DarkZero 2-1 Spacestation
DarkZero might have pulled the NA upset of the year by sending Spacestation home in a 2-1 (7-8, 7-4, 7-4) victory in which they completely ran SSG’s pockets from start to finish. DZ notched 21 round wins as opposed to Spacestation’s 16, a pretty staggering comparison when expectations have been given.
This was supposed to be SSG’s crowning achievement. Ostensibly, this is the NA superteam, who won the past two stages and was expected to win the finals somewhat handily.
That didn’t happen, thanks at least in part to Rob “Panbazou” Feliciano. Panbazou, despite his late struggles, carried DZ statistically to a massive victory. Panbazou locked in a +8 in K/D, and won his entry battles by and large.
Soniqs 2-1 Oxygen
The other semifinal was pushed to a third map as well – every single semifinal was pushed into a third map. Soniqs and Oxygen fought to overtime in the first pair of maps, but Soniqs rode a strong defensive Coastline half into a regulation win on the third map, (7-8, 8-7, 7-4). In every semifinal, the team that won the first map lost the series.
Soniqs were led by Pablo “Gryxr” Rebeil statistically, who posted a match-high K/D, entry statistics, as well as KOST%. Soniqs were in man advantage more often than not, and converted that advantage well when they were asked to.
Soniqs and DarkZero will face each other in a best of three match to determine the NAL champion. Both of these teams were not necessarily expected to be in this position, and the grand finals are sure to provide more fireworks.
Grand finals: Soniqs 2-0 DarkZero
Soniqs are the only team who placed in the top four throughout every NAL stage in 2021. They’ve represented the region at each of the Majors held this year. They’re qualified for SI. And now, they’re NAL Champions.
It’s an impressive turnaround, especially considering the tumultuous offseason and decision to sign the ex-eUnited squad.
Their 2-0 victory came via a 7-5 victory on Bank and a 8-7 victory on Clubhouse. Statistically, Pablo “Gryxr” Rebeil came to play. He notched 28 kills to just 14 deaths, and scored a 1.35 SiegeGG Rating over the course of the two maps.
Their 2-0 victory over DarkZero cements their status as the most successful team in the region.