ESEA Season 26: After qualifying as one of the two top seeds from the European Qualifier, AGO Gaming dominated the competition on their way to being crowned champions of the ESEA Season 26: Global Challenge.
AGO receive a tough group
AGO initially came in as one of the favourites to win the tournament, given their recent performances in Europe, although some questions remained on how they would do against outside competition. Not only that, but they were then placed inside the more difficult of the two groups, as fellow Group A members Space Soldiers, Chiefs eSports Club and Rise Nation represent four of the top five teams at the tournament.
GruBy excel
The first match for AGO was against Chiefs eSports Club on Train, where the Polish side began to show what they were made of. AGO grabbed 11 of the available 15 rounds on their T side for the commanding 11-4 halftime lead. After dropping the second-half pistol, AGO won out, finalising the one-sided 16-5 stomp. Next, AGO squared off against Space Soldiers, where they once again utilised an overwhelming T side, gathering 12 rounds for the 12-3 half. Space Soldiers did secure eight rounds in a row to keep the game interesting, but AGO found their rhythm and slammed the door shut with four straight round wins of their own for the 16-11 win on Cobblestone. GruBy led the way in both opening matchups, with 24 and 28 kills.
Surprise opponents in the semifinals
This put AGO Gaming into the semifinals, where they squared off against Ghost Academy, a surprise playoff team. Ghost Academy fought tooth and nail to make playoffs, first losing in quadruple Overtime to SoaR, later claiming revenge in double Overtime to put themselves through. However, Ghost Academy looked completely overwhelmed in the best-of-three, beginning on Train. AGO this time showed their abilities on the CT side, winning the first 13 rounds before dropping the final two for an absurd 13-2 half. AGO quickly swept the first three rounds of their T side for the 16-2 slaughter. Once again, GruBy found himself on top of the scoreboard, boasting 20 kills. While Overpass had an ever-so-slightly closer score, the opening was much the same, with AGO up 13-2 at the half. Ghost were able to achieve five rounds before AGO finished them off, with snatchie leading the way at 25 kills and GruBy one behind at 24.
Rematch looms
The final was a rematch of the Group A winners’ match, with AGO Gaming finding themselves against Space Soldiers, who had defeated eXtatus 2-1 in the other semifinal. The first map of Mirage was the most competitive match of the tournament for AGO, as each team claimed 10 rounds on the T side and five rounds on the CT side, forcing Overtime. Each team then split Overtime 3-3, causing double Overtime where AGO then won out for the 22-18 nail-biter. Both TOAO and Furlan had fabulous performances for AGO, with 39 and 36 kills, respectively (to put their overall total into context, the next highest on the team was GruBy, at 26).
Little was expected of Space Soldiers on the second map of Train, given both the momentum of AGO and their sheer dominance on Train at this event. However, Space Soldiers showed up to play early on, pulling off an impressive 11-4 CT-side. Unfortunately for Space Soldiers, it was all AGO Gaming from there, as AGO secured 12 of the next 13 rounds on their way to claiming the 2-0 and the championship. This map was peculiar, given each team’s inability on the T side, coupled with how poor GruBy performed. GruBy was the rock for AGO all-tournament-long, especially on Train early in the tournament, yet he bottom-fragged (lowest kills on his team) at just 16 in the final.
Ultimately, the finale on Train was the most important map for AGO, as it showed even without their most in-form player, the team could still handle quality opponents such as Space Soldiers. While not expected to break out on the international tier-one scene, AGO have solidified themselves as a solid up-and-comer for 2018.
