NRG and FaZe move on in NA Lower Bracket
NRG and FaZe Clan have reached the VCT 2022 - North America - Stage 2 - Main Event Lower Bracket Quarter Finals. Ghost Gaming and Luminosity Gaming are out of the race.
Breeze
Ghost Gaming got swept by Evil Geniuses in the Upper Bracket and faced NRG Esports to keep their hopes alive. They picked Breeze to start things off in the Lower Bracket. Alex "aproto" Protopapas and Mohamed Amine "Johnqt" Ouarid had important roles in the pistol round win. NRG came back to life after Daniel "eeiu" Vucenovic’s 3-kill Sova performance in the third round. NRG got better at defending the bomb sites and even started a winning streak that lasted for three rounds. After that, Ghost Gaming had better fights and attacks for three rounds to keep their lead before going into the halftime. NRG won the last two rounds of the half and tied the scoreboard, 6-6. Sam "s0m" Oh had a great performance in the 11th round with 4 kills on his Jett. When NRG switched to the attacking side, they played like a different team and dominated the map with a 5-round winning streak. Ghost Gaming failed to keep up with them on defense but managed to grab a win in the 18th round. However, NRG Esports did not waste any time and won two more rounds to close out the first map in 20 rounds, 13-7. The dominant attacking performance gave them a one-sided win as they were on fire. Ethan "Ethan" Arnold held a 1.68 rating in the second half and 1.21 in total. He also grabbed 12 kills with Skye and led his team on the battlefield. Johnqt matched him in kills and GianFranco "koalanoob" Potestio grabbed 9 first bloods with a 75% FBSR.
Icebox
After securing a win in Ghost Gaming’s map pick, it was now time for NRG to wrap things up on their map pick, Icebox. GG started the game greatly and won the first four rounds of the map. Both teams had great defensive utilities and it was the turn for Ghost Gaming to use them. The one-sided game lasted until the end of the first half. Ghost Gaming won nine rounds on defense and NRG only three on the attacking side. Johnqt defended the bomb sites perfectly on Sage, grabbing 14 kills and holding a 1.44 rating. He also had 4 first bloods with a 100% FBSR. Sam "s0m" Oh had a decent Omen performance for the attackers as he secured 15 kills to his name and led the field. As expected, the second half also started with the defenders' dominance as NRG won the first five rounds of the half. Ghost Gaming failed to execute their attacks until the sixth and seventh rounds of the second half. NRG still had the lead and won four more rounds to match GG’s first-half score and force overtime. They won both overtime rounds and won the game quickly. Ian "tex" Botsch grabbed 6 kills in two overtime rounds and had a huge impact on the game. s0m led the scoring field with 25 kills on Omen and he also held a 1.28 rating. tex also stepped up with 24 kills and 7 first bloods.
FaZe Clan vs Luminosity Gaming
Split
Luminosity Gaming picked Split as the opener for the matchup. FaZe Clan defend the bomb site after a clean post-plant game and defused the bomb without any problems. Andrej "babybay" Francisty’s Neon played a huge role in the pistol round. Luminosity came back to life in the third round and even continued their dominance for two more rounds. Their duelists did a great job and they were the most important factor in their dominance. The first half ended with both teams’ consequent win streaks and none of the teams came on top. Both Luminosity and FaZe grabbed 6 rounds and went into the second half with a tie. Quan "dicey" Tran grabbed 13 kills on Chamber and Adam "mada" Pampuch was the most efficient for LG with 10 kills and 2 first bloods. Luminosity started the second half with a great defensive effort to get the lead and even increase it. Kaleb "moose" Jayne’s Jett started the dominance with 3 rounds in the pistol round but it did not last forever. FaZe Clan won the 16th round of the game and completed a 3-round winning streak to tie the game once again. After that point, LG sat behind the wheel and dominated the game on defense. They won the game after a 4-round winning streak and got the lead in the series. Brandon "Bdog" Sanders finished the game with 22 kills and a 1.37 rating. On FaZe, four players had 16 kills and babybay had 6 first bloods.
Fracture
NRG picked Fracture to stay in the series and force the third map. They made an impressive start on the attacking side by winning four rounds in the early stages. Quan "dicey" Tran grabbed 8 kills in these rounds and looked impressive on Chamber. The dominance continued until the 8th round and Luminosity evened the competition by getting closer on the scoreboard. They won one more round at the end of the half and had five round wins before the second half. Despite losing the dominance after a certain point, FaZe still had the lead on the scoreboard with seven-round wins. dicey had 18 kills and a 1.93 rating at the end of the first half and babybay followed his steps with a 1.48 rating and 12 kills. The duo had 6 first bloods combined on the attacking side. Tanner "TiGG" Spanu’s KAY/O was the most important defensive factor for the side of LG. FaZe had a one-sided performance in the second half of the game. They defended the bomb sites perfectly until the end and did not lose a single round while winning six. The organization managed to force another map in the series after an incredible defensive performance on Fracture.
Breeze
The deciding map of the series was Breeze. FaZe started the game quickly with a pistol-round win and the following two rounds in the first half. Xavier "flyuh" Carison’s Sova did the most work with 5 kills. Luminosity had better performance after winning the fourth round and they completed a 5-round winning streak to get ahead. FaZe managed to plant the bomb four times throughout the streak and LG players defused the bomb in every round. Both teams won two rounds after the streak and LG had the lead in the first half, 7-5. flyuh’s 13-kill Sova was the factor that kept them alive in the first half as well as babybay’s 11-kill Neon performance. On LG’s side, mada, and Will "dazzLe" Loafman had 22 kills combined. On top of that, mada held a 1.42 rating and grabbed 3 first bloods with KAY/O in his hands. The second half was almost a copy of the first one. FaZe Clan started the half with a pistol-round win and then Luminosity answered back with a 3-round winning streak. FaZe came back on top after winning three rounds in a row and then tied the game at 12-12 by winning the last round. dicey did a great job with Chamber in the last round. FaZe won both overtime rounds and moved on in the tournament. flyuh and dicey both had 26 kills and the North American Chamber also grabbed 8 first bloods.
FaZe Clan and NRG are now awaiting their opponents in the Lower Bracket Quarter Finals. Luminosity and Ghost Gaming are out.
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