WESG: In a fairly surprising turn of events, ORDER claimed first place at this year’s WESG APAC Regional Finals and with it, the $40,000 prize.
Single-country rule makes event a challenge
The rules of the event dictated that teams were limited to one nationality, meaning it was filled with an array of unconventional squad compositions. For instance, ORDER came in with two non-regular team members, with malta and BURNRUOk joining the roster to comply with the nationality rule. ORDER then found themselves in a dangerous Group A, which contained both MVP PK, a team with both international experience and a full five-man lineup, and Chosen5, a decent mixed team.
ORDER claimed the second seed from Group A, going 3-1 while only falling to MVP PK (13-16 on Mirage). This placed ORDER against LEOPARD in the playoffs, the third seed from a decidedly weaker Group B. In two of the most one-sided matches of the entire tournament, ORDER absolutely destroyed LEOPARD on both Inferno (16-2) and Cache (16-4).
ORDER take down Team MAX
Next up for ORDER was an incredibly back-and-forth quarterfinal matchup with Team MAX, the number one seed from Group D. ORDER fell on the first map of Train in double Overtime, 20-22, putting them on the back foot heading onto Cache. However, the Australian side recovered nicely, following up a solid CT side – ten rounds – with a dominant T side – winning six of seven – leading to the comfortable 16-6 win. The final map of Inferno was all about each team’s dominance on the T side, coupled with an inability to hold steady on the CT side. Even though MAX had the two players with the most kills, Gn and s550 with 24 kills apiece, it was ORDER who came away victorious in the 30th round, with a nailbiting 16-14 finish.
NSPR run derailed
In the semifinals, ORDER squared off against NSPR, initially on Mirage. Each team successfully strung rounds together in each half, continually securing two to four rounds before the other side answered with a run of their own. This created a closely contested match, in which ORDER came out on top 16-11 primarily due to the play of malta, who secured 25 kills. In a bit of a surprise, ORDER quickly pulled away on Train, utilising a dominant T-side (11 rounds) to secure a sizeable lead early on. ORDER showed no signs of slowing down in the second half, only dropping a single round on the way to taking the 16-5 victory; a shocking result given the quality showing NSPR had put up previously. Liazz led the way for ORDER, with 25 kills in just 21 rounds in the star performance.
Rematch in the finals
The finals pitted ORDER against fellow Group A member MVP PK, who had only dropped one map up until this point, a 14-16 loss on Train in the quarterfinals. The first map of Train was all about prowess on the CT side, with each team claiming 12 rounds in order to force Overtime. ORDER claimed victory in the final round of OT for the 19-17 win, primarily on the back of having multiple players put in quality performances throughout the map. MVP PK stayed in the game only through the efforts of XigN, who had nine more kills than his closest teammate and topped the leaderboard. ORDER, on the other hand, were more balanced and had a one-kill difference from top to second place.
One of the surprises of the tournament was that Nuke was actually played, with many teams normally leaving Nuke as their permanent ban. Typically known for its CT-sided advantages, MVP PK had a decent opening T-half by securing six rounds. However, ORDER were impressive on the T side themselves, pulling off six rounds in a row, after dropping the pistol, to go up to match point at 15-7. MVP claimed three more rounds before ORDER secured the final round needed, giving ORDER the 16-10 victory and the championship. Liazz led the way, as he did most of the tournament, for ORDER, topping the charts with an impressive 28 kills.
The nationality clause is an interesting format and it would not be a surprise to see more events use this. Teams would no doubt respond by changing their overall composition and having a deeper bench, but it’s still something to watch in the coming year.
