Gladiators, allowing the WEU roster to advance to the Upper Bracket.
The second Upper Bracket matchup featured Team Falcons and Azure Ray. The first map of the series went to 52 minutes. Though the game dragged late, it wasn’t too close, as Azure Ray held the lead throughout the entire game. ATF’s Dragon Knight ended Game 1 with a KDA of 1/11/5.
The Falcons turned up in the second game, outplaying Azure Ray with their pick-off lineup. Skiter’s Spectre had an almost flawless game with 11/1/18 KDA and 91% kill participation.
The third game was close going into the mid-game, but a long pause happened because Lou faced a bug on his Lone Druid bear. His Diffusal Blade was stuck in the bear’s stash, and he couldn’t grab the item from the bear.
After the issue was resolved, it seemed like Team Falcons lost their momentum and looked lost. In the late game, the Falcons forced a Roshan, which turned out to be a wrong decision, as Lou and Xxs took all three lanes of Barracks while the Falcons were taking Roshan. Azure Ray could rat out the Falcons and send them to the Lower Bracket.
With these results, here is what the bracket looks like:
There will be a one-day break, and the following matches in ESL One Kuala Lumpur will be played in front of a crowd.